Thoughts On Translation

Translators have a variety of reasons for choosing certain types of clients: some prefer agencies for their steady workflow and layer of “insulation” between the translator and the end client, some prefer direct clients for their higher rates and higher degree of autonomy, and still other translators mix up their workflow or work with clients who don’t fit exactly into either one of these categories.

In talking to beginning and experienced translators alike, I’ve noticed that many translators are very intimidated by the idea of working with direct clients. While I think that there are valid reasons to continue working with agencies, I also think that adding some direct client work to your freelance pie is a great way to increase your income and your job satisfaction. If you’re interested in dipping at least one toe in the direct client pool, here are a few tips.

• Start small and don’t fail out of overambition. In my admittedly unscientific research, I think that many translators aim too high when they enter the direct client market. Don’t think Fortune 500, think of other one-person businesses or businesses with very small projects. As you succeed at these projects, trade up!
• Start with projects you can translate in your sleep. If you have a targeted specialization, you know what I’m talking about (for me, it’s real estate leases and articles of incorporation). Eventually, you can aim for direct client work that demands creativity and thoughtful turns of phrase. At the outset, look for clients who will have the types of documents you’ve translated hundreds of times. This will raise your confidence level and increase the odds that the clients will be thrilled with your work.
• Look locally. Especially with direct clients, it’s great to have a contact or introduction. If this isn’t an option, I think that a friendly “I’m a translator in the area and I’d like to offer you my freelance services…” is a good substitute. In addition, I think that despite the globalization of the professional services market, many small businesses still feel more comfortable working with someone local.
• Track your clients’ preferences. In my experience, direct clients don’t often have style guides and sometimes haven’t really thought about style at all. Do yourself and your clients a big favor by creating a style preferences file for each client. Whenever the client sends you a comment, i.e. “We always refer to our CEO as Chief Executive Officer,” “We use European format for dates even when they’re in English,” etc., record it in the client’s style file.
• Don’t undersell yourself. One of the obvious draws of working with direct clients is money. My average direct client pays almost double what my average agency client pays, and my direct clients are usually very low-maintenance; it’s a great situation. When you send a quote to a direct client, remember that if the client is a good fit for you, you’re offering them more personal service than they would get from an agency, one point of contact instead of many layers between the client and the translator (if the client can even communicate directly with an agency’s translator) and more consistency than they’re likely to get from an agency. For this, you need to charge real money or you will appear unprofessional.
• Ask for feedback on every translation. “Let me know if you have any specific questions or comments or if there is anything I can do to better meet your needs…” is one of my standard lines. You could even create a simple online survey that your clients could fill out anonymously. Also, you should ask every satisfied client whether you can use their name in your marketing materials and whether they would be willing to provide a testimonial about your work for them.

This week, the French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation announced the winners of their 22nd annual translation prizes. At the 2008 ATA conference in Orlando, we were fortunate enough to have Sandra Smith, a previous winner of this award (for her translation of Irène Némirovsky’s Suite Française) as a speaker; and it was the first book that Sandra ever translated, if you need some inspiration! This year’s winners are: in the fiction category, Jody Gladding & Elizabeth Deshays for Small Lives by Pierre Michon (Archipelago Books). In the non-fiction category, Matthew Cobb & Malcolm DeBevoise for their translation of by Life Explained by Michel Morange (Yale University Press/Odile Jacob).

It’s interesting that both of this year’s winners are translation teams; all of them were honored at a ceremony in New York last night and they received a $10,000 cash prize.

If you’re interested in a high-quality professional development opportunity this summer (particularly for EN>FR and FR>EN translators, but other languages are welcome too!), hop on over to Translate in the Catskills, which is running from August 21-23 in Maplecrest, NY (about 1 hr. south of Albany or 3 hrs. north of New York City). The conference’s focus is on target language writing skills and how they can help freelancers rise to the top of the market. The slate of instructors is really top-notch: Chris Durban, Grant Hamilton and Ros Schwartz for French to English and Dominique Jonkers and François Lavallée for English to French, and the conference’s size and location (at the Sugar Maples campus of the Catskill Mountain Foundation should allow for some excellent one-on-one time with the other translators who are attending!

This is a guest post by Karen Tkaczyk, PhD, a French to English translator specializing in chemistry and its industrial applications. Karen’s LinkedIn profile is here and her business website is here. Thanks to Karen for sharing her experience using LinkedIn, and specifically LinkedIn Groups and Discussions as a marketing tool.

Earlier this year Corinne posted some thoughts on whether LinkedIn is useful for translators. The post raised lively discussion and several people who are actively using LinkedIn gave their experience and described the value they see in it. Corinne was interested in my use of “Groups” as a means of marketing to direct clients, so here are my thoughts on that.

I have used the LinkedIn features “Groups” and “Discussions” to raise my profile and make new contacts with a view to expanding my business. My strategy was to join groups in my specialized subject areas, so I was targeting certain industries and professions. We all have specialties. Mine happen to be deep and narrow as I became a translator after a previous career, but the concept applies to all of us, and also to agencies who are
specialized. If you are not a highly specialized translator I suggest you pick an area you wish you had more work in and target that. The unknown in
joining groups is that you can’t really tell until you’ve joined whether a given group is active and full of interesting discussion, or whether it is quiet or recruitment focused. I have joined a number of groups that I later left. Note from Corinne: if you’re looking for some new LinkedIn Groups to join, click “Groups” then “Groups Directory,” then you will see a search box where you can type in keywords.

If you’re not sure where to start, search based upon keyword or region, and see where that leads you. I joined a group today, as it happens. My “Updates”
told me that one of my contacts had joined a technical group and it was a natural fit for me. Looking at the updates on your LinkedIn home page is a good way to see new things that might be of interest to you. Note from Corinne: to see your Updates, go to your LinkedIn home page and scroll down past your Inbox.

So you’ve joined the group, and you know no-one. What next? Read the discussions and news articles there and see what kind of people are members. Would you like them as clients? Are they likely to have business for you? When they look promising, I try to ask an intelligent question or post a news article to start discussion, or I comment on something that is already there. One question I saw on a chemical industry forum was “How is globalization affecting your business?” My answer was entirely different than those already there, and it sparked some lively discussion. Another time I was planning for a large conference I had not previously attended,
and I asked the group for tips: what to see and avoid. There were lots of responses, and I arranged to meet several people as result of that discussion alone. I was even asked to speak at a subsequent conference.

Then a second point: it’s not all about connections. For me some of these discussions lead to connecting, but the majority do not. Sometimes I do invite
people to connect when I think it would be in my interest for them to see my ‘updates’ (therefore to be reminded of me). Another point is that as soon as
you become visible there are open networkers who will ask to connect. I’m not a fan of expanding my network for the sake of it, so I usually refuse
those (”archive”) unless they are of obvious interest to me as a future client, but that method works for some people.

To conclude, here are examples of actual LinkedIn emails I have received: “I got to your profile from one of the discussions you participated in. I
wanted to understand if you can provide a one day turn around for translating an Italian claim set to English? You are in which time zone?”
The answer was no because I don’t do Italian, but it was a set of chemical patent claims so it confirmed that my efforts were clearly getting me seen
by people who might need my skills. Another with an invitation to connect: “I handle IP at my company, and we need translators every once in a while. I
would like to give your contact info if something comes up.”

So LinkedIn comes down to a common premise: you get out what you put in. If all you’ve done is create a static profile, I would be surprised if it ever
brings you business. You have to start conversations that may lead nowhere, then be pleasantly surprised when you receive an email weeks later.

Enjoy networking!

Thanks, Karen for this informative look into LinkedIn’s more advanced features. Readers, any insights into how you’ve used these techniques?