101 Tips to Succeed as Freelance Translator

Photo Credit mikelens 101 Tips to Succeed as Freelance Translator Translation 1. Make sure that you want to be a freelance translator 2. Don’t quit your day job in the beginning. 3. Restrict free (sample translation) to 300 words 4. Translate into your native language only. 5. Always keep a very close eye on quality. 6. Always meet deadlines. 7. You're really only as good as your last translation. 8. Conduct terminology research. 9. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. 10. Do some volunteer translation work. 11. Consider 2000 target words to be a normal day and 3000 target words to be very good. 12. Have different rates for general, semi-specialized and specialised texts. 13. As a beginner, be careful in taking large volume jobs. 14. Do not accept any assignment if you are not confident that you can do it. 15. Do not accept anything in an area that you are not familiar with. 16. Do not work for a rock-bottom rate. 17. Do not accept any assignment for which you are not fully qualified 18. Read forum posts and translation blogs like Tips for translators (http://www.getdirectclient.blogspot.com) Learning 19. Specialization - This is definitely advantageous for you 20. Learning translation properly once at a postgraduate programme. 21. Make yourself familiar with the entire CAT and similar programs out there. 22. A writing course and a course of stylistics always come in handy. 23. Learn how to improve your translation even after becoming a professional translator to find the best translation. 24. Improve writing. 25. Continue to invest in necessary training. 26. Learn to translate by reviewing other people's work. 27. Practice translating something that one hasn't read in the target language. 28. Ask professional translators to send you translations they just finished and read those translations carefully 29. Try Proficiency tests: Try IELTS (for English) or UN exams or TOEFL (for English) 30. Get certification by NAATI (Australia) or ATA (USA) or other associations. 31. Answer Kudoz and similar questions. 32. Become member of PROZ, Aquarius, and Translators base and other portals but search for life beyond them. 33. Participate in forum discussions. Clients 34. If your clients are happy, you seem to be doing something right. 35. Do not depend only on one client. 36. Do not assume your current rate of incoming work will continue unabated. 37. Expand your client base. 38. Have portfolio of regular clients. 39. Create Credentials. 40. Ask for feedbacks. 41. Ask for testimonials. 42. Keep your clients happy- repeat jobs will come your way Attributes 43. A bit of luck is always in the game, the rest is hard work. 44. Do what you really like. Then money will flow. 45. Have desire, passion, and dedication and do hard work. 46. Remember your job is not a hobby but a profession. 47. Remember your success is judged by the quality of the end result. 48. Remember your success is judged by having the money in the bank. 49. This profession requires ethics at every level. 50. Successful translator needs to have talent, drive, energy, commitment, confidence - and luck. 51. Study and research before you start. 52. Endeavor to translate with utmost accuracy and fidelity. 53. Convey to the readers of the translation the same meaning and spirit of the original. 54. Master the target language equivalent to that of an educated native speaker. 55. Have Up-to-date knowledge of the source language. 56. Have Up-to-date knowledge of the subject area. 57. Be truthful about your qualification. 58. Continuously self-improve. 59. Inspire hope. 60. Have common sense and apply it. 61. Know your own limitations. 62. Always follow you gut instincts. 63. Have Attitude! Business 64. Consider freelance translation as a business. 65. Have a business plan how you’re going to get work 66. Consider translation as for-profit activity 67. Tell everyone you know that you’re available for Translation jobs 68. Keep sending your CV to agencies. 69. Market yourself everyday even when you have a job at hand. 70. Be truthful about your business. 71. Become member of translation portals. 72. Invest in paid memberships. And test it. 73. Advertise your services through all means and test it. 74. Have business acumen. 75. Become member of local chamber of commerce 76. Become member of translator's organizations. 77. Join network of translators. 78. Reply to emails within 3 hours, if possible. 79. Create a good CV 80. Follow successful translators 81. Create a website/Blog and promote and track posts. 82. Create or buy a database of agencies. Health 83. Take regular breaks when working. 84. Take care of your health 85. Take care of your family 86. Take vacations. 87. Do Yoga exercises for hand, neck and back. 88. Have your eyes tested at least once a year. 89. Quit Smoking Family 90. Make your family happy 91. Love your spouse 92. Play with your children 93. Take care of your parents Tools 94. Use dictionaries, Google, Wikipedia, etc. 95. Use CAT tools and speech recognition if possible. 96. Invest in Hardwares, softwares, CAT tools, dictionaries Home Office 97. Manage your home office. 98. Keep track of your finance 99. Send invoice along with the job 100. Create multiple options of payments for Client- cheque, paypal, moneybookers, bank transfer etc. 101. Keep all records for 2 years minimum.

Freelancers Owning Websites-Boon or Bane

Photo Credit rosemary Freelancers Owning Websites-Boon or Bane The question that comes to the mind of every freelancer is whether or not to have a website for promoting themselves and their work. Will having a website improve the volume of projects they are obtaining? Will creating an identity help in impressing the clients that scout for freelancers on the internet? If you are one of those freelancers with such questions on your mind, you are not alone. There are many such freelancers who are in the same dilemma as you are. From a larger perspective, it has been observed that there is a divided opinion among freelancers in answering the question. Creating a website and maintaining it does not come cheap. While owning a domain name is not very expensive, creating the right content can be. Also, there is a necessity for you to have the right adwords such that there is more traffic generated to your website. This is again a costly affair as you need to pay to the search engine for certain adwords when ever they are clicked by a user. Even though generation of traffic does not come easy, there are many who believe and have experienced an increase in the number of clients by owning a website. There are many who perceive that with a website there is an identity for yourself on the internet which will help embellish your accomplishments as well as provide a feel-good factor for your clients. At the same time, there are others who feel that having a website in no way increases the face value and they feel that they can obtain adequate workload by other means such as developing a good client contact base and with having their profiles on other freelance websites which has good amount of web traffic already. They feel that this will help them in concentrating on their work more and would not necessitate spending time on any unnecessary things such as trying to improve the traffic to the website. While some think that having a website is highly advantageous there are many others that think that having a website is in no way of an extra benefit. The perceptions of each one differ and how you lean is dependent on how you feel about the whole issue.

Is freelance translation right for you?

Photo Credit jurvetson Is freelance translation right for you? One cannot just become a freelance translator just for the sake of it. There are many vital considerations that need to go in before you finally choose to take up freelance translation as your area of work. These are some of the important things that you should consider before you plan to provide translation services that too in an industry that is already very competitive. The primary concern would be the amount of knowledge you possess in the language and how well you can manipulate it to serve your particular purpose. There are many who feel that a university or even a high school degree would be sufficient to deal with translation but it is not enough. The grasp over the language and the combinations is far more important than the degree that you possess. The next most consideration would be to find out whether you have good marketing skills or not. If you do not then this business venture would fail to achieve your target in profits. Moreover if your marketing plans are not up to the mark then even your skills in the language would not matter much. Your capacity to accept rejection is another major requirement. It is indeed terribly disheartening to find people who will reject your work. The point is not to lose heart. The market is huge and you will surely find all those who are looking for the services that you are providing. Managing your finances is another very important consideration. The people in this industry usually do not have a steady flow of income and therefore it becomes all the more important to maintain the steady flow of your income.

Freelance Translation Works – How to go about it?

Freelance Translation Works – How to go about it? When you are on freelance translation jobs, you need to make sure that this business becomes a permanent marketing activity, just like any other business in the market. Often it is found that freelance translators promote their translation skills by simply posting profile on directories and translation portals, and distributing resume to translation agencies. In freelance translation services, you need to market more proactively through forums, blogs, newsletters, email marketing, networking, referrals, additional publicity and advertisements. To be in business, you need to make you mind work like a journalist and expose your skills through Press Releases. The Headline is the most crucial element as it grabs attention of readers. The Sub-head should explicate the Heading in a few lines. The Lead Paragraph must answer questions like how, where, when, what, who. The following paragraphs should explain the story in detail and the conclusion should enclose information about your business and work. Once you complete working on the Press Release, work on strategies to distribute and publish the material in all forms of media. The best way to advertise your freelance translation service to thousands of potential targeted clients is through online Press Release services. Initially select the online services that are free since you will have nothing to lose and only the possibility to gain! You can also contact PR distributors for sending your service information to the media. If you want to contact the media directly, you need to know the trick of writing a convincing pitch letter. It is a short letter that you address to the editor requesting him to read the attached PR. Press Release is a very powerful tool, and when combined with serious marketing efforts, can take your freelance translation services to new heights.

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 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 your 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 it 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 this industry

Freelance Translation Works – How to go about it?

When you are on freelance translation jobs, you need to make sure that this business becomes a permanent marketing activity, just like any other business in the market. Often it is found that freelance translators promote their translation skills by simply posting profile on directories and translation portals, and distributing resume to translation agencies. You need to market more proactively through forums, blogs, newsletters, email marketing, networking, referrals, additional publicity and advertisements. To be in business, you need to make you mind work like a journalist and expose your skills through Press Releases. The Headline is the most crucial element as it grabs attention of readers. The Sub-head should explicate the Heading in a few lines. The Lead Paragraph must answer questions like how, where, when, what, who. The following paragraphs should explain the story in detail and the conclusion should enclose information about your business and work. Once you complete working on the Press Release, work on strategies to distribute and publish the material in all forms of media. The best way to advertise your freelance translation service to thousands of potential targeted clients is through online Press Release services. Initially select the online services that are free since you will have nothing to lose and only the possibility to gain! You can also contact PR distributors for sending your service information to the media. If you want to contact the media directly, you need to know the trick of writing a convincing pitch letter. It is a short letter that you address to the editor requesting him to read the attached PR. Press Release is a very powerful tool, and when combined with serious marketing efforts, can take your freelance translation services to new heights