Episode 13: Marketing translation services to agencies – interview with Anne de Freyman
06/09/2014
10 Steps to a Marketing Plan for Freelance Translators – Article
06/22/2014Episode 14: Market research tips and marketing systems for translators – interview with Eve Bodeux
In order for us to find our ideal client or target clients, we need to do some research. When we have a list of potential clients to contact, we need to know how to contact them, but also how to follow up with them and keep track of all our contacts. In this episode I am interviewing Eve Bodeux, talking about her experience of market research, both as a project manager for her own localization company, and as a freelance translator, with some great tips for both new and experienced translators.
In this episode we discuss the following:
- Market research campaigns and how to hire outside help for the research or vetting
- How to contact potential clients and follow up
- Selection criteria for the market research
- Different systems and tools to document and track your potential clients and marketing efforts
- Marketing tips for contacting project managers and common mistakes when marketing your freelance translation services
Useful links mentioned in this episode:
I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. How do you research potential clients for your translation services, and how do you follow up? Please share! Thank you and see you in the next episode.
Eve Bodeux
Eve Lindemuth Bodeux has 20 years of experience in the language services industry. While Eve translates from French into English personally, her company, Bodeux International LLC, offers multilingual localization, translation, and project management services. She also co-hosts the Speaking of Translation podcast with Corinne McKay. She served as the Vice President of the Colorado Translators Association (CTA) for four years and is a voting member of the American Translators Association. Eve has the equivalent of a Masters of Arts degree in European Studies from the University of Nancy II in France, a Masters of Arts from the University of Virginia in International Relations, and a BA in French from Lebanon Valley College.
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5 Comments
Hello Tess and Eve,
Yet another great podcast. Thank you! Have you heard about the CRM called Dolibarr? I haven’t tested it yet but it seems to be perfectly suited for freelance translators, plus it’s open source and free!
Thanks Nicolas! I have not heard about Dolibarr. Will check it out. Do let us know what you think if you try it.
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I loved how direct you were with your questions, Eve talked about how we need to target clients that could potentially need translation services but no specifics were given. I was hoping for more details on this, but overall a good podcast!
Hi, Beverly!
One of my tried and true methods for identifying potential clients is to find lists. I do not mean buy lists from someone else, but to look yourself for lists from associations or other places that potential clients might belong. So, we don’t want to use these lists to spam people of course, but it can help you identify who actually exists in a certain field. Say you want to focus on medical translations into English for medical clients in Italy. Look around and see if you can find a professional association for medical companies in Italy and then look and see the association lists its members on its site. If so, take the time to research each company that you know now about. Look at their websites. Do they have any press releases saying they are planning to go international? Do they already have an international presence? In general, I find these types of lists are great for giving you an idea of who functions in a specific field and providing information to help you further research potential clients. Good luck!