Thanks a lot for the article! It’s really inspired me to set my goals even higher (I’ve been freelance for about 18 months).

I think the tone of your article also encompasses a personal aspect of the most successful translators: ambitious goals, a positive, proactive approach to increasing their business and demanding rates that they deserve. I know plenty of intelligent and skilled linguists who don’t dare dream of six figures and are timid about the whole marketing process so aim low and accept less than they know they are worth.

I’m based in the UK and work with Japanese to English. Most good agencies and direct clients I’ve dealt with offer between £0.055~£0.11 ($0.09~18) per word and, apparently, specialisations like patents can draw in £0.20 ($0.32) per word. I’m currently specialising in Economics and Business to increase the volume of work I can get. I think because it is a relatively unusual pair it is possible to make a living as a Japanese generalist, but you’d spend more time researching and studying than you would translating. Having a marketable specialisation is definitely key.

Thanks again!

Dan

Let’s see … How about sharing some of that good fortune, say, by providing some of those good customers you have, for my language pair?: EN – SP?.

You can trust me, I am VERY good at my language pair and you will not regret.

Of course, if this does not harm you and are willing to help.

You can find me at: intospanishnow dot com

Nothing lost if I try, right? Nothing ventured, Nothing gained, they say …

EmGi/PERU

Great post as usual. I think merely *talking* about this can do wonders. In France many freelance translators have opted for the “micro-entreprise” system, where your gross revenue is capped at 32K EUR, which I always find kind of depressing (why clip your own wings? it’s like admitting that you could never earn more before you even get your business up and running).

And translators in that range are incredulous when you say you are in the six-figure range. It took me about 7 years to get there (first 3 years working for agencies only, then repositioning and effectively restarting my business with direct clients for years 3-6).

By openly talking about the fact that there are substantial numbers of established freelancers with diverse profiles and business models acheiving six-figure incomes, hopefully that will raise the bar (and raise the hopes of) everyone else out there.

The goal is a comfortable lifestyle, interesting work, and job satisfaction!

Great post. I don’t get to see enough written from translation professionals about how to increase their business and lifestyle. The vast majority of information I come across is always centered around being a better translator and not better at the business of translation.

I liken it to physicians. The doctors I know are primarily concerned with being better doctors and have little interest in running a medical practice. In my experience they are all very concerned with their income and yet don’t see that one cannot happen without the other.

I owned a 7 figure LSP for years and would often wonder why translators are sometimes their own worst enemies. Many factors will get you over the 6 figure fence. Some factors may prove that this vaulted goal is impossible. As stated by Emilio above with the majority of language pairs you simply cannot compete and expect to demand high enough rates to earn six figures without working 100+ hours week. Add in technological changes – crowdsourcing for instance – and you had better start working on your business and not just in it.

I wrote further on this subject a while ago at http://globalsitesecrets.com/4secretstomoretranslations/
if you want more of my perspective.

Great conversation though. A round of applause for more discussion on the business of translation. I look forward to more of your posts.

Thank you,
Russell
twitter.com/gssguy

I only just came across your post and wanted to comment on one point you make. You say that “if you break the 100K mark, you are undoubtedly working either primarily or exclusively for direct clients.”

I am lucky to be one of the “100K translators”. My income is the only household income and I am feeding a family of 4. And…. I work exclusively for agencies! I don’t want to work with direct clients and am deliverately only working with European agencies. If you select your agencies carefully, you fill find many that are willing to pay €0.14 or even €0.20 per word and in my opinion working with them is a lot less stressful than working with direct clients, and certainly less time-consuming.

So, I just wanted to point out that your assumption is not necessarily true and that you can also make more than 100K working only for agencies if you choose them wisely.

Best regards,

Nicole