Many clients depend upon us freelance translators, and it is important to have a plan for worst case scenarios. This year has also been a year of many natural disasters and unfortunately colleagues passing away too soon. I was very happy to see that today’s guest held a presentation on contingency and crisis planning during the last ATA conference. In this episode she is sharing all her best tips.

Important things covered in this episode:

• What contingency planning and crisis management is
• Questions to ask ourselves to plan for unforeseen events
• Things to have in place if we would get sick or pass away
• How to deal with a crisis
• How to protect our business

Useful links mentioned in this episode:

• Jill Sommer’s website
• Link to Jill’s presentation on Contingency planning
• www.jill-sommer.com/ContingencyPlanning.pdf
• Emergency portfolio – Suze Orman and suggested alternatives
• Lifehacker – DIY Protection Portfolio
• Preparedness Now – Aton Edwards

This episode covered a lot of tips. It is so important to have a plan for unforeseen events, just like it is to have an insurance. A contingency plan is a backup plan, activated in the event of a disaster that disrupts a company’s production and puts employees in danger. The goal of the plan is to safeguard data, minimize disruption and keep everyone as safe as possible. A company may never have occasion to use a contingency plan, but it is important to have one, and keep it updated, even if you are a one person company.

January is my fundraising month. What does this mean? It means that you have the opportunity to show your support for Marketing Tips for Translators. I love doing these podcast interviews and bringing you these episodes. But it is a work of love. In order to keep bringing you great content, I would like to be able to cover the costs. They are: monthly fee for sound hosting, monthly fee for website hosting, domain name, recording software, website design and update, plus time. If you feel that you have benefited from these podcast episodes, please consider giving a small donation (suggestion is $5). Thank you so much for your support!

Jill R. Sommer is a full-time freelance German>English translator. She holds a dual BA in German and Russian from Bowling Green State University and received her MA in German translation from Kent State University in 1995, after which she lived and worked as a freelance translator in Germany for six years. She taught computer courses (including Word formatting) for the translation graduate program at Kent State University part-time for four years and was a contract linguist for the FBI. Her blog, Musings from an Overworked Translator, features reflections on her life as a translator and the translation industry. She has attended the ATA conference and presented regularly there since 2002.

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