Perhaps your goal this year is to increase your marketing efforts and market your translation services to a more up-market client base. In order to achieve this, besides improving on the quality and quantity of your marketing strategies, you’ll need to focus on the quality of the end-product you’re producing for your translation clients. For any self-employed person, the idea is that you make yourself and your service and/or product indispensable. This is great advice at any time, but when the economy is struggling and particularly if we’re in the throes of a recession, this advice becomes invaluable. Your aim should be to deliver to your clients the type of translation, and the customer service goes with it, that they’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
Below we’ve listed some suggestions on how to improve the quality of your translations –
Read Other Translators’ Work
One of the most practical ways to improve your translation output is to study the work completed by translators who are more specialized, more experienced, and more skilled at writing than you are. This can be done by hiring yourself out as a proof-reader, or you may simply choose to do this for your own education. Be very clear when requesting materials that your sole purpose is self-improvement, and ensure that you don’t request documents that may be of a confidential nature. Many experienced translators would be very flattered if another less experienced translator were to ask for samples of their best work
Read Industry Publications
Reading industry publications doesn’t involve spending a lot of money, or even having to travel – there are easy ways of locating excellent continuing education materials. Check out past issues of Translation Journal, the Digital Online Journal for translators: there’s loads of information and some excellent articles to read and study. And, if you’re a member of the American Translator’s Association (ATA), you’ll find really helpful articles on translation technique.
Take a Course Applicable to your Specialization
Most translators are self-taught in their specializations, while some more fortunate translators start their career with a certain degree of work experience in their targeted subject area. If you want to place yourself above other translators when it comes to your specialization skills, our advice is to pursue some additional training in your specialization. Possibly the best resources for this kind of study will be found at your local universities and colleges, plus don’t forget to check out online programs. Some online and correspondence schools offer courses like Legal Writing, Business Law, Audit Report Writing, The Principles of Accounting, An Introduction to Editing, and so much more.
Take an Editing or Writing Class in Your Target Language
Look into your local adult education programs or college courses if you fall into the category of being an excellent translator but not a very good writer in your target language. You’ll also find some really good editing courses online, and it’s here that you’ll learn how to improve your editing skills.
