This link deserves its own post: over at Musings from an Overworked Translator, Jill Sommer has an incredibly useful post on job-hunting advice for beginning translators. Jill offers some great tips, and there are yet more ideas in the comments. Definitely give it a look!
Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Must-read: advice for new translators
Posted in Getting started as a translator, Links, Marketing on January 11, 2012 | 3 Comments »
5 things to do before 2012
Posted in Freelancing, Marketing, Money, Productivity, Rates, Working from home on December 5, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Hello readers! Thoughts on Translation is back from an incredible two weeks in Costa Rica: we visited Corcovado National Park and the Arenal volcano area and it was truly amazing. I highly recommend Corcovado Adventures Tent Camp and the Sirena ranger station for a truly off-the-beaten-track experience. Think wild tapirs wandering down the beach and [...]
Some thoughts on professional photographs
Posted in Marketing, Professional associations on September 7, 2011 | 20 Comments »
Thanks to Chris Durban for suggesting this post topic! Let’s say that you want to hire a professional services provider: maybe a business accountant, a copyright attorney, a web designer or a marketing consultant. You’re clicking through that person’s website, and on their About page, you see a photograph. Great! It’s always helpful to get [...]
What about TM discounts?
Posted in Clients, Marketing, Money on June 7, 2011 | 16 Comments »
During the recent discussion on volume discounts, a number of readers brought up the (very valid) issue of translation memory discounts. I feel a can of worms about to open here, but I’ll inject some of my thoughts on TM discounts. First caveat: I am neither a huge fan of nor a heavy user of [...]
Some thoughts on volume discounts
Posted in Clients, Marketing, Money on May 20, 2011 | 26 Comments »
I get lots of questions from beginning and experienced translators about volume discounts (charging a lower per-word or hourly rate for larger projects). I actually think that after “how much should I charge?”, “should I offer a volume discount” might be the second most frequently-asked question that I see. Here are a few thoughts, and [...]
The importance of aiming low
Posted in Freelancing, Marketing, Productivity on April 13, 2011 | 21 Comments »
…well, maybe not “low.” Maybe “The importance of setting realistic expectations” is a better way to put it. Over the years, I’ve noticed that many translators fail to reach their long-term goals because (paradoxically) they aim too high. Typical case scenario: a translator who has been in the business for a few years wants to [...]
Putting 40 cents a word in context
Posted in Freelancing, Marketing, Money, Rates on March 15, 2011 | 33 Comments »
Well, it seems that something about money and income always hits people’s urge to discuss! At 65 comments and counting, “How much do freelance translators earn? Is it enough?” is far and away the most-discussed post in three years of Thoughts on Translation and everyone’s comments have provided me with lots of food for more [...]
Neat product: Moo mini-cards
Posted in Links, Marketing on February 8, 2011 | 5 Comments »
We all know that one of the primary rules of freelance marketing is “always have business cards with you.” However, this can be harder than it sounds: first, you have to have a good location for the cards. The positive impression you’re trying to create is definitely ruined if you have to rummage through your [...]
Happy 2011: Are bad habits a form of self-protection?
Posted in Freelancing, Marketing, Productivity, Translation quality, Working from home on January 5, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Happy 2011 to everyone out there in the translation blogosphere! To start the year off, here’s a very interesting interview I came across: sports writer Bill Simmons interviewing New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell. Both Simmons and Gladwell draw some interesting parallels between sports and the rest of life, but my favorite is Gladwell’s take on [...]
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Corinne McKay is an ATA-certified French to English translator specializing in international development, law and non-fiction books. She launched Thoughts on Translation in February, 2008 as a way to connect and share ideas with freelance translators around the world.
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