Articles for Translators and Translation Companies

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Marketing Your Language Services

Accessing the Hidden Job Market
Most job seekers rely on the open job market which includes job posting boards and help wanted advertisements in local newspapers to source job leads. While it appears on the surface that these search vehicles have an abundant number of job leads, the reality is that very few people secure their positions through these methods of search. Only about 5-10% of people in search find their jobs using these two methods combined…
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Hire an Agent?
I worked as a professional translator (and enjoyed it very much) before moving into IT in a salaried position, but am now planning a return to translation and want to position myself properly. You've often emphasized the importance of networking. Since I am not that good at networking, I'm thinking of employing a person to help me. Is this a good idea? If so, what profile should I be looking for?…
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Why don’t I get a reply to my job applications?
As with almost every type of business, Computer technology and the Internet has fundamentally changed recruitment. If you thought your CV always gets read when you apply for a position, think again. It is common for hundreds of CVs or resumes to be received for a typical position advertised in the Times or FT…
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55 Tips For Postcard Marketing Success
Direct mail postcard marketing is one of the most versatile forms of marketing available. With its versatility, postcard marketing can serve small businesses and large companies alike…
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Promote Your Translation Services Through the ODP
As you may know, having a professional website is very good and important for a freelance translator as well as for an agency. But what can you do with your website without promoting it. There are many ways of promotion, such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but I’d like to dwell on a web directory called DMOZ (ODP – Open Directory Project)…
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Translators Are Natural Marketers, but They Don’t Know It!
Here is something you probably never even suspected: as a translator, you are also a language (or words) expert, and marketing is essentially a way of using language (or words) to persuade people to take action and because of this, the transition from translator to marketer should be nice and smooth and easy for you…
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Sample CV
Are you ready to create or update your CV?
Here is a sample format with some idea on structure and content…
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Freelance Translators - How to Easily Beat the "Feast and Famine" Syndrome
It is a well known fact that translators in general and more particularly freelance translators are the most reluctant marketers of all professional service providers. Freelancers often don't realize they are running a business and as such they must embark on permanent, never-ending marketing activities, like any other business owner…
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Are you an apple, orange or a fruit basket?
Mary Jones is a program manager at a global telecommunications firm that spends over (US) $10 million annually on localization. Her company has some additional localization needs, and Mary has been asked to get quotes from a number of localization vendors…
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Investing in existing clients pays off
Did you know that the cost of acquiring a new client is five to seven times greater than the cost of retaining an existing one? While it clearly makes good commercial sense to look after clients well, sales activities are more often focused on winning new business and client care is not always given the attention that it deserves…
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Guerrilla Marketing for Translation Agencies (and freelancers too!)
Marketing can be evidenced in every action your company does. The way your receptionist answers the phone, the way your lobby looks, your stationery, your business card, the clothing you choose for a sales meeting, the format you use for presenting an estimate to a potential client are all part of your marketing (or lack thereof!) Everyday you influence the perception people have of your company, your services and your abilities by many messages you send – some of them intentional, some unintentional…
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Selling to the Bottom Line
If you've ever wondered why more people don't respond to your sales attempts and marketing messages, here's the first place to look - are you selling something that people are willing to spend money on?…
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12 Job Application Tips For Copywriters
I recently advertised for freelance copywriters to work for my copywriting business and received some 200 applications. I've done quite a bit of recruiting in the past, so, from the outset, I knew exactly what sort of expertise I was after. I also knew I'd be inundated with applications, and that the applicants would come from all sorts of backgrounds with varying levels of copywriting expertise…
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What You are Marketing is Yourself
Marketing a service business is not the same as marketing a product. The strongest asset you have in marketing your business is actually yourself. Allowing your customers to get to know you will build their trust. You deserve to be the star of your own promotional materials…
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Budget Marketing Can Work
There is an old Chinese saying that “Good wine needs no bush.” This wise proverb also appears in writing in the epilogue of Shakespeare’s As You Like it. But, alas, the idea that good things sell themselves is not true in the 21st century translation localization industry…
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To Attract Attention, You have to Show Off
Well-known people became well-known because they showcased themselves. They shared stories and ideas about the work they had been doing... There are a host of very dignified and appropriate ways to let a wider audience know how good you are without ever saying so…
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Making Time for Marketing
There are many ways to include marketing activities in your busy life, instead of wishing you had more time for marketing. Make marketing a part of the time you are already spending…
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What Do You Mean I Am A Product?! (Career Marketing 101)
Job search seems to have many hurdles to overcome – resume, interview technique, appearance, and networking are challenges that job seekers face. These hurdles are surmountable with a strong job search plan and dedicated execution…
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Writing Cover Letters That Sizzle
Anything being sent to a decision-maker should sell you, not just state facts. When conducting a job search, your cover letter and resume are in a pile for the decision-maker to review, one by one, along with a vast number of other documents submitted by other hopeful individuals…
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Inside The Mind Of A Telecommuting Employer!
I recently had an employer advertise her job in my newsletter and it got me wondering what employers are thinking when the applicants start flooding in. After speaking with her I was able to get some really valuable feedback and I wanted to share that with you…
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Being visible on a budget
Once upon a time a company introduced a new product. They didn’t want their competition to know, so they didn’t advertise or even send out a news release. Sales of the new product were disappointing. The manufacturer was unhappy. What went wrong?…
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Prepare your way to Copywriting Success
Before you even start writing your copy, you must get to know your target market inside out. First of all we will look at general things you need to know about your reader and then will look at pin pointing specifics about your target audience…
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Turn Your Email Sign-Off Into Results: Seven-Step Checklist for Success
In this article, we'll be taking a look at how just a few simple changes to your email signature can make a BIG difference to your business.
Let's explore…
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Ten tips for writing good sales copy
Writing an ad? The tips below -- and the important warning that follows -- will help you to get the very best response…
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How to Build An Empire With Business Cards
Most business owners don't realize the importance of using a simple business card to generate tons of customers. It simply does not matter what kind of business you are in, you have to utilize this primitive business technique in order to grow your business fast…
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Web Site Promotion: Writing Articles To Promote Your Website
You may already know how effective writing articles for web promotion can be. If not, don't dismiss it as trivial or overdone. The fact is, web site promotion using well written targeted articles WORKS! Educating your prospect to the benefits of using your product makes them an even better prospect…
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Home Business Advertising Is Not An Expense
Do you cringe at the thought of spending more and more money to advertise your home business, product or service each month? If you can change the way you look at advertising costs and change the way you advertise, your home business will grow beyond your wildest dreams…
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Attract Clients With Your Business Card
Let's say you attend a business function. You meet a top tier prospect, and give her your card. Twenty other people do the same thing. So what will make your card stand out from the collected stack?…
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The 7 myths of marketing a service business
When you spend time and money randomly on marketing, then it probably is an expense because you're not generating a return on the resources invested in it. Many people make the mistake of emulating the marketing tactics of large companies (such as image advertising) that just don't produce good returns for small businesses…
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An inexpensive way to market your business
An on-going challenge your business probably faces is ensuring clients continue using your product or service. In other words, you want repeat business.
There are few businesses without any competition, so there's a constant struggle to keep existing clients while bringing new clients on-board…
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Alleviate Your Internet Marketing Stress
Do you have a detailed plan in place to market your home-based Internet business? How about a strategy that will work for your budget? Do you know where to start? If not, read on. This article is an Internet marketing resource that you will find invaluable. It is a free Internet marketing guide…
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A translator’s CV – a translator’s best friend (Part 2)
Many persons writing a CV for the first time will fall into the simple trap of continuing from the section on their personal details – as covered in Part 1 - and proceed to give details of their education.
This is particularly the case of those coming out of language school, college or university and whose actual outside-of-classroom experience is a bit thin on the ground…
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A translator’s CV – a translator’s best friend (Part 1)
Whether you use the French résumé or the older Latin curriculum vitae, now fashionably abbreviated to CV, there is one tool in the translator’s backpack which is indispensable nowadays, and that tool is the professional summary of your background, education and experience…
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Creating your business information material – your own brochure
To succeed as a freelance translator you need to advertise and present some information about yourself and the services you are offering. Imagine some client emails you and asks about your qualifications. What an advantage if you have a precompiled document with this information ready to send out …
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Your website: Your virtual business card
To make one thing clear way ahead, without a website you will not survive on this market. And while you are at it, make sure the website is user-friendly because you will need to make changes once in a while and if only to promote some new services. A website should list all the services you are about to offer as well as all your contact details. In the US pictures of yourself and your colleagues are seen as a sign of trustworthiness and reliability, in Europe this notion is not so widely spread, mainly because we are a little shy when it comes to posting pictures of ourselves on the net …
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Lab Report on a Marketing Campaign for Freelance Translation Services
Article sums up my experiment in attempting to divulge my freelance translation services over the web. I hope it will be useful for translators in a similar situation, as well as translation agencies who are permanently seeking freelancers worldwide. It was written right after the campaign itself, before any concrete objectives were attained, so I'm not claiming any effectiveness. The intent is to provide both freelance translators and translation agencies with a few ideas to tinker with…
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How to write a good covering letter in English
The job market today is becoming more and more demanding. A good CV with good qualifications is no longer enough to impress an employer. The covering letter is a vital part of your application. Here, the employer can tell straight away from the presentation and style of writing whether the candidate will be suitable for the job. The covering letter is the perfect opportunity to make your application stand out from the many that employers receive on a daily basis.
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How to write a good CV in English?
Nowadays, employers tend to receive thousands of applications for a job as soon as it is advertised on the job market. Therefore it is vital that your letter should stand out from the thousands of CVs and letters that people are going to send.
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Best Face Forward: In Person Marketing Skills for T&I Professionals
After you've mailed your resume to a thousand agencies, sent out brochures detailing your services, or paid dearly for a display advertisement, how else can you market your services? Consider meeting potential clients in person. After all, some of the greatest business relationships in the world were initiated person-to-person. Here are a few steps to finding your most desirable clients in person, while making a great first impression.
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Being Unique is a Good Thing... Isn't It?
New entrepreneurs frequently hear the advice to "be unique" in their marketing. The basic idea is a valuable one - to get attention in a crowded marketplace, you must stand out in some way. Distinguishing your product or service from the competition can make your marketing more effective. Crafting a novel marketing message can attract the notice of more potential customers…
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Marketing Your Translation Services: Test Translations-To Do or Not to Do?
When an agency sends you a test translation, you spend your valuable time at your own peril. It's up to you to decide whether to do the test or to ignore it. Only a very small percentage of tests will give you an actual workload…
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