Some things in life remain constant, and in this particular case, whether you are a seasoned translator or a novice who is starting out their profession as a freelance translator, you will undoubtedly come across a new client that could hire you. Networking is one of the most necessary vital approaches today to meet the potential clients.
It is critical to discern the finest and most effective methods of positively selling yourself to your prospective clientele to stand out from other well-versed translators. Some of the approaches that I believe are best suited to give you an edge against other translators are as stated below:
Have a Website
In this period of time where almost everyone owns a site, as a translator, you would be doing yourself a lot of harm if you do not have one. A personalized website is a great technique to showcase your former work skills and expertise. This is exceedingly beneficial in giving translators the ability to update their work, specialties or projects they just worked on, somewhat like an online résumé.
It is essential to note however that your website will paint an image of you in the project manager’s imagination and so you should always keep it professional. Proofread your web pages more than twice to guarantee that you have not made any errors that could cost you a business deal.
Social Media
The misconception that social media is for socializing is just purely that, a misconception. Many business people engage on social media as yet another way of selling themselves. Not only do they engage with other translators but more importantly prospective clients. Some of the best social media tools to use at the moment are Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and each has its unique selling points.
The strategy to increase your visibility is by continually engaging with your community so that you turn out to be an unendorsed expert figure within your community. The easiest way is to gain many followers (who could be future clients) in the various social media sites is by having something knowledgeable to comment on current events. By doing this, you are growing your visibility without spending too much energy.
Industry Profiles
Industry profiles are in-depth documents that offer an understanding of an industry, where it originated from and where it seems to be headed. An additional simple method to link within your industry is by joining your industry’s portals. This allows translation agencies to contact you about businesses that you may be fit for besides increasing your visibility. It is also essential to appreciate the fact that coming up with a profile is not enough and so it needs to be updated frequently with your present-day work and involvements.
Research
Before you send out an email to an agency, it is advisable that you do a little bit of research about them if not an in-depth one. One can do this rather effortlessly by primarily visiting the agency’s website or social media platforms. Sending a generic email comes across pretty unprofessional. Using the correct language in your email is very crucial as you get judged by the content within.
Publish Your Content
As much as one could be quite busy with translation jobs, having the ability to write either a blog post on your webpage or as a guest for somebody else will allow you to be noticeable from the mass and thus link up with persons in the industry.
Publishing your content allows potential clients to grasp your writing flair and proficiencies that would otherwise go undetected in a translation service. If it so comes about that people appreciate what you wrote and they find it useful, it is highly expected that they will share it with their friends and family or even share on their and or social media. This will not only sanction you to rank better in search engines but also allows you to grow into an expert within your industry.
From those mentioned above, it is evident that building a beaming name online is something which requires effort. Steadily building and maintaining a brand for yourself, results in improved opportunities. It is also essential to remember that promoting yourself as a translator is not about getting out there and then resting on the glories but that you are continuously improving your abilities and keeping up-to-date with the industry standards.