image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Freelance translators depend on their customers’ cash-flow to receive their payments. Some customers pay right on time while others can be quite reluctant to let their money go. They request duplicate invoices to be sent, claim that they will pay us on the following week or give us a thousand and one excuses to explain to us why we haven’t been paid yet.

Dealing with these clients is not only stressing and annoying but also time consuming. You can easily find yourself devoting two or three hours per day to chase these late-payers instead of translating new documents or outreaching potential clients. Fortunately, there are different strategies you can put into practice in order to manage these difficult clients correctly.

Contact the Client Immediately

One of the biggest mistakes that freelance translators do when a client misses a payment deadline is not following up with them right away. Of course, it is true that nobody wants to seem desperate about money but it is not false either that the longer you wait to collect a missed payment, the fewer chances you have of being paid.

You should call your client immediately after he misses a payment deadline and you should leave a message daily reminding him that he owes you money. If you are able to reach your client, make sure you’re informed of the reasons why he hasn’t paid you yet and, if possible, make arrangements for the payment to be made. Be polite but strong at all times.

Don’t Take Broken Promises Lightly

If the new due date arrives and your check is nowhere to be found, then your client is not trustworthy. In that case, keep hold of any pending job you have for him and do not do anything further until the payment is made. Many a time this is the best strategy to finally get the payment: if the client needs your services and/or the translated documents you have, he will eventually send you the money sooner or later.

This may be the best time to switch to more formal means of communication. Sending an email to your client expressing your concern that the payment has not been made yet despite your efforts to arrange a second due date usually works, especially if you keep sending the same email each week.

You should also consider sending a formal letter compelling the client to pay what he owes you. You can find different options of these letters here to get you inspired.

Broaden your Payment Options

Let your non-paying client know all your payment options. For instance, you can tell him that he can pay you over the phone with his debit or credit card or that they can immediately credit your money to your personal bank account.

Threaten to Hire a Debt Collection Agency

This should be used as a last resort. Requesting the services of a debt collection agency is many times the best and only way to put an end to this problem. A debt collector will harass your client constantly on the phone compelling him to make the payment. And they can be quite rude!

Tell Other Translators About a Non-Paying Client

There are some sites where you can leave feedback on translation clients and agencies. They are good places to spread the word so that other colleagues are aware of those bad clients.

• The Blue Board from Proz
• Hall of Shame and fame from Translator’s Café
• oDesk

September will definitely be an interesting and busy month for translators. Look at all the translation related events that will take place everywhere in the world this month!

2nd-6^th

Machine Translation Summit

Organized by the European Association for Machine Translation.
Nice, France

10th

PROZ Virtual Conference on Industry Innovation and Technology Best Practices  [Online Event]

13th-15th

11^th Annual Conference “Forging a Path Towards Specialization!”

Organized by the Tennessee Association of Professional Interpreters and Translator.

Memphis, TN, USA

18th

Translating Contracts to and from French [Webinar]

Organized by the American Translators Association

20th

Nida Research Symposium: Cultural Translation

Organized by the Nida School of Translation Studies.
New York, New York USA

21st

10^th Annual Conference

Organized by the Midwest Association of Interpreters and Translators

Chicago, Illinois, USA

26th-27th

ATC Annual Conference

Organized by the Association of Translation Companies.
London, UK

27th

6^th PROZ Congress

Biarritz, France

30th- October 4th

2013 Proz Virtual Event Series

Organized by PROZ to celebrate International Translation Day. Events included: 2013 Freelance translator virtual conference, Translator Boot Camp, CAT Tool & Software Day, 2013 Recruitment Virtual Event, PROZ.com Networking Marathon

Not everything is exciting in the life of a freelance translator. And managing the finances of the business is definitely one of those chores that most translators find boring, overwhelming… almost herculean, especially if accountancy has nothing to do with their background. However, every translator knows that it doesn’t matter how efficient and professional he is; if he doesn’t get paid he won’t be able to keep the business going. Fortunately, there are some simple tips you can put into practice to invoice your clients the smart way. And what is even more attractive about these ideas? That they will keep your clients happy too!

image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Keep your clients well informed of your policies

Not all clients will be respectful and pay you right away after you send them the translation. Some of them will pay you half the amount and then disappear while others will keep you waiting for ages. Since being paid is important for you, it is necessary for you to establish a set of policies regarding your payment terms and to keep your clients notified about them. When coming up with your policies, there are certain key aspects you shouldn’t forget to include:

• The payment method you prefer
• How much should be paid as a down payment.
• Is a down payment required for you to start working?
• When is the invoice due?
• Will there be any penalties for late-payers?
• Will the client receive the final work before or after all payments are made?

Needless to say, there will be times when you will need to be flexible with these policies in order to meet your client’s particular requirements, but they will definitely serve you as a guideline.

It is also important that you keep your client informed about your hourly rates if applicable, any pending payment or whatever you deem appropriate so that he doesn’t find anything unusual in the invoice you send him.

Stick to your policies

Just as you don’t like surprises, neither do clients. Make sure they are well aware of your policies and that you promptly let your clients know about any change or update. Trust is essential in a freelance relationship and, when money is concerned, this is particularly true. If the client has no doubts about your invoicing policy then he will be more open to sending you more documents to translate and recommending your services. And that only means more clients, more money and a more flourishing business.

Charge professionally

Although it can be tempting to set lower translation rates than average in order to attract a larger number of clients, you should really avoid undercharging. Doing so will only bounce back on you by bringing to you only clients that are lazy-payers. Make sure your rates are in line with those of other colleagues; there’s always room left to offer a special client a discount or bonus in order to get a really attractive translation job.

Are your invoices clear and complete?

It is definitely a good exercise for freelance translators to check the invoices they send to their clients in order to make sure everything is clearly stated. In other words, if you can’t understand your own invoice or what you are charging for, how do you expect clients to feel otherwise?

Your invoice to your translation client should include this information:

• Your contact details.
• Detail of services rendered (translation, proofreading, edition, language pair, etc).
• How much you charge for each rendered service.
• Any down payment done and the amount still to be paid or a single invoice including the terms (e.g. 50% down payment – 50% upon delivery).
• Accepted payment methods.
• When the payments are due.

Additional tips

As you manage more and more clients, the amount of invoices you will have to send and monitor will increase. It’s a good idea to number them so that you can keep a record of what’s still pending and what’s been paid and to keep separate invoicing files for your different clients.

Translators, and especially those who work on a freelance basis, need to pay attention to simple but important musts that ensure them a positive professional image and a constant flow of clients (and money, of course). Being polite, punctual and delivering accurate translations are just the ABCs that every freelance translator should follow. Let’s dig a little bit deeper and explore some Dos and Don’ts that translators should be well aware of.

Check your emails

It’s incredible how many important translation jobs you may lose just because you only check your emails twice a day or because you fail to reply to requests or quotes quickly. Clients or translation agencies that have trusted you for previous jobs will only be willing to work with you again if you reply to their requests efficiently and promptly. Thus, if you want to be on the top of their good translators list, you should make sure you reply to all their emails efficiently and promptly. It is also a good idea to share with them your Skype user name or WhatsApp number or other messaging application info so that they can get through to you at any time.

Proofread your cover letter carefully

Many translation jobs require language professionals to send a cover letter and C.V in order to get the job. Translators are expected to have excellent writing skills, even if they are writing in their second language. Thus, it is of utmost importance to pay special attention to grammar, vocabulary and spelling mistakes and double check the piece of writing before pressing the Send key.

Follow instructions

You should always make sure that you follow the client’s or the project manager’s instructions carefully. Needless to say, if you have a doubt or there is something you are not sure about, you should always ask for clarification.

Stick to deadlines!

Deadlines are meant to be met and you are expected to do so. Thus, if you have a (big) problem and you won’t be able to deliver your translation on time, you should contact your client immediately and in advance so that he is aware of the delay and can make any necessary arrangements.

Get help from other translators

Being a translator does not mean that you are a walking dictionary. In other words, you are not expected to know the translation of every single term. If you are unsure of what the best translation for a word is, don’t be afraid to ask! There are many forums and sites where you can get help from other translators.

Read and check before delivery

Whether it takes you a couple of minutes or a couple of hours, it is really worth it. Make sure you read and check your translation before you send it to the client. Does it sound like a translation or does it sound natural? Does it reflect the source text message?

Don’t forget to use the spell checker

It is obvious but, still, many translators skip this crucial step. The spell checker is a great tool that can help you avoid typos and, of course, spelling mistakes.

Don’t get distracted

Trying to concentrate on what you are doing is the best way to avoid silly mistakes. This is especially true when you are working at home. You should avoid checking emails, social sites or text messages when doing a translation.

Faulty Project Management

Did you accept to do a translation job? Do not turn it down later unless you have a major problem. Doing so leaves a very bad image to your client and he might never contact you again. If you do need to turn it down, communicate it ASAP so that your client can assign it to someone else immediately. Remember you’ve made a commitment and you need to stick to it.

Are you the right candidate?

When applying for a job, read very carefully what they are looking for. If the agency or client is looking for a Trados user and you do not know what Trados is, just do not apply for that translation job. It is a waste of time for you and the prospective client and you won’t get the job anyway. This may sound silly, but applying for jobs you are not suitable for will only increase your rejection rate, affect your self-esteem and make you waste valuable time.

Avoid lying

Referring to Trados again as an example, if you do not know how a software works do not jump to conclusions or say something like “I do not use Trados, I do not work with machine translations”. You will definitely give the image that you do not have enough information on the translation industry and technology used. You are better off saying that you do not use that software. There’s nothing wrong with that and you are just letting your potential client know that he needs to send you translations that do not require that software.

Don’t stay with a doubt!

Don’t be afraid of asking questions to your client. If you are unsure of a word or acronym, ask your client what they refer to even if you think there is a mistake in the source text. Unless he has provided you with a lexicon to use or to have for reference, there’s nothing wrong in asking for clarification. Needless to say, you should always do your research first to find info on the term you are not sure about.

August will definitely be an interesting and busy month for translators. Look at all the translation related events that will take place everywhere in the world this month!

1^st-3^rd

14^th Annual Regional Conference: “Opening Doors to the World Through Language”

Organized by the Nebraska Association for Translators and Interpreters, Omaha, USA

3^rd

5th Annual Mini-Conference of the Australian Institute for Interpreters and Translators

Queensland Multicultural Centre, Australia

5^th-8^th

Translation Process Research

Copenhagen Business School CRITT, Copenhagen, Denmark

6^th-9^th

Computer-Assisted Translation Course

Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California, USA

7^th

[Online] Networking Event for Poetry and Literature Translators

9^th-10^th

International Workshop on Speech and Gaze in Translation

Copenhagen Business School CRITT, Copenhagen, Denmark

13^th

[Online] Networking Event for Cinema, Film and TV Industry Translators

14^th-27^th

CETRA 2013

Centre for Translation Studies, Leuven, Belgium

15^th

[Webinar] Translating for the Pharmaceutical Industry: Resources and Strategies

By American Translators Association

21st

[Online] Networking Event for Advertising and Public Relations Translators

24th-25th

V Brazilian Conference of Proz Translators –Internationalization-

Recife, Brazil

27^th

[Online] Networking Event for Computer and Hardware Translators

27^th-29^th

Conference on Translation, FIT Asian Translator’s Forum

Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

29^th

[Online] Networking Event for Computer Software Translators

29^th-31^st

Translate in Quebec City

Conference for Premium Market EN>FR and FR>EN Translators, Quebec, Canada