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tranfree issue 51 - 27 September 2002 Freelance Translators Index, Son, Job-sheets
I've had a few weeks off because on 29th August my firstborn son
Tomek was born.
He was 7 lbs (3.2kg) at birth and pretty healthy. Both Tomek and
Malgorzata are doing well. I don't know how people manage to run
their translation businesses with young children at home, but I
guess we're going to find out. In the UK you get a lousy 50 GBP per week as a maternity allowance if you are self-employed. So it really is not worth staying out of the game for long unless you really have no choice. 50 GBP is what you would expect to get paid for two hours of proofing or editing in the UK. So it's back to work already, but we're being more fussy about what we take on, since we can't guarantee working at anything near full capacity. Like it says on the signs by the side of the road... "Tiredness Kills" ...and it certainly has been hard to get used to interrupted nights. But now he's 4 weeks old and sleeping for reasonable periods of time at a stretch, we can think about working again.
Enjoy and benefit from tranfree Alex Eames
This tranfree contains...
Stung By RWSAfter sending back the file for a quick minimum charge job, I received the following from Caroline Stonier at RWS... "Dear Alex, This was my reply (to which I got no reply)...
The deadline was for today, so we got it done for today. This was the case in the last job we did for RWS. It's not worth my time to argue with you for 25 quid. It serves as a useful reminder that I should take my own advice and never start a job without a job number, order number or job confirmation sheet." You see I thought we had developed a good trusting relationship with RWS. We've done several jobs for them in the past. The last one was just a few weeks ago. And in that case, we did not get a job number until about 3 days after the project was finished. So you can see how I was lulled into a false sense of security in this case. Admittedly, last time it was a different project manager. The Moral of the StoryThis advice is on page 73 of... How to Earn $80,000+ per Year as a Freelance TranslatorDon't start a job without a confirmation sheet, job number, purchase order number, or something in writing that proves you were commissioned to do a job. Otherwise you might not get paid.
Insist on this, and if you want to make exceptions for trusted
clients, do so at your peril. It's easy to get blasé with established clients. But in times of economic hardship, remember... BUSINESS PEOPLE ARE NOT THERE ...they're there to do business. So be alert and wise and keep insisting on proper paperwork.
Alex Eames is the founder of translatortips.com, 2 New Action GroupsWhile we're on the subject of getting burned, here are two action groups recently formed to help translators get paid by elusive clients... Alis Technologies Action GroupIf you are owed money by Alis Technologies in Montreal (111 Duke Street), please join this new list so we can determine how many freelance translators have not been paid and to coordinate an approach to receive our payments!! To join, send a blank message to... alis_payments-subscribe@yahoogroups.com KARIN ADAMCZYK Polylingua Action GroupIf you are a translator and have not been paid by Polylingua, Czech Republic, and would like to exchange info and decide upon some action against Polylingua, you are welcomed to join this group. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Actiongroup_Polylingua Actiongroup_Polylingua@yahoogroups.com Everyone interested in the subject is free to join the group. How Busy Are Other Translators Right Now?translatortips.com Freelance Translators Index (ttFTI)http://tranfree.com/ttfti.html I don't know about you, but I get a lot of people emailing me when they haven't had much work for a week or two. So I figured that by launching an index - like a stock market index - we could give translators a picture of what the industry is like at the moment. Break Out Of The IsolationSince freelance translating is an isolated profession, I thought it would be a good idea to let people find out quickly and easily how busy other translators are. This will enable you to not feel worried and isolated. If other people are also going through a slow period, maybe it's time to relax and take a holiday, or do your accounts? So how busy are other translators right now? http://tranfree.com/ttfti.html Ongoing ProjectttFTI will be an ongoing project. I will reset the survey every 30 days and publish the results in the form of an index (like the stock market indices e.g. FTSE 100 or Dow Jones index). If you are a professional freelance translator, please come and participate every month. If you are not a professional freelance translator with an established business, please do not vote because your low answers will distort the true picture. Voting & ResultsTo indicate how busy you have been for the last 30 days (index was reset on 12 Sep 2002) or to see the results visit... http://tranfree.com/ttfti.html The August Value of ttFTIIn August, ttFTI was 78.99% ...which means that in the previous 30 days, the average freelance translator was 78.99% occupied. A result of 100% would be achieved if everyone worked 25 days out of every 30. You have to allow for some time off. Also this gives us flexibilty to have votes that are over 100% if someone is working overtime. I hope you will all find ttFTI to be a useful tool. Please come and have a look and also participate to show how busy you are...
http://tranfree.com/ttfti.html
Alex Eames is the founder of translatortips.com, translatortips.com Linkers FREE Prize DrawI am keen to get as many of you as possible who have your own web sites to link to the translatortips.com web site. To encourage you all to put a link to translatortips.com on your own site, I am holding a monthly prize draw for everyone who does this. Each month all those people who have put a link on their own web site to the translatortips.com site (and let me know about it) will go into a ballot and the winner gets a FREE copy of my ebook... How to Earn $80,000+ per Year as a Freelance Translator this edition's winner is Suzan Chin - please contact me within the next 3 months to claim your prize. Click here if you wish to link to the translatortips.com site.
Translation JokeMommy mouse is leading her three young ones through the field. Suddenly, the birds stop chirping and everything becomes very quiet. Mommy looks around, sees the shadow of a cat just ahead... Mommy rears her head back and lets loose with a very loud... "ARF, ARF, ARF!" Hearing this, the cat scurries away from what it fears is a large dog. Mommy turns to the young ones and says... "See, it is always good to know a foreign language."
***End of issue 51*** |
