Brand to brief: Centre for Translation Studies University of Leeds •

Brand to Brief

Centre for Translation Studies – University of Leeds

Becoming a Business

From brand to brief – marketing your skills as a freelancer

Resources to accompany talk by Jacky Fitt FRSA – February 2021

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” Oscar Wilde

Where we start… Simon Sinek on the importance of your “WHY?”

Simon’s TED talk is also available in 48 languages: Read the transcript…

Top tips for creating a great brand:

Be clear on WHY you are creating your business
Know your values – why do you get up in the morning and why should anyone care?
Have a good name
Be consistent across all print and digital – tone and visuals
Keep your promises
Make yourself easy to find
Be prepared to listen and learn

Top tips for how to set the right price and sell:

Look like you mean business
Take a deep breath, this is a marathon not a sprint
Think about how best to help people and build trust
Listen to your customers and learn from your competitors
Understand what your customers value
Understand your own worth and negotiate with confidence
Create pricing bands that work for you
Be consistent
Be found

Price bands to help you set fees and assess jobs

Premium Rate: based on your specialisms, experience and quality output. A negotiation packed with add-ons and, importantly, your value to your client.
Standard Rate: based on your value and good output, negotiated with add-ons and giving you a good standard of living.
Basic Rate: this rate covers your costs with no frills or margins, so what’s in it for you?
Bottom Feeder Rate: a quick way to get demoralised and become a ‘busy fool’.

Selling or marketing ourselves is not easy. But, if we reframe it as building TRUST, more opportunities open up…

Ask yourself…

“Who can I help, where are they and how can I build trust.”

If you want to reach a destination get a map that shows you a route.

If you want build a business create a marketing plan that helps you reach your goals.

When creating any type of marketing remember:

1. People want to know the benefits to them before anything else.
2. It should reflect what your customer wants or needs to know, not what you want to tell them (see point 1.)
3. Ensure your brand (name, logo, presentation) is professional, attractive and consistent.
4. Make it easy for people to find and contact you.

Review your marketing activity regularly, and, where needed, change your plan and your mix but not your goal.

A good website builds trust and trust will build your business.

A poor website damages trust and your reputation.

Here are the basic requirements for a good website:

Working – all pages can be read with no broken links
Readable – is easy to read, understand and navigate
Visible – can be viewed on a desktop, tablet or mobile phone
Informative – gives the information your customer wants and needs
Actionable – allows visitors to take action, for example, to contact you, book or buy
Searchable* – can be found by the main search engines, like Google, bing and have good search engine optimisation

Social media is about building engagement, not quick sales and works best when it’s a two-way street.

Social media is a conversation not a sales pitch.

What are translation buyers looking for?

“You can find a translator pretty much anywhere. Go to any freelancer portal. Visit any translator association directory. Do a Google search. Translators aren’t hard to find. Outstanding translators, on the other hand, are like gold dust… what is it that truly separates the top 1% of translators from the rest of the pack?”

Localization lead at HubSpot, read Nataly Kelly’s blog: ‘The Skills that Differentiate the World’s Best Translators’

Volunteering to increase your knowledge and build your profile

Have you thought about translating TED Talks? Ideas worth spreading.

Discover Translators Without Borders and help use language to create a just world.

From brand to breif… if it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Becoming a freelancer takes time, patience and dedication. If you’re in need of some support when you’re feeling anxious, check out the words from resilience expert Dr Jo Clarke, A Short Guide to Stress and How to Deal with It.

Resources for translators and interpreters…

Institute of Translating and Interpreting (ITI)

“ITI is the only UK-based independent professional membership association for practising translators, interpreters and all those involved in supplying language services. We seek to promote the highest standards in the profession, supporting our members and representing our industry at the very top level. We provide a range of products and services, both to membership and translation buyers.”

Check out Freelance Translator’s Lounge – LinkedIn private group for translators.

ProZ.com – to empower language industry professionals to achieve their business objectives and full potential.

Marketing Tips for Translators – Tess Whitty’s award-winning podcast and website has lots of free resources.

Setting up as a self employed freelancer in the UK

Money Advice Service – ‘thinking of starting up in business’

UK Government advice and guidance:

Royalty-free images for websites and social media

Discover our free image resource, already curated for you.

Starting a new business or enterprise can be a lot of fun. It can also be stressful and, usually, lots of hard work. To help you avoid wasting time, money and effort it’s worth ensuring that you get some good advice. It doesn’t matter if your goal is a small lifestyle business or a multinational company, we all have to begin somewhere and our free marketing guides will help you start your business journey.

Thousands of micro enterprises launch every year, let’s make sure that yours is a success!