[This is a guest post by Sean Patrick Hopwood]

Attracting new clients

If you’ve got a mortgage to pay, mouths to feed or you simply want to save for a financially secure future, then you’ll need to

work not only on client retention and client repetition but also, on attracting new clients. Even if you’re currently flooded with work, if you’re not dedicating even just a small slice of your week towards new business generation, then you’re not aiming for long-term growth.

1. Keep Your Website Up-to-Date

It’s very difficult to get anywhere if you work online without having your own website. While you may carry out the majority of your translations for an online agency, or attract clients from reputable sources, your website or blog is the only way that prospective clients or employers can check out your work, find out more about you, see your qualifications and how they can contact you.

Not only is it essential to have one, but it’s important to keep it updated. Make sure that your latest news wasn’t from 2010 and be sure to gather client testimonials. There’s no better way of giving prospective clients assurance than by checking out other people’s reviews of your work. Also, make sure that all your contact information is up-to-date and that your form works as, if it doesn’t, you could be missing out on important opportunities.

2. Build Your Online Portfolio

Got a LinkedIn profile? Update it. Don’t have one yet? Get one. Make sure that all places your name appears online are professional and current. If you’ve been steadily employed by the same agency for a while, you probably haven’t paid too much attention to your online presence. But situations change. Companies remodel. And if you decide to seek work elsewhere, you’ll be glad that you kept your online info up-to-date. While you’re at it, make sure that everything you post online is for a universal audience. Future clients won’t be amused by shots of you in a wet T-shirt.

3. Try a Referral Program

You may think that referral programs only apply to large companies, but just because you’re a one-man (or woman) band doesn’t mean you can’t put these practices into place. If your clients are happy with the job you did, ask them to recommend you to a friend or partner company. Give them an incentive, like a 10% discount on their next translation, or a finder’s fee if it’s a large client.

4. Use online Instructions

Check out the careers page of the American Translators Association (ATA) and the relevant authority for the language(s) you translate, and if you’re looking for a job in the localization area, check out GALA’s job board. You could also try writing some articles for sites like these and other respected sites in the translation industry about your experiences as a translator and any professional advice you can offer your peers.

If you build in these practices into your weekly work schedule, you’ll be more likely to stay away from those gaping periods when work is slack and continually generate new opportunities and interest from client.

Sean Patrick Hopwood, MBA is founder and President of Day Translations Inc., an online translation and localization services provider, dedicated to the improvement of global communications. By helping both corporations and the individual, Day Translations provides a necessary service at the same time as developing opportunities for greater sympathy and understanding worldwide. With a personal goal in life is to bring world peace through education, tolerance and cultural awareness, Mr. Hopwood firmly believes that by working together across borders, we can make the world a better place.