Why do Clients Prefer Outsourcing Freelance Translation Services to Agencies?

Why do Clients Prefer Outsourcing Freelance Translation Services to Agencies? Clients are always on the lookout to outsource their work directly to well organize companies. Thus, it becomes difficult for a single freelancer to gain access to freelance translation jobs and the clients. Even if they know the clients, they may find it difficult to secure orders from them. This is because the companies tend to outsource freelance translation services to recognized organizations, capable of providing comprehensive solutions. Major clients look out for agencies that are capable of meeting various language requirements, are always available to the clients, can work on specialized content, and ensure that deadlines are scrupulously met. Taking into consideration their requirement for diversity, capacity and continuity, it hardly surprises us when we find these companies avoiding individual freelancers and looking out for an all-round translation agency for working on their freelance translation jobs. The charge of a freelance translator is lower than the service changed by major agencies. However, most clients prefer to pay this extra amount since this additional change guarantees superior quality work and additional services. Moreover, these agencies follow the ethics of translation by keeping information of clients confidential, meetings deadlines, maintaining content quality and by not overcharging novice clients. Thus, to find a place in freelance translation agencies, place your CV with them, write articles as often you can, open a freelance translation web site of your own, become an online member and write in blogs and forums for exchanging views. Gaining suitable experience and exposure in freelance translation service is a must to become a name.

Why and how to network?

This article is taken from the blog of a very successful translator Mr A M Sall.(http://translatorpower.wordpress.com/category/social-networks/) It describes how translators can use Online Business Networking. ----------------------------- Social networking online should be one of the strategies you use to broaden your horizons. Reach out to the whole wide world to make friends and build business relations on the 5 continents. Registration is generally free, with the possiblity to upgrade for a small fee to get some premium services. In most cases, it is not really necessary to upgrade, in particular when you are just beginning, testing the waters, as it were For example for LinkedIn, this is how it works: you complete the free registration at LinkedIn.com, and then you can 'invite' others you know and trust to become 'LinkedIn' to you through the site. Now, through your connections, you can ask to be introduced to others in the LinkedIn network. You can make as many connections as you want. However, it is not really a matter of numbers but rather the quality of networks and underlying relationships are what creates all sorts of opportunities, including of course business opportunities for you. Says freelance marketing consultant Scott Stratten, who runs a company called "Un-Marketing" in Ontario, Canada: "I'm making more revenue from Ryze without ever having to approach a customer. They see my profile, read the views and commentaries that I've posted in previous discussions on the site, and they approach me with opportunities." (Quoted in a Fast Company article ) The main social networks I would ask you to check out: LinkedIn, "a community of more than 8 million people who rely on one another to get things done" or again "an online network of more than 8.5 million experienced professionals from around the world representing 130 industries", Ryze, Ecademy, Soflow, Spoke, OpenBC (mainly European) There a great article in Ilise Benun's Marketing Mix Blog, which leads you to another 3 excellent resources, and also check out Guy Kawasaki take on LinkedIn To conclude: always keep in mind you are a global communicator and a global communication facilitator. Consider that no human being is unapproachable, no place in the world is inaccessible. Slowly but surely build your own personal network. This could eventually prove to be the most productive of all marketing strategies. P.S. Here is my profile on LinkedIn Posted in Amsall, online business networking, social networking, social networks, translators. ------------------------- Want more direct clients? join my yahoo group. I will alert you when there is new tip posted in my blog. To subscribe just send a blank email at TipsforTranslators-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unlimited freedom, unlimited storage. Get it now, on http://help.yahoo.com/l/in/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/tools/tools-08.html/

what is better for blogging Blogger or Word press?

I find Word press is much interesting and thinking to change to Wordpress. What do you people suggest? =Ostom

Ten Languages which are important for tech sectors

Here is a list made by somebody in the internet(taken from Google answers). One may agree or not but it does give some idea. [1] English, one would imagine is the most lucrative language. The very fact that most of the transactions are done in English subscribes this view. Other languages which are likely to be lucrative are: [2] Chinese. There are a huge number of software professionals from China and operating in China. Chinese gadgets are among the finest in the world, and the economy is looking up. [3] Japanese. Japan is the hub for hardware. Japanese technology is so advanced that even USA has no answer. [4] German. The German IT market is opening up. With companies like SAP cutting their way into the market, learning German is imperative if you want to have dealings with Europe [5] Korean. Korea, like Japan has got amazing technology. It probably has to do with the fact that Korea is so close to Japan [6] French. Yet another language for the European market. French is the most widely spoken non-English language in Europe, and knowing French can certainly help in dealing with clients. [7] Portugese. The South American IT industry is centrlized in Brazil, the main language spoken being Portugese. [8] Spanish is another language which is useful in dealing with European and South American clients. [9] Swedish. Sweden is one of the premier European countries in the technology sector. [10] Russian. If you plan to have dealings with Russia, you have to know Russian. Russian scientists are the best scientists in the world read rest of the article at https://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=110225 ------------------------------------------------------ Want more direct clients? join my yahoo group. I will alert you when there is new tip posted in my blog. To subscribe just send a blank email at TipsforTranslators-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Save all your chat conversations. Find them online at http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php

How to receive payment for small jobs?

A problem most freelance translators are faces with is how to receive payment. In particular: How to receive payment for small jobs. Many translation agencies are reluctant to pay small fees via wire transfer due to the transaction fees; often they will send you a check instead. And I suppose I don't have to tell you: The banks charge an enormous commission when you come and want to cash in your check. Then along came PayPal . Basically PayPal lets you send and receive payment over the Internet. It bases its service on the existing bank and credit card networks, but it is not a bank in itself. Registering is free; all you need is an email address. Sending money is free - receiving money however, is not. You pay 3.4 % of the received amount unless you are receiving dollars; in this case you pay 2.9 % of the received amount. Then you have to pay a flat fee for each transaction: 0.35 Euros or 0.30 Dollars. In addition you have to pay a cross boarder fee of 0.5 % - 1.0 % if you receive payment from someone located in another country. Then you have to pay a small fee when you withdraw your money to your regular bank account. (Unless your bank is located in the United States; then you don't have to pay this fee.) How much this is depends on the country you are located in. I for instance live in Switzerland and have to pay 0.50 CHF to withdraw to my account. Banks in countries within EU, except the United Kingdom, all charge 1.0 Euro. Lets have a look at an example. I perform a small translation and charge a minimum fee of 20 Euro. 3.4 % of 20 Euro is 0.68 Euro, plus the flat fee of 0.35 Euro. Add the cross boarder fee of 1%, which is 0.20 Euro. So, of my 20 Euros PayPal takes 1.20 Euros. In addition comes the fee of 0.50 CHF for withdrawing the money to my regular bank account. If the agency sent me a check instead of using PayPal, my bank would charge 7.50 CHF (4.80 Euros) for cashing the check for me. Each bank has its own fees for cashing checks and receiving wire transfers. But for smaller amounts PayPal is definitely the cheapest way of accepting payment. You will have to do a small calculation and see how large amounts you can receive before the PayPal fees exceed the fees your bank charges. But is it safe? Most freelance translators using this way of receiving payment are satisfied with the service and have had no problem with PayPal. I have only heard of one-two translators having their accounts frozen by PayPal for no legitimate reason. Some negative aspects of PayPal The problems with PayPal only start when you have a problem, so to speak. Resolving a problem can be very time-consuming and frustrating, and in many cases no solution is reached. Their customer support is not exactly something to brag about. It is very difficult to get behind their wall of auto responders and answering machines! Another thing to be aware of are scams. There are numerous scams around, from people sending out emails pretending to be from PayPal asking you to confirm your credit card numbers, to hackers going in to your account and spending all your money. Other negative aspects of PayPal are that it is not available in all countries and you can only receive payment in a few currencies. By using PayPal you take a large risk compared to using the normal banking system. The chance of loosing your money is there. At the moment there are several lawsuits filed against PayPal and a lot of people who have lost money and not received any compensation. Have a look at these web sites: http://www.paypalwarning.com http://www.aboutpaypal.org/ A few tips for using PayPal The majority of the people having problems with PayPal are people selling items via auctions etc. Some examples: Payment is cashed from the buyers account and not transferred to the sellers account. A buyer uses a stolen credit card number to purchase items from you and your account risk being frozen for being involved with criminal activity. As long as you use PayPal to receive money and don't connect you PayPal account to a credit card the risk is relatively low. In the worst case you could loose the money available on you PayPal account, threw whatever reason: hackers getting in to your account, PayPal freezing your account etc. Having read a few of the horror stories about PayPal, I am very cautious using their system. But I still use it for receiving small payments. Basically out of lack of alternatives. PayPal was the first company to offer this kind of service, and for a long time it was the only company providing this service. In the last year or so a few other companies have started providing the same service or very similar services. Most of them are very new companies and still not industry standard. When I ask agencies if they pay via Moneybookers for instance, they have never heard of this. But many of them can offer payment threw PayPal. I am sure there soon will be very good alternatives. But for now it seems we are stuck with PayPal whether we like it or not. Guidelines for using PayPal The only advice I can give is to be careful using PayPal. Here are some tips to help minimize the risk of loosing money threw PayPal. 1. Only receive smaller amounts threw PayPal. 2. Never leave large amounts on your PayPal account: Withdraw your money as soon as you have a couple of hundred Euros/Dollars. 3. Log in to your account and check that everything is ok each time you expect to receive payment. 4. Be prepared to loose the money on your account. ----------------------------------------------------------------- About the author Anita Karlson Henssler is working as a freelance translator. Join PolarZone; her Free Newsletter for the Freelancer. http://www.polartext.com/newsletter.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------- Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger. Go to http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php/

Translators, how to build your webpage ?

I have found a very good resource for translators. It is done by a translator and available in INternet for free. The author discusses Homepage Building for the Savvy Language Professional. He handles the following issues : What is HTML? How Do I Generate HTML? Commercial Tools I Have Created a Website – What Now? My Site Is Online – How Will They Find Me? Rankings Are Important Choosing Your Domain Name Tracking Your Visitors Important Points to Keep in Mind Make sure the pages are easy to navigate Do not use any advertisement pop-ups For all these visit http://www.frankdietz.com/ATA2005HomepageBuilding.ppt Once you have your own site you are already there. -------------------------------------------------- Want more direct clients? join my yahoo group. I will alert you when there is new tip posted in my blog. To subscribe just send a blank email at TipsforTranslators-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs

Are you a Professional Freelance Translator? Find Out

Are you a Professional Freelance Translator? Find Out The work done by professional freelance translators is not an easy one. Some people speak fluently in more than one language and thinks that they have it all that takes to become a professional freelance translator. However, the truth is a bit different. You are the best judge of yourself. Following are some of the determining factors that can help you decide whether you have got professionalism in freelance translation jobs in you. Through the following seven factors listed below, try to identify and question yourself to derive the correct answer. · Does you experience in the foreign language last for 2-3 months stint you did in any crash course? · How many translation assignments have you worked on? Was it a college assignment? · Take a look at the email address you employ to be in touch with your clients. Does it read something as funny as bunny06@yahoo.com or something similar? · Do you have the tendency to accept all translation offers that comes your way? How often do you make the effort to find out the subject matter of the translation before embarking on the project with the client? · Are you wondering what “Deadlines” are and the importance of it? · Do you rate interpretation and translation as the same thing? · Do you make use of online translation tools and pass them off as your own work? If you identify yourself with the above factors, then you are just a wannabe freelance translator and need to work on your language skills to sharpen your freelance translation service further. But, don’t lose heart, hard work in the field of freelance translation jobs pay off well. Be determined, work hard on languages, bid for simple translation works, and gradually work your way to become a success in the field of freelance translation services.

Test

This is a test! Want more direct clients? join my yahoo group. I will alert you when there is new tip posted in my blog. To subscribe just send a blank email at TipsforTranslators-subscribe@yahoogroups.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Most lucrative languages

Translation business booming - terrorists' languages most lucrative Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, November 2, 2007 The more people refuse to shut up, the more money there is to be made in the translation business. And the world is a more talkative place than ever, say the 1,800 members of the American Translators Association, who are in San Francisco through Saturday to talk to each other in 13 languages as part of their annual convention. The most lucrative languages to translate, the translators agreed, are those spoken where the most soldiers are. "The languages of terrorists are the hottest, and they're going to remain the hottest," association President Marian Greenfield said. "And the Chinese market is exploding. It's a very hot language. Business is booming." A translator picking a language to translate must be familiar with the future tense, as they say in the language business. That's because it takes five years or so for a translator to master a language and, in five years, the world's important terrorists and the business leaders may be from someplace else. Russian translator Kevin Hendzel said the demand for his talents has ebbed since the end of the Cold War. Hendzel used to be a translator on the emergency hot line between U.S. and Soviet generals, but found other work about the time the two countries started getting along better, which can be a very bad thing for translators. English-Russian translators make only 15 cents a word these days, according to an association study. But those who speak English and Arabic earn 18 cents for every word they translate. English translators of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and other languages spoken where people are not particularly sore at the United States make only 12 cents a word. These days, Hendzel said, the big money is in translating Arabic, Pashto and Farsi - especially tapes, Web sites and other communications from suspected bad guys. "The United States is flying blind," he said. "There's a huge untranslated backlog of tapes right now." Even trickier than translating bad guys is translating world leaders, according to expert translator Rut Simkovich of Buenos Aires, who gave a workshop on the special language of politicians. "Politicians usually need to say things very vague and very ambiguous. That causes problems for us interpreters," she said, as dozens of them from around the world nodded their heads and smiled. Sometimes a politician will reply to a question at a news conference with an answer that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. It's a habit common to all politicians, not just U.S. ones, she said. "Don't think you made a mistake in the translation," Simkovich advised the translators. "It's not your fault. The politician is just trying to plug in an answer that was prepared in advance. Sometimes the scripted answer is delivered regardless of the question." Online resources American Translators Association: www.atanet.org E-mail Steve Rubenstein at srubenstein@sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page B - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Why you are not the chosen translator

The Most Common Complaints about Translation Services By Marian Marcinkowski Within past years modern electronic communication has created extensive business opportunities for freelance translators. They are able to reach clients from all over the world and perform their jobs at their own convenience. It appears to be a dream profession, but yet so many translators report that its challenging to keep their previous clients, and that the number of clients they served has diminished. One would like to know why this takes place. First of all, one need to be aware that nowadays there is a great competition on the market, and clients are very selective. So how do I make sure that clients will return to me, not to my competitor? There are clients who constantly need translation services, and they actually prefer to use the same translator for many different projects. They will only cooperate with you again if they were satisfied with your previous services. It is also to your advantage to be familiar with complains the clients have made about translation services in the past. The most common ones are: 1. The project was not finished on time. 2. The translator demonstrated poor language skills: grammar, spelling, punctuation, omitted words, etc. 3. The translator misunderstood the formation of the translation project. He/she used different font, style. He/she did not translate the images. He/she did not include tables, etc. 4. The translator showed poor communication skills. He/she was not flexible enough. He/she has never notified when a problem occurred during the translation process. 5. The translator was hard to reach at his/her office. He/she did not provide adequate mailing address and all the documents kept returning to the sender. 6. The translator turned out to be not reliable. He/she assured he/she knew the dialect of the language but did not demonstrate this skill. He/she advertised himself/herself as a legal translator but never certified his/her work. When returning the project he/she did not include the original seal. He/she never corrected his/her previous mistakes even though he/she promised to do so. 7. The translator was not culturally sensitive. He/she presented himself/herself as a native speaker but did not know all the aspects of the culture. 8. The translator never returned money. He/she admitted that the translation was poorly done and promised to recompense but never did. 9. The translator did not respond well to constrictive criticism. In order to stand out from the competition, and have your previous clients come back to you, one ought to perform self evaluation after each translation project. Be critical about your skills and ask your clients for feedbacks. Even the negative ones might provide you with another perspectives and ideas on how to improve your skills and develop your professional growth. Sometimes constrictive criticism leads to a positive change. And positive feedbacks guarantee good promotion, trust among clients, and more projects. Good luck. The author Marian Marcinkowski is the President of VerbumSoft. He is the owner of http://www.translatorsbase.com and http://www.directfreelance.com Translatorsbase.com it is a global provider in translation solutions, providing translation services via network of professional freelance translators and translation agencies located around the world. Directfreelance.com it is a directory of freelance professionals searchable by category, specialization and location. Freelancers can find here jobs posted on daily basis. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marian_Marcinkowski http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Most-Common-Complaints-about-Translation-Services&id=122228