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tranfree issue 34 - 22 June 2001
Answers to Questions Most Commonly Asked by Translators No. 3
How do I get started?
by Phil Naylor
At translatortips®,
we get quite a few emails each week asking
for advice on "How to get started" or "Where to begin" from
people who recognise the huge potential of becoming a freelance
translator but need a little help making the first steps.
I hope here to give a summary of the main pointers, plus offer a
few tips to give everyone that competitive edge.
Many of you are well established and highly successful already.
If you stop reading here, best of luck with your business!
However, as you will have discovered by now,
translatortips®
serves every cross-section of the translator community. So I just
wanted to focus on a few points for those thinking of starting
out and those who have just got going and are looking for ways
keep the work coming in.
Can I become a translator?
Ask yourself these questions...
- Do I have good reading skills in one language and good written
skills in my mother-tongue (native language)?
- Do I have a good common-sense approach to running a business?
- Am I prepared to work hard and make sacrifices?
If you can answer 'Yes' to these questions, then you probably
have what it takes to be extremely successful.
Remember - NEVER highlight your weaknesses, always emphasise your
strengths.
What do I need to become a translator?
Have a very good look all around the
translatortips®
website. Everything you need for marketing translation services is there.
There's lots of extremely valuable information and insight into getting started...
The most comprehensive source of advice and insight is the eBook
"How to Earn $80,000+ Per Year as a Freelance Translator". It
contains tips and information on every aspect of running a
freelance translation business - understanding customers and
keeping them; marketing your services; commercial wisdom such as
methods to ensure you get paid, protecting yourself, effective
administration; and much more.
For further information, click this link...
http://www.translatortips.net/ht50.html
If you want to check out what the eBook is like, take a look at
the FREE Report "Customers - Make Life Easy for Them and They'll
Stay With You" available at...
http://www.translatortips.net/freerep.html
To start getting work in, you want to approach as many
translation agencies as you can. It takes a lot of effort and you
will need to be on the books of at least 20 agencies in order to
get regular work.
You can contact over 1800 agencies using tranmail, which includes
a booklet with advice on how to mount an email marketing
campaign. Click this link for more information...
http://www.translatortips.net/tranmail.html
Read through all the tranfree archives too...
http://www.translatortips.net/tranfreearch.html
...for more ideas and advice on improving your business.
Remember, all the tranfree archives are still available FREE!
To get hands-on experience, you could offer your services to
voluntary/charity organisations. They'll be very grateful and
you'll get valuable experience.
Finally, visit the translatortips® forums
for up-to-the-minute advice and help answering your questions about setting up and
running a translation business...
http://www.translatortips.net/cgi-bin/ubb/Ultimate.cgi
There is a wealth of valuable insight at the forums, from experts
from all over the world. There's huge benefits in networking with
other translators using the forums. Here's a few examples of what
you can find...
I believe there's huge potential in networking with other
people using the forums.
Where do I get my clients from?
Getting in touch with agencies is one of the best ways to get new
clients. The easiest way by far is the highly effective tranmail
system...
http://www.translatortips.net/tranmail.html
But there are other things you can do too.
- Paper directories (eg. Yellow Pages)
- Online directories
- Mailing lists
Have a look at the translatortips®
Workplace (powered by ProZ)...
http://www.translatortips.net/translation-jobs.html
Here you'll be able bid for jobs posted by clients worldwide, and
get help with translating specific terms new to you.
You can also find information on other online job sources at...
http://www.translatortips.net/survey-results.html
...and in the eBook
"How to Earn $80,000+ Per Year as a Freelance Translator"...
http://www.translatortips.net/ht50.html
I hope this has served to help you find a route to getting
started, and to helping those already running a translation
business to find new ways of improving their business.
translatortips® is and will always be about...
helping translators do better business
Phil Naylor is Business Development Manager of...
http://www.translatortips.com
helping translators do better business
Click here to return to tranfree 34 main page
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