If you’re a freelancer, you probably conduct price negotiations with clients or potential clients almost every day of your professional life. For translators, especially translators who work with agencies, these negotiations often come down to a difference of one or two cents. Your minimum rate is 15 cents per word and the client will only [...]
Archive for the ‘Money’ Category
Two cents, or $10,000?
Posted in Freelancing, Money, Rates on February 13, 2012 | 27 Comments »
A few financial management tips
Posted in Freelancing, Money on January 18, 2012 | 11 Comments »
After working all day on my business taxes (year-end and fourth quarter…I need a mocha!), my thoughts are firmly stuck in the financial realm. So let’s stick with that topic and talk about some tips for managing your freelance finances. Some of these are US-specific and some apply worldwide, so especially if you’re an overseas [...]
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 [...]
ATA conference topic: low payers
Posted in Freelancing, Money, Rates on November 3, 2011 | 33 Comments »
Amazingly enough in this economy, my sense from the ATA conference is that most freelancers are very happy with their work volume and income levels. Especially as compared with the gloom and doom of the US economy (maybe even the world economy?), I think we’re doing quite well. 2011 has brought me as much work [...]
Some thoughts on hourly and salaried pay
Posted in Clients, Money, Productivity on June 21, 2011 | 12 Comments »
In the early days of Thoughts on Translation (March, 2008 to be exact), I wrote a post on charging by the word versus charging by the hour. For a long time, it was the most active post on my blog and it inspired some interesting and heated discussion. Get Rich Slowly’s post today is on [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
How much do freelance translators earn? Is it enough?
Posted in Freelancing, Money, Rates on March 7, 2011 | 90 Comments »
Beginning freelance translators often want to know (understandably) how much they can expect to earn in our industry. Experienced freelance translators often want to know (understandably) whether they are earning enough for the effort they put into their businesses. So, what do freelance translators earn? The American Translators Association does a compensation survey every few [...]
Webinar question: Should I incorporate?
Posted in Freelancing, Money, Webinar questions on November 29, 2010 | 7 Comments »
This is post #2 in my ongoing series of questions from the webinar on “Getting started as a freelance translator” that I presented for the American Translators Association earlier this month. A participant asks: As a self-employed freelance translator, should I operate as an LLC, an S-corp or a sole proprietorship? Short answer: If you [...]
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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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