There I was, energetic and full of plans to start working as a freelancer. I had handled the official part at the tax authorities and the chamber of commerce. A business bank account and insurance had been arranged. I used all my creativity for my own website and business cards. I was ready to start as a freelance translator and copy corrector!
What now? Where could I find assignments? Just google 'freelance translator wanted'? I first decided to search the internet for experiences of other freelancers and gain inspiration. Name recognition turned out to be the most important (and at the same time the most difficult) condition for getting freelance assignments.
A lot of advice is given for this, for example:
· Create business profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and be active there. · Ensure a dynamic website where you publish regularly. · Start networking. · Start blogging. Naturally, I tried them all. Business profiles on social media are easy to create, but maintaining them takes a lot of time. You often have to publish a contribution to come to the attention of your target group. It also requires a lot of creativity to always come up with something new. A dynamic website is without a doubt very important. Publications, adjustments and leads ensure a higher ranking in the search engines. Networking is a different story. My experience with this is fairly positive. I found a number of networking organizations in the area and in good spirits I went to a number of meetings. Very interesting and pleasant. You enthusiastically hand out business cards and receive just as many, but I didn't find any clients.
Blogging turned out to be a perfect way to capture the attention of my target group. To be honest, I had never written a blog before and just started with a topic that fascinates me. I published the blogs on my website and social media. This way I killed several birds with one stone. To my great surprise, my blogs were read, shared and I received many positive responses. One even advises you to search for assignments with the subject 'blogger wanted'. I couldn't imagine that clients were looking for bloggers and paid no attention to that advice. After a few weeks I came to the conclusion that social media and networking only contribute to brand awareness if you invest a lot of time in it. I would rather use that time to find assignments. So my search continued. What now? Just search the internet for key words such as in my situation 'translator wanted', 'text corrector wanted' or perhaps even 'blogger wanted'? Without hope, I typed in the keywords 'translator text corrector blogger wanted'. To my great surprise, I found websites where freelancers can register and respond to offers from various clients. It seemed like an attractive and simple way to me. It works as follows: · You create an account. · You provide a good and complete profile with your experience and competencies. · You respond to the clients' offers.
I enthusiastically looked at the various sites and saw countless assignments with the subject of looking for a translator, looking for a text corrector and even looking for a blogger. Blogging for a fee? It seemed too good to be true. Motivated, I created profiles and discovered that there are significant differences between the various platforms. Every site where you find freelance assignments has its own conditions. The main differences are: · Free and paid profiles. · Post comments for free or for a fee. · Payment per period or payment per response. · Can be canceled at any time or contract with tacit renewal. Most basic profiles are free. Such a profile usually has the disadvantage that you only see an assignment after, for example, 24 or 36 hours, so that other freelancers have already had the chance to respond. There are also platforms where you pay per response to an assignment. Please note: this amount increases very quickly. In my enthusiasm, I initially did not oversee the financial part of the various profiles. I then listed all the pros and cons for myself and took my time to see which assignments were posted on the various sites. Also remember that responding to an assignment does not automatically mean that you will receive it. Prepare for disappointments and ensure resilience. More about contact with potential clients next time. Ultimately, I found the platform that is most ideal for me. I regularly receive assignments there as a translator and text corrector. I now blog for pay and for pleasure. A unique experience!
By: Loes Orru-Provoost http://talenvertalen.nl/
As a freelance translator, copywriter and text corrector, Loes has a wealth of experience in the field of translation, localization and transcreation in Dutch, Italian, German and English. It takes into account the cultural background of the target group and the customs of the language areas involved. Her areas of expertise include Italy, Sardinia, wine, viticulture, tourism and gastronomy.
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