Over the past couple of years, we
In my last post on creating a mindset conductive to better pay, I promised to show how to use this attitude in doing the actual translation. However, several comments on one of LinkedIn groups (sorry about the malfunctioning comment function here
Transparent?
In my last post, I explained why paying too much attention to non-paying customers or demanding a
Self-fulfilling prophecy?
Don’t we all hate Scrooges
In an insightful blog post about the NDAs in the translation industry, Grace Bosworth shares some personal experiences litigating with a former employer over a non-compete agreement. She is correct in arguing that litigation is the only way to enforce any type of agreement. The financial and emotional cost of litigation often makes it counterproductive. In fact, I firmly believe that all disputes are best settled through negotiations and out of courts.
Having said that, I do require all translators working with our agency to sign an agreement, which covers non-disclosure, non-compete, and rectifications for sub-par work. At first, it was more of a precaution, but after several negative experiences, today we do not do business unless the translator signs an agreement. Here
During last week’s annual conference of the Israel Translators Association , Doug Lawrence presented the Common Sense Advisory’s statistics about the translation industry in general and its Israeli segment in particular. Unbelievably, despite the Israelis’ affinity to technology, only about 18% of local translation companies are open to using advanced translation tools.
There is nothing like a good laugh to shake us out of our preconceived notions. Here’s an adorable Norwegian skit that drives the point home.
Last week, I spoke about translator websites at the Israel Translators Association’s annual conference. The presentation covered sites, offering operations, marketing, and business resources for professional translators (no, this does NOT include free online machine translation).
While most sites provide similar information and services, each one has distinct advantages of its own. Proz presents the most complete set of tools for a freelance translator and enjoys the highest traffic ranking of all translator sites. Moreover, the site constantly adds new features, so if you are considering a premium subscription, this would be the site to choose.
Translatorscafe offers some of the same features as Proz.com, but the quality and diversity of available information does not compare. Furthermore, this veteran site has been stagnating for quite a while. Still, although your money would be better spent elsewhere, it is worthwhile signing up for the free subscription.
While Translatorsbase is not a very popular site, technology neophytes might want to consider its web hosting solution, offering translators the ability to set up a professional looking website, with extensive back office features.
Finally, although Odesk is not exactly a translation site, it does offer many project opportunities for linguists, including translation, content writing, and editing, with one major advantage – guaranteed payment.
Do you have a favorite translation site not covered here? Please share it with us.
Attracting more traffic is high on the priority list of any blogger. However, have you ever asked yourself what happens once your readers actually land on your homepage? Does your writing effectively communicate your message, or do readers have to reread things to understand? Most blog readers don
Yesterday, McDonald
In the beginning of th
e summer, I posted an item discussing potential privacy breaches and legal violations associated with the use of Google Apps in general and Google Translate in particular. At the time, some of the readers thought the risks seemed too hypothetical.
Now, a landmark New York lawsuit has taken these concerns out of the realm of potential and made them very real. In August, a New York court ordered Google to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger accused of libel, in what is sure to become the groundbreaking case for all issues of Internet privacy. The ramifications are clear; any veneer of privacy and anonymity for web users is just that, a veneer.