In these ultra-automated times, I think that we need to embrace a mix of old-school and new-school techniques for finding and retaining clients. As someone who really believes in the power of social networking sites, blogs, podcasts, etc. (although I’m still holding out on Twitter…), I’m not advocating a return to the days when translation [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Stand out from the crowd by going low-tech
Posted in Freelancing on April 30, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Episode 4 of Speaking of Translation is live
Posted in Announcements, Nubbin on April 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Episode 4 of Speaking of Translation, the podcast that Eve Bodeux and I host, is now live! For this episode, we interviewed Judy Jenner during her recent visit to Colorado and talked to her about marketing pitfalls and best practices for freelance translators. The episode is 23 minutes long and you can either listen to [...]
Links: two excellent marketing posts
Posted in Links, Marketing on April 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
If you’re looking for some coffee-break reading, I highly recommend: Riccardo Schiaffino’s post over at About Translation, on last weekend’s Colorado Translators Association marketing seminar. We had some weather-related drama associated with this event (a foot of wet snow in mid-April!) but fortunately it went off very well and we’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Thanks [...]
Some thoughts on rush charges
Posted in Freelancing, Rates on April 27, 2009 | 9 Comments »
Recently, the e-mail list of our local translators association erupted with posts on the topic of rush charges, and I’m assuming that the level of interest on this topic isn’t restricted to translators in Colorado. I was really intrigued by the variety of ways in which people handle rush jobs; some charge as much as [...]
The Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation
Posted in Uncategorized on April 23, 2009 | 4 Comments »
A fellow ATA member wrote to let me know that she is on the committee for the Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation, and that the committee is actively seeking submissions for this year’s award. The deadline is June 1 and the submission guidelines are available on the award’s web page. The Alicia [...]
Link: Sales Caffeine
Posted in Links, Marketing on April 21, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I’ve been incommunicada for a few days due to the Colorado Translators Association‘s marketing seminar which we held over the weekend. Judy Jenner of Twin Translations did a fantastic job as the featured presenter, and we had a really interesting panel in the afternoon with people from various sectors of the industry: Adam Asnes of [...]
Diversifying your income stream
Posted in Freelancing, Money on April 13, 2009 | 18 Comments »
With the economy not really knowing what it’s doing this year, it’s a good time to look at your income stream: what’s up, what’s down, and how can you do more of the work that’s up? In my case, my work from U.S.-based agencies is markedly down, work from European clients (both direct clients and [...]
Resources for free and open source software users
Posted in Technology on April 9, 2009 | 9 Comments »
As I’ve mentioned before, I run my translation business using free and open source software almost exclusively. I say “almost” because I have in the past run Microsoft Office and Wordfast using CrossOver Linux, a tool that allows you to run Windows software on Linux without a Windows license. In addition, although my primary computer [...]
Why am I doing this again?
Posted in Freelancing on April 7, 2009 | 10 Comments »
Earlier this week, Get Rich Slowly had a great post on finding the balance between time and money. The author (and site owner, J.D.) relates the story of an old friend of his who radically changed his priorities in life after the death of his wife and infant daughter, and J.D. then goes on to [...]
A new blog on bilingualism
Posted in Links, Nubbin on April 6, 2009 | 1 Comment »
This isn’t specifically translation-related, but given that many translators live in bilingual households, I think it’s not OT either. My colleague and friend Eve Bodeux recently launched a new blog, appropriately titled Blogging on Bilingualism, with articles and resources of interest to bilingual families or really anyone interested in bilingualism. As Eve’s “About” page says [...]
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