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Translations - 6 Mistakes that Cost You Money
1. Choosing the Cheapest Provider In the translation industry, there is a per-word cost below which it is unlikely to receive a quality translation. When you go below this cost, you risk spending much more time and money than anticipated. Let’s figure out the true cost of getting a cheap, poor quality translation:
Save money by spending money - and save the headaches. Buying the translation from a reputable provider at $0.15 per word could cost less than having it done poorly for $0.03 per word. * Time is money, so any time that you and your colleagues spend rectifying this situation will cost your company (calculated by a sample hourly wage). 2. Not Using Translation Memory Translation Memory (TM) can be a valuable asset for your company. Translation Memory improves quality and consistency of your translations by building up your preferred multilingual terminology and phrasing. It also gives direct discounts off your translation rates; because a TM increases with every project, the more you translate, the more you will save through TM matches. After building their Translation Memory with Translatus for one year, our clients realized TM savings at an average of about 2-5% per project. Over a greater period of time, consistent use of your TM can cut translation costs by 30-50%. 3. Poor Organization A well-organized project will not only save money, but will reduce stress and help to ensure a quality translation. Before you begin:
4. Setting Unreasonable Deadlines When you submit a project to your services provider, set reasonable deadlines to avoid incurring rush fees. When setting deadlines, consider that a translator can usually translate about 2,000 words per day and a proofreader can proofread about 8,000 words per day. Therefore, for a 4,000-word translation, you should allow at least two days for translation and one half-day for proofreading.* Pushing these limitations will likely result in a rush fee, so don't do it if you don't really need it. Most language services providers will charge rush fees of 20-50% for non-standard delivery times. * When possible, it’s always a good idea to add an extra day or two to your deadline. 5. Not Providing the Original Documents When a client does not provide an original document for translation, language services providers will often tack on additional charges for transcribing or extracting text, converting formats, and correcting layouts. These documents are frequently submitted to language service providers and are difficult to work with, costing you more money:
6. Not Asking for Discounts If you buy strategically, you should never have to pay full prices for anything. This can be true for buying translation services.
Remember, it never hurts to ask.
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