Comments for Thoughts On Translation

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Shenyun Wu

Shenyun Wu — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:19:32 +0000

Good point! Every cent does count. While it’s okay to give discounts sometimes, it’s important to put your foot down on a minimum amount you’d charge for. Just today, I was negotiating with an agency who wanted to pay me less than half of what I charge as a per-word rate. I ended up declining their offer because it just wouldn’t be worth my time.

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Sara Freitas

Sara Freitas — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:51:05 +0000

Excellent post, Corinne. Another eye-opening aspect of project pricing to look at is translation cost as a percentage of the total cost of a project. Take, for example, a one-page advertorial or print ad, where the word count is tiny, but the project cost (and exposure) is high. Even a super-premium translation will represent just a tiny fraction of the total project cost (copywriting, design, ad space purchase). Does it really make sense for anyone to look at per-word costs for this type of project (and yet many do!)? The next time an agency contacts you with a per-word offer to translate 56 words for a print ad or 350 words for an advertorial at X cents per word, stop and think! Does it really make sense to negotiate an extra half a cent per word, bringing the percentage of translation as part of the total cost of the project from 2% down to 1.85%? It would make much more sense for clients to double or triple the translation budget (which would still only be a small fraction of the total cost of the project) if it could help them guarantee a better ROI on the entire investment. Of course the problem with agencies is that they often undersell these kinds of projects, and then need to find a translator that “fits in” to the budget they have negotiated. Time to start raising their awareness! It is not the translator’s problem if the agency doesn’t know how to sell our services at the right price.

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Anne de Freyman

Anne de Freyman — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:26:04 +0000

I agree with the idea of looking at things “by the project” but I don’t tend to look at projects in terms of dollars, pounds or euros only, rather in terms of what each project will bring to my career or my relationship with a particular agency (I work mostly with agencies, very happily and successfully but I’m choosy!). Sometimes, giving up some money on a project pays off tenfold in the long run. I have, in the past, accepted very slightly lower rates simply because the project was going to be very beneficial in validating my area of specialisation or put my name at the end of a big report. Other times, because the agency was one I was particularly happy to work with (immediate payment, good project management etc), sometimes because it was recurring work (monthly newsletters for example) and I would rather earn a bit less but have the certainty that the job will land on my desk every month, sometimes simply because a job was interesting and exciting. As long as I keep my level of earnings to where I want it to be, I’m happy to lose “just a cent” but gain experience, kudos and contacts. They too have a value which needs to be taken into account. I also feel that working with one very good and loyal agency at one cent below your standard rate can be much more rewarding, even financially, than working with ten not so good and loyal agencies at one cent above your standard rate.

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Leonardo J.C.

Leonardo J.C. — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:53:30 +0000

Dear Corine,

Would you authorize me to publish this text of your on our Online Translation Studies page?

http://www.englishinbotafogo.com/onlinetranslationstudies.htm

Of course, we can link your text to a page of your website.

Thank you for your consideration.

kind regards,

Leonardo J. C.

Language Teacher and TS researcher

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Gillian Hargreaves

Gillian Hargreaves — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:12:56 +0000

Just when I was starting to think that quoting per 1000 words (as we do in the UK) was a bit of a nonsense, maybe it is after all justified in part by your post. But I’m looking at it from the other perspective: it’s easier to justify regular rate increases if they’re just GBP 1 or 2 extra per 1000 words at a time. It would look a bit odd to add USD 0.001 per word.

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by John Di Rico

John Di Rico — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:52:36 +0000

Dear Marta,
I don’t mind large volume discounts, they make sense on a per project or per client basis. Why?
A 1000 word project could require the same amount of pre-translation terminology work and/or research, quoting and billing time, and customer relationship management as a 100,000 word project. These time-consumers represent a floating percentage of the overall word rate. For example, let’s say, for a 1000 word project, you charge 10 cents per word and the non-translation part of the job represents 2 cents per word or $20. So your real per word rate is 8 cents. Now, lets look at the 100,000 word project. Even if we quintuple the project management costs to $100 and even double it again to $200, this is nowhere near the $2,000 a 2 cents per word rate would imply for non-translation tasks. After considering this, if you decide in the end that all of the questions, terminology work, etc. is going to cost say $1000, you can reduce your overall rate to 9 cents per word and you are still covering these costs and earning 8 cents per word.
In a salaried position, this translates into earning more paid vacation days over time because you are gaining in productivity. Eventually, the boss might even let you work remotely where you can even cut down your hours further (as long as you are getting the job done and doing it well)!
Best,
John

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Aurélie Gobet

Aurélie Gobet — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:33:29 +0000

Hello Corinne! I’m reading this as I’m right in the middle of your book! It is VERY inspiring. I’ve been working as a free-lance translator (EN/DE>FR) for translation agencies for more than a year now and it doesn’t take more time to make you want to work for direct clients only! I have a very friendly relationship with an American agency but, apart from them, I could easily say goodbye to the others… After each project, I count how much I earned per hour. Sometimes, it’s just the minimum wage and sometimes it’s three times that! I still need more experience to be able to know, from the start, if I should ask more than my usual rate. Most of the time, agencies agree to spend 1 more cent per source word, so, it makes me more confident. I’ll try to do it more often in the future!
Thanks for your great posts and books!

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Carbone Traduzioni

Carbone Traduzioni — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:13:45 +0000

Sorry, for the mistake… “losing” not loosing!

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Carbone Traduzioni

Carbone Traduzioni — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:55:50 +0000

Very good point! Actually thinking about cents can be really misleading. You should always consider at least the whole project to understand how much you are loosing and share your point of view with the client.

Comment on Two cents, or $10,000? by Marta (@mstelmaszak)

Marta (@mstelmaszak) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:38:23 +0000

Corinne, great post, thank you! For the very same reason I hate “large volume discounts”. They do nothing but lose us money in the end. Long time ago, when I worked in a different industry, my ex-employer suggested that he would give me more hours if I agreed to a lower per hour rate. No way! Simple maths and I knew I’d be losing more money.