| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Translators-Interpreters & Social Media: go for it! Thread poster: Jean-Marie Le Ray
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Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 00:21
Romanian to English
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| | to tweet or not to tweet | Dec 22, 2014 |
Hi Jean-Marie and Catherine -- thank you both for publishing this interview. Although I don't use Twitter at present, I'm always open to hearing about new communication avenues. I thought the material you covered was useful and thoughtful, and your willingness to share your insights was generous.
As a native English speaker, I would simply like to point out a semantic source of miscommunication and confusion, as I see it. Catherine, in your reply, you said this:
"I k... See more Hi Jean-Marie and Catherine -- thank you both for publishing this interview. Although I don't use Twitter at present, I'm always open to hearing about new communication avenues. I thought the material you covered was useful and thoughtful, and your willingness to share your insights was generous.
As a native English speaker, I would simply like to point out a semantic source of miscommunication and confusion, as I see it. Catherine, in your reply, you said this:
"I know many highly successful colleagues who don't even have a website, let alone social media profiles. They have plenty of clients and lucrative rates. It's not something you have to do, it's a choice that has numerous benefits in my experience, that's why I said "it's a must" multiple times in the interview."
What's generating some crossed wires is that, in English "It's a must" means exactly the same as "It's something you have to do," not the opposite, as you claim. We're not sure what you mean by "it's a must," and therefore some people are protesting the idea that they have to be on Twitter.
Maybe you can sort out the confusion.
Thanks!
Catherine (another one) ▲ Collapse
| | | | Diana Coada (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:21
Portuguese to English
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Catherine V. Howard wrote:
As a native English speaker, I would simply like to point out a semantic source of miscommunication and confusion, as I see it...
What's generating some crossed wires is that, in English "It's a must" means exactly the same as "It's something you have to do," not the opposite, as you claim. We're not sure what you mean by "it's a must," and therefore some people are protesting the idea that they have to be on Twitter.
But this does answer the question and it should have been your answer in the blog post in the first place:
In the 4 years I've been using social media, I'd say about 20% of my existing clients found me that way. 
| | | | Jean-Marie Le Ray
France
Local time: 06:21
Member
Italian to French
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TOPIC STARTER | Promoting translation services | Dec 22, 2014 |
There is, in the wiki part of Proz, an article entitled "Translator career path" where one can read:
Promoting translation services
Professional marketing may take different shapes and use different resources. And, when done right, promotion can be a very effective strategy to attract potential clients.
Translators can --and should-- take advantage of the many online resources available nowadays to market themselves. Social networks, translators portals, website hosting services, e-mail, live chat, etc. are tools a translator must know and use on a daily basis if they want to reach a bigger market.
So beside a marketplace as Proz, social media is another important resource of networking. Anyway it's not anymore possible to promote its services in an anonymous way, clients and colleagues want to know you and once they will get your name, be sure they will google it for discover who Google says you are...
That's the reason why I said before "Privacy is not the issue, control is".
Moreover, in another thread (Are you getting jobs through LinkedIn?) I agree with Phil Goddard, who wrote:
We've discussed this many times before (...) and the consensus has always been that, as Triston and Gaby say above, you get out what you put in.
Some translators use LinkedIn to actively cultivate relationships with potential customers, and get plenty of work from it. Most (myself included) sign up, sit back and wait for something to happen, and are disillusioned when it doesn't. A bad workman blames his tools...
http://www.proz.com/forum/marketing_for_translators/275417-are_you_getting_jobs_through_linkedin-page2.html#2346338
It's exactly the same with Proz: you get out what you put in!
[Modifié le 2014-12-22 11:28 GMT]
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:21
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| About taking advantage of the many online resources | Dec 22, 2014 |
Jean-Marie Le Ray wrote: There is, in the wiki part of Proz, an article entitled " Translator career path" where one can read:
Promoting translation services
Professional marketing may take different shapes and use different resources. And, when done right, promotion can be a very effective strategy to attract potential clients.
Translators can --and should-- take advantage of the many online resources available nowadays to market themselves. Social networks, translators portals, website hosting services, e-mail, live chat, etc. are tools a translator must know and use on a daily basis if they want to reach a bigger market.
Do you have time for all these everyday?
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:21
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| How and what would you "put in" on things like LinkedIn? | Dec 22, 2014 |
Jean-Marie Le Ray wrote:
We've discussed this many times before (...) and the consensus has always been that, as Triston and Gaby say above, you get out what you put in.
Some translators use LinkedIn to actively cultivate relationships with potential customers, and get plenty of work from it. Most (myself included) sign up, sit back and wait for something to happen, and are disillusioned when it doesn't. A bad workman blames his tools...
http://www.proz.com/forum/marketing_for_translators/275417-are_you_getting_jobs_through_linkedin-page2.html#2346338 It's exactly the same with Proz: you get out what you put in![Modifié le 2014-12-22 11:28 GMT]
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:21
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| More about LinkedIn | Dec 22, 2014 |
1. I receive about 50 translators' request to add them in my language pair for every 1 potential client's request for adding. Once both are added, the translators will see who your clients are and your clients will easily become their targets. So you are creating competitions against yourself by using it.
2. If I were an outsourcer, why should I find translators from LinkedIn? When I have a job for which I need to look for a translator, I would have very specific requirements, and i... See more 1. I receive about 50 translators' request to add them in my language pair for every 1 potential client's request for adding. Once both are added, the translators will see who your clients are and your clients will easily become their targets. So you are creating competitions against yourself by using it.
2. If I were an outsourcer, why should I find translators from LinkedIn? When I have a job for which I need to look for a translator, I would have very specific requirements, and it may be possible for me to have to read 50 linkedIn contacts' profiles before I find a fit. Do I have the time for that? Probably not. On the other hand, if I put an add on Proz, I will be able to compare the applicants and find the fit much more easily.
3. After the PMs of translation companies join LinkedIn, they could go for 2 directions:
1) getting tired about it because they receive so many requests from people who wanted to be added. They have to frequently log in to add these people.
2) becoming addicted to it and spending a lot of time everyday on it.
Which direction would have a higher number of PMs? To me, the people going for Number 2) would cause trouble for themselves because they may be wasting a lot of working time on it. If you are their boss, do you like their behavior?
The result could be, less and less PMs would use it, let alone finding translator from there.
[Edited at 2014-12-22 13:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jean-Marie Le Ray
France
Local time: 06:21
Member
Italian to French
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Time & Content | Dec 22, 2014 |
Answer to Jyuan,
In one of your first post to this thread, you said:
jyuan_us wrote:
To remain prominent in social media one has to write something everyday. Can we the translators afford the time?
I think it's just a matter of choice. If you don't have the time to do it, it means you've got enough work and no time at all to do something else. Good for you, so.
But for fellow colleagues who don't work 24/7/365 there is always some "free" time to spend. "Famine period" as Catherine call it in one of her presentations. Now, if you haven't got any idea about what to do during this "free" time, yours will easily become "wasted time".
On the contrary, if you've got a strategy upstream you'll know how prioritize tasks to do and transform this "free" time in a productive one, for instance participating to social media or creating content and sharing it. In this way, social media could be one of the tasks to do.
This leads me to your second question. LinkedIn, as all other social platform, is not only a profile page, but also a venue where to exchange and dialogue with others. Not with *all* others, but with the target audience that you have chosen and who will have similar interests to yours.
In March 2005 I started a blog, but almost immediately I had to give up because I've got to much work. Ten months later, I started it again but I decided to take the time to do it, and it happened more than once that I had to opt between blogging or translating. And more than once I choosed to blog and I never regretted my choice. Thanks to which I've got many job opportunities that I would have never had without this decision.
Social networks are a personal choice, it could work for me and not for you or the contrary, but today it's an important matter and each of us has to decide how to occupy -or not- the social media space.
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