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How to Market Your Language Services

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5 steps to improve your Trademark registration chances
The preliminary work done before filing the application will have a big influence on the trademark registration's success. The more possible stumbling obstacles and dangers you can eliminate ahead of time, the more likely you are to have a smooth application process...
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How to Win Clients by Providing Certified Translation Services
Providing certified translation services can help you to win more clients. But how do you become a certified translator and how do you market your translation services in a way that will make clients want to hire you, rather than another translator?...
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E-mail Etiquette: 65 Tips on How to Improve Your E-mail Communication
If you have a job, more than likely you're writing and reading emails on a daily basis. When you read an email that is riddled with errors, or has too much information, or too little information, or is just too much of a hassle for what it's worth, work becomes that much harder. In fact, being on top of your email game is especially important when it comes to...
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Diversifying Your Translation Marketing Channels to Increase Revenues
Would you like to earn more money? If you provide translation services for a living, there are plenty of opportunities to do so, and the answer could be as simple as diversifying your translation marketing channels...
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How to build up a translation career from scratch
You've decided you want to work as a translator. Congratulations! But where do you go from here? If you're wondering how to become a professional translator or how to get translation experience, you're in the right place. Below we'll cover everything you need to know about the nature of translation work...
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How to Build up a Translation CV that Will Make Clients Notice You
If you are relatively new to the field of translation, chances are you are looking for a way to stand out from the crowd. As more companies take their operations global, the demand for language service professionals has increased on a massive scale...
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10 real ideas to market your translation service
You've just established an online translation service, and have an excellent service offering set up. The next step is to reach your potential customers and start promoting your services. The following are 10 ways you can market your translation service and promote...
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How to Create More Content Faster
You may have realized by now that a large part of getting high on Google’s radar is by producing some quality content. But to compete against the big players, you’re not only going to need a lot of content, you’re going to need a lot of relevant content...
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Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends too
In this age of automation and innovation, the care you give to your customers has become more important than ever. At any time, each of your customers may purchase the desired service or product from at least 3 competitors, more or less under the same conditions...
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Social Investments
Some time back at a conference in London, a fellow translator shared with me and everyone else in earshot that she was done using Twitter as a professional tool. She claimed to have invested way too much effort and time with virtually no return...
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Networking 101
Everybody seems to be giving advice on networking these days and we thought we would like to join the bandwagon and share with you a few things that have worked for us. We hope you’ll enjoy reading it...
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How to Research Your Market
To be successful, a small business must know its market. Marketing research is simply an orderly, objective way of learning about people - the people who buy from you or might buy from you...
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How to WOW Your Customers
What is exceptional customer service anyway? It is often said that up to 95% of businesses fail within the first five years. If a business lacks customers, it can no longer exist. Read 6 examples of how to provide and reasons to offer W.O.W service...
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How Not To Write Your Resume
This is one of the most important rules when composing your resume -- don't focus on yourself. Yes, of course it is your resume and of course your resume is about you. But when you write your resume, you should do so with the employer's needs in mind...
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How to Manage a Remote Sales Force: a View from the Trenches
Having worked in sales and sales management for a number of LSPs in both the US and Europe, I have experienced a wide variety of approaches to hiring, training and managing remote—sometimes very remote—salespeople. This article will focus on what LSPs can do to ensure success in their sales team...
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How You Might Improve Your Resume
Sending out an executive or professional resume that you've invested significant time (or money) into, but still failing to get employers' attention? If your value proposition is buried under long, drawn-out sentences, your brand message may be lost—and your audience confused about why they should hire you for a leadership role...
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The Database: Your Most Valuable Asset!
Some say that information is valuable. Not by itself. Relevant information about your customers is not only valuable but vital to the growth of your business...
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How to Prepare to a Job Interview
The expression "fail to prepare, prepare to fail" was never truer than in the interview situation. In my experience thorough and focused preparation will get the candidate over 50% of the way to a job offer before they even walk into the interview. Follow the advice below to ensure you are comprehensively prepared...
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Translation services and the 2012 Olympics
Whatever your feeling is towards the 2012 London Olympics, it is probable that during the games we will see an influx of non-English speaking visitors descend on the UK. Although the bulk of the activities will be focused around London and the South East, the rest of the UK should also see a growth in its tourist numbers – some maybe trying to avoid the busy tourist spots of the London games. Common sense states we should see a correlation between increased tourist numbers and revenue...
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20 Low Cost Marketing Ideas for a Small Business
Small business marketing can be a hard nut to crack if you're not a marketing mastermind. With these 20 tips they should get you off the ground running...
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5 Steps to Take if You’re Losing Sales and Don’t Know Why
Salespeople lose sales for a number of common reasons, but sometimes this happens because of foul play on the part of their competitors or prospects. This article gives examples of recent unethical sales practices we've witnessed and offers 5 steps you should take if you suspect you're losing sales for reasons outside the norm...
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5 Pieces of Important Information Missing From Your CV
If executive resume writing is not your forte, you have lots of company. After all, writing a strong resume is not an easy task, and it is certainly compounded by the daunting competition you'll face in today's job market. However, there ARE shortcuts to creating a strong first impression - starting with taking a closer look at what you may have missed in writing your leadership resume...
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Advertising and the Lifetime Value of Your Customer
As business owners and managers, we need to look at a variety of numbers to gain a better understanding of our businesses. In this article, we are going to consider two very important metrics in business marketing – Cost Of Customer Acquisition and Advertising ROI (Return On Investment)...
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Marketing Tips for the Growing Business
Marketing continues to be a mystery... to those who create it and to those who sponsor it. Often, the ad that generates record-breaking volume for a retail store one month is repeated the following month and bombs. A campaign designed by the best Madison Avenue ad agency may elicit a mediocre response. The same item sells like hotcakes after a 30-word classified ad, with abominable grammar, appears on page 35 of an all-advertising shopper tossed on the front stoops of homes during a rainstorm! The mystery eludes solution but demands attention...
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Social networking from the perspective of a language professional, part 2
Besides enabling interaction, conversation and sharing with people and peers, social networks can also serve as advertising platforms. Social media, however, only represent approximately 8% of advertising today. This low figure can be explained by the fact that they are relatively new - i.e. they are still being figured out - and by the current absence of a business model on how to use them...
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Social networking from the perspective of a language professional
This article is not intended to provide an in-depth analysis of the complex social media environment, nor supply language professionals with the ultimate recipe for a profitable use of these new channels. With this article, I wish to present a quick overview of the main social networking sites, what they are for, and how they can be used...
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3 Interviewing Secrets for Obtaining Your New Job
With an understanding of these three insider interviewing secrets and the preparation that goes along with them, you will have the ability in your next interview to engage in a conversation and paint a picture in the interviewer's mind of exactly how you are the best qualified candidate to meet their needs and help them solve their problems - ultimately winning the job offer...
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7 Steps to Preparing a Door-Opening, Job-Winning Resume
If you are currently in the job market or expect that you may be in the not-too-distant future, you are almost certainly aware that the job market is fierce. Now, more than ever, you MUST find a way to stand out from your competition Your resume - your first introduction to those with the power to hire you - doesn't merely have to be good, it has to be incredible. Here are seven steps to help you write a job-winning resume…
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21 Tips to Speed Up Your Job Search Even In a Recession
Even as the economy slows and the job market becomes increasingly competitive, there are many who are incredibly successful in conducting fast, effective job searches. Even in a recession and rising unemployment you CAN build your career and secure a job that is personally, professionally, and financially rewarding. Here are 21 tips that you can put into action today to speed your own job search and drive it to a fast, successful conclusion…
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Selling Your Services to Government
Looking for new markets for your small businesses’ goods or services? Consider selling to the federal government. The U.S. government is the world’s largest buyer of goods and services — from spacecraft and advanced scientific research to paper clips and landscaping services. Military and civilian purchases total more than $425 billion a year…
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How To Negotiate Your Salary & Get Paid What You Are Worth
Understanding the process of salary negotiations and following these five simple steps can pay you back many times over with higher compensation in your next position. Know your value and be able to clearly articulate the returns that an employer can expect from hiring you. Never forget that as an employee you are investment…
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10 Resume-Writing Mistakes to Avoid
Is your resume generating disappointing results? Have you been sending your resume for positions that you know you are qualified for, but the phone remains silent? If so, you might want to check it and revise it against these ten common errors…
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The Foundation of a Fast, Successful Job Search: Organizing
Keeping accurate, up-to-date records of your job search activities, logs of contacts you have made, and step-by-step, calendared plans of the activities you must complete in order to reach your job search goals will pay you back for your effort multiple times over through a faster and more successful job search. By creating a plan and system for your job search, you will always know where to focus your attention and what you should be doing next…
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10 Killer Job Interview questions and Answers
There is no way you can accurately predict the questions that will be asked in an interview, but you can be ready and prepared by thinking about the factors that might concern an interviewer or employer before the interview…
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How to Create a Compelling, Branded Elevator Pitch for Your Job Search
A powerful elevator pitch is essential in your job search. With precision-like focus, an effective elevator pitch will immediately convey to the listener who you are as a professional, and will do it in a way that addresses not only your unique value proposition, but in a manner that addresses the concerns of your listener. You will use your elevator pitch frequently, in networking situations and during interviews…
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Networking Made Easy: Tips for a Fast, Successful Job Search
Networking is an essential job search activity required to access the 80% of all jobs found in the unpublished, hidden job market. Here are some tips to make networking easy for everyone…
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How To Revive A Stalled Job Search With High-Payoff Activities
Has your job search come to a halt? Implement these 5 high-payoff job search activities to jump start your job search and get back to work fast…
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50 Questions to Help You Specify Your Accomplishments in Your CV
It is absolutely essential that your resume immediately capture the attention of your reader. But how do you do that? When your resume is sitting on a desk with hundreds of other resumes, how do you ensure that your resume rises to the top, making the cut to be placed in the "keeper" file rather than the circular file? This article tells you how and provides tips on writing an accomplishment-focused resume…
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The Crucial First Step In Resume Writing: Establishing Your Focus
What is the essential first step you must take to ensure your resume generates results? You must establish and clearly convey your job target and focus. This article explains how to clearly define your job target and provides resume writing tips to ensure that your focus is immediately obvious to the recipients of your resume…
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Your 2008 Job Search Checklist
Do you have a job search planned in 2008? If you do, and if you are looking forward to your next job search with dread, you are definitely not alone! Job searching can be incredibly stressful. But, with some planning, genuine effort, and sincere commitment, you can minimize that stress and land a new job - one that is personally, professionally, and financially rewarding - faster than you may have thought possible…
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How to Incorporate Your Personal Brand In Your Job Search
What are the benefits of personal branding in relation to your career and how do you incorporate your personal brand into your resume cover letters and other career marketing documents? Read this article to find out and to learn five ways to conduct a branded job search…
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How To Write Your Resume and Market Yourself for an International Assignment
Do you dream about working abroad? Do your short or long-term career goals include an international assignment? Maybe you want to practice your ability to speak multiple languages. Perhaps you completed coursework or a degree in international business…
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Resume Writing Solutions for Your Challenging Career History
Professional tips and tricks that will help you transform your problematic work history into a job-winning resume. If you have a less-than-perfect employment background for your job target, this article will help you overcome it in your resume, to quickly get you back to work in the job you want…
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How To Stand Out At A Trade Show
Think of the last time you were on the midway at a state fair. Every booth was brightly colored, full of interesting things to see, do, and win. Hawkers yelled: "Step right up!", "Three tries for a dollar!", "Win a stuffed bunny for the lovely lady!" Lights flashed, kids ran around, and everyone seemed to be talking at once…
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How to totally screw up your Resume and lose job interviews
So, you're about to start making or updating your resume so you can go find your dream job (or hey maybe, just ANY job...in credit crunch 2008 that might be the best you can do for now). I know that it can seem impossibly difficult but it's not that hard at all. However, it IS very easy to make a mess of it - And messed up resumes and CVs get "round filed" real fast (thrown in the bin) and round filed = no job interview…
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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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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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