Most industries have their own vocabulary and style, and if you’re not capable of describing an illness in the way a health professional might, or writing instructions for a piece of machinery like an engineer would, then your translation work will appear amateurish, and this will be despite how competent you may be in other areas and how fluent you might be in the languages involved.

Develop a Professional Website

The first thing a professional translator needs is a professional looking website. Your website should look attractive, and offer all the relevant information about you and your translation services in an easy-to-read format. If you’re not familiar with HTML programming, then there are plenty of program packages out there that allow you to design your own website. Alternatively, see if you can find a website you like, then contact its designer and see if you can negotiate an affordable price.

Social Media for Advertising Your Services

Today, there are many different social media sites on the Internet and these can serve as great advertising tools for promoting your translation services. And again, remember it’s all about professionalism, so this should be your primary concern when selecting the right medium and posting the right content on your website.

In the past, people advertised their products and services by post, and today this method of advertising has been overtaken by email. Unfortunately, the issue with emailing potential clients is that most people receive enormous amounts of email every day, and most email advertising messages usually end up in spam or in the trash-can. If you do decide to run an email marketing campaign, in order to attract the recipient’s attention your emails must be addressed specifically to the owner of the email address. Anything less will be a waste of your time.

Personal Contact Always Wins!

Today, as in the past, the best way of promoting yourself and your talent is through personal contact. You’re more likely to succeed in attracting a new client if you visit them personally; and by the same token, you’re more likely to retain an existing client if you keep in personal contact with them on a regular basis.

A highly recommended way of promoting yourself and your translation skills is to attend conferences and other events that your potential clients are likely to attend. Keep in mind always that it’s all about professionalism, so the way you speak, the way you dress, and the way you behave yourself in the presence of both your clients and potential clients is vitally important.

Never Stop Marketing Yourself!

Providing you have the right translation knowledge and skills, then promoting yourself via both traditional and electronic media, in addition to personal contact, should make for an unbeatable combination when it comes to winning translation clients. Keep in mind also that marketing your translation skills should not be a one-off event – keep in regular contact with existing clients, and keep marketing yourself to potential clients so that when the time comes for them to employ the services of a translation provider, your name will stand out head and shoulders above the rest!