Translation - art & business » Getting established »
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Projecting oneself as a translator without areas of expertise
Thread poster: Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 09:19
French to English
Foot in the door Feb 10, 2022

Kickstarting your business activity requires knowing what you are going to sell. Selling the fact that you think you have nothing special to sell is probably not the best sales pitch you have to offer. You need to get your foot in the door. Indeed, you might need to do this several times and even kick a few doors down. But don't waste your time forcing your way through doors that are already open. Use what you know, what you have, look for transversal skills that will be relevant in fields you a... See more
Kickstarting your business activity requires knowing what you are going to sell. Selling the fact that you think you have nothing special to sell is probably not the best sales pitch you have to offer. You need to get your foot in the door. Indeed, you might need to do this several times and even kick a few doors down. But don't waste your time forcing your way through doors that are already open. Use what you know, what you have, look for transversal skills that will be relevant in fields you are interested in exploring. In my experience, the language skills themselves must be expected. It is the other stuff with those skills that will get you going. What do you know? Who do you know? What would you like to know? What ancillary skills do you have? What unusual skills do you have that few others have? What combinations of skills do you have that the person behind you in the queue is unlikely to have? ▲ Collapse


P.L.F. Persio
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:19
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Wrong Feb 11, 2022

Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:

I guess that most of us started without a clear area of expertise or you tried to specialized in one or several areas but never received jobs on that fields and ended up in another area of expertise as the years went by.



You guess wrong. By specialising in a particular field (and its related fields) you will attract better clients, better rates, and more interesting, rewarding work; but it will take time to establish yourself and you will not be receiving dozens of jobs every day.

P.L.F. Persio
Adieu
Baran Keki
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Jorge Payan
Christine Andersen
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Depends Feb 11, 2022

Sometimes it CAN be dozens.

I think I just broke a personal record. 32 job offers yesterday ($50 minimum, average price slightly over $100).

All specialized jobs, all from genuine regular clients, none of them wildly unfamiliar new stuff that would require confusing research into the unknown.

Took just 3 of them because I'm fully booked and quite tired already.

Specialization isn't ALL fun and rosy, but it sure as hell helps.

Tom in London wrote:

Jorge Rodríguez Rodríguez wrote:

I guess that most of us started without a clear area of expertise or you tried to specialized in one or several areas but never received jobs on that fields and ended up in another area of expertise as the years went by.



You guess wrong. By specialising in a particular field (and its related fields) you will attract better clients, better rates, and more interesting, rewarding work; but it will take time to establish yourself and you will not be receiving dozens of jobs every day.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:19
Member (2008)
Italian to English
what? Feb 11, 2022

Adieu wrote:

job offers yesterday ($50 minimum, average price slightly over $100).

All specialized jobs, all from genuine regular clients


What is your area of specialisation? Your profile says nothing.

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Pharma Feb 11, 2022

Good job security in a plague year.

Cleared out my profile since I don't have time for new clients anyway.

Less junk mail now, though.

PS to be clear, that WAS a record. It's usually more like 5 - 10, occasionally 15 - 20 offers. Just enough to cherrypick topics or milk minimums on lazy days.

Tom in London wrote:

Adieu wrote:

job offers yesterday ($50 minimum, average price slightly over $100).

All specialized jobs, all from genuine regular clients


What is your area of specialisation? Your profile says nothing.


[Edited at 2022-02-11 13:49 GMT]
 
janezhangpch
janezhangpch
Australia
I can totally relate Feb 12, 2022

I am hoping to get a clearer idea on what my interests are along the way...
 
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Projecting oneself as a translator without areas of expertise







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