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Effective Marketing Strategies?
Thread poster: Gabriele Demuth
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:45
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Marketing should be constant Jun 29, 2015

Gabriele Demuth wrote:
I am thinking of marketing my business a bit more widely, but I do not have any experience in this respect and was wondering which marketing strategies worked for you - apart from Proz or contacting agencies.

To some extent marketing should be a daily activity, taking a back seat on the days when you're too busy. As others have said, just paying to be a member of ProZ won't get you jobs, nor will having a profile on LinkedIn or a website. Networking is what it's all about nowadays; without it you'll be invisible.

On this site, most of the best jobs are placed through the directory. Quoting for jobs on the public job board here will land you only a very occasional client, unless you're prepared to accept peanuts (and I don't get that impression). N° 1 in a search for EN>DE translators might be unrealistic, but maybe appearing on the first page in a search for your specialist areas is feasible, with some effort. Check your current position here: http://www.proz.com/guidance-center/directory-rank . You'll find many other strategies in the Site Guidance Centre.

my website still needs some work

Agreed. The N° 1 interest of a client is their own job: what you can do to help them. So "Services" (or similar) has to be the most important area. Only if you provide what they need will they have any interest in you.

my background (education) doesn't appear to be something that is much in demand as such - in comparison to legal, technical or medical ...

Just how much demand can you cope with? Lack of demand is a common complaint but really freelancers are bound by the limits of one man (or woman) day per day, and even then we have to eat, sleep and relax. Believe me, there's more than enough education work out there for you. If that's what you want to specialise in, you just need to formulate strategies to bring yourself to their notice.

The one private client I have I found on an amateur platform who in the end decided to pay my rates. ...snip... I thought it could be a strategy, as there are many cheap translators and these two clients had a bad experience and decided that the cheapest translator isn't the way to go

I thought that for a while but it just takes up so much time. Often, it isn't just wasted time, it's put to negative use as it makes you (it made me, anyway) feel frustrated and angry to see what goes on on those sites.

My private client is in health/pharma industry. It is not terribly specialised, but maybe I could focus on similar clients.

We all go outside our specialisations once in a while for various reasons, some further than others. That's no problem. But actually marketing yourself in areas where you don't have specialised knowledge, particularly in a sector where lack of knowledge can literally kill, doesn't seem to me to be the way to go.

Contacting potential direct clients seems a bit like hard sell as I have no idea who would potentially consider buying translation.

Universities are an obvious client for education as they can target students in other countries. Of course, they'll normally have to have a good level of English, but the university may well want to approach them in their own language. Some may offer courses in XYZ subject with German, and many of them will be running EFL summer courses, too. Try out your local one by actually going there and asking who you should speak to. Even if they aren't interested you'll have learnt a lot about how to approach more likely prospects. Then there are all the private language schools and companies offering CPD.

A few thoughts:
1) Do you have a professional-looking business card? It's something you should think of using in every situation. Someone - even a friend - needs your phone number? Hand over your card. A friend has friends and family, so who knows? Stick one up on notice boards if you're allowed to, particularly in more international/business situations such as universities, Chambers of Commerce... Go to events and leave your cards even if they don't seem too interested in speaking to you.
2) Should you be adding ES>DE translation services? It would seem logical in your circumstances but only you have the full picture. Not obligatory anyway. Even so, it might be worth looking at KudoZ questions in ES>DE, as well as in the opposite pairs.
3) Do you need to justify your target language abilities? I see plenty to justify your command of English, but nothing to say that your German writing skills are perfect (apart from samples I can't understand). I've tutored a native English speaker who spoke like one but didn't even know how to spell "night" as to her it was simply a spoken language, having been brought up in France by FR/EN parents.


 
Gabriele Demuth
Gabriele Demuth  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:45
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your comments, Sheila! Jun 29, 2015

There was more food for thought, especially in terms of the importance of a target market and tailoring website and any marketing accordingly.

Also, there may be more potential in education than I thought, it just isn't advertised as often as technical or IT... In the Proz directory for translators in education I am on page 1, place 8!

When I mentioned health/pharma I meant I translate rather general text
... See more
There was more food for thought, especially in terms of the importance of a target market and tailoring website and any marketing accordingly.

Also, there may be more potential in education than I thought, it just isn't advertised as often as technical or IT... In the Proz directory for translators in education I am on page 1, place 8!

When I mentioned health/pharma I meant I translate rather general texts that go in this direction - I would't accept anything beyond my abilities but I might try and expand my knowledge in this field.

I am not applying for lots of 'no hope' jobs on amateur sites. There is just one site and I might apply if I get an invitation or if there is a suitable job posting - it is a British site and most posters are from the UK or Europe so they should know that things can't be hideously cheap, but often they appear to be very happy with cheap.

Hm, I haven't kept up with my Spanish, I do read the Spanish forums sometimes though and I do the talking when we go to Spain, so I might add the combination, but I would have to be very careful which projects I accept - this wouldn't be to immediately add a new market, but rather to include and brush up on something I have cast aside for some time (and something I always enjoyed).

Justify target language abilities - yes, my degree is from the UK, I just keep reading, writing and translating. Of course I address clients from Germany in German and I am happy to offer short test translations, this has been successful with some agencies who then started offering me odd projects 6 months later! I should have a German version of my website - but I am no whiz kid in that respect, for me it has been an achievement to get this far!

Business cards is on my list of things to do!





[Edited at 2015-06-29 13:50 GMT]
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Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:45
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Business cards Jun 29, 2015

Gabriele Demuth wrote:
Business cards is on my list of things to do!

Good idea. A simple card that you have in your pocket is far better than a beautiful card that you haven't made yet.

On the other hand, if you have a good idea why not design one yourself? I saw a logo that I liked on stocklogos.com and got the designer to tweak it a bit. I used that as the basis for my design. No doubt an experienced designer could have done a better job but it looks fine.

I would not print your own though - the result is seldom good. I found that my local printer was competitive on price and offered a 400gsm card, which is smooth, heavy and feels professional. (This is in a town of just a few thousand people so you probably also have a printing company or two close by.) It's useful to use the local places because they're normally happy to run off a sample card for you to check the colours and so on.

My cards cost me about 60 gbp per 100. Not cheap, but not expensive either and they leave a good impression.

Regards
Dan


 
Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 15:15
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Really? Jun 29, 2015

Wilsonn Perez Reyes wrote:

This is very controversial. Most agencies require only native speakers in the target language. Translators usually have the same opinion regarding this issue. Generally, it depends what the text is about. If it is poetry, for instance, only native speakers in the TL will do the job properly.


The Rig-Veda, one of the most ancient books of Hinduism (and also of humanity) is written in a very ancient form of Sanskrit, and is considered to be a very obtuse text. It was translated into German and English by Max Mueller, whose native language was not English (it was German). Fortunately he did the translation in 1856, a few years before proz.com was set up (!), otherwise, the native-only brigade here would have fought tooth and nail to prevent him from doing it!

So much for only natives translating poetry into their target languages!

[Edited at 2015-06-29 15:37 GMT]


 
Gabriele Demuth
Gabriele Demuth  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:45
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
Dan Jun 29, 2015

Oh, you would recommend a local firm and not one of the online ones you can design yourself or use templates?

 
Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 15:15
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
In that case.. Jun 29, 2015

Gabriele Demuth wrote:

The way many people have grown up has changed and there are indeed people who have been educated and brought up with more than one language, or countries where there is more than one official language?

Although I have lived and worked in the UK for 20 years, and my degree is from a British University, I would not translate into English unless it is proofread and tidied up by a native speaker - and this would be an extra cost to the client.


You don't seem very old, and if you have spent 20 years in UK, a non-German speaking place, and have completed your college from there, I would be very suspicious of your abilities in German (looking from a client's perspective, that is, someone wanting German translation done from you).

The reason is, 20 years would have whittled away a lot of your German, and English would have crept into your system even if you would like to deny it.

The point I am trying to make is, don't hold rigid views on language proficiency unthinkingly, as it could boomerang on you.

In the light of your having lived for long periods outside German-speaking areas, you would need to make special (and convincing) mention in your profile and resume, abut how you have maintained living contact with German, otherwise really top-notch agencies and clients would not take your German capabilities seriously.


 
Gabriele Demuth
Gabriele Demuth  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:45
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
Hm, pictures are not always telling Jun 29, 2015

It is true, at the start I had to gear myself up to writing in German.

However, I spent quite a bit more than half of my life in Germany, I spent 10 years teaching German to A-Level here in the UK, I still mark German writing papers, I am bringing up 2 bilingual children, I have therefore a group of German friends, I read a lot and I have a couple of happy clients - but this is a bit too private to tell every client.

But, I do need to find a way to get that across, I t
... See more
It is true, at the start I had to gear myself up to writing in German.

However, I spent quite a bit more than half of my life in Germany, I spent 10 years teaching German to A-Level here in the UK, I still mark German writing papers, I am bringing up 2 bilingual children, I have therefore a group of German friends, I read a lot and I have a couple of happy clients - but this is a bit too private to tell every client.

But, I do need to find a way to get that across, I thought of having my website in both languages - I need to find out how I go about that first though.


[Edited at 2015-06-29 15:40 GMT]
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Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 15:15
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
You should pitch as a bilingual Jun 29, 2015

Gabriele Demuth wrote:

It is true, at the start I had to gear myself up to writing in German.

However, I spent quite a bit more than half of my life in Germany, I spent 10 years teaching German to A-Level here in the UK, I still mark German writing papers, I am bringing up 2 bilingual children, I have therefore a group of German friends, I read a lot and I have a couple of happy clients - but this is a bit too private to tell every client.

But, I do need to find a way to get that across, I thought of having my website in both languages - I need to find out how I go about that first though.


Although you have expressed your disinclination to translate both ways, seeing your life circumstances (as explained in this thread) you are excellently placed to translate proficiently in both directions, and in fact, that should be your sales pitch.

You could dwell on your German teaching experience in UK (which would underpin your proficiency in German), and also on having lived 20 years in UK and acquired your college degree from there (which would highlight your proficiency in English).

Given these two special circumstances, you are ideally suited to provide accurate and elegant translations of nuantic texts (if there is such a word in English, what I mean is texts like literature which are full of allusive content).

[Edited at 2015-06-29 15:51 GMT]


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:45
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Depends Jun 29, 2015

Gabriele Demuth wrote:
Oh, you would recommend a local firm and not one of the online ones you can design yourself or use templates?

Well, I have a strong "buy local" preference anyway. In this case it worked out well, because when I popped in to see the sample card they printed for me, the colours were very different to what I had imagined.

So they changed one of the darkness settings and we printed again. We tried several different combinations. In the end I got exactly the colours I wanted. They didn't charge me, so they got my business and my repeat business (and the business for an upcoming project).

However, if I had used an online firm I would have ended up with a significant divergence from the card I had in my imagination. What you see on your screen and what a Pantone printer produces is often very different.

As for creating them, I designed my own cards in Adobe Illustrator but you could use a free tool like Inkscape or even something like Powerpoint.

I have a very basic website (http://www.carninglipartners.com) in place at the moment, and I just reused the logo I had done for my website. So for me it was easy.

But I'm getting away from the topic. The point is that you should carry cards around with you. Have them done online or have them done locally, choose a simple template or spend time and money doing something fancy - the point is to have a card.

The only thing I would say is really important is getting it printed on good, thick card stock. That is largely what imparts the sense of quality.

Regards
Dan


 
Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 15:15
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Blogging? Jun 30, 2015

Gabriele Demuth wrote:

It is true, at the start I had to gear myself up to writing in German.

However, I spent quite a bit more than half of my life in Germany, I spent 10 years teaching German to A-Level here in the UK, I still mark German writing papers, I am bringing up 2 bilingual children, I have therefore a group of German friends, I read a lot and I have a couple of happy clients - but this is a bit too private to tell every client.

But, I do need to find a way to get that across, I thought of having my website in both languages - I need to find out how I go about that first though.


[Edited at 2015-06-29 15:40 GMT]


One possible way would be to blog in German and English. It would be more convincing than a website in German and English. Websites would be static and rarely updated, but well maintained blogs with regular posts would be a living proof of your linguistic abilities in German and English. It could also work as a marketing tool for you. And it costs nothing to blog, just time.


 
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:45
Member (2015)
German to English
Business cards Jun 30, 2015

I had my business cards made up by an English firm (not sure if I am allowed to mention the name) and sent to me here in Germany.

The website was one where you could customise your own cards from templates or design your own from scratch. I selected one of the templates and went from there.

Originally, I was also thinking of going for one of the free online printing sites but after further researching the field discovered that:

a) they usually come with th
... See more
I had my business cards made up by an English firm (not sure if I am allowed to mention the name) and sent to me here in Germany.

The website was one where you could customise your own cards from templates or design your own from scratch. I selected one of the templates and went from there.

Originally, I was also thinking of going for one of the free online printing sites but after further researching the field discovered that:

a) they usually come with the company's own advertising - indicating free
b) the quality of the stock card is poor - indicating cheap
c) people in the know can recognise a free card - indicating lack of professionalism

All subjective, of course.

So, after thinking about how seriously I wanted to invest in my own business, I decided I would get a small supply of good quality cards with the option of re-ordering as needed.

The real push that motivated me into having the cards printed was an event I was planning to attend. This gave me the deadline to get things into action.

The cards are of exceedingly good quality and I am very pleased with the result. Coincidentally, a friend of mine also used the same English firm for his cards. As a photographer he was able to upload his own images to have on the reverse, a useful feature of that company.

Once I had the business cards sorted I then focused on creating a website. Again, like you, I thought a site only in English might be enough but once I started writing the content and developing the site I realised that I wanted to push on and have it in German and English so that I could then put it on one site and move onto the next stage.

The site is now up and running and can be tweaked for any future changes.

Perhaps now you have asked the question, you might feel encouraged to give it a go as well.
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Gabriele Demuth
Gabriele Demuth  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:45
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Andrea! Jun 30, 2015

I do like your website! Did you develop that yourself or did you have it done professionally?

 
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth
Andrea Garfield-Barkworth  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:45
Member (2015)
German to English
Thank you, Jun 30, 2015

I did it myself and found it a very enjoyable process.

 
Jeff Whittaker
Jeff Whittaker  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 05:45
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Marketing Resources for Translators Jun 30, 2015


The Marketing Cookbook for Translators: Foolproof recipes for a successful freelance career: http://amzn.to/1R2vZwz


The Book of Standing Out: Travels through the Inner World of Freelance Translation:
http://amzn.to/1T2pLu6


 
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 10:45
German to English
business plan first, then marketing Jul 1, 2015

I think that you ought to strongly consider specializing in those areas in which you have degree or other credentials and work experience. I would suggest taking a close look at your resume and then asking yourself what clients would be excited to have a translator with your experience and credentials. Having translated some number of texts for some client in the pharmaceutical industry (and with no credentials or work experience in the field) places you at the bottom of a long list containing p... See more
I think that you ought to strongly consider specializing in those areas in which you have degree or other credentials and work experience. I would suggest taking a close look at your resume and then asking yourself what clients would be excited to have a translator with your experience and credentials. Having translated some number of texts for some client in the pharmaceutical industry (and with no credentials or work experience in the field) places you at the bottom of a long list containing probably thousands of translators for German>English. Find an area where you are at the top of a short list and do some serious thinking about who is likely to have a relatively continual need for what you have to offer - along with the priorities and budget to be be willing and able to pay for it.

When I started out, my only significant marketing efforts consisted of telling the people that I had studied with in Germany that I was translating and sending out three (!) CVs with cover letters. One of those CVs led to nothing, but the other two (one to an agency and one to a translator in my field translating only into German) each directly led to projects totalling in five digit figures over the course of the following years. The non-agency contact then indirectly also led to a lot more projects based on word of mouth. Now I worked very hard to make that work and I was ridiculously lucky, but I must also have been doing something right with my strategy (no one is that lucky).

I assume that top-notch medical translators earn a lot more than top-notch art translators, but a top-notch translator in any field earns a lot more than a good translator in any other field.
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