Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters

Marketing


Corinne McKay

Yelp, Craigslist, Upwork: should you be there?

When it comes to marketing your freelance business, it’s important to cast a wide net. Taking an “if you build it, they will come” approach, for example by putting up a website and waiting for the work to start flowing in, is definitely not the way to go. But how wide should that marketing net be? Specifically, should you be on websites such as Yelp, Craigslist and Upwork? Let’s look at some of the pros and cons.

In my opinion, here’s the main argument for being on these types of websites: many direct clients know nothing…zero about translation (and as I’ve mentioned before, that’s not their fault). So, when they want to hire a translator, they’re likely to look in the places they’d look to hire other kinds of service providers. We may not love the idea of a client thinking, “Wait, I found my lawn guy on Yelp…maybe translators advertise there too,” but if the client puts those two things together, you want to be the person they end up finding.

Additionally, the fact that Yelp and Upwork allow/encourage reviews is likely to inspire trust in a potential client. I think that increasingly, when we ask the question, “How do you find a service provider (whether that’s an orthopedic surgeon or a landscaper) who you feel is trustworthy?” the answer is “I read online reviews before I contact them.” It’s a good idea to put testimonials on your website, but the potential client knows that those are cherry-picked from your favorite clients; online reviews tend to portray a much more realistic picture.

Finally, there’s the fact that you can piggyback on these sites’ very high search engine rankings and advertising power (this is also the reason I think every freelancer should be on LinkedIn). It’s free to create a basic account, and when someone Googles “Italian interpreter Detroit,” these sites are probably going to rank ahead of any individual freelancer’s site.

Then, there are the negatives. Chief among these (and this also applies to LinkedIn, and to online translation marketplaces) is that these sites advertise the competition right alongside you. And when the client is buying something they don’t really understand, like translation or interpreting services, and there are lots of people offering that service, they’re likely to gravitate toward the less expensive people. Encouragingly, I’ve recently read several online posts by translation clients who have used these services (specifically Upwork) and specifically said that they did not go with the cheapest person, but rather with the person who seemed the best fit for the job. That’s very positive. But still, having 15 different translators to choose from is very different from attracting a client to your own website, which features only you.

These types of sites have a few other negatives: they may be a “closed system,” where you are prohibited from communicating with clients outside the platform. They may take a commission on any work you find via the site. They may encourage reverse auction-style bidding on jobs. They may force you to name a specific hourly or per-word rate and guarantee that any work you find through the site will be done for that amount or less. They also may attract clients who have very small budgets or are looking for an absolute rock-bottom rate, and those are the clients you can do without.

In general, I would put these kinds of sites in the “worth a try” category, but I would not depend on them as a source of high-quality clients. However I’m interested to hear from readers who have found clients through these sites or other, similar ones. Any thoughts?


Corinne McKay

“Agencies won’t pay my rates, and I can’t find direct clients”: what to do?

Here’s a conundrum that I hear frequently from freelancers at all experience levels: agencies won’t pay my rates, and I can’t find any direct clients. What should I do? Well, let’s see:

  • First, adjust your mindset. Tough love tip: if you truly believe that *zero* agencies will pay your desired rates, and that you will *never* be successful finding direct clients, you need to either shift your thinking or find a different job. If you’re approaching every interaction with a potential client as, “Here goes round 1,000 of beating my head against the wall,” then that’s the first thing that needs to change. Use growth mindset statements like, “There are plenty of clients out there who need what I do. I’m going to keep knocking on doors until I find them,” or “Instead of just translating what lands in my inbox, I’m going to actively seek out the kind of work I enjoy and am good at,” or “The marketing methods I’ve used in the past haven’t worked very well. Now I’m going to try something new and see if that gives me different results.”
  • Assess what “won’t pay my rates” means. As I’ve written about before, you don’t need hundreds of clients to have a thriving translation business. If you apply to 100 agencies and 98 of them think you’re too expensive and two of them think your rates are fine, that’s success. And remember, thanks to a little thing called the Internet, you’ve got the whole world to work with. But…
  • Work the local market. When I started my freelance business in 2002, I knew essentially nothing about entrepreneurship. So I opened up the yellow pages (remember when?) and started cold-calling translation agencies in Colorado and asking for informational interviews. As it turns out, I had stumbled onto a marketing technique that was actually very effective. The vast majority of these agencies responded something like “We don’t have much work for French to English/only work with people with five years’ experience/already have a couple of French translators we like, but if you want to come in and talk to us for a few minutes, no problem.” And since I had very little work, I had tons of time, so I went and talked to them. And guess what, when they had a sudden and urgent need for more French to English translators, or their existing French to English person went on vacation/raised their rates/was suddenly unavailable, guess who they called next? In-person marketing really is worth the investment of time, whether you’re looking at agencies or direct clients.
  • Don’t market to direct clients in the same way you market to agencies. Agencies understand what you do. They know that they need you. They know the difference between a translator and an interpreter. Direct clients know none of this, and it’s not their fault. But they know that in a business sense, translation might be necessary, helpful, or both. So, it’s up to you to market to them in a way that they can understand: “Have you ever considered what an English website might do for your business?” “I’ve helped multiple US-based investment companies understand the financial statements of the Russian companies they invest in.” “When you work with me, I have one goal: to take the hassle and stress out of the translation process.” You’ve heard it before, but let’s say it again: focus on what’s in it for the client, not on how many words a day you translate and what TM tool you have.
  • Keep marketing to agencies, but be selective. When I launched my freelance business, I was 100% *un-selective* about the agencies I marketed to. I opened up my paper copy of the ATA corporate member directory and started at A, going to the agencies’ websites and seeing if they were hiring. By the time I hit the middle of the alphabet, I was getting some work from the As and Bs. But if you’re not a beginner, don’t do that. Even if you are a beginner, vet the agencies you apply to by checking their ratings on Payment Practices or the ProZ Blue Board before you apply. If you’re beyond beginner stage, target your marketing. Sort the agencies’ ratings on one of the sites above, and apply only to the ones with impeccable reviews. Ask translators in other language combinations who their favorite clients are, or what agencies they’ve heard good things about. Google “engineering translations” or “cookbook translations” or whatever your specialty is, and apply to the agencies that advertise those services.
  • Ditch the “I don’t have time” excuse. OK, I’ve used it too. But really, you have 15 minutes a day, right? And even 15 minutes can make a big difference. In 15 minutes, you can send a warm e-mail to a prospective direct client. You can apply to most agencies in 15 minutes. And most importantly, 15 minutes a day keeps the ball rolling and makes marketing a habit, which is one of the keys to success.

Readers, any other thoughts on how to break out of a mental block when it comes to marketing?


Corinne McKay

Marketing: as a daily effort or toward a specific goal?

Here’s a common question from other freelancers: How much time should I spend on marketing? A percentage of my time? A certain amount per day? Should I market even when I have tons of work?

The easy answer would be to say: spend 15% of your time on marketing, and you’ll always have just the right amount of work. But it’s not that easy, and as I’ve mentioned before, “just the right amount of work” is a goal that perhaps .01% of translators achieve. The rest of us have a little too little work, or a little too much work, and personally I’ll take a little too much, so that I’m not worrying about keeping the lights on.

My thought on this marketing question: if, in general, you don’t have enough work, then you need to market consistently, every single day. You have to work on it like practicing a musical instrument or exercising: you don’t shut down for the day until you do your 30 minutes of marketing, or you don’t get coffee in the morning until you contact three potential clients, and so on.

But if you have enough work all of the time or most of the time, or especially if you’re turning down work, it’s OK to market toward a specific goal. That’s what I do: I don’t market for 30 minutes every day; I market when I have a specific goal. If I want to find more clients in Switzerland, or translate another book, or any other specific goal, then I do a campaign aimed at that target.

That’s it! Over to you!


Corinne McKay

Tips for translators in small languages

There are languages like Spanish (tons of work, lots of translators), and languages like French and German (good amount of work, not a surplus of translators), and then there are languages like Tagalog, Nepali, Bulgarian, Amharic, Icelandic, and so on. What are some pathways to a viable freelance business if you do one of those languages of lesser diffusion?

  • Assess the demand. You only need enough work for one person, but in some languages, that may be a struggle. Consider adding additional services like interpreting, editing, voiceover, etc. You may have to be a little more open to offbeat jobs than someone who translates German or Japanese.
  • Expect to be asked to translate anything and everything in your language. You don’t have to say yes; never take on anything that’s outside your capabilities. But expect that clients will think of you as “the Haitian Creole translator,” not “the Haitian Creole pharmaceutical translator.”
  • If you want to work with agencies, blanket the field. Get a membership to Payment Practices (not an affiliate deal) and sort out the highly-rated agencies; for example those rated 4.0 or higher in the two factors that PP rates. Then start cranking out the applications; aim for three to five per day. Every agency that could potentially use you, anywhere in the world, should have your resume on file.
  • If you want to work with direct clients, look for trade ties between your non-English country and the US, the UK, or other English-speaking countries. Most countries have some sort of economic development authority, foreign direct investment authority, or similar entity. Look there for ideas, then contact companies related to those industries that might need you.
  • Consider translating into English with a native English-speaking proofreader. Normally I don’t recommend going anywhere near translations into your non-native language. But for small-diffusion languages into English, I think it can work, and sometimes it’s the only option. First, there just aren’t that many native English speakers who translate from Lingala or Khmer. Second, lots of these niche countries are fairly major tourist destinations for English speakers, very few of whom speak a word of the local language. So you might find work translating for, say, resorts in Indonesia or the Philippines or Thailand that want to attract English-speakers.

Readers, especially those of you who translate in these smaller-diffusion languages…any thoughts on this?


Corinne McKay

Sub-optimal rates: "better than nothing," or not?

“The rate isn’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing.” “It’s not what I’d like to be earning, but you have to start somewhere.” “I wasn’t thrilled about the rate, but working is better than not working.” Stop me if you’ve heard this before… But the real question is: is this a valid way of looking at your freelance rates?

Ideally, here’s the situation you want to be in: you don’t even deal with low-paying clients, because you don’t need to. You are busy all the time at your regular rates, and if clients won’t pay those rates, you simply don’t work with them. Or, when you take on lower-paying work (let’s say a book translation, or work for a non-profit that you find meaningful), it’s for a reason: just because you enjoy it, or because you want to contribute to the organization’s mission, or bring a certain author’s work to a different culture, or something like that.

But when you’re looking for more work, or for any work at all, it’s a different story. Then, an experienced translator’s advice to stick to your standard rates and never offer discounts can feel a bit condescending. When, if ever, is a sub-optimal rate better than nothing?

  • Bottom line: rarely. You tell yourself “it’s better than nothing,” but low rates can become a treadmill that’s difficult to dismount. You’re making a few cents a word, so you have to translate 12 hours a day just to keep the lights on. That leaves approximately zero time to market yourself to better-paying clients, or do some networking, or attend conferences where you might meet better-paying clients, or upgrade your skills and marketing presence.
  • When you’re working within a lot of constraints. In most ways, huge agencies are not ideal clients; but they do have some advantages. One of those is that you can generally turn them down many times without fear of losing them as a client, or you can give them windows of time within which you can work. So, if you’re trying to start a freelance business while going to school, or raising kids, or working another job, a huge agency that pays sub-optimal rates might allow you to do that.
  • When you put some parameters on the low-rate work. Working at sub-optimal rates for decades will a) suck the life out of you and b) destroy any love you have for this job. Really, it will. But if you decide that the low-rate work fits your purposes while you… (finish school, sock away enough money to quit your day job, etc.), and if that time period is relatively short, like a couple of years or less, I think it’s more doable.

When is a sub-optimal rate absolutely not worth it?

  • When you’re doing it out of desperation. Desperation is rarely a good precursor of good business decisions. If you’re in sketchy financial shape, you’re probably better off looking for a stable part-time job rather than taking low-rate freelance work. Take the part-time job and then translate pro bono for clients who work for causes you believe in: in the end, you’ll feel much better about yourself. Out-of-the-box tip: look for a job where you could do some translating while you work. For example, I once worked in a fancy office building that needed a receptionist, but there was actually very little work to do. The owner’s technique (because it was hard to keep people in that job long-term), was to deliberately recruit students from the writing program at the local university, with the stipulation that if they committed to staying for a full school year, they could work on their own writing while they sat at the desk.
  • When you could cut fat from your spending budget and avoid the low-rate work. I’ve beaten the freelance frugality drum here and here. Blackbelt frugality isn’t for everyone (although I did get quite a few compliments on the haircuts that my husband gave me in the early 2000s!), but to me, it’s certainly preferable to doing soul-crushing work.
  • When you have the skills to work for better-paying clients, but you never go out and look for them. As I’ve said before, but it bears repeating, there is *so much* interesting, well-paying translation work out there. But, it’s not going to flop into your inbox with a bow on it; you need to be out there (in person, online or both) being in the places where the good clients can find you, or going and knocking on the good clients’ doors and pitching your services. Otherwise, you’re running in neutral in the low-rate market.
  • When you’re telling yourself that the low-paying clients will love you so much, they’ll agree to a big rate increase at some point. Harsh but true: most times, they won’t. Once a client knows that you’re willing to work at a certain rate, you can’t blame them for refusing to pay more. No matter how much a client likes you, most agencies, especially big agencies, have a fairly rigid rate ceiling above which they absolutely will not go, no matter how much they like you. When you want to make more money, you just have to move on.

Readers: any other thoughts on this? And if you’re thinking, “This sounds great, but how do I find work at decent rates?,” you might enjoy this post: To break out of the low-rate market, change these three things.