This week on the podcast I caught up with Virginia Katsampiri of V Mentoring (Business Coaching for Translators).  Virginia Katsimpiri, PhDc, is a certified translator & translation business owner at vtranslations.gr and business strategist and mentor at vmentoring.com with over 15 years' experience. Holding an ΜA in translation and an executive MBA in client acquisition strategies, she has helped hundreds of freelance translators/interpreters and small business owners worldwide to...

This week I chatted to AI whizz Josh Goldsmith on the podcast. Josh is a UN and EU accredited translator and interpreter working from Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Catalan into English. He splits his time between interpreting, translating, and working as a trainer and researcher focusing on the intersection between interpreting, technology and education. As Founder and Chief Educational Officer of techforword, Josh shares tips about technology, translation and interpreting in...

This week on the podcast I was really thrilled to catch up with my business friend and colleague Damien Schreurs. Here he teaches all you Mac listeners out there some nifty hacks and a basic automation tip Damien Schreurs started EasyTECH in 2013 as a side hustle to experience entrepreneurship while preserving a steady paycheck. In September 2016, Damien finally quit his 9-to-5 job to offer Apple training and consultancy services in Luxembourg, aiming to regain control of when and how he...

Sign up for our next translator training webinar on Tuesday 2 April at 15.30 CET.  Time permitting we will tackle the following topics:  How to niche down and dominate your spaceThe challenge of AIQuiz and email marketingThe webinar is free. Sign up at the link below. Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

Sign up for our next translator training webinar on Tuesday 2 April at 15.30 CET.  Time permitting we will tackle:  How to niche down and dominate your spaceThe challenge of AIQuiz and email marketingThe webinar is free. Register at the link below.  Buy our e-book: How to Find More Direct Clients Thrive as a Premium Freelance Translator in Your Niche and Futureproof Your Career

This week I learnt something really cool in my business.  Google Website Indexing.  This is a crucial step towards ensuring your website gets the visibility you and your business deserve. Understanding Google Website Indexing: It's the process by which search engines like Google discover, crawl, and include your web pages in their database.  When your website is properly indexed, it stands a MUCH better chance of appearing in relevant search results, driving organic traffic and potential...

On the podcast this week I had the enormous pleasure of interviewing Viveta Gene. Viveta Gene is a passionate and driven executive armed with 20+ years of experience in the translation and localization industry.    She has a 360-degree view of the Translation and Localization Workflow thanks to her previous experience as a Language Solutions Specialist, Business Developer, Vendor Manager, Project Manager and Linguist. Her focus is to promote new trends in the industry, where translation...

This week on the podcast I was delighted to speak to Anna Lundberg. Anna Lundberg is the founder of OneStep Outside, where she helps experienced professionals around the world design a career, a business and a lifestyle that brings them more freedom, flexibility and fulfilment - outside of the conventional 9 to 5. She is the author of Leaving the Corporate 9 to 5 and Outside of the 9 to 5, and host of the Reimagining Success podcast. She lives with her two young children on the south coast...

Personal branding has become more pervasive than ever and plays such a pivotal role in shaping perceptions and creating lasting impressions.  Here are just a few tips to build the business of YOU:  Craft Your Identity in a Crowded Space Personal branding is not just a buzzword; it’s a dynamic process to intentionally shape HOW you are perceived by others. In an era dominated by digital platforms and social media, personal branding is a requirement for professionals in various fields. The...

This week I spoke to Susanna Reay about how online presence and visibility is absolutely essential for online service providers.  Here are just a couple of takeaways from this wide-ranging conversation:  Score app is a very useful way to get more qualified leadsA quick online search is the first port of call for prospective clientsShowing up is so much more important than outdated keyword stuffing Personal stories are memorable and help people relateAcronyms used:  EEAT - Experience,...

How to use storytelling in your content marketing... The importance of storytelling in sales and marketing If you want to build a daily-weekly-monthly lead engine then you need to learn how to weave stories into your marketing copy and content to drive traffic to your online assets and start conversations that convert to sales. Here are 3 things I do in my own storytelling: 1. Select a relevant story: look for a story related to YOUR service. This may be a personal story, a client win...

This week I had the enormous pleasure of interviewing Rebecca Hollis who heads up the growth division of Score App. I am a score app user myself and put out a deep dive survey shortly before Christmas. The insights I received were most valuable to position my offers before my own audience. Here are 3 things this nifty tool can do for your freelance translation business: In-Depth Market Analysis: Score app provides you with a comprehensive and in-depth market analysis, enabling service...

This week I had the immense pleasure of interviewing global personal branding, virtual hiring expert and my own business mentor, Chris Ducker. Chris Ducker is a serial entrepreneur and author of the bestselling books, Virtual Freedom and more recently, Rise of the Youpreneur. Based in Cambridge, England, Chris owns and operates several businesses, including the VA recruiting hub, VirtualStaffFinder.com and the personal brand enterprise education company Youpreneur.com. He is regarded as one...

Last Saturday and for the first time ever, I spent an entire afternoon at an online journaling workshop.  It lasted a whopping 4 hours and boy did it go by in a flash! Journaling is a super personal practice that has various benefits ranging from self-reflection to improved mental health, stress reduction and enhanced self-awareness. There are different types of journals: gratitude journals, bullet journals, dream journals and reflective journals. Me? I dig gratitude journals the...

Happy New Year 2024! I hope you are feeling the new year vibes and are ready to smash your business and life goals out the park this year! Our online webinar How to Find More Clients Than you can Poke a Stick at will be held on Tuesday 23rd January at 16h CET. This webinar dives deep into 3 main obstacles holding freelance translation business growth back and offers some robust solutions to these problems. The webinar is free of charge but you do need to register. Please sign up...

Have you ever sat down to write a blog or social media post and you just froze? Not because of fear or imposter syndrome, because those are 100% real, too.  But instead, you froze because you just didn’t really know what it was that your ideal customer wanted or needed from you. This can really feel like you’re just pulling any old idea out of a dark hole. Now, of course, we all suffer from writer’s block at some point, but what is worse is not understanding WHO you’re serving and WHY. This...

Not having an adequate SEO strategy is THE number one mistake I see translators make time and again with their online presence. If they have a website it's always very nice but they are not doing nearly enough to drive traffic and eyeballs to it. That's like wearing Harry Potter's invisible cloak. If prospects can't SEE us how on earth will they BUY from us? Essentially, onpage SEO helps us build a constant pipeline of warm leads for our translation business. As I´ve said before,...

After earning their spurs with a few years under their belts, most translators graduate to marketing to direct clients. Direct clients pay higher fees and it's much better working directly with the end client with no intermediaries. This helps getting queries answered quickly and optimizing the quality of the work. However, translators must also be aware that direct clients can be more demanding and throw you extra requests (e.g. for DTP, other language combinations, etc). On balance I...

**Pre P.S. Our Black Friday special offer is now LIVE and piping HOT (hottest deal in town!)  🌶🌶🌶🌶  Here's the deal: Get Become a Booked out Freelance Translator at a 20% discount and The Online Presence Blueprint bundled in for free. This offer vanishes faster than you can say "You cannot be serious!" on Monday 27th November** It's that time of year for reflection, gratitude and setting your sights on new goals.  As you look back on the past year, consider your business growth. Have you...

Extra! Extra! Get Ready to Dive Deep Behind the Headline with ITI Bulletin Editor Radhika Holmstrom in this Unfiltered, Unapologetic Podcast Interview! In this week's episode I chat with Radhika Holmstrom, editor of the widely read ITI Bulletin journal. It's a jolly good rag so do grab a copy and have a read.   Here are some notable nuggets from our wide-ranging conversation: Everyone is edited with at least a few tweaks to the copy in line with house styleFlow and structure are also...

In this week's episode I chat with Nicki Bone, current ITI Board Chair. Here are the main takeaways from our wide-ranging conversation: the ITI is the voice for T&I professionals including coporate and academic membersthere is a wide range of subject and language networks to get involved withthe ITI advocates tirelessly on behalf of its membershipconsider AI not a threat but more as an opportunity tp lean intomarketing is an absolutely essential skill for small business ownersBook...

In this episode newly annointed ITI Chief Executive Sara Crofts tells me just how a former architect is a gust of fresh air for T&I professional association leadership.  Here are just a few takeaway messages from our interview:  How Sara's background in conservation has shaped her professional viewChurch conservation terminological jargon and its relationship to languageThe Chief Exec's number one industry concernTips to AI-proof our careers in this new technological cycle What we can...

Want to know how I inched MUCH closer to posting 6-figures as a niche specialist freelance translator?  By upskilling my direct client marketing game.  That's right. ALL I did was figure out how to hone a robust, AI-proof system to gain more clients at the top end of the market. And that's how I made myself much LESS dependent on bottom feeder/mid-market agencies.  Now I want you to benefit from the same operating system that worked for me.  Say hello to my brand new direct client marketing...

In this episode I caught up with a former beta student on Become a Booked out Freelance Translator. Monica Caldeiro very kindly made some time to share with us how the course and its 1-2-1 sessions led to making some positive career changes. Here are the main takeaways from our conversation:  Most translators at Monica's stage of the business journey are interested in moving away from agencies up into the direct client marketLinkedIn is a great place to prospect for direct clientsPersonal...