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Next Level supports translators and interpreters with five or more years of experience as they seek to achieve their business goals. We provide information for both freelancers and company owners to use in all aspects of their careers, from improving their privacy protections to planning for retirement.
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This was the topic of a Deep Dive Networking session hosted in June 2025 by ATA’s Business Practices Education Committee. The participants were given a set of loose questions as a starting point. The following is a summary of these discussions. This article focuses on retirement in the United States, although some attendees also talked about retirement abroad, which has its own challenges that warrant a separate article. But before we dive in, a necessary disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice and does not claim to cover every possible aspect of financial retirement planning. When…
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This post is a reblog, originally published on Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo’s blog. It is reposted with permission from the author. Testimonials are a great way to enrich your online marketing. Customers often read product reviews and testimonials before they make an important purchase. I heard someone say recently that other people’s words are 15 times more valuable than our own when…
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MIRELLA lay still in her bed, though she felt every muscle twitching. She had tried tossing but could not get comfortable. Lying on her back, she scooted up to rest her head on the pillow. She had read somewhere that in colonial times, they used to sleep almost sitting up. The standby light on the computer stared at her accusingly.…
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How much time do you spend each day looking at some type of screen? Do you work on a computer, use a tablet to look up terms while interpreting, or spend long amounts of time staring at your phone? Have you ever noticed a headache coming on while you work, or have your eyes started to feel dry and irritated?…
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This post is a reblog, originally published in the Tool Box Journal Newsletter, Issue 22-6-338 on June 15, 2022. It is reposted with permission from the author. Our brains are wired to resort to tried-and-true recipes in times of uncertainty, but old approaches are not always the most productive choice. The work of Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman has helped us understand…
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This post is a reblog, originally published by Zingword on November 5, 2020. It is reposted with permission from the author. I recently had a brief discussion on mental health with an acquaintance who also works as a freelance translator, and they said something that really stuck with me: “No one ever taught me that you can say no to…
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Wherever you live and wherever you do business in the world, you will have noticed a major uptick in inflation in 2021 and especially in the recent months of 2022. In an industry with very high added value and with limited direct costs like translation and interpreting, it is not immediately self-evident that some of us may need or want…
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This post is a reblog, originally published on Marketing Tips for Translators. It is reposted with permission from the author. Do you know what the easiest way to grow your business exponentially is? Yes, you guessed it, through referrals. Think about how you shop for services yourself. If you are looking for a new hairdresser, for example, many of us…
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In December 2021, Next Level had the opportunity to interview English to German translator Jost Zetzsche. Jost is known in the industry for his expertise with technology, but he spoke with us about his thoughts on the business side of being a translator. Please leave a comment with your thoughts on our discussion and ideas for other translators you would…
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This post is a reblog, originally published on Andrew Bell’s blog. It is reposted with permission from the author. Bilingual review files come in many shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common, and that is that they’re meant to facilitate the revision stage of a translation project. As you can see in the image above, the…
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I am willing to bet that marketing your translation or interpreting services to potential clients is not something you look forward to. Most of us usually dread or postpone this task. Wouldn’t it be nice if clients came to you instead? Well, it is possible to get closer to that goal with a Google My Business (GMB) listing. In this…
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