Wednesday 5 August 2015

How to Become a Sought After Website Translator

If you have a second language in addition to English, you can make a good living as a website translator in your retirement.

As internet marketing continues to grow and expand, businesses all around the world are needing to have entire websites translated into English and other languages. Imagine the profitability if you get a handful of large websites to translate. Some websites have more than 100,000 pages. It’s a big project with a potential for significant profits. Spanish, Chinese, and other European languages are in high demand.

So how do you become a sought after website translator?

One of the easiest ways is to bid on projects on freelance job sites. One or two projects under your belt gives you the credibility and portfolio to market your services. These freelance websites are also a good place to research the market.

Generally provider’s rates run at the low end of the scale - to be competitive. However, once you transition away from freelance job sites and are attracting your own clientele, you can increase your rates to meet demand. When working on freelance websites it’s recommended you collect an initial deposit because a translation job can, potentially, take several months and you want to have some money to live on while you’re working.

Among the freelance service-providing community there are a few keys to being successful and having a full schedule. They include:

  • Being professional 100% of the time. Don’t talk negatively about your clients, their websites or their business. Always, ALWAYS, deliver projects on time or early. Don’t change rates in the middle of a job (This means you may have to ask a lot of questions in the beginning to provide an adequate quote.) Respond promptly to enquiries and client questions.
  •  Communicate effectively. Your job is to translate language; this means people will expect you to have good communication skills. Demonstrate your skills by sending clear and understandable email messages, having a website which is easy to read and understand, and by simply being easy to work with and talk to.
  • Become more than a translator. If you can offer insight and act as a consultant, you will offer more value to your clients than someone who merely translates. If you have a specialty in Chinese, for example, and are translating an English written website for an American company, and if you can provide insight into the culture for the company you’re translating for, you can help them position their website and their business effectively in the global market place.
  • Once you’re up and running, don’t forget to market your services. Word of mouth may be your most powerful marketing strategy; however, advertising, article marketing and search engine optimization will all help you fill your schedule with translation projects.

There’s a wealth of projects just waiting for your expertise. If you have good knowledge of an in-demand language, you can make a nice living translating websites. The start-up is low risk and you can get up and running without too much fuss. Here's to your success!

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