I'm sure you've been there: you've finished a project for a client, and they're supposed to pay you the agreed amount. But they haven't paid yet, and now it's been weeks since you sent them your invoice. So what do you do?
You can keep calling or texting them every day asking where the payment is until they pay up. Or, you could be polite and friendly while also making it clear that this isn't acceptable behavior anymore—and how soon would it be possible for them to send over that wire transfer, PayPal, Payoneer, whatever?
Shout-out to Anna Tribó who has just delivered the first completed translation under our new Pro Bono Project!
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Time is money. If you're like most people, you probably think of this as an excuse to work harder and make more money. The truth is that time really does equal money, but only if you're working efficiently and not wasting your precious hours on distractions or unproductive tasks. The key to doing more with less time isn't just about working harder—it's about working smarter too.
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All over the world as we speak, good work is being done by volunteers. From aiding refugees to rescuing animals, from teaching underprivileged children to staffing a local charity shop, this quiet work goes on day after day, carried out by unsung heroes. And at times, as in the recent case of Ukraine, we witness mass mobilizations of people power that are truly inspiring.
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As a freelancer looking for opportunities on ProZ.com, your professional profile is your most important tool. Here are some ideas to take your profile from good to great, and attract clients' attention at a higher rate.
The first thing you need to know is that, while many agencies and end clients post public job openings on ProZ.com, the great majority (up to 80%!) of the work volume that flows through the site actually comes from job offers sent privately via profile messages.
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Do you have an urgent request for translation? Are you screening language professionals for future opportunities?
If so, it is likely you are contacting linguist profiles at ProZ.com. Can your message reach the right translator? Are there secrets to getting their attention? How do you break through the noise?
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As a freelancer at ProZ.com, you have the option to include rates. Some do, some do not.
In a previous ProZ.com Facebook group discussion, Andrew Morris suggested that he always preferred not to in the early days when seeking out new clients all the time, because some clients surprise you by offering you more than you’d have naturally stated.
That seems like a simple explanation for one side of the debate.
Editor's note: This blog post was written by Andrew Morris - and posted as part of the Translators and Interpreters (ProZ.com) group on Facebook. It has been edited for use here. Direct clients also might be known as end clients or end customers. They provide language work directly to the translator without use of an agency, LSP or other intermediary.
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Editor's note: This blog post was written by Andrew Morris - and posted as part of the Translators and Interpreters (ProZ.com) group on Facebook. It has been edited for use here. Direct clients also might be known as end clients or end customers. They provide language work directly to the translator without use of an agency, LSP or other intermediary.
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Are you a freelancer constantly on the move? In a world where living as a digital nomad is again an option, it leaves us wondering how to transition from a traditional lifestyle to one unencumbered by physical boundaries.
One of the largest concerns is financing; how do freelancers bank without a home? Let's discuss how freelancers can bank while on the move.
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It’s vital to inhabit the right mindset as a freelancer, which includes both the story we tell ourselves, and the emotional state we inhabit. But none of that means we don’t have to have the core skills to do the job, day in day out, or the strategies to get the word out and begin to interact with clients.
Whether that’s in your website, your marketing, your social media pronouncements, or your attendance at trade fairs and industry conferences… the list goes on.
Professional membership puts ProZ.com to work for you as a marketing tool that helps freelancers connect with outsourcers - even when you are not working.
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A Purchase Order (PO) --or Project Order-- is a commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller will provide to the buyer. Sending a project order to a supplier constitutes a legal offer to buy products or services. Acceptance of a project order by a seller usually forms a contract between the buyer and seller, so no contract exists until the project order is accepted.
On today's quick poll, freelancers are being asked whether they required a PO before starting a project or not.
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While most experienced language professionals know how to invoice their clients, sometimes calculating taxes, keeping a good backup or sending reminders complicates the process and takes time, extra time they could use on actual projects, marketing or learning. Not to mention the number of late or incomplete invoices that result in non-payment issues!
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At the end of 2005, ProZ.com released a feature called "Project history". The tool was created to allow freelancers to track past projects completed and list them in profiles with information such as language pairs, fields, volume, keewords, clients and collaborators. Since then, more than 17,300 site members have listed projects, 11,733 of which show as corroborated.
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