Marketing Translation

How do you stay motivated?

Serena — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:14:23 +0000

As you might have noticed, it’s been a bit quiet around here recently. I’ve been taking advantage of a quiet period work-wise to take some time out to work on my subject knowledge and language skills and to take a well-earned holiday. Once I returned to the office, I began thinking about how best to stay motivated when things are a little slower on the project front and decided to conduct a Twitter poll to find out what other translators do when their motivation is waning. The general consensus seems to be that a balance of doing things that they enjoy and things to further their professional development or to advance their business is what keeps them motivated. Here are a few ideas for quieter periods, based on the tips that I received online and on my own experiences:

Work on your language skills

By far the most popular choice of activity here was reading. Watching/listening to news and podcasts also features high up on the language development activity list. For more ideas on how to improve your language skills, check out this earlier post.

Take a course/do some CPD activities

Working on your language skills constitutes part of your continuing professional development (CPD) activities, as does taking a course to boost your subject knowledge or business skills. Many translators take advantage of quieter periods to update their CPD.

Promote your business

Quiet spells are the ideal opportunity to get out and about, attending networking events and conferences. The time can also be used to market yourself to new clients, update your website or write blog posts and journal articles.

Catch up on all your business chores

Why not use any spare time to update your accounts, send and chase invoices or do all that filing that has been piling up? I don’t know about you, but these are activities that I often put off during busy times but I nearly always feel better once I have done them.

Do something you love!

Although it’s important to use quiet periods to further your CPD and to promote your business, it’s just as important to take a break now and again and do something that you enjoy, be it gardening, playing a musical instrument, playing sport, socialising with friends or doing volunteer projects.

What about you? How do you stay motivated? Please share your motivational tips with us!

Is the recession over?

Serena — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:38:38 +0000

Over the last couple of weeks, France, Germany and Japan have all announced that they are now officially out of recession - that is to say, their economies are no longer shrinking and their GDP is up. The UK and the US, however, are still officially in recession.

Personally, the recession is still having an impact on my workload in that I am receiving fewer translation jobs in automotive-related areas and clients are generally thinking twice about whether it is really necessary to translate their documents and the costs of doing so. Having said that, I have noticed that companies seem to be more willing to pay higher rates for quality translations, realising that cheap translations are highly likely to be a false economy, costing them more in the long-run when they need to call on an experienced translator to edit and improve these texts.

How about you - what impact is the recession having on your translation work? Do you think it is over or is there still a long way to go? If you are a translation buyer, has the recession changed the way you outsource your translations? Please share your thoughts and experiences with us!

Chartered Institute of Marketing Annual National Conference

Serena — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 07:38:08 +0000

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is holding its annual conference in London on 29 September 2009. The seminars and presentations at this event will be based on the topic ‘Marketing adaptability — survival of the fittest’, focusing on how marketers can respond to the challenges, changes and opportunities created by the current recession. Those attending the event can expect to learn skills to help them survive the economic downturn and to set themselves apart in this challenging business climate. Presentations focusing on the four main areas of marketing strategy, customer relationship management, marketing communications and stakeholder management will also provide new insights and ideas to take away with you and put into practice in your own marketing activities.

As a marketing translator, I deal with lots of documents relating to marketing strategy and marketing communications. Coping with and responding to the challenges posed by the recession is, of course, a hot topic in these areas at the moment — and one which it is vital to keep up-to-date with. This conference seems to be an ideal opportunity for translators to gain industry insights into this issue.

The conference will be chaired by the writer and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby and the keynote speakers include Martha Rogers PhD, International Marketing Strategist at the Peppers & Rogers Group, and Professor Jean-Claude Larreche, Professor of Marketing at INSEAD. Further information can be found on the CIM conference webpages here.

Three blogs to check out

Serena — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:41:40 +0000

I’m an avid reader: blogs, books, newspapers, magazines… you name it, I probably read it. So, while it’s impossible to list all the blogs I follow, I’d like to share my top three blog recommendations with you:

Thoughts on Translation

Corinne McKay posts excellent advice and information for translators. She writes about freelancing, getting started as a translator, marketing, technology and translation quality. Essential reading for both budding and established translators. www.thoughtsontranslation.com

Seth’s Blog

Marketing guru Seth Godin writes thought-provoking posts on, yes, you guessed it: all things marketing. He challenges those involved in creating, designing, marketing and selling to change their thinking. It makes for interesting reading. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Write to Done

A great blog dealing with all aspects of writing and blogging. From tips on where to find inspiration to writing style, this site is well worth a visit. http://writetodone.com/

If these blogs have whetted your appetite for more, you might like to try some of the other blogs listed in my blogroll on the right. Enjoy!

How to specialise in marketing translation

Serena — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:03:55 +0000

I recently received an e-mail from a language graduate wanting to specialise in marketing translation. They asked me how I chose to specialise in this field and for some advice on how they could do the same. Personally, I got into marketing translation after working with a range of subjects as an in-house translator in Germany. I found that I enjoyed translating marketing materials, press releases, adverts, websites, etc. and that I produced higher quality work when translating these types of texts. When I set up as a freelancer, I seized the opportunity to control what type of translation jobs I took on and chose to specialise in marketing translations.

There are several things that I would advise would-be marketing translators to do to develop and hone their skills in this area of specialisation. However, they are also relevant to seasoned pros.

Read widely

I have mentioned on several occasions how important it is for translators to read widely, both in their source language(s) and their target language(s), so that they can familiarise themselves with a range of different registers and styles. Marketing translators would be wise to read the types of texts that they want to translate. For example, if you’re going to be translating press releases, you’ll need to be familiar with their style and layout conventions. The more familiar you become with these materials, the better.

Write at every opportunity

Good writing skills in the target language are important for any translator, but they are all the more important for marketing translators as our work is usually destined for publication and therefore needs to be top-notch. By far the best way to polish your written style is to write regularly. It doesn’t have to be for publication – it can be in a diary or notebook, for example. If you don’t mind your writing being read by others, why not try starting a blog, commenting on other people’s blogs or contributing to industry publications?

Take a course in creative writing, copywriting, proofreading or editing

Writing and copywriting courses are a great opportunity to be creative, to practice and perfect your writing, to get feedback on your style and to reflect on the writing process. Proofreading and editing courses will give you the tools you need to revise and edit your work and to help ensure that you deliver translations that are typo- and error-free.

Get to know marketing specialists and other marketing translators

Ideally, you will build a network of contacts who can help you to learn more about marketing and marketing translations. Get to know marketing specialists, copywriters, editors and other marketing translators that you can approach for support and advice. Professional associations are a great place to start: Percy Balemans recently wrote an excellent blog post on the benefits of joining a professional association for translators and interpreters, which is well worth reading – those interested in finding out more can read it here. It might also be worth contacting an experienced marketing translator to see if they would be willing to mentor you as you begin to specialise in the field. Gaining work experience in a marketing-related field may also help by giving you industry insights and improving your subject-specific knowledge.

Any other marketing translators have any tips they’d like to share?