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Article: How to find direct clients
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Apr 19, 2006

This topic is for discussion of the ProZ.com translation article "How to find direct clients".
 
3ADE shadab
3ADE shadab
Local time: 17:36
Member (2008)
Hindi to English
+ ...
Thanks ! Feb 7, 2008

being new to this industry , this will really helpful

Thanks
regards
Shadab
 
Mike (de Oliveira) Brady
Mike (de Oliveira) Brady  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Portuguese to English
+ ...
On search engine ads and pricing Dec 19, 2008

I would like to make three points.

Firstly, from time to time I place search engine advertisements on Google and a popular Brazilian site, UOL. While this does bring traffic to my website, I cannot say I have ever received a client as a result of it. I don't believe it is cost effective and only resort to this strategy if things are really quiet in the hope it will provide some benefit. I do get traffic to my site due to it appearing in search engine listings (the normal listing, no... See more
I would like to make three points.

Firstly, from time to time I place search engine advertisements on Google and a popular Brazilian site, UOL. While this does bring traffic to my website, I cannot say I have ever received a client as a result of it. I don't believe it is cost effective and only resort to this strategy if things are really quiet in the hope it will provide some benefit. I do get traffic to my site due to it appearing in search engine listings (the normal listing, not the sponsored links) and have gained several repeat clients as a result of this.

To know what brings people to your website I would strongly recommend a traffic tracking system. This will show you the link that led someone to your site and the pages they visited. The system I use is free and is excellent. It is:
http://www.statcounter.com/

My second point is to do with pricing. You may be familiar with the way that budget airlines operate. People that book first pay a lower price for their seats. As the plane begins to fill, the price increases. I think elements of this approach are useful in pricing work, particularly when responding to quote requests through sites such as this where potential clients will make a decision based on perhaps 30 or more offers. My approach is to use my lowest rate when I have spare time to fill and am particularly interested in a job. When time is tighter, or I think the job will require a higher investment in time/word count, then I quote at a higher level. Some jobs I think it is only worth taking on if they pay well and quote accordingly. I am unlikely to get them, but sometimes that is better than feeling the work is not worth the reward.

As a third point, it is always important to highlight experience specific to a job. I have often won a contract because my experience has been more directly relevant than other translators, even if I have been a little more expensive. And I guess the same goes for jobs that have gone to other translators! ▲ Collapse
 
Morano El-Kholy
Morano El-Kholy  Identity Verified
Egypt
Local time: 14:06
Member (2011)
English to Arabic
+ ...
You posted a very important theme. Apr 29, 2012

My dear colleague.. You really posted a very important theme. This article represents an important issue that concerns every translator. All of us keep searching & asking "How to find direct clients". You are right. We are in continuous search for those clients!
Thanks for the tips. Hoping all the best for you.
 


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