Poll: What aspect of freelancing took you the longest to learn? थ्रेड पोस्टर: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What aspect of freelancing took you the longest to learn?".
View the poll results »
| | | | Luca Adie
Germany
Local time: 03:28
German to English
+ ...
I mainly looked for clients around 10-20 years ago - I remember sending out hundreds of CVs all over the world. Few responded, but I somehow always managed to pay my bills on time. I would like some more clients, but the thought of having to market myself 20 years into my career doesn't fill me with joy. I'm trying to put it off, but will I be doing what I am doing now in 20 or 30 years? I don't think so.
Sorry, folks, I've also dribbled into the topic of the downward trend in work.... See more I mainly looked for clients around 10-20 years ago - I remember sending out hundreds of CVs all over the world. Few responded, but I somehow always managed to pay my bills on time. I would like some more clients, but the thought of having to market myself 20 years into my career doesn't fill me with joy. I'm trying to put it off, but will I be doing what I am doing now in 20 or 30 years? I don't think so.
Sorry, folks, I've also dribbled into the topic of the downward trend in work... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise 
Belgium
Local time: 03:28
सदस्य (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
If you try to accept as much work as possible like I do, the logical consequence is that time management sometimes is challenging.
| | | |
When I started translating full-time in 1985, I made the mistake of relying on a single client with a large volume of work, which practically prevented me from taking on other clients. Two years later the inevitable happened – through no fault of my own – that client lost the contract they had, and I found myself out of work overnight. The experience taught me a valuable lesson! So I would say that finding clients was the hardest hurdle.
| | |
|
|
|
Not taking on jobs I knew from the start I was going to regret.
This includes things like:
- Refusing to accept unreasonable deadlines
- Not giving discounts unless there's a good reason
- Declining new jobs when my schedule is already full (not a current concern)
- ...
... and so on.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 03:28
सदस्य (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Bookkeeping, accurate financial record-keeping and reporting.
And finding clients, of course. I'm not sure where my first client found me, but I suspect they found me via my website, or possibly via aquarius.net. This was before ProZ.com's Blue Board existed. I remember in the early 2000s I used Google to search for "translation agency" and visited about 300 different translation agencies' websites. Directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project also had lists of trans... See more Bookkeeping, accurate financial record-keeping and reporting.
And finding clients, of course. I'm not sure where my first client found me, but I suspect they found me via my website, or possibly via aquarius.net. This was before ProZ.com's Blue Board existed. I remember in the early 2000s I used Google to search for "translation agency" and visited about 300 different translation agencies' websites. Directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory Project also had lists of translation agencies. I found a file with the names (but not addresses) of 5000 translation agencies that I had downloaded in 1999.
[Edited at 2026-05-21 15:00 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Standing up for myself | May 21 |
Being brave on prices and deadlines, and being prepared to forgo a few jobs, took a while.
Of course, that may not be an option these days as prices tumble.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: What aspect of freelancing took you the longest to learn? | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
