Articles for Translators
and Translation Companies
Payment Practices in Freelance Translation
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It
pays to know where you stay legally when supplying translations
Members will occasionally receive complaints about the quality of
their work. If the complaint is justified, the client can insist
on the translation being corrected…
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the full article…
Managing
company debt - prevention is better than cure
Extending credit is a risky business and informed caution is essential
when assessing that level of risk. If you think that enforcing the
terms of a contract is time consuming and expensive here - try litigating
in a foreign jurisdiction. Some basic precautionary steps might
minimise your exposure…
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the full article…
Profitability
Guide for Translators
The article at hand tries to present existing material as well as
its utilisation in a way that allows translators, who have no experience
in business management, to use this helpful material as a rule of
thumb for preparing professional decisions. The market analysis
presented here, is from the perspective of freelancers working in
the Federal Republic of Germany…
Click
here to view English version…
Hier
klicken für die Deutsche version…
Collecting Past Due Accounting:
Be A Bulldog With Those Past Due Invoices
Professional collectors have an advantage over the in-house commercial
collection agent in the technology they use. They work from highly
sophisticated systems that dial collection calls automatically,
identify and track an outstanding bill and program it for frequent
phone follow-up. There is no way an outstanding bill gets overlooked…
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the full article…
How to calculate your per word rate
Over the past decades, due to the advance of technology but also
that of globalization, translators have wittnessed a severe decline
in rates and an increase in the number of customers looking for
the lowest rates. But how much should you charge?…
Click
here to view English version…
Hier
klicken für die Deutsche version…
Will Google Wallet Force PayPal to Accelerate Global Expansion?
The announcement by the WSJ that Google is prepping a payment service
is big news in the ecommerce world and, I think, good news for consumers.
According to the article, "Exact details of the search company's
planned service are not known. But the knowledgeable people say
it could have similarities with PayPal, which allows consumers to
pay for purchases on Web sites by funding electronic-payment accounts
from their credit cards or checking accounts. Some consumers like
PayPal for the security it offers, since it allows them to share
their banking or credit-card numbers only with PayPal without having
to divulge the information to merchants"…
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the full article…
Why Are Project Managers a Dime a Dozen?
Conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence in the GILT industry
holds that graduates of localization education programs never work
as localizers but are immediately put into project management positions
that pay more than translation positions …
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the full article…
That Dirty Little Four-Letter Word
What horrible secrets about Eastern European pricing will be revealed
in this article? Probably nothing too revolutionary, hopefully some
common sense, and probably several universal problems shared by
all translation and localization companies in the rest of the world
…
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the full article…
Towards A More Equitable Pricing Structure: A Translator's Perspective
Most translation work is paid on a per word basis. This system is
far from perfect, but all in all, everyone has become accustomed
it. Some word combinations can easily be translated easily, while
others are tough. Some parts of text are repeated, while others
require endless research to solve ambiguity. In fact, it turns out
that pricing based on the concept of word count is a sort of package
deal that assumes that some parts will pay a lot, while others will
hardly pay at all …
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the full article…
Dealing with clients not paying your invoice
Providing a translation is providing a service. Imagine you having
provided the appropriate service, delivered it on time, invoiced
the client accordingly (indicating a payment date not so far into
the future) and the suggested payment date comes and goes without
any money pouring in on your needy bank account - what do you do,
how do you react? Needless to say that we are not considering the
fact of this being a client that has been employing your company
for a while or due to some unknown stroke of fate the bank made
a mistake …
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the full article…
"So, Just Whose Pocket Is It, Anyway?"
In his recent article, From Mozart to Mumbai, MLVs on the Move,
Rory Cowan, CEO of Lionbridge Technologies, states: “In 1992, the
price of a polished translation from U.S.-based multi-language vendors
(MLVs) was generally $0.22 to $0.27 per word for French, Italian,
German and Spanish (FIGS). Today, U.S.-based MLVs are still charging
US$ 0.22 to 0.27 per word for high-end FIGS, even though inflation
has reduced the buying power of U.S. dollars by 30% during that
time.” …
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the full article…
Rules
for dealing with clients
Here are a few tips for dealing with direct clients and translation
agencies (based on personal experience and accounts of colleagues)…
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Are
you Prepared to Meet Your Client?
The phone rings: it is a client.
A welcome event these days—and not a very frequent one for many
of us. But, are you prepared to answer that call?
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Collection
Practically all freelance translators are familiar with the frustration
of spending too much time and effort collecting fees for translation.
The optimization of this process may therefore be of interest to many
of my colleagues… The trick is to collect the debt in such a way that
your professional relationship is not damaged, so you can remain partners
for many years to come…
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To Be Paid or Not Be Paid…
Having
been doing business in the international translation market for
some 5 years now, I have noticed a few issues that it might be useful
to pay some attention to. We translators, be it freelancers or full
time enterprises, always have the fear of not being paid; we join
all sorts of online forums and/or mailing lists and read the most
horrendous stories about scams and non-paying agencies. By all means,
I know there are ‘sharks’ out there, and we are very wise to research
new prospects to the fullest practical…
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Solutions
to Common Problems for Freelance Translators
Working as a freelance
translator is often a solitary business and usually our direct contact
with clients is limited. Nowadays it is not uncommon to deal with
our clients entirely over the internet; never talking to them or
meeting them face-to-face. However, sometimes situations force us
to interact with people on a level that may make us rather uncomfortable,
such as calling a client about a late payment. In such instances
it is important that we know how to deal or talk to our clients
without taking a risk of losing them or even worse ruining our reputation…
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The
Freelance Translator and PayPal
One
problem most freelance translators are faced with is how to receive
payment. In particular: How to receive payment for small jobs. Many
translation agencies are reluctant to pay small fees via wire transfer
due to the transaction fees; often they will send you a check instead.
And I suppose I don't have to tell you: The banks charge an enormous
commission when you come and want to cash in your check…
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Crisis
in the Translation Industry
A landmark verdict has
just been handed down at Leeds County Court that will strike fear
into the hearts of all sub-contractors in the translation industry
- translators, interpreters, translation editors and proofreaders,
maybe even language teachers - anyone who subcontracts language
services to private companies…
Read the full article…
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