| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: Which method do you find most useful to get clients? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| Not that old chestnut again | Nov 27, 2015 |
Chris S wrote:
haven't tried Twitter but can't see many bankers caring what I had for lunch
Talking about what you had for lunch isn't mandatory on Twitter, you know; it does have other uses .
| | | | Kristina Cosumano (X) 
Germany
Local time: 07:27
German to English
| ProZ Profile, so far, but... | Nov 27, 2015 |
I have more work than I can shake a stick at these days. Had to refuse a large, ongoing long-term project (tourism texts) the other day, and couldn't even find anyone else willing to take it on either.
...if anyone here has more German-to-English translation work that they can handle, I am willing to take some of it off their hands.
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Noni Gilbert wrote:
Proz.com is involved, because other translators on the site have recommended me.
How ungrateful am I having forgotten to mention that my services have also been recommended by other Prozians?
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Oliver Lawrence wrote: Talking about what you had for lunch isn't mandatory on Twitter, you know; it does have other uses .
I was just messing, as usual...
Seriously, though, I looked at your Twitter feed and interesting/fun though it is, Oliver, I'm just not seeing how it will help you win new clients.
I mean, what on Earth can you tweet that will get clients beating on your door? Beyond a few hilarious translation errors and maybe a few nuggets of the market-sensitive inside information I generally have in my possession, I'm thinking now that what I had for lunch actually is the most useful thing I could tweet...
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 06:27
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Almost 100% ProZ.com | Nov 27, 2015 |
Although I don't often quote for jobs posted publicly on this site, let alone get them, almost 100% of my work for the last eight years has had some connection with ProZ.com. Sometimes the link is tenuous - jobs come from clients of other members here when their regular provider recommends me; or from a contact of a regular client, or... And the vast majority come from clients (agencies and end customers) who send me private messages through the site.
Mind you, my biggest client thi... See more Although I don't often quote for jobs posted publicly on this site, let alone get them, almost 100% of my work for the last eight years has had some connection with ProZ.com. Sometimes the link is tenuous - jobs come from clients of other members here when their regular provider recommends me; or from a contact of a regular client, or... And the vast majority come from clients (agencies and end customers) who send me private messages through the site.
Mind you, my biggest client this year will be an author who posted their book editing job on a rival site where I have a basic profile. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 02:27
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| I'm very happy... | Nov 27, 2015 |
... to find out that ProZ is the main source for many others. I thought I was an exception.
I found that LinkedIn is absolutely useless for any purpose, and Facebook or other social media sites are certainly not meant for professional purposes.
As to the associations, some people told me they got some work there, and I thought I was being left behind for not being part of one. Now, this post makes me really happy, to see I'm doing the right thing.
About 90% of my... See more ... to find out that ProZ is the main source for many others. I thought I was an exception.
I found that LinkedIn is absolutely useless for any purpose, and Facebook or other social media sites are certainly not meant for professional purposes.
As to the associations, some people told me they got some work there, and I thought I was being left behind for not being part of one. Now, this post makes me really happy, to see I'm doing the right thing.
About 90% of my clients are either directly from ProZ or due to my contacts in ProZ.
So I shall maintain the standard! Thank you all for confirming this. ▲ Collapse
| | | | 564354352 (X)
Denmark
Local time: 07:27
Danish to English
+ ...
| Direct marketing | Nov 27, 2015 |
I have gained my best new clients through my own hard work, i.e. marketing my services directly to potential clients.
Being a member of the CIOL is very useful as far as getting noticed is concerned, but in the end, work rarely materialises via this prominent source due to different views on how to establish collaboration (NDAs, references, supply of diplomas and CV, reading lengthy terms of conditions etc., not to mention unpaid test translations) and of course, different views of ... See more I have gained my best new clients through my own hard work, i.e. marketing my services directly to potential clients.
Being a member of the CIOL is very useful as far as getting noticed is concerned, but in the end, work rarely materialises via this prominent source due to different views on how to establish collaboration (NDAs, references, supply of diplomas and CV, reading lengthy terms of conditions etc., not to mention unpaid test translations) and of course, different views of what my work should cost.
Being a member of ProZ has brought me very little work, but many enquiries, which have almost all ended once I have mentioned my prices. In all fairness, my prices are really not very high as compared to other professional Danish translators, so my mind boggles as to where all those jobs end up. And no, I'm pretty sure it is not a matter of personal dislike, as I rarely get the chance to become unpleasant.
Only yesterday, I had this little exchange with a Proz contact:
Hopeful Client: We have a job within xx field; we pay for repetitions and numbers. Let us know if you are interested.
Me: I'm interested. Please visit my website, which will give you all relevant details about me.
HC: We're in xx [country] and can only pay $0.06 per word.
Me: I understand. However, I cannot work at such a low rate. My standard rate is $0.18 per source word.
HC: Would you do the job for $0.07 per word?
Me: No. Good luck in finding another qualified translator.
I just resigned my membership of Proz and hope this means that at least I won't be contacted by such time-wasters anymore, now that my ranking in the directories has dropped significantly. ▲ Collapse
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Chris S wrote:
Seriously, though, I looked at your Twitter feed and interesting/fun though it is, Oliver, I'm just not seeing how it will help you win new clients.
I mean, what on Earth can you tweet that will get clients beating on your door? Beyond a few hilarious translation errors and maybe a few nuggets of the market-sensitive inside information I generally have in my possession, I'm thinking now that what I had for lunch actually is the most useful thing I could tweet...
I had no idea that was your whimsical sense of humour coming out there, Chris .
I have 2 Twitter feeds. One is for networking, discussing and sharing resources with colleagues, which helps build relationships, get me noticed, etc. That leads to opportunities like being asked to speak at conferences, job referrals, etc., as well as helping me find out about events and articles (by following other Tweeters) that I might otherwise have missed. That Twitter account is not about client prospecting.
My other account is in my source language, and the content is aimed at clients and prospects. It's still early days ,and I'm feeling my way, but hopefully something will come of it.
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DorothyX (X)
France
Local time: 07:27
| Translators association | Nov 27, 2015 |
But I have no "profile" on their website, it's just a contact list with phone number, e-mail address and language options.
One month ago, I got my first translation via LinkedIn, from an old client who moved to another company.
For the rest:
Gitte Hovedskov, MCIL wrote:
Hopeful Client: We have a job within xx field; we pay for repetitions and numbers. Let us know if you are interested.
Me: I'm interested. Please visit my website, which will give you all relevant details about me.
HC: We're in xx [country] and can only pay $0.06 per word.
Me: I understand. However, I cannot work at such a low rate. My standard rate is $0.18 per source word.
HC: Would you do the job for $0.07 per word?
Me: No. Good luck in finding another qualified translator.
Exactly the same experience here. The most funny was the agency that contacted me through the Certified Pro Network (although I was not a proz member, it was an exceptional situation given my rare language pair. Please note that I am on that translators association list where he could have found me). Saying: "the agency we work for cannot pay us more than 0.10, so we offer you 0.07". I recognized this person: he was living and worked not far away: two streets and 500 m between us.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 01:27
English to Spanish
+ ...
Julian Holmes wrote: I get quite a few inquiries from Proz but they generally fizzle out into thin air - some don't even bother to reply after I have contacted them  Their loss! By far the best method for me is to target specific companies after doing a search that focuses on particular niche services that I can offer. Once I start dealing with prospective people, I then direct them to my online profile in LinkedIn.
I've had similar experiences. And I don't mean the prospects who don't know how to write a proper advert or request. There should be a robot handling those wannabes!
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 01:27
English to Spanish
+ ...
| I'm almost certain… | Nov 27, 2015 |
…that I added “a combination of the above” as an option on this poll of mine. Yes, it was me, bwahahahahah!
Seriously though, some of the respondents reflect the selfsame experiences I've had. It's telling that at least one respondent dropped his/her Proz membership to avoid being pestered by pesky time-wasting prospects who can't seem to understand My standard rate is $0.18/word and still insist on offering 40-50% lower than that.
They don't even know how ... See more …that I added “a combination of the above” as an option on this poll of mine. Yes, it was me, bwahahahahah!
Seriously though, some of the respondents reflect the selfsame experiences I've had. It's telling that at least one respondent dropped his/her Proz membership to avoid being pestered by pesky time-wasting prospects who can't seem to understand My standard rate is $0.18/word and still insist on offering 40-50% lower than that.
They don't even know how to haggle! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 06:27
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| Why expect any different? | Nov 27, 2015 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
It's telling that at least one respondent dropped his/her Proz membership to avoid being pestered by pesky time-wasting prospects who can't seem to understand My standard rate is $0.18/word and still insist on offering 40-50% lower than that.
Isn't that normal nowadays? Very few people can be bothered to read what you print. Every person here who contacts me through my profile can see my rates, but very few bother to look. People don't look things up for themselves any more; they expect someone to tell them.
I'm active promoting my lovely island online, and I can't believe the questions, day in day out:
- what's the weather like in X (month)?
- how much does it cost to get there from the airport / to hire a car ... ?
- what's the £/$ to € exchange rate?
And the list goes on, even when the answers are on the page right in front of them as they type!
So I press the delete button or patiently reply briefly to personal contacts. Like the one just today from the UK who wanted 25 PDF pages translated for tomorrow at €0.045 per target word. Just time-wasters, but they're unavoidable if you don't want to shut out the worthwhile potential clients.
If you can land a Chinese client here willing to pay €30/hr, who pays within three days, AND himself suggests that a job is worth a 50% surcharge, anything is possible. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!
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| Harvest of the day | Nov 27, 2015 |
Sheila Wilson wrote:
Like the one just today from the UK who wanted 25 PDF pages translated for tomorrow at €0.045 per target word. Just time-wasters, but they're unavoidable if you don't want to shut out the worthwhile potential clients.
A prospect contacted me today through the Proz database search feature. He asked for my CV and "best possible quote". Quite good BB record, large number of entries, though unusually few PRO-taggers among them. I replied as requested, so they sent me the project details:
Dear Jose,
Thanks for showing your interest in our company !!
Agency Name, is an ISO 9001:2008 certified booming linguistic service provider with our presence in India and USA. We focus our energies on serving the linguistic Industry with quality standards. Our expertise over Language Translations & Localization has helped us widen our horizons to include over more than 150 different languages combinations. To know more about us, please visit to agency web site URL
Further, we are pleased to inform you that currently we have one project in your language pair. Details of the project are as follows:
Language Pair: English to Portuguese (Brazilian)
Task: Translation & Review
Domain: IT & E-learning
Volume: approx. 20,000 words (we will assign you as per your daily productivity)
Tool: Trados
Deadline: 3rd December 2015 (= 5 days including a weekend]
Offered rate: Our average offered rate for this language pair remains USD 0.03/word for translation & USD 5/Hour/1000 words for review.
Payment Terms: Within 30-60 days from the date of invoice through Paypal or Moneybooker (If amount remains below USD 200). If amount exceed USD 200 then we go for Bank transfer.
Payment Procedure: We do release purchase order along with invoice format on successful completion of the project. You need to fill the required details in invoice format & submit to our accounts team for further processing.
An earliest response would be highly appreciated!!
My 'earliest' response was:
Considering the translation jobs already done for USD 0.05/word, with payment in 30 days sharp, that I am occasionally hired to fix/salvage/REDO FROM SCRATCH at my full rate with payment in advance (on account of desperate urgency), I would advise you to use free online machine translation, like Google Translate, instead.
Though the flaws are different in their nature, the overall quality is roughly equivalent. Believe me, I have seen this more often than I should.
The best is that it costs you nothing! If they take it, you'll make a bundle.
If - unfortunately - your end-client gets wise and rejects it, you'll have more funds left to hire someone like me to redo everything, as you won't have wasted any money on cheap amateurs.
Good luck!
Meanwhile my web site brought me seven direct queries (all domestic - it's a bridge holiday in the USA today) today, all of them asking how much it would cost to do whatever they explained they need.
The problem in getting clients through Proz is that it has become one place where they see too many translation clients imposing low rates and long payment terms, as if they were entitled to do so.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 01:27
English to Spanish
+ ...
| If you say no, they'll stop asking | Nov 27, 2015 |
My colleague José Henrique Lamensdorf said The problem in getting clients through Proz is that it has become one place where they see too many translation clients imposing low rates and long payment terms, as if they were entitled to do so.
That insight can be further enhanced with a deceptively simple advice: newcomers to the profession should just say no or stop accepting those lowballing offers.
I know, it's easier said than done, especially when a bilingual ... See more My colleague José Henrique Lamensdorf said The problem in getting clients through Proz is that it has become one place where they see too many translation clients imposing low rates and long payment terms, as if they were entitled to do so.
That insight can be further enhanced with a deceptively simple advice: newcomers to the profession should just say no or stop accepting those lowballing offers.
I know, it's easier said than done, especially when a bilingual person loses his job and has a family to feed. In desperate or urgent situations, 3 cents per word is better than zero cents per nothing.
And preaching to the choir, i.e. telling those pesky prospects to stop offering such low rates (translation dumping is what I call it) is not going to change their behavior at all. The challenge, everybody's challenge is to force an upstream response: no, I will not work for your rates. No ifs or buts. No means no.
Career planning is always an important strategy in any era. How do we dissuade translation or language students from thinking on the clouds and assuming they can just start translating from day one after they get their diploma or certificate? Many times I've heard (or read) colleagues counsel: start part time. That's good advice. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 02:27
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Im a ProZ inconditional fan | Nov 28, 2015 |
Mario Chavez wrote:
My colleague José Henrique Lamensdorf said The problem in getting clients through Proz is that it has become one place where they see too many translation clients imposing low rates and long payment terms, as if they were entitled to do so.
That insight can be further enhanced with a deceptively simple advice: newcomers to the profession should just say no or stop accepting those lowballing offers.
.
There will always be those who use ProZ to offer lousy jobs and rates. After all, these people are the vast majority, and the coutries with such practices (including mine) are also the vast majority. Now, it's up to the translator to screen the good and bad proposals, of course. Some may deserve a polite negative response, some deserve furhter negotiation (and I got several good clients like that), and some are not even worth a reply. Straight to the trash can.
Nevertheless, ProZ is still, and by far, the best resource for me. And, forgive me some colleagues who stated otherwise, but LinkedIn has been absolutely useless for me in over five years of using. And that's where I keep the most complete profile, with all details... well at least I used to until last year.
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