Paid online advertising for freelancers
Thread poster: 124578 (X)
124578 (X)
124578 (X)
Germany
English to German
Nov 22, 2017

Hello,

I'm considering to use one of these methods,

either Facebook Ads or Google in order to drive traffic to my side and attract direct clients.

Do you think the investment is worth it?


 
Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:29
Danish to English
+ ...
Why not improve your profile first? Nov 22, 2017

There isn't much in your profile, and apparently you have no website, so I guess you want to drive traffic to your Proz profile.

But even if you drive more traffic to your profile, there isn't much for any visitor to see. Traffic alone doesn't help. You need conversions.

You mention diplomas, but nothing about what you have been doing since 2010 when you say you started translating, except that you say you have been a translator. Nothing else about professional experien
... See more
There isn't much in your profile, and apparently you have no website, so I guess you want to drive traffic to your Proz profile.

But even if you drive more traffic to your profile, there isn't much for any visitor to see. Traffic alone doesn't help. You need conversions.

You mention diplomas, but nothing about what you have been doing since 2010 when you say you started translating, except that you say you have been a translator. Nothing else about professional experience.

I doubt any advertising will help much in this situation. People are flooded with ads all day long, and some are more or less immune to ads. At least I am.

Another idea could be to have a Facebook page or blog where you publish articles from time to time to demonstrate your skills. Once that is in place, it may help to pay to get more reach.

But I'm not a marketing specialist, so do take what I say with a grain of salt.
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124578 (X)
124578 (X)
Germany
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
How many direct clients do you have? Nov 22, 2017

How many direct clients did your proz.com profile get for you?

Just to have an idea if what you are suggesting is really working


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:29
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
My answer to that question Nov 22, 2017

124578 wrote:
How many direct clients did your proz.com profile get for you?

Just to have an idea if what you are suggesting is really working

In the last five years (the only ones for which I've got statistics), I've landed 13 clients through ProZ.com that have nothing to do with the world of translation. Some have been publishers or communications/marketing businesses, so not 100% direct clients, but others have been the true end users of the texts. Several of them have gone on to become regular clients; indeed my 2nd-best client for the past couple of years is a direct client who contacted me through my ProZ.com profile.

I don't pay for advertisements and I don't have a website. I would have a website if I were younger as I think it's important nowadays, just as I'd find out how to use Twitter and I'd do more with my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, but I find these "newfangled" things challenging and I'm getting more than enough business to last me until retirement. I second the words of Thomas:

even if you drive more traffic to your profile, there isn't much for any visitor to see. Traffic alone doesn't help. You need conversions.

I doubt any advertising will help much in this situation.

There's no point in attracting clients if you can't wow them with what they see. So concentrate first on creating something interesting for them to read, then find ways of driving them there - wherever "there" is. For me, Google does a superb job of driving clients to the ProZ.com home screen. From there they can find me in the directory and if they like what they see in my profile they send me a private message. Or they can post a job that I can respond to. I know that having a good profile works because I often get contacted by potential direct clients who have recently registered on the site precisely for that reason. Not all of these contacts become clients, of course. Oh, and a few do turn out to be spammers or even scammers, so be wary!


 
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 17:29
English to German
In memoriam
Not direct clients, but agencies Nov 22, 2017

If I may drop in here, in my experience most contacts you get on your Proz profile are contacts with agencies rather than direct clients. But there is nothing wrong with that. Working with international agencies is a good way to have regular workloads. Of course there are lots of bottom fishers out there but there are enough agencies paying professional rates for a decent income.

Thomas gave you good advice. Focusing on a handful of specialty fields also does not do any harm. And th
... See more
If I may drop in here, in my experience most contacts you get on your Proz profile are contacts with agencies rather than direct clients. But there is nothing wrong with that. Working with international agencies is a good way to have regular workloads. Of course there are lots of bottom fishers out there but there are enough agencies paying professional rates for a decent income.

Thomas gave you good advice. Focusing on a handful of specialty fields also does not do any harm. And the effort you need to put into your profile is just a little work, it does not cost you anything else, so what are you waiting for?
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Thomas T. Frost
Thomas T. Frost  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:29
Danish to English
+ ...
How many Nov 22, 2017

124578 wrote:

How many direct clients did your proz.com profile get for you?

Just to have an idea if what you are suggesting is really working


I get the vast majority of my clients through Proz. Most regular clients contacted me directly via Proz, but I found my most regular client simply by replying to a job post.

A few contact me via my own website, and one of them supplied an extremely comfortable income in 2016.

My site, profile and CV are very far from perfect. I have a long to-do list for them, but jobs coming in always get first priority.

Those of us resident in Germany also have to be very careful with the German Abmahnung system under which just about anyone can demand that you pay them a fee of typically 800 to 1500 euros if they find just the slightest bit of legal yada yada missing from anything you post online. There are plenty of vulture companies in Germany that do nothing else than hunt down other people’s tiny mistakes online, sponging off people trying to do nothing else than earn a living. Some of them are even hunting private sellers on auction platforms. It’s an absolute disgrace.

See
http://www.makesyoulocal.com/take-care-in-germany-it-is-expensive-to-make-mistakes/ and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abmahnung


 
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 17:29
Italian to English
Agencies vs direct clients Nov 22, 2017

Thomas T. Frost wrote:

There isn't much in your profile, and apparently you have no website, so I guess you want to drive traffic to your Proz profile.

But even if you drive more traffic to your profile, there isn't much for any visitor to see. Traffic alone doesn't help. You need conversions.

You mention diplomas, but nothing about what you have been doing since 2010 when you say you started translating, except that you say you have been a translator. Nothing else about professional experience.

I doubt any advertising will help much in this situation. People are flooded with ads all day long, and some are more or less immune to ads. At least I am.

Another idea could be to have a Facebook page or blog where you publish articles from time to time to demonstrate your skills. Once that is in place, it may help to pay to get more reach.



This is some great advice. Advertising is all very well, but you need to advertise SOMETHING! What are you advertising? What experience can you bring to the table? How can you help your clients work better? What's your USP - why should they choose you over dozens of others?

Articles and blog posts are a great way to show your knowledge, and "personalise" someone's online contact with you. And as opposed to the approach you suggest in this thread, they're free.

124578 wrote:

How many direct clients did your proz.com profile get for you?



I'm not sure if you mean simply clients, or direct clients as opposed to agencies. It's worth bearing in mind that although you can command higher rates from direct clients, there's often a lot more work involved in dealing with them - tasks we often forget that agencies take care of day in, day out.
Of course there are bad agencies too. But it's an aspect worth thinking about.


 
124578 (X)
124578 (X)
Germany
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
@Ky-Victor Nov 22, 2017

Kay-Viktor Stegemann wrote:

If I may drop in here, in my experience most contacts you get on your Proz profile are contacts with agencies rather than direct clients. But there is nothing wrong with that. Working with international agencies is a good way to have regular workloads. Of course there are lots of bottom fishers out there but there are enough agencies paying professional rates for a decent income.

Thomas gave you good advice. Focusing on a handful of specialty fields also does not do any harm. And the effort you need to put into your profile is just a little work, it does not cost you anything else, so what are you waiting for?


Thanks Kay,

yes, the contacts here are agencies to major part


 
124578 (X)
124578 (X)
Germany
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
@Fiona Nov 22, 2017

Fiona,


direct clients means direct clients, no intermediates in-between

[Edited at 2017-11-22 19:20 GMT]


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:29
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
Pretty up your profile here Nov 23, 2017

As our colleagues have stated, there isn't much for any potential customer to see on your page. So pepping it up might render more interest in your page which can lead to new clients.

Also, I've noticed that you don't have any SEO on your profile. Writing some keywords that emphasize your specialties, those that make you stand out from other translators in particular fields and/or with special services, will draw more attention from potential clients who are looking for a translato
... See more
As our colleagues have stated, there isn't much for any potential customer to see on your page. So pepping it up might render more interest in your page which can lead to new clients.

Also, I've noticed that you don't have any SEO on your profile. Writing some keywords that emphasize your specialties, those that make you stand out from other translators in particular fields and/or with special services, will draw more attention from potential clients who are looking for a translator by means of search engines.

The fact that you generate traffic to your profile doesn't guarantee direct or agency clients. If all outsourcers who ever visited my page had become my clients... I would have to outsource myself.

[Edited at 2017-11-23 16:33 GMT]
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Christophe Delaunay
Christophe Delaunay  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:29
Spanish to French
+ ...
Professional translation service for since 2010. Nov 23, 2017

And make sure your profile is proofread. Especially with only 2 sentences...

 
124578 (X)
124578 (X)
Germany
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
thanks! Nov 23, 2017

thanks for your reply,

The original question was concerning paid methods on social media.

I do appreciate your input, however i have neither the need, the time or wish to pretty up here.





[Edited at 2017-11-23 18:20 GMT]


 
124578 (X)
124578 (X)
Germany
English to German
TOPIC STARTER
bottom line Nov 23, 2017

thanks everyone for your responses.

I see that no one would consider paid ads for themselves as a way to market (this was the question here).
Thanks again and good luck with everything.

[Edited at 2017-11-23 18:19 GMT]


 


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