Poll: How did you get most of your (past and current) clients, overall? Лице кое објавува дискусија: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "How did you get most of your (past and current) clients, overall?".
This poll was originally submitted by Thomas Johansson. View the poll results »
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meaning: all of the above + EU calls for tenders.
[Edited at 2013-06-06 08:44 GMT]
| | | | Sebastian Witte 
Германија
Local time: 21:12
Член (2004)
англиски на германски
+ ...
Thru invitations to tender: never that! Sorry but I really can't be bothered to attend to those things. Hopeless stuff from a time investment vs. benefit type of perspective!
Other than that, whereas the natural way of any quality translator to win clients has always been and will always remain (despite certain recent tendencies to the contrary - I think?) "They contacted me thru my web-based profiles and/or website" (which is what I voted because that's what the most common meeting... See more Thru invitations to tender: never that! Sorry but I really can't be bothered to attend to those things. Hopeless stuff from a time investment vs. benefit type of perspective!
Other than that, whereas the natural way of any quality translator to win clients has always been and will always remain (despite certain recent tendencies to the contrary - I think?) "They contacted me thru my web-based profiles and/or website" (which is what I voted because that's what the most common meeting channel has been in our case), or otherwise, "Thru referrals", I have to admit we actually met a significant number of our existing clients thru quoting on posted jobs. Sometimes one has to simply admit things - if it can't be helped. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Astrid Elke Witte
Германија
Local time: 21:12
Член (2002)
германски на англиски
+ ...
| Re "certain recent tendencies to the contrary" | Jun 6, 2013 |
Sebastian Witte wrote:
Other than that, whereas the natural way of any quality translator to win clients has always been and will always remain (despite certain recent tendencies to the contrary - I think?)
This is to be understood as an allusion to the more recent trend towards heavy marketing on social business networks like LinkedIn, XING and so forth.
Sebastian Witte
[Edited at 2013-06-06 09:26 GMT]
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| some of the above | Jun 6, 2013 |
1) introduced personally by a friend
2) replied to a job offer
3) sent my CV
4) they contacted me
I would say 25% each
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I was in a job situation for 20 years. When I set up as a freelancer, my former employer as well many other NGOs who were aware of my skills with languages (Hindi and English) continued to send jobs to me.
Other than this, most of my international clients have found me from my profiles in proz.com, translatorcafe and other translation sites.
In one or two cases, PMs who moves from one agency to another remembered to contact me in their new capacity, thus I gained a new ... See more I was in a job situation for 20 years. When I set up as a freelancer, my former employer as well many other NGOs who were aware of my skills with languages (Hindi and English) continued to send jobs to me.
Other than this, most of my international clients have found me from my profiles in proz.com, translatorcafe and other translation sites.
In one or two cases, PMs who moves from one agency to another remembered to contact me in their new capacity, thus I gained a new client by the simple fact of a known PM changing his job. In one of these cases, I could get a better rate as the new agency the PM had moved to could support a higher rate. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Actually, "they contacted me" "through referrals" | Jun 6, 2013 |
Quite often, both clients and colleagues (when it's something in my specialties and not theirs) refer prospects to me and tell me they did it; sometimes they don't. Sometimes they just give prospects my web site URL and forget about it.
Now and then a friend or colleague asks me, "Did a Mr/Ms 'X' contact you about a translation job?". Sometimes they did, and this may happen so much later that I have a hard time to recall what ... See more Quite often, both clients and colleagues (when it's something in my specialties and not theirs) refer prospects to me and tell me they did it; sometimes they don't. Sometimes they just give prospects my web site URL and forget about it.
Now and then a friend or colleague asks me, "Did a Mr/Ms 'X' contact you about a translation job?". Sometimes they did, and this may happen so much later that I have a hard time to recall what it was, especially if that person first contacted me, and then had me deal with someone else in their organization.
Likewise, I also refer prospects in areas I don't serve to a few specialized colleagues, and I don't bother to elicit 'thanks' from them. Nevertheless, they often contact me to say that a Mr/Ms 'Y' wants to assign them a translation job on my recommendation, and ask me whether they are reliable payers. I have to tell them that I just threw Y over the fence on their court at first sight, I don't know them.
A growing number of fellow translators is subcontracting me to handle their overload, whenever they bite more than they could chew. While I don't consider them 'clients', it occasionally represents a significant part of my workload. Since I make it a point to never let them down, their number keeps growing.
Of course, I also use the other options surveyed. The one that led to the most sustainable clients I have, i.e. frequent assignments, was sending them my application as requested - specifically if requested - on their own web site. (I see no point in buying lists and spamming every translation agency on earth.)
My web site on its own generates a lot of one-night-stands and contacts from bottom-feeders, which doesn't prevent some solid clients from finding me there too. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 15:12
англиски на шпански
+ ...
I just drank my morning cup of joe, so don't expect the most lucid statements to come out of my keyboard this early (it's 9:45 a.m. EST in Ohio, USA).
Of the translation agencies that are my current clients, most found me via the ATA (American Translators Association) website and wrote to me directly. One agency hired me in response to a color ad I published in the ATA Chronicle last year.
A few direct clients contacted me via LinkedIn mail after reading my postings an... See more I just drank my morning cup of joe, so don't expect the most lucid statements to come out of my keyboard this early (it's 9:45 a.m. EST in Ohio, USA).
Of the translation agencies that are my current clients, most found me via the ATA (American Translators Association) website and wrote to me directly. One agency hired me in response to a color ad I published in the ATA Chronicle last year.
A few direct clients contacted me via LinkedIn mail after reading my postings and my profile.
One translation agency, however, contacted me because one of their freelance translators had referred me to them. We're going strong after 3 years.
For some direct clients, I use job boards and contact them. No, I don't bother to contact anyone using eLance, oDesk, Amazon's Mechanical Turk or similar exploitative outsourcers. I read the interesting ads that ask for an in-house translator or a contract translator, then contact the company directly and try to persuade them to hire me on a remote basis since the work to be done can be done remotely. I secured a good direct client like that 2 years ago.
I currently secured my largest direct client via a 3-month renewable contract, working remotely. That's because I bothered to contact the company directly and they happened to be hiring remotely-based translators. Introducing myself via my very unconventional infographic resume didn't hurt either, and whetted their appetite to hire me.
So, LinkedIn works if you set up a meaty professional profile and become a part of the relevant discussion groups. Not just a group member, but bother to participate in discussions or engage in proposing discussions of your own. People may never tell you, but they read what you post and gauge your personality that way.
Two colleagues that have followed my comments have offered me collaboration projects. So, it works to participate.
I just don't buy the dogmatic argument against this or that social media network. They're just a tool. Give the tool a try; if it doesn't work for you, move on to the next.
I don't care for Facebook for professional purposes. I have a profile in Xing, which is another professional network but geared towards European residents. ▲ Collapse
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With one exception, they have all contacted me.
[Edited at 2013-06-06 16:50 GMT]
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Hard to say. I have a potentially equal mix of contacts initiated by me, contacts through referrals, and contacts initiated by clients.
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
Португалија
Local time: 20:12
Top four current clients:
1. Proz job offer and 100-word test.
2. Agency contacted me; it may have been a ProZ translators search for De-En translators living in Portugal.
3. Response to a non-Proz job offer which I did not get, turned into registering with the agency anyway, and working on regular assignments straight away and ever since.
4. Enquiry based on work acknowledged on the Web.
That is what is happening this year and clients have come though... See more Top four current clients:
1. Proz job offer and 100-word test.
2. Agency contacted me; it may have been a ProZ translators search for De-En translators living in Portugal.
3. Response to a non-Proz job offer which I did not get, turned into registering with the agency anyway, and working on regular assignments straight away and ever since.
4. Enquiry based on work acknowledged on the Web.
That is what is happening this year and clients have come though various avenues over the years, including word of mouth. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Шпанија
Local time: 21:12
шпански на англиски
+ ...
Not sure what "referrals" means here, as I'm using to seeing it in a medical context. Most of my clients came to me by word of mouth recommendation from colleagues, friends or acquaintances.
For example, on the academic side, I was approached by a university department several years ago and when the collaboration bore fruit (their papers were finally getting published without quibbles), they recommended me to their colleagues in other departments, who in turn did the same to others.... See more Not sure what "referrals" means here, as I'm using to seeing it in a medical context. Most of my clients came to me by word of mouth recommendation from colleagues, friends or acquaintances.
For example, on the academic side, I was approached by a university department several years ago and when the collaboration bore fruit (their papers were finally getting published without quibbles), they recommended me to their colleagues in other departments, who in turn did the same to others... and I now have contacts in seven different universities.
On the business side, I started working with one client company when the head of sales was attending a Business English course I was teaching and asked me if I would be interested in doing some translation for them (I already knew their German translator). In fact, quite a few of my current clients originally came through my TEFL activities in one way or another (or recommendations from friends and colleagues).
I only work with a couple of agencies that contacted me through proz, but I don't recall if I sent them a CV or if they approached me first. In general I'm not keen on agency work, for several reasons I won't go into here, but I suppose you can imagine... ▲ Collapse
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A very interesting discussion that is making me reassess the way I've been going about finding clients (mainly by sending CVs), which works but only to a limited extent. I am on the directory of registered translators in Australia and I get most of my direct clients from there, plus referrals from colleagues, the Chamber of Commerce, Consulate, Embassy. I can't say that I've ever gained a client through the web, wether on Proz, Linkedin or my personal website. Guess I need to do some serious SEO... See more A very interesting discussion that is making me reassess the way I've been going about finding clients (mainly by sending CVs), which works but only to a limited extent. I am on the directory of registered translators in Australia and I get most of my direct clients from there, plus referrals from colleagues, the Chamber of Commerce, Consulate, Embassy. I can't say that I've ever gained a client through the web, wether on Proz, Linkedin or my personal website. Guess I need to do some serious SEO!
Thanks everyone for their insightful input. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marta Gómez
Шпанија
Local time: 21:12
Член (2007)
англиски на шпански
+ ...
| A bit of everything | Jun 7, 2013 |
In my case, I have got my clients through different ways: they got in contact me directly (via Proz, they found my name in a list/directory...), I sent (and keep sending) my CV to translation agencies and companies, they got in contact with me because I was recommended by other friends, collegues, clients...
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