Newbie question: Are the market-places (Proz.com etc.) worth their fees?
Michael Auwers
started hunting around the Web and found several different sites offering
marketplace facilities. Proz seems to be the most prominent one. But there
are several German ones as well, which would be interesting for me.
Can I have some advice on whether the fees are made up for by the (extra)
income generated? Which ones are recommended, which ones should be avoided?
Thanks in advance
Isabelle Gripon
anyway I'm exploring these new opportunities. My 2 cents: Trally.com
is the one that has brought me more jobs and new clients - another
nice one is Translatorcafe.com (not a job yet, but it's free).
Isa
* Isabelle Gripon - French Translator *
* English to and from French, German to French *
* Please write for a free quotation *
* Email: ladyha...@yahoo.fr *
Anjo
wrote:
I found a job on www.aquarius.net (and then became a paying member)
also translator's café- although not a lot of jobs there lately in my
combinations. (Eng,Sp,Nl)
It's a good idea to see what's on offer for a while, so you can decide
if it's worth it.
Anjo
mles...@worldonline.dk
Over the last 12 months, approximately, I made 8 new agency contacts
on ProZ and 6 new contacts on TranslatorsCafe.com.
When I made those contacts, I was not a paying member of any site. I
recently became a Master member of TC, and I can see that a lot of
people are consulting my profile (there is an in-built hit counter).
ProZ has many jobs, but the pay offered is often ridiculously low. TC
has been better up to now, and I like the look of my profile page
better.
I think that your success will depend mostly on your ability to market
yourself.
Marie-Pierre Lessard
English-French Technical Translator
"Business and Marketing Documents for the Industry Sector"
Yuri Vorontsov
(http://www.aquarius.net) reject all job requests under 7 ct per word
Summertime is usually quieter than the rest of the year,
Greetings from Amsterdam,
Yuri
RPletka
(over $1,000), which allows to subscribe to nearly any serious job related
site.
I was a member of NAJIT for 7 years (about $100 per year), before I got the
first and only job through it (but it was $45,000).
I think it was worth the wait and money spent (-:
You have to spend money in order to make them.
Luckily most of translators are cheapskates and don't spend money promoting
their services and slave for cheap agencies. This allows other, who spend
money, to live well and prosper (-:
Take care and make $$$
For more work check Jobs for Translators (www.jobsfortranslators.com)
Check also a free mailing list with jobs for translators (More than 3000
subscribers), which I am now moderating.
If you want to try it - it is FREE. I am usually not posting jobs there, but I
collect jobs posted there and they are in section 8 of the job list).
To subscribe to the free mailing list, send a message to:
tr_jobs-...@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, send a message to:
tr_jobs-u...@yahoogroups.com
Radovan Pletka
Czech and Slovak Services
www.czechtranslation.com
Publisher of the famous weekly job list for translators/interpreters
Feel free to request a sample (-: at
www.jobsfortranslators.com
Werner George Patels
First of all, I have written a few articles on how to deal with
clients and on marketing (you'll find them at
www.translatorscafe.com).
Everyone will go through slow times periodically. The best marketing
tool is to have your own website up and running. Then, and only then
should you register with websites such as ProZ, TranslatorsCafé,
Aquarius, etc. The profile you have with these sites is only the first
"point of entry" for potential clients, and if you don't have a link
to your own website, they will usually move to the next member profile
that does.
Remember: a ProZ, etc. profile is merely a "quick-glance" summary of
your services and qualifications, but clients want more detailed
(and/or "direct") information.
Also, having your own website shows that you are really serious about
your chosen profession and that you are willing to "put yourself out
there".
Other useful "marketing tools" include: networking (e.g., with your
professors and other students at your school of translators, becoming
a member of professional associations such as ATA and many others and
getting listed in their print and online directories, ...).
Speaking of the directories of professional associations: they are
still the first place most clients will look (especially the type of
client we'd like to work for ...). Most of my clients find me through
ATIO, ATIA, ATA, etc.
Finally, some thoughts on rates and minimum rates (e.g., Aquarius' 7
cents a word):
I am all for minimum rates. Aquarius can do it, because they are not
located in the US, where this practice would be considered
price-fixing and thus illegal (even ATA came under heavy fire about 10
years ago and has had to discontinue all discussions on rates since
then).
Raising rates is a task that requires more solidarity among
translation professionals. As long as there are, literally, thousands
of wannabe translators out there who jump on every opportunity and
accept even rates of 1 or 2 cents a word, the situation will not
improve. This is not the fault of ProZ and other websites like it,
although ProZ did start this general decline in rates by offering
"public bidding" in the beginning. This process, unfortunately, opened
the eyes of many "crooks" (agencies and "self-anointed translators")
to the "potential" of this "peanuts market segment".
Now, it is up to the real professional to clean up this mess ;-)
Yes, we need more solidarity, but in order to achieve this, our
profession will have to become a regulated profession (like lawyers)
that lays down very strict rules on who is eligible to become a
translator, etc. Except for Canada (where we have such regulation), I
am not aware of any other countries with similar rules, so my "dream"
will most likely never become reality (outside of Canada, that is).
:-(
Regards,
Werner George Patels
www.german-english.biz