Discussion for ProZ.com 2016 virtual conference for International Translation Day session (2016): Find direct clients and run a business that you love

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Elsatrans17
Elsatrans17  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:49
English to French
+ ...
Finding a more lucrative and rewarding way of working Sep 6, 2016

Hello,
I'm a new freelancer, and I have no idea what type of companies I could contact to find direct clients. I know they are hard to find, and those I have contacted in my area were not interested.


 
Octavio Armendariz
Octavio Armendariz  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 08:49
French to English
+ ...
Potential contacts Sep 6, 2016

Hi,

If you have legal experience or parallel training other than a translation degree, like a licence en droit, you could contact the law firms in your area or in the Paris area. They have plenty of work, but they mainly work with agencies I might warn. Another tip, is to contact businesses in the CAC40. There is a list of them in L'Expansion. I know it is hard. It is hard to determine what department to contact. Departments to contact include the communications department, the inve
... See more
Hi,

If you have legal experience or parallel training other than a translation degree, like a licence en droit, you could contact the law firms in your area or in the Paris area. They have plenty of work, but they mainly work with agencies I might warn. Another tip, is to contact businesses in the CAC40. There is a list of them in L'Expansion. I know it is hard. It is hard to determine what department to contact. Departments to contact include the communications department, the investor relations department and the legal department. I've tried direct mailing this kind of clients from the U.S., but my letters end up in the HR department. That's the thing to avoid, because they think you are looking for a salaried position. Sometimes, I think there is no getting around working with agencies also in spite of the dismal rates they pay.

You might have better luck by calling first, determining who your contact person is and then mailing a CV to follow your conversation.

I hope that helps.

Octavio
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Gutemberg Raposo
Gutemberg Raposo  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 12:49
English to Portuguese
+ ...
session sign-up Sep 8, 2016

Hi,

How do I go about signing up for this session?


 
Paula Durrosier
Paula Durrosier  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 12:49
English to Spanish
+ ...
How to register for ProZ.com 2016 virtual conference for International Translation Day Sep 8, 2016

Hi Gutemberg,

In order to register for this virtual conference, all you need to do is follow this link http://www.proz.com/virtual-conferences/group/28/register . You will then register for the multiple events that will take place during the ProZ.com 2016 virtual conference for International Translation Day.

To learn more about this virtual conference, y
... See more
Hi Gutemberg,

In order to register for this virtual conference, all you need to do is follow this link http://www.proz.com/virtual-conferences/group/28/register . You will then register for the multiple events that will take place during the ProZ.com 2016 virtual conference for International Translation Day.

To learn more about this virtual conference, you can visit the conference's main page here http://www.proz.com/virtual-conferences/697 .

Hope this helps!

Best regards,

Paula
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chinawest
chinawest
United States
Local time: 11:49
Chinese to English
When will on-demand presentations be available and for how long? Sep 27, 2016

When will on-demand presentations be available and for how long? Will they be streamed and viewable at the start of the virtual conference?

 
Emma Guerry
Emma Guerry  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:49
Italian to French
very interesting topic Sep 28, 2016

Finding direct clients is a more difficult task than working with agencies, but it's the challenge the translators want to reach. For several reasons: the price is more rewarding and, if the client is satisfied, you create a collaboration for the long term.
However, a lot of companies choose to call an internal employee who'is bilingual for reduce costs, sometimes to the detriment of good translations.
I'm a freelance translator since March 2015 and I'm specialized in marketing and ad
... See more
Finding direct clients is a more difficult task than working with agencies, but it's the challenge the translators want to reach. For several reasons: the price is more rewarding and, if the client is satisfied, you create a collaboration for the long term.
However, a lot of companies choose to call an internal employee who'is bilingual for reduce costs, sometimes to the detriment of good translations.
I'm a freelance translator since March 2015 and I'm specialized in marketing and advertising translations. What average rate can I apply to compete with agencies ? For now, I have applied a average rate of 0,11 euros per word (in the nautic area) including the review by a second translator. I have worked for two italian companies, but it was one year I don't manage to have more because, according to companies, my rate is over high, or they have an internal employee who does the translations. What kind of company can accepte this rate? Or I had to review my rates?

Thank you in advance for your comments about this and have a good International Translation day.

Emma
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Sylvie Pons
Sylvie Pons  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 16:49
English to French
+ ...
Signing up for this session Sep 28, 2016

Hi, I'll ask again like Gutemberg Raposo, how do you sign up for the on-demand sessions? I'm already signed up for the conference. Many thanks

 
Drew MacFadyen
Drew MacFadyen  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 11:49
Spanish to English
+ ...
No need to sign up Sep 28, 2016

Hi everyone there is no need to sign up, the on-demand sessions can be viewed by attendees at any time...starting from the beginning of each event day.

Regards,

Drew


 
Martyna Skup (X)
Martyna Skup (X)
Austria
Local time: 16:49
German to Polish
+ ...
How to contact direct clients Sep 28, 2016

Hi all.

I am a quite new freelance translator and I am sending e-mails from time to time to companies/clients. However their response is mostly kind of "we will keep your contact information for the future reference and we will contact you in case we need a translation". And then comes silence.

I would like to improve my way of reaching out the clients and I hope to find here help and useful tips. Basically I would like to get to know how do you contact clients directly so
... See more
Hi all.

I am a quite new freelance translator and I am sending e-mails from time to time to companies/clients. However their response is mostly kind of "we will keep your contact information for the future reference and we will contact you in case we need a translation". And then comes silence.

I would like to improve my way of reaching out the clients and I hope to find here help and useful tips. Basically I would like to get to know how do you contact clients directly so that they start being interested in your offer. What should be the content of this kind of e-mails? What do you write there, do you attach your CV? When do you discuss the translation rates?

Thank you for any help
Martyna
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Nelly Alejandra Alister
Nelly Alejandra Alister  Identity Verified
Chile
Local time: 11:49
Member (2010)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Interest Sep 28, 2016

Hello, I'd love to learn how to attract clients in the field that I love.

 
Laurens Landkroon
Laurens Landkroon  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:49
English to Dutch
+ ...
When will on-demand presentations be available and for how long? Sep 30, 2016

chinawest wrote:

When will on-demand presentations be available and for how long? Will they be streamed and viewable at the start of the virtual conference?


I don't believe this question was answered.
Is it only available today or also tomorrow or even later???
(as Drew answered it could be viewed at any time, but did he mean any time today???)

Thanks and happy translator day everyone!

Laurens.


 
Patricia Rivera
Patricia Rivera  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 12:49
Member (2015)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Excellent presentation! Sep 30, 2016

Thank you Sara! Very comprehensive and insightful presentation!

 
Martyna Skup (X)
Martyna Skup (X)
Austria
Local time: 16:49
German to Polish
+ ...
Excellent presentation Sep 30, 2016

Thank you very much for this presentation full of very useful information and tips I have been looking for!

 
RominaZ
RominaZ  Identity Verified
Argentina
English to Spanish
+ ...
When will on-demand presentations be available and for how long? (Staff: 90 days for attendees) Sep 30, 2016

Laurens Landkroon wrote:

chinawest wrote:

When will on-demand presentations be available and for how long? Will they be streamed and viewable at the start of the virtual conference?


I don't believe this question was answered.
Is it only available today or also tomorrow or even later???
(as Drew answered it could be viewed at any time, but did he mean any time today???)

Thanks and happy translator day everyone!

Laurens.


Dear Laurens,

All session content and recordings will be available for at least 90 days for those that attend at least one live session (even if just briefly). Attending during the live event will ensure that you have access to recordings of all the sessions.

When the content is ready attendees will be notified.

Happy translating!
Romina


 


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Discussion for ProZ.com 2016 virtual conference for International Translation Day session (2016): Find direct clients and run a business that you love






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