Training for Translators – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This episode is based on a webinar I taught today, "What now??" aimed mainly at mid-career freelance translators whose businesses are really struggling. I offered six options you might want to consider (from "keep doing what you're doing" to "re-train and change careers completely"), depending on your personal circumstances.

Find out more about Training for Translators, including my upcoming March Marketing Madness challenge group, at https://www.trainingfortranslators.com/

It's time for my annual year in review post! 

I've been writing year-end review posts for a while. Here's 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021. I'll say that this year feels different. I had a great year, due to various factors including luck, experience, working hard, and being willing to try new things. And at the same time, I'm aware that a lot of people in the language professions had a truly terrible year. My goal here isn't to rub it in, it's to give some examples of what's working for me, a few fails, and what I'm looking forward to this year.

In this episode, I take a look at three ways to not earn enough money as a freelance translator or interpreter:

1. You don't have enough work, period
2. You have enough work, but it's low-paying
3. You have well-paying work, but not enough of it 

...and how to handle each of these situations!

Links mentioned in this episode

• The Training for Translators website
• The 2022 American Translators Asociation compensation survey
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' outlook for translators and interpreters
• The MIT Living Wage Calculator 

A quick bonus episode to remind you that my March Marketing Madness challenge group starts on Monday, March 3! Back for year seven (!!), the challenge group costs $90 and gives you:

• 20 motivational videos to get the marketing motivation going
• 20 daily marketing challenges that will take you 15-30 minutes to complete
• An optional, but very fun Slack group 
• Marketing resources (e-mail templates, goal-setting workbook) 
• Six months of access to the course materials 

"Corinne's March Marketing Madness challenge group has transformed my approach to marketing forever! It was an intense and exciting month, during which I felt empowered to ramp up my marketing efforts in ways I hadn't considered before," says a past participant! Come join in! 

In this episode, I discuss how 2024 went, and hopefully this will inspire you to conduct your own year-end business review, if you haven't done one already. I review my income, my enjoyment of the work I did, and my satisfaction with life in general! 

• Join the Training for Translators mailing list in the sidebar of my blog
• Here's the blog post that this episode is based on 
• I find it hard to quit projects I've committed to, because I'm an Upholder 
• AIIC, the International Association of Conference Interpreters
• My business coach, Treasa Edmond 

I used to be the ultimate ChatGPT hater, and I've now found a few really helpful use cases for it. In this episode, I describe how I don't find ChatGPT useful for actual translation or writing, but I do find it helpful for interpreting prep, jazzing up presentation titles, complicated research questions, and other tasks like complying with specific character counts and tone. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• ChatGPT
• techforword
• Riccardo Schiaffino's presentation on Perplexity as a research tool
• Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies framework (I'm an Upholder)
• The Neuron AI newsletter
• The blog post that this episode is based on 

To get your free Nudge Kit, sign up for the Training for Translators blog in the sidebar of any blog post! 

Freelancing gives us the freedom to work when we want, how we want—but let's be honest, it often feels more like 'work all the time or risk not getting paid.' That delicate balance between freedom and hustle can sometimes tip us straight into burnout. In this episode, I take a look at the realities of overwork, why burnout happens, and—most importantly—10 tried-and-true strategies I use to keep burnout at bay.

In this episode, I mention my "Deciding what to charge" worksheet, which you can download here if you'd like to try it! And if you're not on the Training for Translators mailing list, you should join so that you don't miss anything! 

If you listened to episode six of the Training for Translators podcast, you already know that nudging dormant clients is a) the world' most boring marketing method, and b) the world's most effective marketing method (or close to it!). 

We all know the value of nudging, but we don't do it, because we tell ourselves (usually incorrectly!) that if a client wanted to work with us, they'd contact us without us having have to "chase after" them. In reality, I've heard from people who send work to freelance translators and interpreters that those who nudge receive 25%-50% more work than those who don't!

Why now? The winter holidays are the perfect time to send every one of your clients (dormant or not) a holiday availability nudge, letting them know when you're available between approximately December 1 and January 10. Listen in for tips on what to say in these nudge e-mails! 

And if you're not yet on the Training for Translators mailing list, you can join right here! 

In this episode, host Corinne McKay discusses the question of whether translation is even worth pursuing as a career. Is it a dying profession? And if not, who's doing well right now, and where does the "dying profession" idea come from?

To learn more about Training for Translators, visit trainingfortranslators.com 

Host Corinne McKay discusses freelance translator and interpreter income! Posts from the Training for Translators blog mentioned in this episode:

• Corinne's 2021 income wrapup
• Corinne's 2022 income wrapup
• Corinne's 2023 income wrapup

To learn more about Training for Translators visit trainingfortranslators.com