| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9] > | Reflections on 2017, my first $US 100,000+ year from translation Thread poster: Dylan J Hartmann
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Dylan J Hartmann 
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...
MODERATOR TOPIC STARTER
Matthias Brombach wrote:
Ha, a German car!
German surname too!
No problems with neighbours here. They all know I'm a pro-translator.
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 04:27
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Well done ... | Jan 23, 2018 |
... whether you bike it, SUV it or Merc it.
But ... wasn't it last year you had that horrific accident that laid you up for so long? Does the 100 grand include a huge insurance payout?
[Edited at 2018-01-23 11:10 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:27
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Good at that | Jan 23, 2018 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
... etc.
Ha*, a German car!
*exclamation like "appreciated!"
To quote an Italian friend of mine "The Germans are indeed very good at making industrial products efficiently. Let them do that while we get on with the more interesting things in life".
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 04:27
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| It's healthier. | Jan 23, 2018 |
Matthias Brombach wrote:
... without having your neighbours call anonymously the custom office for suspected moonlighting or for living at other people's expense. To gain those figures by work (simply by work!) which is not associated with dominating other people (colleagues, staff etc.) cannot be true. And even if so, why then still using bicycles and not an SUV?
[Edited at 2018-01-23 11:02 GMT]
The bicycles are environmentally friendly and better for your health.
I'm also surprised by the figures, given the language pair. I wasn't aware there was so much business and economy going on between Thailand and English-speaking countries, in this case probably Australia due to its proximity. Even so, the OP should be completely dominant in the market having very few competitors in the language pair, or providing a very low rate to reach these figures (just a free style opinion, as I'm not really acquainted with the pair or the market).
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Dylan J Hartmann
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...
MODERATOR TOPIC STARTER | Great memory! | Jan 23, 2018 |
Mervyn Henderson wrote:
... whether you bike it, SUV it or Merc it.
But ... wasn't it last year you had that horrific accident that laid you up for so long? Does the 100 grand include an insurance payout?
That happened in Thailand and no, I didn't receive 1 baht insurance pay-out
That was in April 2016, so a while ago now. Great memory!
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:27
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Lingua 5B wrote:
.... bicycles are environmentally friendly ...
Not if you drive hundreds of miles to a nature park and then hundreds of miles back.
| | | | Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 04:27
Member (2016)
German to French
I would say a turnover of 65 000 €/year (conversion Australian dollars to euro) is possible but with steady good earning and a work 12 hours a day 7/7.
Some told here they reached 6 000 € a month.
Then half of it or more is taken by taxes.
Congratulations!
Now you can afford to be picky. Your next aim if clients do as if they cannot survive without you is to raise your prices to reach the same amount next year with a privately sustainable life. A... See more I would say a turnover of 65 000 €/year (conversion Australian dollars to euro) is possible but with steady good earning and a work 12 hours a day 7/7.
Some told here they reached 6 000 € a month.
Then half of it or more is taken by taxes.
Congratulations!
Now you can afford to be picky. Your next aim if clients do as if they cannot survive without you is to raise your prices to reach the same amount next year with a privately sustainable life. A real burnout is not something to hope for. After a burn out it took me YEARS and not few weeks low level work to enjoy working again.
Was not worth on the long run. I lost more by being a wreck for years.
Now I am back but I know i will never aim for 6000 € a month unless i really find good paying clients.
No more work until 4 am to go to bed and get up to get children at 6 am to be ready for school. When i am unavailable - no chances, even on the phone. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 04:27
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| Following the car debate... | Jan 23, 2018 |
OP, you mentioned a Merc Benz as a family car. Picture or it didn't happen.
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| Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule | Dylan J Hartmann
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...
MODERATOR TOPIC STARTER | As I said in my post, quality, accreditation, trust, reliability | Jan 23, 2018 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
Even so, the OP should be completely dominant in the market having very few competitors in the language pair, or providing a very low rate to reach these figures
The Australian market is very small. As I said in my post, I get daily certified translation requests. These pay buckets for minimal work. Ninety-five percent of my work comes from international agencies.
"providing a very low rate"?? Excuse me!
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Reaching six digits must be gratifying, and it's always good for us to be reminded that yes, it's doable.
But it sounds like you had to pay a high price to get there.
By contrast, I've read some years ago an account from a translator working with agencies only, who maintained a yearly six-digit income in euros for a decade or two, and I have no reason to believe s/he was taking the mickey.
You just have to do 6000/day, charge 0.08 to have a constant stream of work and y... See more Reaching six digits must be gratifying, and it's always good for us to be reminded that yes, it's doable.
But it sounds like you had to pay a high price to get there.
By contrast, I've read some years ago an account from a translator working with agencies only, who maintained a yearly six-digit income in euros for a decade or two, and I have no reason to believe s/he was taking the mickey.
You just have to do 6000/day, charge 0.08 to have a constant stream of work and you hit the mark, while taking your weekends off and 6 weeks of holiday a year to thank yourself for working flat out the rest of the time.
Focusing is the key.
I am totally unable to meet such numbers, but I don't see myself as the best, most productive, most focused and most organised translator. I only made k€50 last year, as most previous years since 2000.
Your next goal should be to reach the six-digit mark again, but without the associated sacrifice!
Philippe
EDIT: Haneder wrote:
...I would say a turnover of 65 000 €/year (conversion Australian dollars to euro) is possible but with steady good earning and a work 12 hours a day 7/7...
US dollars it was. US$100k make about €82k. 65k is easier, I've reached it once.
[Edited at 2018-01-23 11:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule |
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 04:27
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| OK, so you have very few competitors? | Jan 23, 2018 |
DJHartmann wrote:
Lingua 5B wrote:
Even so, the OP should be completely dominant in the market having very few competitors in the language pair, or providing a very low rate to reach these figures
The Australian market is very small. As I said in my post, I get daily certified translation requests. These pay buckets for minimal work. Ninety-five percent of my work comes from international agencies.
"providing a very low rate"?? Excuse me!
So it's about a small number of competitors/certified translators in Australia, in your language pair? OK that explains it, I don't think there's any country in Europe with a small number of certified translators.
"Quality, trust, reliability, accreditation" doesn't explain much to me, as there are many translators with those qualities in Europe who will never be able to reach those figures from translation.
[Edited at 2018-01-23 11:19 GMT]
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 04:27
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Philippe's calculations .... | Jan 23, 2018 |
... made me think a bit more about all this. It must be something about the dollar sign and all those zeros, but I've just converted this figure to our Eurozone yucks, and I was hitting that kind of ground in the last few years, and more than that before the hit fit the shan - again - just before that.
Then again, I've just looked outside to check and there's definitely no Merc there. Must be doing something wrong.
| | | | Dylan J Hartmann
Australia
Member (2014)
Thai to English
+ ...
MODERATOR TOPIC STARTER | It's more than just the language pair | Jan 23, 2018 |
Lingua 5B wrote:
there are many translators with those qualities in Europe who will never be able to reach those figures from translation.
I didn't intend for this post to be a 'how to get rich guide'. There are plenty of 'how to succeed' guides for translators. I think people should look there for advice and tips (like I did years ago).
Rather, I wanted to share my experiences last year and what I learned.
Maybe those many translators that you are referring to could try something different?
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