The ups and downs in business flow can be a persistent source of anxiety and annoyance for a freelance translation professional. Many freelancers seem to continue to be in the doldrums and accept it as their fate. This is a sad scenario, though some volatility in business can be expected by a freelancer, but not too much. There are ways every freelancer can assure a steady flow of work. You should integrate the following strategies as habits into your day-to-day to working life and prepared to be pleasantly surprised at the positive turn of the events.
Starting with the most basic advice, get into the saving habit if you are not into it yet. Build your savings, if you have enough money to take care of your regular expenses for a few months, you will be able to manage lean periods in a better manner. For starters you would not be as anxious, which means you would sleep well and stay alert for ideas, improvements and opportunities. On the other hand if you don’t have much saved for the dreaded “translation winter”, you will be perpetually anxious and drain yourself of sorely needed energy.
Never get complacent when it comes to marketing your services. You should keep up a steady flow of self-promotional activities even when you have more than enough work. This will keep you in practice, as well as in the awareness of potential clients. And you don’t have to start it from the scratch when the going gets tough.
Maintain a detailed and accurate schedule of projects. Keep updating it regularly, it will not only help manage your translation projects optimally but also take care of the lean phases to some extent. How? Firstly you will be able to chalk out the likely empty days; moreover you might also come across projects which are not urgent, and can be scheduled for quieter times.
Go for big clients. Make it a point to follow large companies which might have regular language translation requirements. The logic is obvious; it would ensure a regular flow of projects. Moreover, during tough economic times even large companies have to lay-off their employees, during such time they tend to rely more on freelancers. So it pays to be in their awareness!
Similar Posts:
- Comparing Freelance translators and translation agencies
- A Dummies Guide to Language Translation and Interpretation
- Make the most of translation briefing sessions
- Translators, Unite!
- Expectations from a legal translator
