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As language professionals, we have a duty to keep up with training and education in our languages and specializations; with technology, legislation, and other developments important to our field; and with other people, both colleagues and clients. Attending a professional conference is a great way to manage all of these obligations. But conferences, by their very nature, can be big, overwhelming, and difficult to navigate. Simply showing up and hoping for the best is a recipe for exhaustion, failure, and wasting all the money we invested to be there. To really make the most of the conference experience, it helps…
So, you’re interested in starting a career in translation… chances are you have a lot of questions! You might be wondering whether you need a website or blog, how to find potential clients and market your services, what kind of hardware and software you’ll use, and how to approach your business structure and finances. These questions can be daunting. We…
This post originally appeared on Trados blog and it is republished with permission. Work plays a significant role in all our lives. We need it to keep the lights on, our stomachs full, money in the pot and a roof over our head. Whether you work as a freelance translator, as part of an agency, or within an in-house translation…
How can you use email and phone communication to make a good impression on your current and potential clients? This is one of the questions addressed at the Phone and Email Etiquette for Freelancers webinar presented on February 15, 2020, by Corinne McKay, a French to English translator and interpreter, seasoned trainer, and past ATA President. This presentation was part…
This post originally appeared on Diálogos Online Forum and it is republished with permission. When novice translators ask me how they should begin establishing a client base, cold emailing to potential clients is rarely one of the strategies that I suggest. As a general rule, unsolicited emails are much less effective than responding to job postings, attending conferences, establishing a solid…
This article originally appeared in the ATA Chronicle-Online. Once upon a time, in a land that now seems very far away, many parents were able to work as freelancers from their homes. They did this in part by sending their children to another, much larger building five days a week. The children would gather with friends and adults called “teachers”…
Savvy Diversification Series: Don’t Be Scared! How to Add Ghostwriting to Your Portfolio of Services
“It was a dark and stormy night. A strange figure appeared in the window of the haunted house on the hill as a bloodcurdling scream echoed in the distance…” Let me start with the bad news: today’s blog post is not about how to craft a spooky story to tell around the campfire. Instead, we are going to look at…
The Savvy Newcomer team has been taking stock of the past year and finding that one key priority for many freelance translators and interpreters has been diversification. Offering multiple services in different sectors or to different clients can help steady us when storms come. Diversification can help us hedge against hard times. With this in mind, we’ve invited a series…
This post originally appeared on The ATA Chronicle and it is republished with permission. While the demand for translation services is at a record high, many freelancers say their inflation-adjusted earnings seem to be declining. Why is this and can anything be done to reverse what some have labelled an irreversible trend? Over the past few years globalization has brought…
What the Business Practices Education Committee is Doing for ATA Members
An earlier version of this article appeared in The ATA Chronicle. Have you ever asked yourself: What’s the Business Practices Education Committee up to these days? Probably not. In fact, you are more likely wondering: What is the Business Practices Education Committee? For the uninitiated: The Business Practices Education Committee was established in 2005 to provide ATA members with information…
The Savvy Newcomer team has been taking stock of the past year and finding that one key priority for many freelance translators and interpreters has been diversification. Offering multiple services in different sectors or to different clients can help steady us when storms come. Diversification can help us hedge against hard times. With this in mind, we’ve invited a series…