Monthly Archives: June 2011

10 strategies to expand your translation business: Part 8 2

by • ProZ.com, translation business • Tags: , , , , ,

This is the eighth post in the ten-part series providing information on ten different strategies for staying competitive and growing your translation business.

Eighth strategy: Building an online presence

In addition to social networking, language professionals are encouraged to build their online presence through their own professional websites.

Creating a website geared towards building or expanding your business means creating a professionally designed website that attracts visitors, optimized and updated regularly to beat competition.

Professional translators should approach their website with a client’s eyes and make sure the essentials are there (language pairs, services offered, contact information, testimonials, sample translations or recordings, important clients, past projects, formal training, among other details). A distinctive and unique domain name showing seriousness about the services being offered will set any professional translator apart.

How can I create my own website using ProZ.com?

ProZ.com members enjoy comprehensive web hosting services for free. Professional translators can register their domain or subdomain name and create their professional-looking website in minutes without knowing any HTML. The ProZ.com website creator assembles a fully functional website in minutes using the content from profiles. Find out more about ProZ.com hosting service here.

Do you have your own website? Share it below! Did your business improve after you set up your website? How?

Don’t forget to check the next post in this series on Attending translation industry events, to be posted shortly.

Podcast: interview with Renato Beninatto about Localization World Barcelona 2011 1

by • ProZ.com • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s a new ProZ.com podcast. These podcasts are designed to provide an opportunity to hear the week’s news, highlights of site features, interviews with translators and others in the industry, and to have some fun (see announcement).

In this week’s podcast you will find an interview with Renato Beninatto about his participation in Localization World Barcelona 2011 in which he answers the following questions:

1.- What were some of the topics covered during  Localization World Barcelona 2011 and what was the target audience of the event?
2.- You were the moderator of the localization round table on the Sales and Marketing Think Tank in which participants could bring some of their real problems to the table and receive some solutions from the experts. Could you please share  some examples of the problems brought to the table and some of the solutions discussed?
3.- You are a member of the Board of Directors of  Translators without Borders which exhibited a stand at the conference. Can you tell us a little bit more about Translators without Borders’ presence at this conference and the participants’ reaction to the impressive work Translators without Borders are doing?

Feedback and comments are welcome. You can reach me at romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom .

Stay tuned for next Friday’s podcast featuring an interview with Corinne McKay about her book “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator”

To listen to previous podcasts, check the podcasts tab in this blog.

Romina

Music: Kevin MacLeod

10 strategies to expand your translation business: Part 7 Reply

by • ProZ.com, translation business • Tags: , , , , ,

This is the seventh post in the ten-part series providing information on ten different strategies for staying competitive and growing your translation business.

Seventh strategy: Social networking

Online social networks are an excellent way to meet colleagues and keep in touch with them. They are also a great means to share industry news.

Language professionals should try social and professional networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn. These networks allow users to reach a wider market while promoting services and networking, if used as resources to set up a global business presence.

Many translation professionals have an active presence in these communities, with profiles reflecting their services, and share articles or news of interest to translators, promote their services or special discounts or surcharges, help promote translator events, and even pass jobs.

Translator blogs are also an interesting and creative option for networking, staying informed and advertising.

How can I meet colleagues in social networks through ProZ.com?

In ProZ.com Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter groups, professional translators can meet colleagues, highlight participation in industry specific discussions, share links to jobs or interesting articles, find clients and peers, and provide information on services offered, etc.

Join ProZ.com groups in social networks and start networking!

What other social networks do you know or use? Have they helped you to meet colleagues?

Next post in this series: Building an online presence. Check the blog in the next few days to learn more.

10 strategies to expand your translation business: Part 6 Reply

by • knowledge, ProZ.com, translation business • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

This is the sixth post in a ten-part series providing information on ten different strategies for staying competitive and growing your translation business.

Sixth strategy: Staying abreast of industry news and trends

Knowing about the latest translation industry trends and joining related discussions either on-line or in person allow professional translators to exchange information with colleagues and build a strong relationship with them, leading to job opportunities.

Also, if you have knowledge or news others would benefit from, don’t keep it to yourself! Sharing information on translation or business issues not only helps others and benefits the entire profession, but it is also a good way to promote yourself and your services.

How can I use ProZ.com to inform and stay informed?

At ProZ.com, there are several areas through which professional translators can keep up on current translation-related events and news, and share their own knowledge:

  • In the ProZ.com Wiki language professionals can start collaborative articles on relevant, industry related topics and contribute to already existing articles and discussions.
  • In Translation news articles, translators can post translation industry-related news, comment on, share and subscribe to items that have been posted.
  • In the Articles knowledge base, language professionals can read articles on topics of interest to translators, interpreters, and other language professionals, or post their own articles.

What other sources of translation-related news do you know? Do you have your own space to share news?

Make sure you check the upcoming post on Social networking. Stay tuned!

Podcast: marketing and communicating your linguistic talent and business services Reply

by • ProZ.com • Tags: , , , , , ,

Here’s a new ProZ.com podcast. These podcasts are designed to provide an opportunity to hear the week’s news, highlights of site features, interviews with translators and others in the industry, and to have some fun (see announcement).

In this week’s podcast you will find:

Feedback and comments are welcome. You can reach me at romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom .

To listen to previous podcasts, check the podcasts tab in this blog.

Romina

Music: Kevin MacLeod


10 strategies to expand your translation business: Part 5 Reply

by • knowledge, ProZ.com, translation business • Tags: , , , ,

This is the fifth post (already!) in the ten-part series that provides information on ten different strategies for staying competitive and growing your translation business.

Fifth strategy: Expanding your knowledge

Knowledge acquisition and business expansion go hand in hand in the translation market. Improving translation and business skills is a must for any language professional, specially if they want to meet new clients and increase their income.

Professional translators should never stop looking for new ways to expand the list of services they can offer to clients, learning how to use new translation tools and software, for instance, and constantly improving their language skills, and expanding their knowledge on translation essentials and theory.

How can I expand my knowledge at ProZ.com?

ProZ.com offers different types of training courses, webinars and educational resources available to translators and interpreters. Take training courses on:

Learn more about ProZ.com training sessions here.

What other ways of expanding your translation and business knowledge do you know? Have you ever taken a translation-related training course? Were you able to apply what you learned later on?

Make sure you check the next post in this series on Staying abreast of industry news and trends, to be posted in the next few days.

10 strategies to expand your translation business: Part 4 Reply

by • knowledge, ProZ.com, translation business • Tags: , , , , ,

This is the fourth post in the ten-part series providing information on ten different strategies for staying competitive and growing your translation business.

Fourth strategy: Becoming a trainer

Language professionals who have specialized knowledge find that offering training on those topics is also a powerful method of networking and promotion, and an additional source of income as well.

How can ProZ.com help me to become a trainer?

It’s simple! ProZ.com provides translators and interpreters with all they need to share their knowledge and experience with others:

No previous knowledge on e-learning technologies needed.

  • Tools. ProZ.com provides you with tools to create and deliver your course content.
  • Guidelines. Comprehensive step-by-step guidelines to create your course from scratch.
  • Assistance. Personalized assistance by experienced ProZ.com staff.

A robust e-learning infrastructure to deliver your course.

  • Audience. Reach the largest audience of translation professionals in the world.
  • No Investment. No money or software investment needed. ProZ.com provides e-learning tools and platforms at no cost.
  • Multiple formats. Multiple delivery formats. You can choose the one that is most suitable for you.
  • Robust plataform. ProZ.com handles registration, promotion, sales, refunds, customer support, and certificates of attendance.

Create a new line of income for your business.

  • Profit sharing. Earn profit on sales per event conducted.
  • Royalties. Content creators also earn residual royalty income from the sale of their content.

Learn more about the different course delivery formats available to trainers at ProZ.com here.

What other ways of promoting your business while sharing your knowledge do you know?

Next part in this series: Expanding your knowledge. Stay tuned!