By Ana Teresa Gaspar

Doing great quality jobs, delivering projects on time and networking are some of the essential requirements when attracting translation clients comes into play. Although being multilingual and knowing the cultures behind the languages are important parts of a career as a translator, business management skills are vital to breaking into the translation industry.
 
After completing their education, some challenging questions are posed to translators. A big question mark hangs over the first steps towards a successful translation career. How to enter translation market as a beginning translator? How to make the first clients? These are examples of basic business questions new translators come across. And, after making new clients, many translators wonder how to retain them.
 
Although translators must invest in promotional strategies so that clients find them, in the beginning, translators cannot wait for clients come to them. A freelance translator can work for two basic categories of clients: direct clients and translation agencies. Regardless of the category and the benefits and drawbacks of each one, some basic rules should be followed.
 
Successful professional translators as Corinne McKay, Tess Whitty, Ioanna Dakalopoulou and Caroline Alberoni, have been given many excellent tips and recommendations on how freelance translators should market themselves and their services. According to them, the translator must be visible and must take some steps to ensure that he or she is easy to find.
 
In regard to online marketing strategies, the translator needs to make sure that he /she will easily get found on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Some of the most common suggestions, related to online marketing, are effective for making freelance translators known and are worth considering when finding potential translation clients as for example:

• Having a professional website with regular update.
• Keeping interesting profiles and sharing articles on social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc.
• Writing blog posts. Sharing interesting content that benefits the translation community, that is, clients and translation colleagues.
• Producing videos on Youtube channel.

 
Besides creating an online presence, it is good to remember that any web content must be free of errors. Moreover, “the first impression is the last impression,” as the old saying goes. This is also true for any translation material, which must be proofread by the translator and at least one other person to help check for any inconsistencies or errors such as spelling, punctuation, terminology, and formatting. After all, it is the minimum expected from those applying for language work.   
 
In the same way, offline marketing strategies are also important to make a freelance translator known, such as:

• Handing out business cards. They are still important tools and must be legible and effective containing name, relevant contact information and other crucial data. Translators must be sure to always carry business cards wherever they go.
• Sending out résumés. Having an updated and translation-targeted résumé is the major requisite for starting a job search. The résumé should include sections for information consisting of name, contact, experience, education, and language, computational and other relevant skills.
• Helping colleagues. Other translators are not rivals. They can be partners and help one another. Colleagues can give referrals and testimonials to potential clients.
• Networking. There is a general consensus that this is the most powerful job search strategy. Translators can make connections in social media, attending conferences, meetings, and workshops, keeping in touch with clients, classmates from schools, past coworkers etc.
• Contacting local companies and organizations.
• Joining professional associations. Being a member of an association establishes the seriousness of the professional translator as a linguist, and is another opportunity for networking with colleagues. Besides, these associations provide opportunities for continuing education workshops and conferences.

 
Translators must always do their best work and deliver it on the time agreed. Therefore, it is absolutely essential that the translator only accepts projects that he or she is able to carry out with great quality. If they don’t have time to take on a project, they should not accept it. Along with that, translators should respond promptly and politely to every email or inquiry from clients.
 
A freelance translator should identify what makes his/her services stand out from the other translators offering the same services. For example, in-depth knowledge in one or more areas of specialization. Prof. Ioanna Dakalopoulou, guest speaker at Modlingua, in a conversation with Summer Interns 2017 about professional development of translators, suggests that the translator does not specialize in more than five areas. For example, specialization in Financial, IT and Legal areas, gives the translator competitive advantages in terms of terminology.  Due to the skills and experience in a specific field, the client would prefer the expert over other translators. On the other hand, the translator specialist remains restricted by his/her specific fields of expertise.
 
And, last but not least, after establishing a base of regular clients, some time should be spent on marketing in order to keep existing clients coming back. It is fundamental that the freelance translator keeps in touch with the clients periodically; updating them on his/her recent projects and letting them know that he/she continues interested and available. Needless to say, the translator should keep networking, not to mention, investing in continuing education and using technology, since translation memory software and other computer-assisted translation tools enable to increase productivity. This is a continuous process and the way to grow his/her business.
 
In a nutshell, besides having language skill and cultural knowledge, meeting deadlines and being an expert in specific fields, business management skills are essential for those who are starting out as freelance translators. Some of the tips and suggestions presented here are what clients expect and may be the key to building successful long-term client relationships.
 
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