Smart Habits for Translators

Episode 63: Smart Habits for Aligning Your Business With Your Values and Goals with Marina Ilari In today’s episode, we’re joined by a colleague, fellow podcaster, and fellow working parent, who will help us explore the topic of staying organized and focused when you have a lot on your plate. So many of us can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed and scattered when we have an endless list of...

Episode 62: Smart Habits for Following Up With Clients It’s been said many times that it’s easier (and less expensive) to retain clients than it is to find new ones. But we know of so many freelance translators and interpreters who say that following up with clients is just really hard for them. They don’t want to bother anyone or come across as annoying or desperate for work. In today’s episode,...

Episode 61: Smart Habits for Drumming Up New Business with Melanie Padgett Powers So many of us have experienced the ups and downs of freelancing, which have felt magnified over the last two years as a result of the pandemic. We’ve heard from many of you that you’d like more ideas for ways to grow your business and get more recurring work from clients. Well, our guest today happens to have some ex...

Smart Habits for Taking Time Off We all know that time off is important, yet it’s not something independent translators and interpreters allow themselves to do very often—or consistently. Freelancers often feel guilty about taking time off because they feel like they’re neglecting their businesses. • “What if an important client needs something?” • “What if there’s no work when I return?” • “I can...

Smart Habits for Maintaining Your Website Maintaining a website is something so many freelancers find overwhelming. We get it. There’s a lot to think about, which can leave you feeling like you don't know where to start. Our goal with this episode is to dispel the myth that maintaining your website is as tedious, hard, or time-consuming as so many people think. Your website is the only digital ass...

Smart Habits for Caring for Growing Your Online Network We all hear about the importance of having a strong network for our business. And in some of our previous episodes, we've talked about ways to network at in-person events. Today, we thought it would be great to chat about growing your network online and some dos and don’ts that we personally subscribe to. Networking can be equally daunting wh...

Smart Habits for Caring for Managing Your Inbox Having a freelance translation or interpreting business means that you depend quite a bit on your email inbox. At least, we know we do! You probably correspond with most of your clients via email, as well as colleagues and others who need to reach you or send you important information. But it’s really easy to let your inbox take over your work-life (...

Smart Habits for Caring for Your Mental Health with Dr. Elizabeth Miller There is a lot of responsibility and uncertainty that comes with being a freelancer and a small business owner. Many of us often struggle with feelings of overwhelm and anxiety, and the pandemic has certainly exacerbated this to such an extent that some people could barely function due to constantly feeling worried and not kn...

Today’s episode is all about the importance of checking and improving our work as translators. We all know that this is a crucial step in maintaining the high quality of our work. But not all of us enjoy the editing and proofreading step or have a systematic and efficient approach to the process. So, we invited two of our colleagues, Eve Bodeux and Emily Safrin, to discuss this topic with us. Eve...

In today’s episode, we have a thought-provoking conversation about the importance of treating your translation or interpreting business as a business—in particular, thinking like a business owner. This sounds like such a simple thing, but many freelance translators and interpreters fail to do this and consider themselves “just freelancers.” This mindset can have a negative impact on your interacti...

Today, we want to share an important discussion that we don’t tend to hear a lot of honest conversations about, at least not in a public forum. Freelancers and business owners know that the feast and famine cycle can really take a toll, especially if you’re unprepared to handle times of famine. If you’ve ever been in the middle of a famine in your business, you know how unsettling it can be . . ....

This 52nd episode of Smart Habits for Translators marks the second anniversary of our podcast! It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since we launched Smart Habits for Translators. More than ever, we are grateful to you all, our listeners and colleagues, and it makes us so happy to hear that you enjoy our episodes! Last year, we celebrated our first “podcastiversary” by recording an “Ask U...

Surprise! This is another joint episode of Smart Habits for Translators and Speaking of Translation. Corinne McKay and Eve Bodeux, co-hosts of the legendary Speaking of Translation podcast, recently announced, after 13 years they pressed pause on their podcast, but all of their past episodes are still there. We have already recorded two joint episodes (Episodes 29 and 35), and we’re excited that t...

In this episode, we’re piggybacking on the topic of Episode 49 about conducting a business audit.   Before you start reviewing the different areas of your business and identifying or updating your business goals, it’s important to keep in mind what your vision is for your business. As we said in Episode 49, we want you to put your CEO hat on and think about what you would like to get out...

We often talk about small business owners, in particular freelancers, having to wear many hats: we’re our own boss, bookkeeper, marketing team, tech support person, administrative assistant, and more! But how often do you really sit down and think about all these areas of your business? In this episode of Smart Habits for Translators, we are having a conversation about conducting a business audit:...

We all know that first impressions count, and this applies to all interactions you have with other people–both online and in person. When you run your own business, it’s even more important that you come across as a reliable, trustworthy professional, someone who clients and colleagues can trust and value. After all, this is how we often choose service providers ourselves. Whether we need a graphi...

As most translators (and many interpreters) work remotely, it’s important to think about how we can reach and engage with our clients from a distance. With technology at our fingertips, there’s no excuse for not engaging with our clients online. And yet… it can feel overwhelming, intimidating, and for some, even anxiety-inducing. We don’t say this lightly. We know a lot of people deal with anxiety...

Having a freelance business means that you’re always looking for new clients. Even if you have some regular clients, all freelance translators and interpreters should be planning ahead and marketing their services or responding to inquiries from potential new clients. But just as you’re not always the right fit for a particular project or client, they might also not be the right fit for you. This...

We’ve all heard how important it is to specialize as professional translators and interpreters. But not everyone agrees with this. There are many who believe that specializing is not necessary and that you can get enough work as a generalist to make a good living. We’re not here to argue that you can’t, of course, but we do feel that specializing is an excellent way to stand out as a professional,...

While it’s definitely important to master your craft and hone your skills, we also think that offering more than one type of service or working with various types of clients can be a safeguard for your business. After all, you never know when things might shift, and when they do, it tends to happen when you least expect it. Or maybe you’re just ready for a change. There are so many reasons to dive...

In this episode, we’re sharing a conversation about finding mentors and surrounding yourself with people who encourage you and push you to be better at your craft. This can feel like a difficult thing to do, especially in a profession where we are used to working alone and behind the scenes. It can be especially daunting if you’re a new translator or interpreter. It’s not that easy to know where t...

In this episode, we’re having a conversation about finding time for unpaid work and projects. You know, those things we truly enjoy doing—whether for our own development or personal fulfillment or as a volunteer in an organization—but that can be difficult to make time for during busy days filled with paid work. Like most of our translator and interpreter colleagues, it comes as no surprise that w...

Today’s episode is all about using technology in your work. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Even though many translators and interpreters like putting pen to paper, we depend on technology and tools to make us more productive and maintain our work's high quality. This is also a controversial topic, especially the debate surrounding the advances in machine translation (MT), how this technology aff...

Managing finances is one area of business that all freelancers and small business owners have to deal with on a regular basis, and translators and interpreters are no exception. Owning a small business often means that you wear many hats, and, let’s face it, the role of CFO, or Chief Financial Officer, is one that a lot of us struggle with or even dread. We often hear colleagues ask questions abou...

In today’s episode, we’ll talk about the mindset shift and strategies that are necessary when you’re ready to take your freelance translation or interpreting business to the next level. Whether you aspire to make more money as a freelancer or you simply want to reach the stage where you’re only working on ideal projects for ideal clients at ideal rates, you may find yourself with more questions th...