How would you respond to low rates ?

Alex Zelkind wrote:
Everyone here is on his own.

Let's not make any appeals to others on how they should behave themselves.

Alex Zelkind wrote:

There are two gas stations on the street, vis-a-vis. Both sell the same type of gasolin, the same quality. One sells gas cheaper than the other. The one who sells it cheaper will stay in business. The other one goes bankrupt.

invguy wrote:



Absolutely correct, Alex. Would be good if there were strong, active and efficient global professional organisations, in all fields of intellectual labour - and I hope there will be, some day - but right now it's useless to pretend that the desired is real.



Agreed, again. I don't think others' appeals work much when it's ultimately you who pays your bills.


HOWEVER, I do think it is useful to share how we all feel about things - and how we behave ourselves. Else, each one of us could well be carried away by fears, misconceptions, or by mere myths and legends (and you know these abound).

It's different when you know that someone out there - albeit on the other side of the planet - thinks exactly like yourself, and has managed to carry on somehow, without doing the compromises you are just about to concede to. A simple thing like that *could* help you change your mind. Has happened to help me change mine, FWIW. And - I dare say - for the better.

The main problem is, whenever it comes to making a living, we tend to miss the big picture. This is human. So we need a nudge to get us back on track, even if we often don't realise this.

This is why I like the Internet: it is a very useful reminder of the big picture. Of course, it may also be a powerful source of fears, misconceptions, and myths & legends. It depends on how you read it.
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Now to the point:

I'd rather make my living translating 100 pages/month at my normal price, than 500 pages at 1/5 of it.

In the first case, I'd work comfortably. In the second, I'd work myself out into stress - for the same financial result.

In the first case, I'd contribute to improving the big picture - hence, to guaranteeing my own future. In the second, I'd add my share to the underpricing frenzy that makes my own prospects look, to put it mildly, shaky. As a result, tomorrow it might turn out that I can't really make a living any more. Once prices start along the downward spiral, they will not stop at MY OWN affordable minimum - there will always be someone who can make a lower offer. And if I have added to the impetus, I'd have no one to blame but myself.

Of course, holding your prices is a matter of affordability - and this is a personal decision.

If I am starving, I might not be able to wait for the next client who is ready to pay the real value of my work. Yet if I go the underpricing way, it is very likely that I will NEVER run across ANY such client again.

Starving, however, is an extreme. A slow market is NOT starvation, and we'd better make the difference... although in hard times one tends to see things in black & white, and this is understandable. In a slow market, you could still do a number of things to carry on, without doing major compromises. Thousands of pages of marketing advice have been written on that, and not without reason. BTW very few of them refer to lowering prices.

For instance (not pretending to be an expert, just off the top of my head):

You can get the Yellow Pages, or your local Chamber of Commerce member list, and send self-introduction letters to businesses that seem to be prospective clients. If you send 200 letters (which would take you 2-3 days), get 10% response, and 1% hits, you'd still end up with 2 clients that may make your month. Few people would get mad at a professionally written introductory note - and those who would are usually not worth being your clients.

There are also more aggressive methods like cold calling. Admittedly, I haven't done this - but I know people who have, and I've seen it work. I've been told the difficulty is to overcome the initial embarrassment. Much quicker than the mailing method. Just do a Google search and you'll get a heap of tips & tricks. Even though in my neck of woods this method is highly unusual (unlike in the US, for instance), I have no prejudice to trying it if the situation gets really bad... hope I won't have to, anyway.

Sidebar: NEVER, EVER, underestimate your local market. Just shape up and find a way to it. In our globalizing and virtualizing world, we're all being tempted to look beynd our immediate environments. However, particularly in view of globalisation and virtualisation, there is a value that is just beginning to be realized: the ability to speak F2F to the person you're dealing with. The trust invoked by simple human interaction CANNOT be replaced by any electronic signatures, identity verifications and all that jazz. Your local contacts are - and will always be - the root of your business. No matter how fancy-looking, a rootless tree is not a good foundation. Trust me, I've been through that... luckily, without serious consequences.

You could also attempt diversification. This is a well-known marketing recipe for survival. For instance, do some writing for your local newspaper. Do some language teaching. Offer your services to charities (the exposure you can get from such a move is sometimes amazing - don't forget that charities are most often supported by businesses and individuals who are potential well-paying clients). Try being a copywriter for an ad agency. Advertise yourself as a proofreader. When you notice a poor translation, write to the editor offering your consulting services on linguistic matters. Etcetcetc... and never forget to put your name below. In short - take any opportunity to let yourself be known of, in your professional capacity(ies).

Another survival recipe is the opposite one: specialization. If you have done a number of translations in the field of medical equipment, put down a nice long list of them, gather some references, and advertise yourself to hospitals, medical institutions, manufacturers, importers etc. A bit more risky, but if it works, it's well worth the risk.

Of course, lowering your prices is always an alternative - but make sure it is unequivocally clear to your clients that this is a TEMPORARY thing, an ISOLATED instance, an EXCEPTION. DON'T LET ANYONE THINK THIS IS THE NEW RULE. You could write a letter to your recent/previous/regular clients informing them that, as of next month, you offer a 2-month 15% discount off your standard prices. You can always come up with a nice reason (holiday season, New Year, your 10-th year in business, your moving into a new office, your 500-th client etc). Or you can inform your friends and social contacts that you've introduced a "Buddy discount" program (or whatever). Etc.

As a last resort, consider doing something else on the side. Try making some money out of your hobby. Dust off those woodcarving tools you haven't had time to get back to in years... offer to drive the schoolbus... rent a small snowplough, clean your driveway and offer to your neighbours to do the same for them... anything. IMHO one of the greates mistakes we intellectual labour folks make is that we think we're on a pedestal on all accounts. Wrong. We are population units and market subjects just like everyone else, and have the same bills to pay.

Besides, we have the *vast* advantage that translator's skills don't 'get rusty' so quickly, so we could comfortably afford to even change fields for a while.


Okay, I can go on, but I hope you catch my drift.


What I want to say, loud and clear, is that engaging in merely price-based competition is NOT A DOOM that we are bound to accept. It is a trend which can (and - I believe - will) be reversed. Heck, in the globalisation era, and given the immaturity of machine translation, human translation is supposed to be a product of INCREASING value!!! I do not have the data to make major conclusions, but I am pretty sure the demand is GROWING - it just can't be otherwise.

Indeed, the number of people speaking two or more languages is growing, too - but I don't think this is the case with professional linguists. Pro quality translations ARE needed and WILL BE needed even more in the times to come. In this situation, if we meekly consent to driving each other out of the market through underpricing, there will still be someone to get that profit - because a product's value depends first and foremost on objectively existing necessities, not on market trends and fluctuations.

What's most regrettable is that the profit would go to smart resellers, not to those who actually create the product of value. But this is a separate topic.


I, for one, am doing my best to get that bigger picture and act accordingly. And, honestly, I intensely dislike all that whining and suspecting each other, just as I dislike the "that's a fact, deal with it" attitude... you may be feeling this by the general tone of my writing. IMNSHO what we need is a bit of self-confidence - which seems to be escaping us lately, but which we are undoubtedly entitled to. Worth a thought, I reckon.

Don't get me wrong, I am not crossing out price competition. It is a natural component of the competition process. However, in my book, blunt underpricing is NOT competition: it is a sign of irresponsibility and lack of professionalism. Period. Such an approach could eventually work short-term for some, but it strikes back later on, that's for sure. The bad news is, it strikes back on the market in general, not only on those that have adopted it - but they will be affected, too, providers AND clients alike. There can be no doubt on that.


One last point: I would NOT EVEN THINK about justifying underpricing by referring to the free market or 'modern capitalism'. As I've said elsewhere, the free market is not to blame. It's the people that make the free market, not vice versa. The free market is a soulless mechanism, it always follows the way of least possible resistance. When people massively surrender, refusing to realise and assume their responsibilities as market players, it's then that the free market becomes a peril. Fair enough, I'd say.

Thankfully, price is just ONE OF the factors in a free market environment. Regarding it as THE ONLY one is a dangerous simplification (though not uncommon). If it was the only one, the free market concept would have long been history by now.
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As for your 'poor and proud student', Alex: I guess you'll disagree, but I think that being aware of all the above would be much more beneficial to them than the meagre bucks they'd earn from their next 'free market compliant' translation.


Not an appeal at all. Just MHO. Sorry for the length.

IreneN wrote:

Our clients would be extremely happy to get rid of us, I mean, of a translation part as a whole, because it is nothing but trouble, an unavoidable delay

We add no value to the product. Clients will naturally strive towards cutting translation costs as much as possible. Now they have more chances to do so. Can you blame them?

IreneN wrote:

I'm truly suprised with the naivete of many postings in this forum. No offense.

1000 dollars a month in San Fransisco, California put you under the bridge. 1000 dollars a month in France is considered a nearly decent income.

IreneN wrote:
Oh, maybe someone does not like all those third-world countries? Well, too bad - they are here to stay, they are on the market. And BTW, they have PhDs eagerly sought for by Western civilizations.

IreneN wrote:

I have to be brief right now, but who's being naïve here?
Sofar for localisation.
Thank God we all read Chinese, Hindi, English, Arabic, Hebrew, Dutch, Japanese ..., don't we?
I would have missed out on quite a few good books.

andycw wrote:

.....Of course! Now I understand. The next time I need a loaf I'll just pop over to Russia and get one on the cheap.

Brilliant.

IreneN wrote:

today it takes no travel or any other expenses to buy "a loaf of translation" in the country where it is cheap. All it takes is an e-mail address. Killing low rates requires killing Internet.

MarcPrior wrote:

Geographical and language barriers don't make it any easier.

Marc