Thread poster: Maria G. Grassi, MA AITI
|
|---|
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2023-02-21 05:12 GMT]
| | | |
Hi Maria
It takes time to have a solid client base. Based on my own experience, when I was starting out back in 2010, it took me more than 6 months to have a client base that would allow me to make a living with this profession.
Your profile is everything. It does not guarantee you work, but it will scare people when they visit your profile if it makes no sense.
My advice would be this:
1. Work on your profile. Take it seriously. ProZ offers ... See more Hi Maria
It takes time to have a solid client base. Based on my own experience, when I was starting out back in 2010, it took me more than 6 months to have a client base that would allow me to make a living with this profession.
Your profile is everything. It does not guarantee you work, but it will scare people when they visit your profile if it makes no sense.
My advice would be this:
1. Work on your profile. Take it seriously. ProZ offers several tutorials. You need to be clear with what you do, languages you work with (if you are a freelancer, more than one language pair, maximum two, sounds odd and unrealistic), your professional background, your academic degrees, kind of texts you work with, samples, bio, etc.
2. Once you’ve got your profile right, contact agencies, register on their websites, accept tests, and get yourself known to others.
I don’t think there are any shortcuts. Perseverance and coherence are your best allies.
If you are serious about it, Proz paid membership makes sense and gives you access to good resources and credibility.
Good luck!
[Edited at 2023-02-17 09:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Thank you very much for your time Merab
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 23:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Maria G. G. wrote:
Something that even becoming a member would not fix and so I would just waste my money.
Yes, becoming a paid member will move your profile higher up in the list of search results, but when a client visits your profile page, they will leave it again (and move to the next person on the list) if they are unimpressed by what they see. So, paying for membership would be a waste of money unless you also spend time crafting your profile page. So, first fix your profile page, and then consider paying for membership.
To start off, I recommend using a profile image of your face, and using your full name. The contrast between the British Black Arrow rocket and the airplane in your current profile picture is quite jarring (wait... it's not the rocket... its actual lipstick... right?). There's nothing wrong with having a profile picture that tries to communicate what fields you work in (cosmetics and aeronautics), but your current profile picture looks unprofessional.
Then, it's no extra effort to provide a few sample translations. Finally, rewrite your "Bio" section with actual paragraphs of text that are not simply a list of random pieces of information about you.
| | |
|
|
|
Thank you very much for your advice, Samuel
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 23:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Maria G. G. wrote:
Thank you very much for your advice, Samuel
I know that clients are supposed to judge you by the quality of your work and not by what you look like, but first impressions are important. A client who visits your profile doesn't know anything about you. They judge you by what they see. So, if you want to create the impression that you offer a personalized service, it would be useful for you if your profile picture creates the impression that you are a human and approachable. This is why one's résumé should be neat and tidy -- although the factual content of a person's résumé is the most important information, clients don't behave rationally when they make evaluations about a person.
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 23:03
French to English
When I first started free lancing, I paid for membership here and bid on a few jobs. I landed several jobs in my first year, and earned a fair amount from at least one of those clients.
I let my membership lapse last year because I don't have time to bid on jobs any more.
| | | | Nikolay Novitskiy
Russian Federation
Local time: 02:03
Member (2018)
English to Russian
| Membership is a must | Feb 20, 2023 |
Hi Maria,
Membership is a must, because it gives you a huge advantage over your competitors:
- You can get "member-only" jobs
- When applying to "free to all" jobs, members have a 12 hours advantage
- Your position in translators directory becomes higher, and you are more likely to get a direct offer from a client
Having paid your membership, you should improve your profile - that's exactly what Samuel and Merab are saying. Then you should earn Kudoz p... See more Hi Maria,
Membership is a must, because it gives you a huge advantage over your competitors:
- You can get "member-only" jobs
- When applying to "free to all" jobs, members have a 12 hours advantage
- Your position in translators directory becomes higher, and you are more likely to get a direct offer from a client
Having paid your membership, you should improve your profile - that's exactly what Samuel and Merab are saying. Then you should earn Kudoz points, get a PRO badge, win a translator contest, get some positive feedback, etc, etc. Invest your time in your Proz profile - and you will get great returns. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Thank you very much for sharing your experience, Kay
| | | |
Thank you very much for your insight, Nikolay
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »
| Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
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 
