Comments on: Theories about direct clients

By: Pablo Muñoz Sánchez presenta su web profesional | Algo más que traducir

Pablo Muñoz Sánchez presenta su web profesional | Algo más que traducir — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:12:17 +0000

[...] clientes serán principalmente extranjeros, decidí escribirlo todo en inglés como ya recomendaba Corinne McKay, a ver qué tal sale la cosa. Por supuesto, todo el contenido ha sido revisado por un profesional [...]

By: » On finding translation clients — and being found

» On finding translation clients — and being found — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:14:12 +0000

[...] also just caught up with Corinne McKay’s excellent list of theories about direct clients. I actually wouldn’t call them theories, as the piece is a series of observations learned [...]

By: Joan

Joan — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:11:45 +0000

I finally did a French version of my résumé/CV recently, with some help from a couple of native French friends who agreed to look it over and make corrections/suggestions. I just did a website this year, in English only for the moment, and I have been considering the best way to make it bilingual. For my English website, I used just a template on Yahoo. It was simple to set up and quite inexpensive. I’m thinking that the easiest way to make it bilingual is to get another yahoo domain to do a French version, and then create a link from one site to the other. So far my site isn’t really showing up on search engines, but it at least gives me something I can include in my signature at the bottom of e-mails and on my business card where people can go for more information.

Joan

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:34:24 +0000

@Judy
Velll….while I always thank a referrer with a phone call or email, I’d like to do something with a little more impact, like a personal gift (I know most of my clients well — since I love to eat, taking clients out to lunch is my favorite hobby and it does give you a chance to chat!). We have a pretty good idea for the referral “thank you”. But to initiate the referral process we wanted to do something fun, like a special business card that the referrer can pass on to others, for instance (with a special message on the back like “I loved working with SFM Traduction and I think you will, too” or something…). We don’t want to be pushy and want to keep it fun.

Also agree completely with what you say about networking and “giving back”. Those two activities alone have helped me transform my business from all-agency to an exclusively direct clientele. It’s all about building rapport and credibility.

By: Judy Jenner

Judy Jenner — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:17:54 +0000

Ah, my very favorite subject; agreed on all fronts. Finding and retaining direct customers is a lot of work, it’s analogous to networking. We do it all the time, and another piece of advice would be to get out in the community and attend networking functions, go to the Chamber of Commerce speednetworking session if you can, and more than anything, integrate looking for clients into your everyday life. That doesn’t mean being pushy, but you never know where you next client will come from. I found one at a baby shower, so be sure to have business cards on hand at all times. I frequently get asked what I do for a living at parties, and many times, someone will say “Oh, my company needs a Spanish/German website”.

Also, I think giving back to the profession by serving on the board of a local chapter, etc, is not only a great thing for all of us, but it also builds your reputation. I am also all for the pull strategy: build your reputation and the clients will come. I also recommend going to trade shows, which is a tremendous amount of work, but is totally worth it.

@Sara: on the referrals front, you could consider asking current happy customers for names and contact information of clients who might need your services. I believe you should only do this will clients you know well, just in case they don’t feel comfortable. Of course, the ideal situatioon is when customers tell you they already referred you all on their own. I am not sure I answered the question you had, but that is my first thought.

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:39:11 +0000

There are many benefits to being “findable” whether it is through web presence or an active strategy to help existing clients help others “find” you through referrals (BTW – anyone have feedback on this? we are currently trying to set up a referral program to systematize what is already happening frequently but randomly and would love any tips you might have). My favorite benefit of “them finding you” is the position of strength it puts you in when it comes time to negotiate rates.

As for the monolingual source-language website, it is great to have one on the right domain name (the country’s domain extension). I personally use the FR version of my website as the “base” version (since 99 percent of my customers are in France) eventhough it is on a .com and not a .fr extension.

Not even sure why I have an English version, really, other than to appeal to the rare non-French prospects that come my way.

By: Corinne McKay

Corinne McKay — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:03:21 +0000

@John and Karen, glad you enjoyed it!
@Kevin, I agree: I have a lot of back-burner ideas for “push” marketing to direct clients but they always seem to stay on the back burner. On the other hand, I get quite a few “out of nowhere” inquiries from potential direct clients just because they are cruising the web looking for translators.
@Céline, if I could write in two languages as well as you do, I wouldn’t worry about having a source language-only website! Personally I think that a bilingual website can be very appealing, it’s when people have a ton of languages (that they obviously don’t speak) that I think it can turn clients off. In my case, I went for a simple, static website in French partially to use a French domain name and partially because I write so slowly in French that it would take a lot of time to keep it updated if it were more complex. I’m always in awe of your dual-language blog!

By: céline

céline — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:53:24 +0000

Excellent post, Corinne. How do agree that with direct clients, using a strategy allowing them to find you as easily as possible is probably more efficient than taking steps to “go and get them”. Can you explain, however, why you think that a website that is exclusively in the translator’s source language is more efficient than a bilingual one? The client can just disregard the part of the site s/he doesn’t understand, no? Or is its interest purely linked to the “localised” domain name?

By: Kevin Lossner

Kevin Lossner — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 23:09:28 +0000

Thank you, Corinne. I find that last suggestion particularly interesting.

My experience has also been that the direct clients will find you; two of my favorite international companies did exactly that much to my surprise. But I can’t honestly compare the “let them come” approach to active acquisition, because I seldom find time for the latter.

By: Karen Tkaczyk

Karen Tkaczyk — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:19:39 +0000

Nice post Corinne! Common sense, practical tips and the benefits of your good ideas all rolled into one.