Translator Training to Find More Direct Clients Than you can Poke a Stick

This week on the podcast I caught up with Virginia Katsampiri of V Mentoring (Business Coaching for Translators). Virginia Katsimpiri, PhDc, is a certified translator & translation business owner at vtranslations.gr and business strategist and mentor at vmentoring.com with over 15 years' experience. Holding an ΜA in translation and an executive MBA in client acquisition strategies, she has helped hundreds of freelance translators/interpreters and small business owners worldwide to attract international high-quality clients and rapidly build their profitable business through her mentoring programs. Virginia is the creator of the Fully Booked Translator Formula & the Ultimate LinkedIn Prospecting System, the first comprehensive, results-oriented Business Mentoring Programs for Language Professionals. She is also the founder of the Ask Your Mentor Anything initiative; a virtual live show where she and other experts discuss translation business-related issues on a weekly basis. Virginia teaches translator mentoring methods and provides seminars, webinars, eBooks and free resources such as “60 Ways To Get Clients As a Translator”. She gives talks at the industry’s biggest international conferences and has appeared in numerous online publications, podcasts and marketing shows. Currently, Virginia studies translators/interpreters’ business performance at PhD level and runs two businesses: www.vtranslations.gr & www.vmentoring.com. Virginia and I discussed the hot topic of LinkedIn for robust freelance translator personal branding. LinkedIn is an efficient way to directly find clients by leveraging the platform. After she saw results for her own freelance translation business Virginia started teaching her strategies to other industry colleagues. Virginia tells us that content marketing (the best way to nurture an audience) takes 6-12 months of consistent effort to see results. However, her own teaching focuses mostly on strategic outbound marketing methods. Her ULPS programme also includes specific automation tools and sales navigator to contact ideal target prospects at scale. NB: remember that sales navigator is not a mandatory purchase and there are always special offers available if you hunt them down after signing up for a trial version. Business management tools help you increase productivity and automate processes. Some good examples are XTRF, lsp.expert and Plunet (a tool very commonly used by many agencies these day Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week I chatted to AI whizz Josh Goldsmith on the podcast. Josh is a UN and EU accredited translator and interpreter working from Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Catalan into English. He splits his time between interpreting, translating, and working as a trainer and researcher focusing on the intersection between interpreting, technology and education. As Founder and Chief Educational Officer of techforword, Josh shares tips about technology, translation and interpreting in conferences and workshops, academic articles, as co-host of the Innovation in Translation and Innovation in Interpreting Summits, and at techforword insiders, the premiere online community for innovative language professionals. Grab your headset and snoop our conversation as we discuss: Please enjoy! * Connect with Josh*: techforword blogMake Invoicing and Project Management A Breeze with LSP.expert (blog post)Get ChatGPT to write your emails (webinar)AI in Translation Bootcamptechforword insiders membershipAI Language Club*These are affiliate links. I receive a small commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you #AI #Translation #TechSavvy #BusinessGrowth #LanguageTech #Innovation #ArtificialIntelligence #Entrepreneurship #Podcast #TechInsights #LanguageServices #AIExpert #DigitalTransformation #BusinessStrategy #Localization #LanguageIndustry Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week on the podcast I was really thrilled to catch up with my business friend and colleague Damien Schreurs. Here he teaches all you Mac listeners out there some nifty hacks and a basic automation tip Damien Schreurs started EasyTECH in 2013 as a side hustle to experience entrepreneurship while preserving a steady paycheck. In September 2016, Damien finally quit his 9-to-5 job to offer Apple training and consultancy services in Luxembourg, aiming to regain control of when and how he could dedicate time to his family and his work. In June 2018, Damien launched the Macpreneur podcast, a show that helps solopreneurs become more efficient at running a business on a Mac. Here are the most notable nuggets from our wide-ranging conversation: Here are the most important links Damien mentioned: El gato stream deck Sophos Ollama Diffusion bee MacGPT Writer's brew Please enjoy! * To enter Damien's ecosystem: Website: Mac Productivity Tips: Instagram: YouTube: Linkedin: #MacTips #MacHacks #MacAutomation #ProductivityHacks #AppleMac #MacOS #TechTips #PodcastEpisode #Macintosh #TechHacks #TechAutomation #MacintoshTips #PodcastRecommendation #TechPodcast #AppleTips Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Sign up for our next translator training webinar on Tuesday 2 April at 15.30 CET. Time permitting we will tackle the following topics: The webinar is free. Sign up at the link below. Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Sign up for our next translator training webinar on Tuesday 2 April at 15.30 CET. Time permitting we will tackle: The webinar is free. Register at the link below. Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week I learnt something really cool in my business. Google Website Indexing. This is a crucial step towards ensuring your website gets the visibility you and your business deserve. Understanding Google Website Indexing: It's the process by which search engines like Google discover, crawl, and include your web pages in their database. When your website is properly indexed, it stands a MUCH better chance of appearing in relevant search results, driving organic traffic and potential customers to your online doorstep. Why This Matters Visibility Boost:Crawl Efficiency:Fresh Content Recognition:Steps to Optimize Google Indexing: Submit Your Sitemap:website's sitemapKeyword Optimization:relevant keywordsQuality Content is Key:Backlink Strategy:User-Friendly Design:Stay Informed with Analytics: Monitor your website's performance with tools like Google Analytics. Track key metrics such as organic traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates to understand how users interact with your site. This data provides valuable insights for ongoing optimization. If you index your website on Google and implement effective SEO strategies, you're paving a fast highway to: improved search engine rankings enhanced online visibility. Remember, SEO Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

On the podcast this week I had the enormous pleasure of interviewing Viveta Gene. Viveta Gene is a passionate and driven executive armed with 20+ years of experience in the translation and localization industry. She has a 360-degree view of the Translation and Localization Workflow thanks to her previous experience as a Language Solutions Specialist, Business Developer, Vendor Manager, Project Manager and Linguist. Her focus is to promote new trends in the industry, where translation skills meet MT technology and Localization Engineering. Machine translation engines, automated translation and post editing of machine translated output are amongst her fields of interest and the topic of her PhD Research. Her passion is acquiring new skills, shaping positive mindsets and inspiring people. Viveta works for BWX (Bureau Works), a major AI localization platform you can leverage in the T&I industry. Here are some notable nuggets from our conversation: I´m now a proud affiliate for this cutting-edge tool. Here are three specific reasons for my endorsement: Please enjoy! * Use this special link for a 30% discount on your BWX subscription the first 3 months Discount coupon: entrepreneurial #BureauWorks #BWXTranslation #AIForTranslators#EffortlessTranslation #SmartTranslationTool #TranslatorTech#LanguageInnovation #BWXInAction #FreelanceTranslation#PrecisionWithBWX #TranslationSimplified #BWXAdvantage#AIEmpoweredTranslation #StreamlinedLocalization #TimeSavingTranslations#EnhancedProductivity #TranslateSmarter #BWXForFreelancers#LinguisticExcellence #InnovateWithBureauWorks Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week on the podcast I was delighted to speak to Anna Lundberg. Anna Lundberg is the founder of OneStep Outside, where she helps experienced professionals around the world design a career, a business and a lifestyle that brings them more freedom, flexibility and fulfilment - outside of the conventional 9 to 5. She is the author of Leaving the Corporate 9 to 5 and Outside of the 9 to 5, and host of the Reimagining Success podcast. She lives with her two young children on the south coast of England. Here are a few notable nuggets drawn from my conversation with Anna: The AI transcription tools discussed are: Otter ai (affiliate link) Rev.com Castmagic The Alfred Hitchcock film mentioned was North by Northwest (1959). To enter Anna's ecosystem: Website Free resource: The 5 pillars scorecard Latest book: Outside of the 9 to 5 Please enjoy! #ReimaginingSuccess #WorkLifeIntegration #ExecutiveCoaching #PodcastEpisode #AnnaSELundberg Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Personal branding has become more pervasive than ever and plays such a pivotal role in shaping perceptions and creating lasting impressions. Here are just a few tips to build the business of YOU: Craft Your Identity in a Crowded Space Personal branding is not just a buzzword; it’s a dynamic process to intentionally shape HOW you are perceived by others. In an era dominated by digital platforms and social media, personal branding is a requirement for professionals in various fields. The Business of YOU Authenticity reigns supreme. It’s about showcasing the real YOU—your values, passions, skills and unique personality. Craft a personal brand and carefully curate your online presence from your LinkedIn profile to your blog and Instagram. Be Authentic Personal branding comes with its own challenges. The demand for authenticity can be daunting, as individuals navigate the fine line between presenting their true selves and projecting a curated image. The pressure to stay consistent and relevant in a rapidly changing landscape can also pose challenges. However, if you embrace the authenticity challenge you may well find that the personal and professional rewards are worth the effort. The Art of Storytelling A successful personal brand is a cohesive narrative that spans visual elements, mission statements, values and the overall customer experience. Elements such as logos, taglines and brand guidelines all contribute to a visual identity that becomes synonymous with the company’s values. A personal brand must speak with one sole voice across all channels to build trust, the main currency of business, and recognition. Personal Branding as a Strategic Path to Business Success Savvy freelancers understand that their personal brand is intricately linked to the success of their business. Customers are increasingly looking for businesses led by authentic and influential individuals. Navigate the Branding Landscape with Intention Personal branding offers you the chance to authentically connect with your audience and shape your professional journey. Freelance translators should recognize that a successful brand often rests on the shoulders of an authentic and influential leader. As a small business owner, as I try and navigate the complex landscape of branding, the key lies in aligning personal and business values, embracing authenticity and understanding that the two are not mutually exclus Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week I spoke to Susanna Reay about how online presence and visibility is absolutely essential for online service providers. Here are just a couple of takeaways from this wide-ranging conversation: Score appAcronyms used: EEAT - Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness Contact Susanna: Website: Business Spark Scorecard: Book: The Introvert Way® Roadmap: Book recommendation: Playing Big by Tara Mohr Please enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/episode/6lHnnYSIyvXjt8M423i6dr Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

How to use storytelling in your content marketing... The importance of storytelling in sales and marketing If you want to build a daily-weekly-monthly lead engine then you need to learn how to weave stories into your marketing copy and content to drive traffic to your online assets and start conversations that convert to sales. Here are 3 things I do in my own storytelling: 1. Select a relevant story: look for a story related to YOUR service. This may be a personal story, a client win experience or even a successful case study or testimonial. The important thing is that the story resonates with your audience. 2. Convey values and emotions: use storytelling to convey your personal brand’s values and trigger emotions in your audience. This will generate a deeper connection and will make your message more memorable. 3. Use visual language: accompany your story with images and visual elements that strengthen your message. The power of visualization will help get your audience more involved with your story. Just remember, storytelling is a powerful selling tool, as it enables us to connect to our audience in a unique and memorable way. Use these key points to build an effective and captivating sales argument. Stories sell. It’s as simple as that. Download our FREE storytelling worksheet: https://entrepreneurialtranslator.com/storytelling Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week I had the enormous pleasure of interviewing Rebecca Hollis who heads up the growth division of Score App. I am a score app user myself and put out a deep dive survey shortly before Christmas. The insights I received were most valuable to position my offers before my own audience. Here are 3 things this nifty tool can do for your freelance translation business: In-Depth Market Analysis: Score app provides you with a comprehensive and in-depth market analysis, enabling service providers to gain valuable insights into industry trends, competitor performance and customer behavior. By leveraging the tool's capabilities, service you can make informed decisions about their offerings, pricing strategies and overall business approach, ensuring you stay relevant and competitive in a changing market. Targeted Customer Engagement: With its market insights, Score app helps service providers identify and understand their target audience much more effectively. This enables you to tailor your marketing and outreach strategies, ensuring you connect with the right customers at the right time. By lasering in on the preferences and needs of your audience, you can enhance customer engagement and build stronger, more longlasting relationships. Strategic Business Growth: By leveraging the data and analytics provided by Score app, you can strategically plan for business growth. The tool enables you to identify untapped opportunities, assess potential risks and develop data-driven strategies for expansion. Whether entering new markets, diversifying services or optimizing existing processes, you can use the insights gained through Score app to fuel strategic decision-making and foster sustainable business growth. Click here to take my deep dive survey: Is your freelance business ready to scale? Sign up to score up here Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week I had the immense pleasure of interviewing global personal branding, virtual hiring expert and my own business mentor, Chris Ducker. Chris Ducker is a serial entrepreneur and author of the bestselling books, Virtual Freedom and more recently, Rise of the Youpreneur. Based in Cambridge, England, Chris owns and operates several businesses, including the VA recruiting hub, VirtualStaffFinder.com and the personal brand enterprise education company Youpreneur.com. He is regarded as one of the top experts in the world on the subjects of remote team building and scaling an expert business. Since 2008, Chris has been a trusted international business mentor, keynote speaker and podcaster, and currently spends most of his time working with successful entrepreneurs, as well as investing in and advising startup companies. His work is regularly published on ChrisDucker.com and he can be followed on Instagram and LinkedIn. Grab your headphones and do listen in closely to this conversation. Here are the notable nuggets Chris and I discussed: business of youMy top takeaway from this conversation: The business of you. Now that's the power of personal branding and that's exactly how you stand out in a crowded market. Remember to lean into your own uniqueness in your branding. You got this. Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Last Saturday and for the first time ever, I spent an entire afternoon at an online journaling workshop. It lasted a whopping 4 hours and boy did it go by in a flash! Journaling is a super personal practice that has various benefits ranging from self-reflection to improved mental health, stress reduction and enhanced self-awareness. There are different types of journals: gratitude journals, bullet journals, dream journals and reflective journals. Me? I dig gratitude journals the best. This time I just used simple content prompts in a google doc. So why do I do it? Simply put for intentional goal setting, creativity, problem-solving or tracking my own personal and business growth. There are online and physical handwritten journals. You can even find journaling platforms or apps out there. Online journals are convenient and user-friendly especially for non-professional writers like me. At first I must say it was a tad challenging to time block and sit down and do it. But it could gradually become part of my routine like brushing my teeth. I wholeheartedly encourage you to give journaling a try and share your feedback with your close circle. As it's still the top end of the new year and an optimal time for goal setting I’ve created a practical worksheet with all the content prompts for you to use. Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Happy New Year 2024! I hope you are feeling the new year vibes and are ready to smash your business and life goals out the park this year! Our online webinar How to Find More Clients Than you can Poke a Stick at will be held on Tuesday 23rd January at 16h CET. This webinar dives deep into 3 main obstacles holding freelance translation business growth back and offers some robust solutions to these problems. The webinar is free of charge but you do need to register. Please sign up here: Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Have you ever sat down to write a blog or social media post and you just froze? Not because of fear or imposter syndrome, because those are 100% real, too. But instead, you froze because you just didn’t really know what it was that your ideal customer wanted or needed from you. This can really feel like you’re just pulling any old idea out of a dark hole. Now, of course, we all suffer from writer’s block at some point, but what is worse is not understanding WHO you’re serving and WHY. This can be the death of a business before it's even started. In today’s episode, I’m talking about how to identify your Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA). So why is this so important? Because your ICA is someone who is absolutely crucial to the success of your business and if you don’t know WHO they are, your business won’t have a solid foundation on which to build. Your ICA represents your ONE single PERFECT customer. This ONE single person is the potential customer who wants and needs YOUR content, or YOUR services. This is also a person that you LOVE to work with. Win-win! There are specific ways to really hone in on who this person is: what they like, what they don’t like, what their aspirations are, and most importantly, what their fears and pain points are. And surprise, surprise…when you know all this, you won’t be sitting there frozen at your computer not knowing what to create or to say in your next social media or blog post. You’ll be happily creating solutions to their wants and needs — something they’ll actually pay for! You’re not just building your business as a hobby, right? I know you’re not, and that’s why I want you to get laser focused and know how to serve your ideal customers best! I’ve even created a super helpful worksheet for you to print out and use as you build out and define YOUR very own ICA. Please enjoy! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2025705/episodes/14010170 * Action step: Download your FREE ideal customer avatar worksheet at https://lnkd.in/dA_4y6en #ClientFocus #NicheExpertise #TranslationMastery #ContentCrafting #IdealClientJourney #LanguagePrecision #MarketInsights #TailoredTransportlations #CustomerPersona #ContentStrategyWins #NailYourNiche Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Not having an adequate SEO strategy is THE number one mistake I see translators make time and again with their online presence. If they have a website it's always very nice but they are not doing nearly enough to drive traffic and eyeballs to it. That's like wearing Harry Potter's invisible cloak. If prospects can't SEE us how on earth will they BUY from us? Essentially, onpage SEO helps us build a constant pipeline of warm leads for our translation business. As I´ve said before, everything comes downstream of lead generation so this is a fundamental topic to gear us up for success. Pay careful special attention to: Title Tags Unique to each page and contain relevant keywords. Limit length to 60 characters Meta Descriptions Fragments of text appearing in the search results describing page content Unique and attractive with relevant keywords. 160 characters in length Headers (H1, H2, H3) Help to structure the webpage content and facilitate reading Good for users and search engines .... Download the full content in our actionable worksheet at https://entrepreneurialtranslator.com/onpageseo Please enjoy! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2025705/episodes/14090538 Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

After earning their spurs with a few years under their belts, most translators graduate to marketing to direct clients. Direct clients pay higher fees and it's much better working directly with the end client with no intermediaries. This helps getting queries answered quickly and optimizing the quality of the work. However, translators must also be aware that direct clients can be more demanding and throw you extra requests (e.g. for DTP, other language combinations, etc). On balance I much prefer working with the client directly. Here are a few marketing ideas for your direct client prospecting: 1. Use your agency end clients as inspiration (DO NOT POACH) 2. European higher education institutions with academic programmes in English 3. Industry professional associations with a membership directory or events page 4. .... You can find the rest of the content and how I contact direct clients in my own business in this downloadable worksheet on our website. Please enjoy! Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

**Pre P.S. Our Black Friday special offer is now LIVE and piping HOT (hottest deal in town!) 🌶🌶🌶🌶 Here's the deal: Get Become a Booked out Freelance Translator at a 20% discount and The Online Presence Blueprint bundled in for free. This offer vanishes faster than you can say "You cannot be serious!" on Monday 27th November** It's that time of year for reflection, gratitude and setting your sights on new goals. As you look back on the past year, consider your business growth. Have you reached a point where you are generating a steady income through your services? As for me, the way I THOUGHT this year would go, versus the way it actually went? WORLDS. APART. Late November (how on earth did THAT happen) is always a good time to reflect on the year gone by, what worked, what didn't and what I want to do the next month...next year...next SEASON of my life. This past year, I have grown both as a person and as a small business owner. It was all about floating my ideas onto the market and applying validated learning to them. No, it wasn't always easy - making big decisions and taking risks never are. Growth, especially personal growth, is life waaay outside the comfort zone. But I'm reaching year end feeling proud of myself for plucking up the courage to say some big yeses. Proud of this business, and the ripples of impact I can now see it starting to make. A handful of early adopters have now joined my programmes and have reacted to the materials I put in front of them. Nerve-wracking to say the least. But more than anything else, I feel psyched about meeting the immediate future head-on. In a more grounded way than ever before. In this special podcast episode, I'm recapping the year that was...and taking a sneak peek into what's just round the corner. Take a squiz at my own goalsetting for 2024: Intentionally optimize my business to give me more of the work I want Pivot towards a consistent, sustainable business whose momentum I can maintain Continue things I´m passionate about that actually move the needle Play the long game and keep chipping away at that endless list of to-do tasks Dive deep into quality interactions. Remain very personal and relevant. * Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Extra! Extra! Get Ready to Dive Deep Behind the Headline with ITI Bulletin Editor Radhika Holmstrom in this Unfiltered, Unapologetic Podcast Interview! In this week's episode I chat with Radhika Holmstrom, editor of the widely read ITI Bulletin journal. It's a jolly good rag so do grab a copy and have a read. Here are some notable nuggets from our wide-ranging conversation: Please enjoy! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2025705/episodes/13706141 Don't forget to hit the + plus in Apple podcasts or itunes subscribe in Spotify so you don't miss new episodes. * Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career