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To Plus or not to Plus?
Thread poster: Roy Williams
Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 07:53
German to English
Jan 15, 2018

After having let my membership lapse some time ago, I'm reconsidering becoming a paid member again (business has picked up over the last few years). While the Plus package seems attractive, I'm wondering if it's really worth the investment.

Can any current plus members provide testimony? Does it actually have a good ROI?

Thanks in advance!


 
Maija Cirule
Maija Cirule  Identity Verified
Latvia
Local time: 08:53
German to English
+ ...
It depends Jan 15, 2018

Roy Williams wrote:

After having let my membership lapse some time ago, I'm reconsidering becoming a paid member again (business has picked up over the last few years). While the Plus package seems attractive, I'm wondering if it's really worth the investment.

Can any current plus members provide testimony? Does it actually have a good ROI?

Thanks in advance!

If you are a newbie, the Plus package might be helpful. I was a Plus subscriber for one year and for me it was of no use whatsoever.


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 07:53
Member
English to French
Same opinion from a former Plus member Jan 15, 2018

inesec wrote:
If you are a newbie, the Plus package might be helpful. I was a Plus subscriber for one year and for me it was of no use whatsoever.

The Plus membership offers you a CAT Tool and translation management software for free if I remember well, so it may be good for starting out.
For those who already own everything needed to be as productive as poss, it's unnecessary. I didn't benefit from any of the benefits granted.

Philippe


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:53
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
It depends what you need Jan 15, 2018

inesec wrote:
If you are a newbie, the Plus package might be helpful.

The combination of a CAT tool and a management/accounting package plus access to the vast library of training videos could represent an absolute treasure for inexperienced translators. Free membership of TM-Town, with the associated terminology packages, could appeal very much to more experienced ones if your TMs lend themselves to the TM-Town way of promotion.

Personally, as a long-in-the-tooth translator (and person!) I like having full access to the Blue Board details and I certainly value my membership of the SOM Facebook group. Whether or not these make the extra expense value for money for me is debatable, but I didn't bother to cancel my Plus membership this year. I'm hoping there will be added benefits for us this year.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:53
Member (2008)
Italian to English
BB Jan 15, 2018

Sheila Wilson wrote:

.....I like having full access to the Blue Board details ...


Isn't that included in the ordinary membership?


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:53
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Not 100% Jan 15, 2018

Tom in London wrote:

Sheila Wilson wrote:

.....I like having full access to the Blue Board details ...


Isn't that included in the ordinary membership?

There are a few extras for Plus members, but the gap between those two levels of access is far smaller than that between users and members.


 
Marissa Aguayo Gavilano
Marissa Aguayo Gavilano  Identity Verified
Peru
English to Spanish
+ ...
Videos! Jan 15, 2018

I didn't get any job from my Proz Plus membership last year, however, I decided to keep it as I value being able to watch all the training videos at my own pace. I hope this year will be better to get jobs though, we shall see. My main language pair is very competitive.

 
Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 07:53
French to English
+ ...
Personally, I'd say no Jan 15, 2018

I'm reconsidering becoming a paid member again (business has picked up over the last few years).


My reasoning is entirely opposite to yours. If business has picked up, you may not need any paid membership at all.


Grace Anderson
Daryo
Sara Pacheco
 
James Reiser (X)
James Reiser (X)  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 02:53
Chinese to English
I found two immediate benefits Jan 15, 2018

The thing that first attracted me to upgrading to a Plus membership was access to material from the terminology marketplace. I work in Chinese and the included access to the extensive CJK glossaries has been great. I think I've probably saved the original cost of my upgrade already. I also was pleasantly surprised when I received an email notice that one of my glossaries had been updated and I could get the new data at no additional cost.

The second benefit was when I received an u
... See more
The thing that first attracted me to upgrading to a Plus membership was access to material from the terminology marketplace. I work in Chinese and the included access to the extensive CJK glossaries has been great. I think I've probably saved the original cost of my upgrade already. I also was pleasantly surprised when I received an email notice that one of my glossaries had been updated and I could get the new data at no additional cost.

The second benefit was when I received an unsolicited email from ProZ with a suggestion about something to improve in my profile and an offer to contact someone for additional help. This is also included with Plus membership.

The upgrade has been worth it to me.
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Roy Williams
Roy Williams  Identity Verified
Austria
Local time: 07:53
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
I see your reasoning Jan 16, 2018

Anton Konashenok wrote:

I'm reconsidering becoming a paid member again (business has picked up over the last few years).


My reasoning is entirely opposite to yours. If business has picked up, you may not need any paid membership at all.


Well, the uptick is mostly due to increased demand from my long-term clients, which I greatly appreciate. However, I thought
it would be a good time to expand my customer base since one never knows when the wave will break.
And I was curious as to whether the Plus package would get me more exposure, as compared to the standard membership.
Access to the training materials also piqued my interest.


 
Francesca Brandi
Francesca Brandi
Italy
Local time: 07:53
English to Italian
+ ...
Could I ask you what this SOM Facebook group is? I cannot find it. Apr 26, 2019

Sheila Wilson wrote:

inesec wrote:
If you are a newbie, the Plus package might be helpful.

The combination of a CAT tool and a management/accounting package plus access to the vast library of training videos could represent an absolute treasure for inexperienced translators. Free membership of TM-Town, with the associated terminology packages, could appeal very much to more experienced ones if your TMs lend themselves to the TM-Town way of promotion.

Personally, as a long-in-the-tooth translator (and person!) I like having full access to the Blue Board details and I certainly value my membership of the SOM Facebook group. Whether or not these make the extra expense value for money for me is debatable, but I didn't bother to cancel my Plus membership this year. I'm hoping there will be added benefits for us this year.


 
DZiW (X)
DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
https://www.proz.com/business-membership Apr 26, 2019

I believe most plus-members pay extra $200 exactly for a higher rank at the ProZ non-members→[verified]→members→plus-members→enterprise list, moving in their language pair, say, from #1000 as non-member to #300 as a "paying" member and #250 as a big plus-member.

Of course, it may be worthy if one is doing his biz via the ProZ, making it to Top 30 (some first three pages). However, it's not always the case for besides the individual skills and qualities--and goo
... See more
I believe most plus-members pay extra $200 exactly for a higher rank at the ProZ non-members→[verified]→members→plus-members→enterprise list, moving in their language pair, say, from #1000 as non-member to #300 as a "paying" member and #250 as a big plus-member.

Of course, it may be worthy if one is doing his biz via the ProZ, making it to Top 30 (some first three pages). However, it's not always the case for besides the individual skills and qualities--and good luck, he has to compete with many peers in the same boat, let alone many clients are looking at other places via different means too.

Finally, it boils down to the same
A client still wants to have his job done (1) properly, (2) timely, and (3) on the agreed terms
while
The translator still cannot (A) sell his services profitably or (B) get paid in full and on time.
Moreover, if a translator is known to agree for $0.035/word and "discounts" (virtually $0.0125/word or less), how come after paying some $300 he is suddenly a high-flying superman for $0.15+/word flat? Only the ProZ visibility changes.
It's very rare going a wrong way one still came to the right place.


Actually, I would adapt the ranking as:
1) non-members may quote for projects under $0.05/word only; no guarantees;
2) members are eligible for $0.05-$0.10/word; minimum 5000 words ($250+) a month guaranteed;
3) plus-members enjoy $0.10+/word; minimum 10,000 words ($1000+) a month
guaranteed;
4) whereas enterprise members get exclusive options and prepayment.

Hm, "ultra-elite")

[Edited at 2019-04-26 09:07 GMT]
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:53
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
SOM renamed: "Translation Mastermind" Apr 26, 2019

Francesca Brand wrote:
Could I ask you what this SOM Facebook group is? I cannot find it.

This is what it says on the ProZ.com page about the benefits of the "Plus" package:
Membership in Translation Mastermind, a private translator and interpreter community dedicated to meeting end clients

You can pay to join the group if you don't want to pay for the "Plus" package.


 
Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 07:53
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
No difference in exposure Apr 26, 2019

Roy Williams wrote:

And I was curious as to whether the Plus package would get me more exposure, as compared to the standard membership.
Access to the training materials also piqued my interest.


I tried the Plus package when it came out but as others have said it's really for people starting out in the business. I didn't notice any difference in the amount of job offers. TM Town didn't work for me.
Maybe give it a try for a year, see what you think.


Mirko Mainardi
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:53
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Doesn't mean Apr 26, 2019

DZiW wrote:

I believe most plus-members pay extra $200 exactly for a higher rank at the ProZ non-members→[verified]→members→plus-members→enterprise list, moving in their language pair, say, from #1000 as non-member to #300 as a "paying" member and #250 as a big plus-member.



Of course that doesn't mean they're ranked higher because they're better; it just means they've paid more. I hope this is always made clear to end users (potential clients seeking good translators).


DZiW (X)
Germaine
Daryo
 
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