By Sachin Kumar
This edited and abridged transcription presents Prof. Ioanna Daskalopoulou's Modlingua session on entrepreneurship for translators. Published on 3 July 2017, the 31-minute presentation on Modlingua Live covers freelance and in-house work, personal branding, finding clients and retaining them. Repeated phrases, technical interruptions and brief acknowledgements have been removed. Advice and examples below belong to the original session, not to a current employment or platform policy.
Beyond transferring words between languages
Prof. Ioanna Daskalopoulou: Good evening to all the interns at Modlingua. I am glad to be here to talk about entrepreneurship in freelance translation, and I would like to thank Ravi Kumar for the opportunity.
We will go beyond the idea that a translator is simply someone who transfers knowledge from one language into another. Our topics include building and maintaining your professional identity, also known as personal branding; customer prospecting and acquisition; following up with clients; retaining clients; and the distinction between freelance and in-house translation.
Freelance or in-house: understanding the choice
I am a freelancer, but I have also worked as an in-house translator at the Athens Stock Exchange. That gave me experience in financial terminology and an opportunity to see the difference between the two ways of working.
A freelancer works as an independent contractor or vendor, from a private office or from home, with a variety of clients. You can set your own schedule, but time-management skills are important. You can choose which texts and jobs to accept, and you can refuse work that is unsuitable or financially unattractive. If a client pays late or communicates poorly, it is up to you to decide whether to work with them.
The other side is the personal time and effort required. Freelancers may work at night to meet tight deadlines. You have to perform several roles: account manager, project manager, translator, proofreader and editor. You must provide your own equipment, software, glossaries and reference materials. You may not have a constant income, employer-provided insurance or other benefits. Good financial planning and time management help reduce the risk of burnout.
Specialising can also be difficult if you accept many different kinds of text. In-house translators, by contrast, do not usually have to find clients or provide the workplace and software themselves. They may have a regular income, benefits, opportunities for promotion and colleagues with whom to exchange ideas. Working in a particular department can build specialist knowledge. At the Athens Stock Exchange, cooperation with lawyers helped me develop legal as well as financial terminology.
In-house work generally offers less freedom over your schedule and the projects you accept. You must follow the company's policies and code of conduct. These are trade-offs to consider as you enter the profession.
Define your professional identity
Whether you choose freelance or in-house work, ask what makes you stand out. There are many translators working in many languages. What distinguishes you? Personal branding means thinking about how to market yourself and developing an entrepreneurial mindset.
I would group the main factors under identity, communication, and attitude and professionalism. First, know who you are and state it clearly. Tell clients whether you are a translator, interpreter or transcriber; whether you freelance or work with an agency; and which language directions you offer.
List your services clearly. Translation, transcription, transcreation, proofreading and editing are different services. Transcreation, for example, adapts a text to a local culture and marketing purpose. Clients should not have to guess what you do.
Prepare a translation-focused CV. Describe relevant projects and experience without disclosing confidential client information. State your specialist fields. As a rule of thumb, I suggest limiting the specialisations you claim rather than presenting yourself as an expert in everything. You can list additional fields in which you have worked separately.
Know what your work is worth. Explain your pricing basis, such as source words, and clarify the service involved. Include your translation education, credentials and professional experience so that clients can understand your qualifications.
Communication is part of your brand
Be clear about what you do, keep your word and meet agreed deadlines. Be accessible and responsive. If a client contacts you while you are busy, do not ignore the message. A short acknowledgement saying when you can respond is better than silence.
Listen, ask and suggest. Understand what the client is saying. Ask questions if terms are unclear or something is wrong with the source text. If the original needs rewriting, discuss that at the beginning rather than accepting the job and discovering the problem later without telling the client.
Be open when something goes wrong. Apologise, recognise your own limitations and have a contingency plan. We are human and we make mistakes. I have made mistakes, acknowledged them and tried to remedy them. Clients appreciate honesty, especially when they already know the quality of your work.
After completing a project successfully, ask for feedback. Positive comments can help a prospective client understand your record. Professional translator communities can provide places for this feedback, but the point is to show evidence of reliable work rather than make unsupported claims.
Keep learning and protect quality
Professionalism is a continuing process. Membership of professional associations, a useful website, writing, marketing and continuing education can all contribute. Attend seminars, webinars or conferences when you can. Maintain your network and take a critical approach to clients' requests, search results and sources.
Invest in quality. Tight deadlines and high volumes can create pressure, but sacrificing quality can damage a client relationship in the long run. If you foresee a delay, discuss it with the client rather than silently lowering the standard of the work.
Follow professional conduct guidelines. Cooperate with colleagues, project managers and other people involved in the work. Social media can help your visibility, but it must not become a place to publish confidential information or material that harms others.
Personal branding is marketing yourself
Ravi Kumar: We have discussed the importance of creating a brand on social media. How important is it now for translators to develop these non-linguistic skills and learn to market themselves?
Prof. Ioanna Daskalopoulou: That is what personal branding is about. Online tools give translators ways to promote their services. A clear professional identity can help you find suitable work, attract clients, grow your network and obtain useful feedback.
Identify your goals and target audience. Determine your unique value proposition: what distinguishes you from other translators? Is it experience in finance, stock-market texts, law or medicine? Explain that value clearly. Build your presence through a website, writing and professional networking, and review it regularly. Update your CV, professional profiles and project experience. Marketing is a continuing activity, not something you do once.
Finding your first clients
There are two broad groups to consider: translation agencies and direct clients. Agencies may provide regular work and handle some project-management tasks. Direct work can offer different earning opportunities, but you may also have to manage tasks that an agency would otherwise handle. Consider which arrangement suits your experience and working style.
Keep your CV current, with recent relevant projects easy to find. Many agencies have translator application forms on their websites. Complete them carefully so that your details can enter their databases. If appropriate, use a comment field to ask about an introductory meeting.
Professional translator communities and job platforms can also help you find opportunities. You can explain your services through articles and social media, use word of mouth, contact local organisations, and meet people at conferences. Do not overlook your local market while looking internationally.
Confirm the project before starting
Make sure your application materials are clear and free of errors. State what you are offering and respond promptly to enquiries. Above all, do not begin a translation project without final confirmation.
A company may ask whether you are available, and you may reply with your availability and rate. That is not the same as receiving the job. If you start before confirmation, the client may later say that the project was cancelled. Obtain agreement on the scope, word count, payment and delivery date before beginning.
Even an established freelancer needs time for marketing. In this session, I suggest allocating a regular part of your time to it, with more effort often needed when you are starting out. Do not assume that a successful period means you can stop maintaining your professional presence.
Following up and retaining clients
Following up is as important as prospecting. Keep a record of the people you contact, what you discussed and their responses. Periodically let them know that you remain available and describe relevant projects you have worked on. Show that you are still active in the profession.
Following up helps you understand the flow of work, shows that you care about the project and strengthens the client-translator relationship. A lasting relationship benefits both sides: the better you understand a client's needs, the better you can meet them.
Do not be afraid to make a thoughtful extra effort for a long-standing client. I once chose not to charge a good client for a very short paragraph. That was a personal gesture in an established relationship, and the client appreciated it. It illustrates attention to the relationship, not a requirement to provide free work.
Keep communication open and respond to concerns. Invest in quality and service. If a regular client has been quiet, a brief message may be worthwhile: they may be busy, may have upcoming work, or may simply not have thought to contact you. Even if nothing is available immediately, they may remember you when a suitable project arrives.
Being part of the translation industry means contributing to it rather than remaining a bystander. Thank you for listening; I will be glad to answer your questions.
