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3 fatal errors to avoid when you're starting
Thread poster: Nicole König
Nicole König
Nicole König  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 23:09
German to English
+ ...
Oct 12, 2018

My newest blog article on business development names the 3 most fatal failures of start-up language professionals and ways to turn them into stepping stones for sustainable business development: https://themuses.biz/3-mistakes-to-avoid-on-square-1-and-how-to-turn-them-into-wins/

I'd love your thoughts and feedback.
Thank you!


Ebrahim Mohammed
 
Valérie Ourset
Valérie Ourset
Spain
Local time: 23:09
English to French
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Very interesting Oct 12, 2018

Hello,

I have read your blog article and found it very interesting, especially the point about the niches. Thanks! One aspect that may need to be underlined is that it takes time. I am working on Step 1 and 3 and obviously in the future, I will start with Step 2!

Valérie.


Nicole König
Spas Rizov
Sarah Thonnet
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
NO VISION = NO DECISIONS = NO SUCCESS Oct 12, 2018

1) There's NO such thing as "just/plain/separate translation"; first comes a field, then translation;

2) Besides relevant EXP in the field (specialization), even writing in the native language requires much time and efforts as a proofreader/copywriter/journalist, not to mention comprehending, editing, and rewriting via a foreign language;

3) Business is PEOPLE: Without decent communications and biz skills it’s but a joke;

4) If you never had a priv
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1) There's NO such thing as "just/plain/separate translation"; first comes a field, then translation;

2) Besides relevant EXP in the field (specialization), even writing in the native language requires much time and efforts as a proofreader/copywriter/journalist, not to mention comprehending, editing, and rewriting via a foreign language;

3) Business is PEOPLE: Without decent communications and biz skills it’s but a joke;

4) If you never had a private business, DON'T give up your current job—at least until you get enough exp and enough for living from translation! Part-time freelancing is a good start, especially with more experienced colleagues.

5) People in paperwork (as translators) have LESS possibilities to improve their skills and prospects than those working with other people (as interpreters), so teaming up makes sense.
. . .

Even a rough approximation makes:
Translator = (1) native language proficiency + (2) foreign language skills + (3) specialization + (4) biz skills + (5) communication

Shortly, a freelancer MUST combine all the duties and is responsibilities in this one-man company--preferably not at the expense of the family
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Ivana Kahle
Nicole König
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Elena Aclasto
P.L.F. Persio
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Faouzia Charmati
 
Nicole König
Nicole König  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 23:09
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
THANK YOU, Valérie! Oct 12, 2018

Valérie Ourset wrote:

Hello,

I have read your blog article and found it very interesting, especially the point about the niches. Thanks! One aspect that may need to be underlined is that it takes time. I am working on Step 1 and 3 and obviously in the future, I will start with Step 2!

Valérie.


Thank you kindly, Valérie, for your feedback and for raising a valid point. It's so natural to me that mentioning it seems overkill. Of course, we're talking about career steps here. It's not an on-off switch, it's an entrepreneurial path.
These are "just" 3 steps along that path that junior colleagues tend to struggle with. And I found it noteworthy to underline that it always comes back to

1. the client and the value we bring to THEIR table/business
2. Owning and serving 1 square inch of the market rather than trying to cater to everyone
3. that we have our CEO tasks and business strategies in place

Again, thank you!


Valérie Ourset
Sarah Thonnet
 
Richard Purdom
Richard Purdom  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:09
Dutch to English
+ ...
one fatal error is not checking your work Oct 12, 2018

Nicole, no doubt your intentions are good, but your blog is not easy to read because of the cumbersome language you use, and it also contains errors.

For example:

'Define your area of brilliance to encourages referrals.'

Even if you'd got the grammar right, it would still never qualify as a snappy phrase. I reckon the whole blog needs a bit of re-writing.


Tom in London
John Michalis
Vladimir Filipenko
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Spas Rizov
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Gerard de Noord
Gerard de Noord  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 23:09
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
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Another fatal error is underestimating your audience Oct 12, 2018

Another fatal error is underestimating your audience. Maybe ProZ will let you get away with peddling your services week in, week out but I for one, think you’re not doing this site a favour with your marketing efforts.

Tom in London
Michele Fauble
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Paweł Hamerski (X)
Paweł Hamerski (X)
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my sentiiments Oct 12, 2018

exactly

Tom in London
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:09
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Yet another ad Oct 13, 2018

Nicole König wrote:

My newest blog article on business development names the 3 most fatal failures of start-up language professionals and ways to turn them into stepping stones for sustainable business development: https://themuses.biz/3-mistakes-to-avoid-on-square-1-and-how-to-turn-them-into-wins/

I'd love your thoughts and feedback.
Thank you!


Thanks for the ad.


Anna Augustin
Sarah McDowell
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
Quality vs Quantity? Oct 13, 2018

Rather many don't know how to successfully find and keep clients in many places, so they either open another template of a personal website, or register at such big platforms as ProZ. They just forget a small thing: a low-popular (unknown) site is almost as bad/good, as a popular portal, where their ratings are low... Why, any platform is a business too, so they intentionally set top/paying members over users, inventing different "TOP"-lists.

Now, what make (1) a single rank at a l
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Rather many don't know how to successfully find and keep clients in many places, so they either open another template of a personal website, or register at such big platforms as ProZ. They just forget a small thing: a low-popular (unknown) site is almost as bad/good, as a popular portal, where their ratings are low... Why, any platform is a business too, so they intentionally set top/paying members over users, inventing different "TOP"-lists.

Now, what make (1) a single rank at a low-popular personal site and (2) a non-TOP rate at a popular portal? That's right, it's but two low-rate sources of prospects. What now? As clever fishermen do: Don't oppose quality to quantity, just unite them.


Tom, don't you like ProZ or ads?)
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Maxi Schwarz
Maxi Schwarz  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:09
German to English
+ ...
on the article Oct 13, 2018

I saw no errors listed, let alone "fatal" ones. What I saw was one person's view of what they found important. The first one, solving a client's "problems" - as a translator for several decades, I cannot relate to that idea. My clients come to me with tasks they want to have done. They're not asking me to solve any problems for them. Certainly you want to find out the purpose of the translation, who will be reading the document (and in what country), and for what reason. I don't know if th... See more
I saw no errors listed, let alone "fatal" ones. What I saw was one person's view of what they found important. The first one, solving a client's "problems" - as a translator for several decades, I cannot relate to that idea. My clients come to me with tasks they want to have done. They're not asking me to solve any problems for them. Certainly you want to find out the purpose of the translation, who will be reading the document (and in what country), and for what reason. I don't know if that is meant by solving a client's problems.

I have seen the idea of defining one's desired clients, and as a kind of niche. It has never made sense to me. My niche is the type of material that I can translate, and do well. The type of work is what gets defined. From that I get all kinds of clients of a surprising variety. The common factor is what is being translated, and not who is asking for it to be translated.

Business plan: I attended a 6 week workshop once. I never could find the pertinence to translation in what they presented. Maybe I'm lacking in this area, I don't know. In the article I wasn't able to identify what was meant by the idea of business plan.
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Oleksandr Ivanov
Vladimir Filipenko
finnword1
 
gayd (X)
gayd (X)
51 mistakes Oct 14, 2018

there are 51 mistakes. 48 are still missing.

Daryo
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:09
Member (2008)
Italian to English
My answer. Oct 14, 2018

DZiW wrote:

....

Tom, don't you like ProZ or ads?)


I like Proz. I don't like people using these discussions as a vehicle for advertising.

I hope I've answered your question.

If you don't, why not sign up to my *amazing webinar* on **answering questions: 300 things you shouldn't say**

I'd love your thoughts and feedback.
Thank you!

[Edited at 2018-10-14 17:39 GMT]


Kay-Viktor Stegemann
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Daryo
 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
unneccesary primness Oct 14, 2018

Tom, we're getting a bit offtopic, yet first: almost everything can be considered to be a propaganda or an ad. Why, every day even you unconsciously advertise your car brand driving to the office, boost your clothes passing by people, loosely extol about your phone while talking, boast your preferred restaurant while dining, recommend certain CATs, and so on--let alone your services. Second, ProZ a business, also promoting its partners. Third, the forums are exactly f... See more
Tom, we're getting a bit offtopic, yet first: almost everything can be considered to be a propaganda or an ad. Why, every day even you unconsciously advertise your car brand driving to the office, boost your clothes passing by people, loosely extol about your phone while talking, boast your preferred restaurant while dining, recommend certain CATs, and so on--let alone your services. Second, ProZ a business, also promoting its partners. Third, the forums are exactly for discussing (sharing one's thoughts and ideas) different topics, including blogs, news, and other co/related areas.

You read the topic and didn't want to check the link? Ok, nobody forced you. However, you did check it, but didn't like? That's ok too; having some spare time, just mention how to improve it. Did somebody cheated you into something bad or tried tapping? Nope, it was just your deliberate choice, coupled with prejudice.

Once again--there's no site rules abuse, nor personal offense in the thread, but you still can report it.


P.S. if you really so tired of ads, consider installing uBlock Origin or enabling VPN anti-ads in Opera.
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Christopher Schröder
Jean Dimitriadis
Sarah Thonnet
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
+1 for what Dizzy said Oct 15, 2018

A bit of ganging up here, boys. I've noticed a bit of that on here recently.

As Dizzy says, these "ads" are easily ignored if that's how you feel.

I've actually been enjoying Nicole's blogs.

Admittedly not for the content (the advice tends to remind me of my mate who decided to work as a man-with-a-van but spent so much on a fancy logo that he couldn't afford the van), but for the language used.

I rate my writing pretty highly but I couldn't
... See more
A bit of ganging up here, boys. I've noticed a bit of that on here recently.

As Dizzy says, these "ads" are easily ignored if that's how you feel.

I've actually been enjoying Nicole's blogs.

Admittedly not for the content (the advice tends to remind me of my mate who decided to work as a man-with-a-van but spent so much on a fancy logo that he couldn't afford the van), but for the language used.

I rate my writing pretty highly but I couldn't even attempt the register Nicole uses. The relentlessly OTT millennial marketingspeak is an education.

And from a non-native too. Awesome.

Keep them coming, Nicole!
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Fiona Grace Peterson
Angie Garbarino
Elisabeth Purkis
 
Ricki Farn
Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 23:09
English to German
@ Chris S Oct 15, 2018

Chris, your comment reminded me of this. Not sure if it's relevant or if it's all in my own head:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/to-survive-today-you-have-to-think-like-celebrity/


Christopher Schröder
Elisabeth Purkis
 
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3 fatal errors to avoid when you're starting







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