Blog About Freelance Translation Business
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Best Paying Websites to Find Translation Job Online
Let me be honest, I created this title using keywords from Google analytics and Google Webmaster accounts set up for my personal business website —Russian Translator Pro. I regularly check my website statistics to see how people find me on the web. And these keywords...
How to improve selling texts for your translation business
In this post, I’m going to share some tips on how to improve selling texts, strengthen your translation offer, make it more attractive to your potential customers, win new projects, and make more money from your translation business. Selling complex services such as...
Prize draw for SFT members!
WIN A CHANCE TO TAKE PART IN ONE OF THE BEST EVENTS FOR FREELANCE TRANSLATORS – BP20 TRANSLATION CONFERENCE! I’m giving away 3 conference tickets worth 75 EUR each (general tickets including webinars and networking sessions). ⛳️ What you need to do to...
3 Ways to Add Value to Your Translation Business
Frankly speaking, potential clients hardly ever order translation services for the sake of translation itself. One of the most famous quotes in marketing comes from Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt: “People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill; they...
How to Improve Your Freelance Translation Business
Hey, SFT-ers! I'm starting a new series of small posts to share quick tips about freelance translation business. They won't be too complicated, just simple tips to give you food for thought and a direction to move on. So, let's start! Specialize A human translator...
Free Test Translation: a Great Opportunity or an Inevitable Evil?
Translation communities take a keen interest in similar topics and issues. One of these topics — free test translation — provokes vigorous debates over and over again. Let's take a look at this problem from different perspectives, elaborate on the pros and cons of...
Three Incredibly Effective Ways to Fail Your Communication With Fellow Translators
I receive messages from translators willing to work with me almost every day and there is nothing bad in trying to establish cooperation with fellow translators. Actually, the word of mouth and personal connections are among the most efficient methods to get more...
Seven Deadly Mistakes of Translators and How to Avoid Them
Translation of large projects (like a book) is a real challenge not only for translators but for translation project managers. I found seven common mistakes freelance translators make during their work on such large projects and I’d like to share my experience with...
Payoneer Launched Escrow System to Secure Payments for Service Providers
Will a client pay for my services? Every freelancer asked this question at least once in his/her career. This question is still topical for many of us - translators who work online. Everyone likes big projects, when contractual relations ensure safe payment, however,...
#BlabbingTranslators: the first live talk show about translation and translators
#BlabbingTranslators was the first live talk show about translation run by Russian translators Dmitry Kornyukhov and Elena Tereshchenkova. Started in 2016, the show had one season with 19 episodes approximately 1-hour long each. The first season covered such topics as...
SFT Community Development Plans For 2018
Winter break is over and it is high time to set up the plans for the next year. As you know, the main purpose or this website and our community, in general, is to help translators succeed in the complex translation market conditions. So, in this post, I've prepared a...
The Best Holiday Gifts for Translators
If you are lucky enough to date a translator or if you are a translator yourself, you know what can make us happy: an endless supply of freshly ground coffee, a fast laptop and a reliable CAT tool (a real cat is a good supplement, by the way). But when it comes to...
Two Marketing Channels You Need to Get Direct Clients in 2018
It’s not a secret that translating for direct clients is more profitable than working with intermediaries like translation agencies. For the last three years I gradually shifted from agencies to direct clients and today I’d like to share which client acquisition...
Content Marketing for Freelance Translators: Webinar (Full Text, Video, and Presentation)
Hi, SFT-ers! I have run a webinar about content marketing for freelance translators recently and I'd like to share the content of this webinar with those how did not have a chance to take part in a live session. Today you will learn how to create a comprehensive...
22 Free Ways to Get Followers for Your Facebook Business Page
It is no surprise that entrepreneurs promoting their services via Facebook strive to optimize advertising costs. Though reducing them to zero is not possible for a sustainable business, there are some easy methods to promote your Facebook business page, get likes and...
4000 Members in SFT Group on Facebook
Today is a memorable day for Successful Freelance Translators group. We finally reached 4000 members! SFT group was established to help freelance translators become better entrepreneurs, find new clients and learn more about the specific nature of online business....
Facebook Page Settings: Challenge #1, Part 3
In the previous post, you learned how to customize general settings of your Facebook Page for business. This post will be the last one in the series about page settings and then we will proceed to page promotion. First, go to your business page and choose Settings...
The 80/20 Rule and How it Can Boost Your Translation Business
The 80/20 rule (or Pareto principle, named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto) states that in many situations roughly 80% of the effects are determined by 20% of the causes, or 80% of results are achieved in 20% of the overall time (This, of course, is a rule of...
Facebook Page General Settings: Challenge #1, Part 2
In the first post about our Facebook Page Challenge, I prepared a set of instructions to help you create your first business page. There were over 60 members willing to take part in the challenge. Some of them already had Facebook business pages, others created their...
Challenge #1: Development and Promotion of Facebook Business Page for Translators
As you remember, I promised to prepare something special for SFT blog subscribers and members of our Facebook group instead of weekly promo campaigns. Today it is high time to start our first challenge! On May 12, 2017, I published a poll asking about the topic for...
Lessons I Learned From BP17 Translation Conference For Freelance Translators
As you may know, last week I took part in a translation conference for freelance translators held in Budapest. This was my first international conference, moreover, I was invited as a speaker. I was really excited about that and, at the same time, I felt so nervous...
A New Book For Translators: The Ultimate Guide To Becoming A Successful Freelance Translator
Our new book, The Ultimate Guide To Becoming A Successful Freelance Translator, is a fast-paced and informative guide to the translation industry and how you can find your place within it. It covers a wide range of topics to help brand-new translators, experienced...
Is Your Client Asking for Impossible Deadlines? Learn What to Do Here!
Let’s face it: how many times have you said “yes” to a project only to get overwhelmed because the client is asking for an unreasonable deadline? Don’t fret, because there is a way to stop spending sleepless nights and beat the clock. Here’s what you can do to get out...
Translate Or Find Translators On The Go with Air Translator Mobile App
In late 90-es, Internet changed the way we search for the information. We obtained a powerful tool offering instant access to information across the globe. But the launch of iPhone in 2007 and the fast-paced development of mobile app market over the next decade...
20 Essential Tools I Use For My Online Business. Part 1.
When you run an online business, choosing the right tools for development, promotion, and managing your business is a vital part of entrepreneurial activity. Wisely selected tools can accelerate your business development and help to automate routine tasks. Thus you...
The Hidden Comment Marketing Power For Freelance Translators
A few months ago I was honored to become a moderator of an FB group “Successful Freelance Translators” (SFT) launched by Simon Akhrameev. If you are a freelance translator or you intend to become the one, and you are still not in this group, I would encourage you to...
How to Create a Perfect Business Card for a Freelance Translator
Today many freelance translators work primarily through Internet, but it does not mean that you should limit your promotion efforts to online methods only. Therefore, business cards exchange still remains topical when it comes to personal meetings with potential...
What Made Me Choose and Keep Translators as a Project Manager
Knowing how to sell your services to clients and, even more importantly, how to keep those customers, are vital to the success of any freelance language professional. I had a short stint (about a year) as a translation project manager when I was transitioning from...
Social Media for Translators: Webinar Highlights
Social media is a powerful communication and information distribution tool that cannot and shouldn’t be avoided by modern businesses, whether it is a company or an independent freelance business. Billions of people are using social networks every day and you can take...
5 Sad Mistakes Freelance Translators Make on Startup
I know there are dozens of posts published in this regard, but I would like to put in my two cents' worth. Working as a translator for over 9 years, I have made many mistakes including business and communication mistakes and lapses. But I always wanted to become a...
Guidelines for Co-Promotion of Translation Services
At the end of October 2016, I suggested a concept of co-promotion for freelance translators in our SFT group on Facebook. The idea was simple: translators share the links to their resources (websites, FB pages, etc.) so that we can help each other improve our online...
Getting Started With Twitter for Freelance Translators
For many people Twitter became a daily routine – they wake up in the morning and check Twitter before (or while) having their coffee. Twitter is among top 10 social networks with over 310 million monthly active users. You have 140 character per tweet and due to this...
How to Use Video to Attract New Clients to Your Website
Hey, guys! Many of us have personal websites (if no, check one of my posts to learn why you should) and you may wonder how to attract new visitors and convert them into clients. In this posts, I will show you how to use video to attract new clients to your website....
How to Use Facebook to Boost Your Translation Business
Needless to say that Facebook is one of the largest social networks on earth. It offers multiple communication opportunities both for personal needs and for businesses. If you’re still not using a vast arsenal of Facebook features to boost your translation business –...
How to Choose the Best WP Theme for a Translator’s Website
Choosing a WP theme is an important step during creation of a website for your freelance translation business. The theme is a visual representation of your website data and depending on theme functionality you will be able to create everything from simple blog to...
5 Reasons Why it is Important to Register Your Freelance Translation Business
It’s been a while since I wrote a new post on successfulfreelancetranslator.com, however, there was a good excuse for that – I decided to go to the next level and register as a self-employed entrepreneur with the right to hire employees. Registration process and all...
How to Develop a Business Model for Freelance Translation Business
Do you have a business model for your freelance translation business? No? Then it is high time to think about it if you treat your business seriously and want to succeed. In this post, you will learn how to develop a comprehensive, flexible and dynamically adaptable...
How to Start a WordPress Website in 5 Minutes
Are you thinking about a personal website for your freelance translation business but don't know where to start? In this post, I prepared a comprehensive instruction on how to start a WordPress website even if you have no idea about website building. Many translators...
First Steps to Building a Personal Brand as a Freelance Translator
Becoming a successful freelance translator is not an easy task. If you want to find better jobs, land better clients and grow your professional network you should definitely think about building your personal brand. The personal brand is a complex notion covering...
Everything You Want to Know Before Starting a Personal Website
Some time ago Dmitry Kornyukhov and Elena Tereshchenkova invited me to take part in a live talk show about translation and translators - BlabbingTranslators. Unfortunately, Elena was away. This time, Dmitry and I were talking about websites for translators. Today I...
Almost 40% of Translators are Not Satisfied with Their Rates
Recently I conducted a short survey to find out whether translators are satisfied with what they have now. I had certain assumptions and I wanted to find out the opinion of my colleagues about that. My survey consisted of five simple questions with multiple-choice...