Marketing Yourself and Your Translation Services to Agencies

Marketing Yourself and Your Translation Services to AgencieS

If you’re just starting out in the translation industry, you may be trying to determine the best types of clients to get your business off the ground – translation agencies or direct clients.

If you’re just starting out in the translation industry, you may be trying to determine the best types of clients to get your business off the ground – translation agencies or direct clients. Of course, this is all a matter of personal preference and many translators have determined that working with both translation agencies and direct clients provides a good mix of interesting projects while keeping their work volume and income levels up.

Here are some helpful tips for promoting your translation business to agencies –

Personalize Your Application

There’s probably no bigger turnoff for an agency than when a translator sends a generic carbon-copied email requesting work. You must target your marketing, and ensure that the email you send is personalised towards the recipient. Do some prior research and learn a little about the agency you’re applying to. Now, with that information you can comment on something that caught your eye. You must ‘act’ interested in the agency you’re applying to! Anything personalized you say in your email will be much more effective than the traditional: To whom it may concern: I’m writing to offer my translation services’, and so on.

All Agencies Are Not the Same

We know that, generally, agencies pay less than direct clients, and they add a layer between the translator and the client – which, depending on the project and the client, can be a plus or a minus. But don’t discard agencies altogether because there are many top-quality agencies out there who pay well, plus you save a heap of administrative overheads that you’re responsible for when you work for direct clients. Like all other industries, there are great business models out there and there are the ones that leave a lot to be desired!

Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Charge appropriately for your translation work; then earn that money. Many translators avoid working for agencies because they think they’ll be underpaid and/or overworked, but that’s not true. There are many great agencies out there who understand that using quality-conscious translators means that their work requires less editing, thus saving the agency money: it also means that the agency’s client’s become loyal clients.

Prove That You Provide Quality Work

Provide metrics showing the agency the quality of your work. This might include:

• You compile and send a list of queries all at once, meaning that issues can be resolved before the deadline is reached.  This means no rushed emails to a Project Manager who’s already rushed off their feet; no file submitted right on the deadline with questions still unanswered;
• You’re always either on time or ahead of your deadlines: The Project Manager will never have to make excuses to the end client.

Actively Seek High-Margin Projects

It’s quite acceptable to advise the agency that you’re most interested in medium to large projects – (say) $500 or more. Remember that high margin projects can often be found in unusual places. For example, translating individual clients’ official documents, such as diplomas, educational transcripts, birth certificates, drivers’ licenses, and so on can be interesting work, and very lucrative.

Use Data That’s Available to You

Direct your marketing to agencies that mesh with your own business goals. One    suggestion is to search the database of Payment Practices for agencies that other translators rate highly.

Target Small-Medium Size Agencies

This is a generalization, but large agencies are often geared toward the high-volume low-margin market. You’re more likely to find small and medium translation agencies that work either primarily or exclusively in your own specialization.

The Secrets of Highly Paid Translators

The Secrets of Highly Paid Translators

The translation industry is certainly not suffering, and that’s largely due to the fact that we’re living in such a connected world today.

If you’ve been struggling to get your freelance translation business off the ground, or perhaps you’ve been away from your business for some time and now you’re trying to revive it, or maybe you simply just don’t have enough work, there are various ways to get your business up and running again. These methods will range from applying to every translation agency you can find right through to preparing some really creative marketing materials and making sure you attend every trade fair for your target industry.

The translation industry is certainly not suffering, and that’s largely due to the fact that we’re living in such a connected world today. Most translators will say that they’re very busy. For the purpose of this post we’ll assume that you’re interested in increasing your marketing efforts because you really want to attract some high-paying direct clients, so let’s have a look at some ideas on how you can achieve this –

Approach Potential Clients and Request an Interview

We understand that this sounds very daunting, and there will be those translators out there who won’t have the confidence to take this step. However, asking potential clients for an informational interview on their particular business and how translation fits into their industry, can provide some interesting leads. Businesses you might contact include local translation agencies, association presidents, direct clients and so on. Suggest that they may like to join you for a cup of coffee and remember that this is an informational interview – it’s not meant to be high-pressure sales. These kinds of people are decision-makers, so go to them direct – don’t depend on meeting them at networking events.

Offer to Write Articles

You’re looking for direct clients, so offer to write articles for publications associated with your target industry. Of course, writing articles for translation industry publications is extremely worthwhile as well. A simple article titled ‘Best practices for purchasing translations in the legal/financial/pharmaceutical/automotive/building/whatever industry’ could well place you in the position of being an expert in that field, and we all know that there are publications out there for every imaginable area of specialization so your target industry will almost definitely have their own publication.

You’re the One Who’s Always Available  

Market yourself as the translator who’s always available during those times when no-one else is: by this, we mean weekends, nights, holidays (particularly the period between Christmas and New Year’s) and so on. We know that international business never stops, and people of different countries and religions observe different holidays, so there will always be an opening for translators who are prepared to work the hours that no-one else wants to.

Visit Your Source Language Country

Put this one down to ‘a marketing trip’ - there are various services, such as Payment Practices, that can assist in finding good overseas clients. Contact the agency’s listed on these sites by email requesting an informational interview (this means a coffee or lunch at your expense), find yourself a cheap airfare, and set yourself up to achieve!

So the point here is, if you’re trying to grow your business you need to try something that other translators aren’t doing, and you’ll definitely reap the rewards. Yes, we understand that some of these strategies cost money, while others don’t. Some take a lot of courage, while introverts will have to find different ways of attracting new clients.