Quick Update

I just tried out lifeCast and I didn't like it too much right away because it added a link to their site at the end of the post.

Now I'm trying BlogWrite and so far I like it better. I really wish it had landscape typing but hopefully that will come in one of the updates.

Blogging On The Iphone

Just testing out some blogging software for the iPhone. Any translators out there have any reccomendations?

2009 Translation Goals

The new year inevitably causes us to reflect on the past year's accomplishments and failures, and it's a perfect time to look ahead and see where we can improve for the coming year.

As translators, we're not necessarily exempt from this practice and I've found that to be true in my own life. Whenever I feel like I want to improve in some area of my life, I find that I have a much better chance of accomplishing it if I write it down and make it a concrete goal.

So in that regard, here are my business-related goals for 2009:

• Find more clients that I enjoy working with - nothng saps my energy more than trying to deal with rude clients.

• Make available the second edition of The Translator's Ultimate List of Translation Agencies - This new edition will have more agencies laid out in a slightly better format.

• More content on main website. I really feel that the website has been a help to translators and it's nice to get positive feedback from others. It motivates me to add more things that will be beneficial to translators.

• Encourage other translators to start their own websites. The main cause of my success has defnitely been the website. I wish other translators could see the potential of having a focused website to bring in more business.

So those are some of my business goals. What are yours?

Spanish Slang in Action

Studying Spanish slang can be pretty fun but I think it's even better
to see it used in real life.

Where I live here on the east coast of the United States there aren't
a lot of opportunities to see how slang is used in Spanish print
media, but that changes when we go to Texas.

Our favorite place to visit is the San Antonio area and as you
probably know, there are a ton of Spanish speakers there. Well, it's
interesting to see all the things written in Spanish, whether it is
the name of a restaurant or billboard on the side of the road.

Of course not all of it is slang. Most of it is your standard variety
Spanish. However, one of the things about billboards is that they
often use interesting language and expressions to get their point
across.

Has anyone seen this in other parts of the country where they live?

Don't be afraid of things because they're easy to do

A lot of times it seems that people feel that if something is easy to do, it's not worth doing. They might feel that they have to work hard to achieve something, all the while ignoring an easy way or path that has already been taken previously by someone else.

Well, the Freelance Translator's Ultimate List of Translation Agencies has been put together to try and make life at least a little easier for translators. It took me a few long months to come up with the list of nearly 400 translation agencies looking for translators and now you can have access to the whole thing right away.

Hope you enjoy it and that it saves you time to focus on some of the more interesting aspects of being a translator, like translating.

Don't be afraid

It can be hard starting out as a freelance translator, especially when you feel like you are competing with translators that have been around the translation industry for so long. One thing that I like to remember, though, is that the need for translators is only increasing.

Too often we think of it as a pie where everyone gets a piece and when the pieces are gone there's nothing left for us.

Well, I don't think this is necessarily how it is. There's lot if work out there to do and it's mostly just a matter of making sure we're prepared when the time comes. That is what we have control over and that its the stuff we should be worried about.

Newsletter just mailed out

A new edition of Translator Techniques was just sent today. It talks
about social networking and whether or not it's beneficial for translators.

Check it out at Translator Techniques.

If you could learn another language...

...which one would you choose? What would draw you to that particular
language?

Translation Schedule

I've been trying to be more in tune lately with my work schedule,
trying to determine what part of the day I'm most productive for
certain tasks. For example, I think I translate better in the
afternoon and work better on the admin stuff earlier in the day. What
about you? What are your preferences?

Translation and social media

One of the major directions the Internet is going these days is the
use of social media. People are using everything from Facebook to
MySpace to Twitter, all to be able to communicate and stay connected
with friends and business contacts.

So my question is, are there any translators that are using this type
of social media as part of their freelance translation business? I've
just started to get into some of these sites and it seems like they
could be useful to freelance translators. It'll be interesting as I
get more into it and see what, if any, benefit it can bring to my
business.

Punctuality and Translation

One of the most important traits a translator needs is the ability to
be on time.

I've always tried to be someone who is on time with whatever task I
have in front of me, whether it's finishing up a translation for a
client or making it to an important meeting.

How many of us, though, carry that trait with us in our private lives?
I've noticed recently that I'm often late to church, for example. Now
if church were an important meeting with a potential client, would I
be late? No way. So why is it that we can sometimes be two different
people with regards to our professional life and personal life?

I'm not sure what the answer to yhat question is, but I usually feel
better about myself when I try and combine the better qualities from
both. I am usually a better person for it.

Sent from my iPod

Translation and social networking

I used to think of myself as not too far behind technology but lately
I have been wondering if I'm starting to show my age a bit more.

The reason I say this is because it seems like there ate more and more
social networking sites out there already with more coming each day.
Yet here I am in 2008 and I've yet to even sign up for one. So my
question is, has social networking helped you in your business?

I'm not really interested in using it to tell people what I ate for
breakfast or what kind of mood I'm in on a particular day. Instead I
would like to know if it can help me with my productivity or some
other aspect of my translation/web business.

So do you use any of the popular social networking sites that are
popular right now? If so, how do they help in your business?

The hottest searches by far in December for my website have to do with Spanish Christmas songs and Christmas carols. There are many people searching for English songs that have been translated into Spanish, whether they be teachers looking to teach carols to their students, or people in general looking to learn another way to sing their favorite songs.

If you're looking for any Spanish Christmas songs or English Christmas carols that have been translated into Spanish, feel free to check out these Spanish Christmas songs.

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I am not a member of the American Translator's Association (ATA), never have been, and most likely will never be.

However, there are a lot of translators out there that are members of ATA. It makes me wonder, does being a member of ATA and paying all the dues and doing everything to maintain membership really help a translator build his/her client list and increase business?

It seems to me that while ATA does provide some good information for translators through conferences, publications, and their website, the cost for the that information is not worth it. I've known plenty of translators that have been unhappy with ATA and the way it portrays itself as the end all be all of translation certification in the U.S. What gave ATA the right to say whether a translator is good enough to translate?

It would be interesting to know what percentage of professional freelance translators are actually certified by ATA, as well as how many are members.

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This question had me baffled more than once when I was just starting out as a freelance translator. The web was becoming more and more popular and people were using it for more and more things, but could it work for translators?

Well, at first it seemed like a lot of freelancers didn't have websites; rather, the only people who had websites were the big translation agencies. However, as time has passed, I have realized that there is no reason why a translator should not have a website and every reason to have one.

One of the reasons why a translator should have a website is that a ton of people search online for translators and by having a website, you can receive some of that traffic and direct people to your services directly, essentially cutting out having to go through a translation agency for work.

Another way a website can help is by giving a translator more credibility not only to clients but to also translators. A (professional) website is just another tool that a translator can use to increase business and become better as a professional.

I was nervous when I thought about putting a website together because it just seemed so daunting a task. However, I was fortunate that I found a hosting company (and so much more) that helped me know how to get my site together and present it in a way that could be beneficial to me and my clients. SiteBuildIt helped me take my freelance translation business to a whole new level, and if it can help me, it can surely help anyone out there wanting to increase their client base.

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This question had me baffled more than once when I was just starting out as a freelance translator. The web was becoming more and more popular and people were using it for more and more things, but could it work for translators?

Well, at first it seemed like a lot of freelancers didn't have websites; rather, the only people who had websites were the big translation agencies. However, as time has passed, I have realized that there is no reason why a translator should not have a website and every reason to have one.

One of the reasons why a translator should have a website is that a ton of people search online for translators and by having a website, you can receive some of that traffic and direct people to your services directly, essentially cutting out having to go through a translation agency for work.

Another way a website can help is by giving a translator more credibility not only to clients but to also translators. A (professional) website is just another tool that a translator can use to increase business and become better as a professional.

I was nervous when I thought about putting a website together because it just seemed so daunting a task. However, I was fortunate that I found a hosting company (and so much more) that helped me know how to get my site together and present it in a way that could be beneficial to me and my clients. SiteBuildIt helped me take my freelance translation business to a whole new level, and if it can help me, it can surely help anyone out there wanting to increase their client base.

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First of all, it goes without saying that every translator needs to have a website. (OK, if you've already got enough steady clients to keep you busy until you retire, I guess you don't need one) but for those who are always looking for new clients, a website is a must.

Owning a website, however, doesn't necessarily get you anywhere closer to having people find you. One of the ways you can get others to your site is through linking with other websites related to translation. Are there any resources you find particularly helpful in your translation work? Why not link to them and let others benefit from the resource.

Another way you can build links in and out of your site is to link to the webpages of other translators. Now whenever I mention this, translators usually start to get a little nervous and think (erroneously I might add) that they are going to lose business when linking to other translators.

Nothing could be a bigger myth. First of all, if you are a Spanish-English translator, for instance, what harm is there in linking to a fellow translator whose language combination is Swahili-Russian? Are they going to steal business from you? I don't think so.

Even linking to another translator with the same language combination is many times OK when the translators have different areas of specialty.

So what good can come from this? Well, first of all, your (potential) clients will trust that you are confident enough in your work to pass it along to someone else when it doesn't fit your particular skill set. Secondly, you are passing work to someone you (hopefully) trust and thus making the client that way. When they need work done in your language combination, they are more likely to come back to you. Finally, by collaborating with other translators, you might get some work sent your way from another translator linking to you from his/her site. It really is a win-win for everyone.

It just takes some willingness to overcome this selfish desire that we have as translators to keep everything for ourselves.

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It seems like one of the hardest things for any entrepreneur is to get paid for the work that they've done. Translators are no different. I don't think I've ever met a translator who's had at least some trouble getting an invoice taken care.

Most people will tell you that this is the reason contracts are so important. However, contracts don't always ensure that you'll get paid without a hassle. All it means is that it will take you forever and a day to get the contract enforced, and that's after spending all sorts of time, money and energy to get there. It can be a pain for sure.

So how do you know that a client will be one that you can count on to pay you? I don't think there's a surefire way you can ever know. I mean, sure, there's signs you can look for but none of them are definite indicators. I think the best thing you can do is make sure you don't do a significant amount of work before you get paid for it. If a client has a lot of work to give you, it's best to divide it up and get paid per section that you do.

I've done this ever since I started translating and I've never got burned for any huge amount. Sure you might get stiffed $100 bucks at most, but if you divide up the work and the payment, you should never lose more than that amount.

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Something that I've wanted to do for a long time is now available on spanish-translation-help.com

Web 2.0 has now made its way to the site, and why is that so cool you ask? Well, first of all, it's a way for translators and others interested in translation to actually add their own thoughts and comments to the website, making it more interactive and bringing translators closer together as a community (which we know isn't always the easiest thing to do).

I'm only in the beginning stages so there's still a lot of work to do to make it a permanent fixture on the site, but if you're interested, you can see how it works at the page on Bad Translation Pictures.

If you've got any pictures you'd like to add, go for it!

I'm back from the dead

So it's been a while (yeah, I guess you could consider more than a year a while) but now I'm back and will be posting more information about translation in general and language issues.

So what have I been up to this last year? Well, my website www.spanish-translation-help.com has been doing pretty good lately and for the first time, I finally reached a thousand unique visitors in a single day!

I'm pretty proud about that. Obviously.