How can I increase my hourly profitability as a freelancer? Thread poster: Liane Grant
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Liane Grant
Canada
Local time: 15:39
French to English
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With the pressure to reduce rates because of competition, but my commitment to produce high quality translations, it seems like I am between a rock and a hard place. Have you found ways to streamline your work processes, general time management, or even word processing shortcuts that help you work faster and therefore earn more per hour? (Without buying expensive software...) It's not just a question of wanting to earn more money in total, but to reduce the number of working hours needed to ear... See more With the pressure to reduce rates because of competition, but my commitment to produce high quality translations, it seems like I am between a rock and a hard place. Have you found ways to streamline your work processes, general time management, or even word processing shortcuts that help you work faster and therefore earn more per hour? (Without buying expensive software...) It's not just a question of wanting to earn more money in total, but to reduce the number of working hours needed to earn my living... and achieve that elusive life balance. I would love to hear the perspective of other translators on this topic... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Invest in yourself | Jul 27, 2019 |
Liane Grant wrote:
With the pressure to reduce rates because of competition, but my commitment to produce high quality translations, it seems like I am between a rock and a hard place. Have you found ways to streamline your work processes, general time management, or even word processing shortcuts that help you work faster and therefore earn more per hour? (Without buying expensive software...) It's not just a question of wanting to earn more money in total, but to reduce the number of working hours needed to earn my living... and achieve that elusive life balance. I would love to hear the perspective of other translators on this topic...
I'll try keep this brief.
Don't shortchange yourself, invest in yourself.
Become certified, join your local translator's association, buy all the tools that you'll need to become a successful translator in 2020 (yes, expensive software is just one of those costs).
Read up some of the vast amounts of literature and guides on 'how to become a successful freelance translator' available here on ProZ.com and in the book sales marketplaces (there are sooooo many resources available above, in the 'Education' > 'Courses' menu at the top of the ProZ.com webpage).
Get a mentor in your language pair.
Last but not least, maintain good relationships with your current clients, and quote a little bit more for each new client (progressive is the key!). Eventually you'll be able to politely decline cheap jobs and develop great working relations with the better paying clients.
Hope this helps!
DJH
| | | | Omri Ofek Luzon 
Israel
Local time: 22:39
Member (2019)
English to Hebrew
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| It is always complicated... | Jul 27, 2019 |
I had to struggle with this issue in different points throughout my career, and sometimes I still do.
I came to a conclusion that in order to earn better, I have to give-up on something. Not the other way around. So I usually start by examining what do I earn from, what do I like to do (it is very important), and where do I get the best payment (clients, type of work, sources, etc.).
Then, I start giving-up projects I don't like or earn enough (considering availability... See more I had to struggle with this issue in different points throughout my career, and sometimes I still do.
I came to a conclusion that in order to earn better, I have to give-up on something. Not the other way around. So I usually start by examining what do I earn from, what do I like to do (it is very important), and where do I get the best payment (clients, type of work, sources, etc.).
Then, I start giving-up projects I don't like or earn enough (considering availability of course, I don't completely throw everything out the window...) and stick to the things I think are more contributory to my aim. I also try to not budge too much when it comes to price... but that's a different thing.
I slowly aim for those projects in which I make the earning I'd like, trying to promote this type of projects and invite such clients, and that's about it.
It is never easy... Good luck. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Diana Coada (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:39
Portuguese to English
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| Assuming you already use a CAT tool, | Jul 27, 2019 |
I'd suggest dictation.
The increase in speed is considerable.
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Jan Truper
Germany
Local time: 21:39
Member (2016)
English to German
1) CAT tool
2) dictation software
3) a good (split ergonomic) keyboard
3) mouse with programmable buttons (preferably one mouse on each side of your keyboard)
4) software that enables you to automate certain processes (I use this: https://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/). For example, I can select text and then hit a single button to Copy text -> Switch to brows... See more 1) CAT tool
2) dictation software
3) a good (split ergonomic) keyboard
3) mouse with programmable buttons (preferably one mouse on each side of your keyboard)
4) software that enables you to automate certain processes (I use this: https://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/). For example, I can select text and then hit a single button to Copy text -> Switch to browser app in a separate window -> Click on dictionary tab -> Click in search field -> Paste text -> Hit Enter -> Return mouse cursor to original position.
5) don't waste time trying to fix crappy suggestions from MT engines
6) don't waste time on news / social media / communication while translating
7) get in the zone and kick ass ▲ Collapse
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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| Without biz skills and awareness one is doomed to bottom-feeding | Jul 27, 2019 |
Translation is always secondary to a specialization:(1) an engineer/programmer/lawyer/doctor ... (2) with a foreign language skill --> get a real job.
Diversification is a must --> from different/narrow types of translation (copywriting/rewriting/transcreating) and interpreting to not so related activities like mentoring, consulting, running agency, or no-translation areas.
| | | | Liane Grant
Canada
Local time: 15:39
French to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for the insight | Jul 27, 2019 |
Thank you all for your comments. I see that I probably need to take a more holistic approach and treat it like a business that requres regular financial investment to succeed. i appreciate your tips!
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As your profile is empty, you have registered on Proz quite recently and you don’t explain why you are asking this question, I wonder if you are starting out right now or on the contrary you are an established translator. I suspect the answers will be quite different depending on what one assumes…
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 13:39
Dutch to English
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| Agree with Teresa | Jul 27, 2019 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
As your profile is empty, you have registered on Proz quite recently and you don’t explain why you are asking this question, I wonder if you are starting out right now or on the contrary you are an established translator. I suspect the answers will be quite different depending on what one assumes…
Absolutely, giving us more information might help us to make suggestions that are appropriate for your situation. But regardless, my first suggestion would definitely be to fill in your profile, your specializations if any, and post some feedback from clients. In time, that should bring you more interesting and better paying jobs. If/when you get some regular clients, they may tend to send you jobs in one specific specialization and you can create glossaries or TMs, which will allow you to do those jobs more efficiently.
| | | | | Local adaptive MT | Jul 27, 2019 |
Jan Truper wrote:
5) don't waste time trying to fix crappy suggestions from MT engines
Some people are using free open source CAT, e.g. OmegaT in MS Windows and local statistical machine translation (SMT), see testimonials of users of Slate Desktop
https://www.slatedesktop.com/testimonials/
STM is adaptive by user, there is no need to post-edit again and again the different (wrong) suggestions from gereric web translation.
I use local rule based MT for Czech language in Wordfast Classic.
Milan
| | | | Michael Newton
United States
Local time: 15:39
Japanese to English
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| hourly profitability | Jul 28, 2019 |
Ditch the agencies and switch to private clients.
| | | | Tom Hoar (X)
United States
Local time: 15:39
English
| Slate Desktop helps some work more effeciently | Aug 1, 2019 |
These are all great suggestions to increase profitability.
Milan Condak wrote:
Some people are using free open source CAT, e.g. OmegaT in MS Windows and local statistical machine translation (SMT), see testimonials of users of Slate Desktop
Thanks, Milan. What an unexpected surprise. I'm responding because my website has experienced an up-tick in visitors from this discussion.
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Tom Hoar (X)
United States
Local time: 15:39
English
| Efficiency vs Speed | Aug 1, 2019 |
Jan Truper wrote:
be faster...
5) don't waste time trying to fix crappy suggestions from MT engines
I agree. Be faster meaning work more efficiently... finish more work in less time. It doesn't mean working rapidly in haste. Find tools that augment you, tools that serve you.
Despite many improvements in MT, it's still mostly crappy. Google NMT generates 95% crappy MT and 5% that translators accept without editing. To add insult to injury, you pay for the crappy MT at $20/million characters. Do you pay for rotten tomatoes at the grocery store?
If you amortize $20 across the 5% good MT, you're paying close to $0.02 cents per word for MT. Think about that! How much are your clients paying you? Then you spend 2¢ per word on MT. Therefore, you feel obligated to fix the crappy ones because you paid for them. There's a better way.
Slate Desktop also generates mostly crappy raw MT. The devil's in the details. Customers report experiencing 70% - 30%... 70% is "most" but the complement 30% is 6 times more than Google's 5%. Also, they paid a one-time license without cost-per-character fees. They keep every penny their customers pay them.
So, back to your 5th point, "don't waste time trying to fix the crappy ones." With better machine translation, you can just delete the crappy ones and translate anew. There's no obligation to fix anything because they didn't cost anything.
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