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Freelance translators

If you are looking into becoming one of the freelance translators, you have many options available for where you can find work.  A new English translator will need time to build up a profitable business. Obtaining good clients could take more than a year.  You will experience some rejection but do not give up.  The more persistent you are, the higher the rewards you will receive.  Every new freelance Spanish translation started exactly here.  Requests for work could take months to receive an answer if the right job is not available, be patient.

There are some different methods for building up that client base, and some will give you a better outcome than others.  Stay positive and keep trying to market yourself to different freelance translation outlets. Eventually it will all pay off!

If you attempt to do offline translations, be prepared to receive minimal feedback.  Many offline companies do not seek freelance translators because they prefer to market to local clients.  You will have better luck contacting businesses with an online presence, especially global companies.

Contact a translation agency to see if they would hire out your skills to their clients.  The downside to this option is that they pay you poorly while keeping most of the money made as their own commission.

You can also search for work directly with clients.  This is the best option for controlling your wage and ensuring that the client gets exactly what they need.  Unfortunately, this is also the toughest way to break into the freelance translator field.  You must put a lot of effort and money into your advertising and marketing, and you should expect not to receive many requests for work for months in the beginning.

Try applying for projects on the various online marketplaces. Freelance translators and clients can post their requests on these sites so that people can review and choose a project that best suits their needs and skills.  Be sure to communicate effectively with your clients from marketplaces to ensure that you have paid the right fee for your services.  These sites are great for introducing clients with freelancers, but problems do occur with getting paid and negotiating prices.

If you are curious about how many words a translator typically works through each day, the reported averages run between 2,000 and 3,500 words.  Keep this in mind when negotiating freelance translators fees.