Chinese translation online - how to market your translation service

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How Do I Make Decent Money Offering Chinese Translation Online?

QUESTION:Hi Joy,
I’m a professional translator trying to offer Chinese translation online as a way to make some extra income and possibly build a business.
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But it seems that people are only interested in free English Chinese translation. As Google keeps improving the quality of its free language translator (many people believe it’s getting more and more reliable), it’s getting tougher and tougher for me to attract paying clients, let alone high-paying ones.
I tried to bid on translatorscafe.com a few times with no luck. I can’t believe how little people are willing to pay for quality work.
And more surprisingly and sadly, there seems to be plenty of translators competing for these meager jobs.

I’ve also tried fiverr.com and other micro job sites you’ve mentioned on your blog, but $5 just doesn’t get me anywhere.
I don’t know how to market my service of Chinese translation online (I do mostly translation from Chinese to English) and I don’t have the time to do marketing.
Besides if there’s so little demand for decent paid human translations, what’s the point of me marketing anyways? Maybe you can give me some insight before I give up totally on the idea of providing translation service?

Antoniette Qian from U.S.

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ANSWER:Hi Antoniette,

Thanks for your message. I understand that you feel frustrated and I truly can feel your pain. If it makes you feel better I can tell you that there are many other professional translators who are in a similar situation like yours.

The dismal picture of the global economy, the depressing job market, the huge competition you are facing all makes it hard for you to earn a decent income simply by providing Chinese translation online.

Yes, even though the demand for Chinese language translators is huge, the supply for qualified Chinese English translators is also very high.

Google Translate, or any other free language translator online certainly puts a lot of pressure on translators like you. But it’s attracting a different type of clientele.

The purpose of these tools is not to replace human. In fact software no matter how advanced and smart it is, can never replace human when it comes to language translation.

Language translation is an art, not a science.

I’m not saying that human translators are not facing challenges these days. We are indeed. Try to focus on a few things before you continue your business venture of providing Chinese translation online.

1- Finding new ways to attract clients

Give your clients what they want. Well, if all they want is free translation, give them a link of the website that provides software translation such as Google Translate.

Don’t try to convince them that you are better than machine. Your clients know that very well. Don’t waste your time on prospects that are not willing to spend money. You are barking at the wrong tree.

Instead spend some time finding out who your ideal clients are and where they hang out. Find a way to reach them in large number. Better yet, construct a compelling message.

I know you provide Chinese translation online, but that description is plain and frankly is not going to get you too far as far as client attraction is concerned.

You need to figure out better wording to have an impact on your target market.

Maybe it’s English Chinese Newsletter service?

Or help businesses generate more leads by translating English websites into Chinese and capture the right audience?

You get the idea! You simply can’t follow what others are doing.

2- Focus on the value of your service

Many translators focus on the wrong things when they market. Things such as “affordable”, “lowest price” only attract the kind of clients who are not loyal at all.

Words such as “accurate” are too plain and vague. Of course you need to be accurate when you translate. Isn’t that what a professional translator is supposed to do?

You need to think from a client’s perspective. What do you want to get out of the service if you were the client? To keep the message intact? Or to have the same impact on readers of a different language?

That’s why I always recommend that translators work with other professionals such as web designers, writers and consultant. You then would have a better idea of what the client want to achieve through translation.

3- Be willing to adapt

It’s true that free online translators and micro job sites are doing a lot of Chinese translation online (as well as other language translations). But that only takes up a part of the market.

There’s no shortage of people looking for qualified translators and are willing to pay as such. You just need to capture the attention of your target market.

Also, maybe this is the time to find other income sources using your language skills? Read 5 passive income opportunities for translators

all the best,

Joy

Translators-Biz-Secret.com

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