Poll: Your top priority for marketing? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Your top priority for marketing?".
This poll was originally submitted by Portalkata. View the poll results »
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I haven't needed to do marketing. When I started as a freelance in 1992, I already had two years' work sewed up and my client base grew from there by word of mouth.
I do have a website, which is where my best client found me, but we were already acquainted.
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 15:31
French to English
Other: word of mouth, people I already knew and LinkedIn
For most of my clients in music, it's been a matter of people hearing that I do translations.
Once it was a PM at an agency I work for very occasionally who rang asking about this specialist subject on my file in their database, in fact an EN-FR translator who often worked for them was looking for someone to do FR-EN for a musician friend of theirs, and she put us in direct contact rather than going through the a... See more Other: word of mouth, people I already knew and LinkedIn
For most of my clients in music, it's been a matter of people hearing that I do translations.
Once it was a PM at an agency I work for very occasionally who rang asking about this specialist subject on my file in their database, in fact an EN-FR translator who often worked for them was looking for someone to do FR-EN for a musician friend of theirs, and she put us in direct contact rather than going through the agency.
Another time I hosted a concert for some friends and got chatting to the people from their record label, and just a few weeks ago a woman whose dog plays with mine at the dog park came up to me saying "so I hear you're a translator...". They're the only times I've ever been able to suavely slide a business card out of the smart case I "invested" in.
Practically all my other clients are former colleagues from the agency, now working in other agencies, or former clients of the agency who went looking for me on LinkedIn when they noticed that their translations were no longer up to scratch despite always asking specifically for me to perform their translation. And some people have found me on LinkedIn and contacted me without even knowing me previously. I asked one why she chose me, hoping to understand what attracted her to my profile and perhaps improve it by emphasising those points more, but she just said "intuition"... ▲ Collapse
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I did engage in active marketing during my first year in 1985 and when a few years later, through no fault of mine, I lost my main client, but I haven’t marketed myself for a long time (I must admit also that I’m not very good at that) because in the meanwhile I’ve managed to build a good base of loyal and regular customers. Most of my clients have come via word of mouth (colleagues and clients), my Proz profile (directory) and my website.
P.S. Mouth-to-mouth? So far I haven�... See more I did engage in active marketing during my first year in 1985 and when a few years later, through no fault of mine, I lost my main client, but I haven’t marketed myself for a long time (I must admit also that I’m not very good at that) because in the meanwhile I’ve managed to build a good base of loyal and regular customers. Most of my clients have come via word of mouth (colleagues and clients), my Proz profile (directory) and my website.
P.S. Mouth-to-mouth? So far I haven’t needed artificial respiration… ▲ Collapse
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Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 08:31
Greek to English
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| Unpredictable today | Oct 31, 2021 |
Marketing... 20 years ago I was so enthusiastic about it, you could hear champagnes popping. Now clients receive tons of emails, choices of PMs are random, PMs themselves change often, I wonder if the cost/time is worth it. Luck is now a major factor. Well advertised editor & engineer was not selected (a cosmetics rep was), for an engineering project. PM's random/personal preference. Not an exception, it's very common. Priority today = alternative sources of sufficient income.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 16:31
Member
English to Turkish
| Careful with that word | Oct 31, 2021 |
Eleftherios Kritikakis wrote:
Luck is now a major factor.
Some people don't like to hear this.
| | | | IrinaN
United States
Local time: 08:31
English to Russian
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Word-of-mouth is extremely important in the interpreter's career. Each of us could attest to excellent quality of some colleagues' performance but be very hesitant to have them for a partner due to certain character specifics that could make your life a living hell. That word spreads like a wild fire. Watching them dealing with the partners and the clients can determine either a primary selection point or a complete no-no. Meaning that when someone recommends you, especially for a new client who... See more Word-of-mouth is extremely important in the interpreter's career. Each of us could attest to excellent quality of some colleagues' performance but be very hesitant to have them for a partner due to certain character specifics that could make your life a living hell. That word spreads like a wild fire. Watching them dealing with the partners and the clients can determine either a primary selection point or a complete no-no. Meaning that when someone recommends you, especially for a new client who is worthy of "conquering", they trust you in many more aspects than just interpretation.
So, the choice I'm missing is "my last job". Word-of-mouth is a derivative here. ▲ Collapse
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To be honest, I have enough work without marketing, don't know why.
I probably got most of my clients via ProZ.com and my own website.
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| This sounds like a dream to me. And what are your rates if I may ask? | Nov 1, 2021 |
Yetta Jensen Bogarde wrote:
To be honest, I have enough work without marketing, don't know why.
I probably got most of my clients via ProZ.com and my own website.
| | | | John Robillard
United States
Local time: 09:31
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
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I've got most of my work through LinkedIn.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 10:31
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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Networking is not only the best method, it's also the only one that works for us. Of course it involves mouth-to-mouth, but that's only part of it. Your activity in the web buids your image, and you talk to potential clients and collegues all the time. I tried several times the other (traditional) methods, only to realize I was burning money for not results at all. Our business does not work with advertising or marketing our "brand". It's a different and special market.
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