Networking inside vs outside your industry

Many translators do not find networking easy. Although a few of my colleagues are networking animals, and easily turn networking to business, the general trend is that translators are rather confined to their bedroom offices and hardly ever stick their noses out, but when they do – they mostly network with people from the same profession. Is this the right thing to do?

Which method of networking would be more beneficial to your business: networking inside or outside your industry? Where and whom to network with? How to network wisely?

These are the questions I will be answering at this Friday’s virtual conference: “Take control of YOUR business” organised by Sharp End Training. There are still places left, so grab one before they’re gone! 

Ability or network?

This excellent post was written by my Twitter-friend Konstantina Drakou (@wordyrama). I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did!

Does success arrive from your ability or from your network?  Let’s take me for example, Konstantina Drakou  (@wordyrama), a financially struggling 32-year translator (who after ten years in the UK returns home to Crete). After working mostly for clients within the Greek market for four years I face first-hand the effects of the country’s financial dire state, hold a part-time job in IT to keep up with the terminology in the field and to, well basically, survive.

A Short Survey

Dear Translators! In the name of a very important research, we need you opinion. Together with Silvina (@ATGtranslations), we are going to conduct a thorough research and then write an article about client testimonials.

Why? This was actually triggered by one of many great discussions with our Twitter friends. It turned out that every one of us had a different view on the issue of obtaining and using testimonials. This is why myself and Silvina decided to ask you about your opinion on this very interesting matter; tell us whether you consider it important / giving your business credibility or whether you feel that this is simply bragging.

Please share your views with us and take this very short survey here. Once we have received sufficient number of opinions and done the research, we will share the results with you in our article. So take the survey and stay tuned!

The pleasure of networking

I've written quite a few posts about the benefits of networking and making new contacts. You also had an opportunity to follow how I put it into practice. Now, as a new member of the Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce I intensified my networking activity and you can have a glimpse of it here.

Can you find me?

Twithelp™ Answers Questions

My first press release

For the last half a year or so, I’ve been an avid reader of the local business magazines. This was another step in my ‘going local” campaign and it turned out to be beneficial in many ways. Firstly, it is a pleasure to read (short and dynamic articles), secondly, it is extremely inspirational to see other businesses prospering in such difficult times, and finally, it motivates and encourages me to work even harder when I see that others are doing the same and they succeed.

Transliteria joined the Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce!

I am proud to announce that my business, Transliteria, became a Member of the Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce. The Chamber is a brilliant organisation building a business community of local businesses. The President of the Chamber, Nigel Hedges, together with the Chamber’s Executives are doing an excellent job of joining businesses together by organising all sorts of networking events like the Beales Breakfast Club or BH Banter both taking place every month. Participating in these events is a genuine pleasure as both the hosts and participants are a truly wonderful group of open-minded professionals who are ready to talk not only about business.

How to perform well as an Interpreter

Interpreting can be a very stressful job. It comes with a huge responsibility as the gravity of communication lies on the interpreter’s shoulders.



Very often at stake is someone’s health, job, freedom or housing and financial situation. Therefore, being aware of the significance of my role as an interpreter, I am always 100% focused on communicating exactly the same ideas that have been uttered by the speakers. Concentration during the interpreting itself is one thing but equally important is the preparation process – no matter how focused you are, you can always forget one or two crucial words. This may lead then to either mistranslating them or finding yourself in an embarrassing situation of describing the thing that is meant. Mind you, there is no time to flip through the pages of your dictionary and forget about googling anything!

6 Ways to Get More Clients

In your career as a freelancer, you must have experienced the moment when your business slowed down and you simply got stuck and thought: “Where can I market my services, and where are any clients?” This question is even more painful during the quite times, when work is not coming in and everyone around is tweeting about how busy and tired they are. 

Clients DO need you

You must have heard dozens of stories praising working with direct clients, you might as well have read some articles and blog posts instructing you firstly how to find a client (meaning: how to make them find you), and then, when you get hold of one, how to pamper and keep them until death do you part.

You still might not be convinced whether this is a good idea to work directly with a client, thinking that doing business is not your strong point and that you probably will not handle the pressure of actually closing the deal. Well, if that’s the case then perhaps this little story of mine will encourage you to change your mind.

Thank you

Despite being a newbie to the networking events, I was warmly welcomed by the entrepreneurs gathered at the Beales Breakfast Club, where the ubiquitous aroma of coffee accompanied lively conversations and cheerful smiles of the participants. It was definitely worth getting up at the crack of dawn to meet so many nice people and to be introduced to those valuable contacts. The interest I received has truly exceeded my expectations. I hope that by breaking the language barrier between the Polish community and English businesses we will together develop a fruitful and continuous relationship. I will be more than happy to introduce your businesses to the Polish community and act as a liaison ensuring smooth and efficient communication between you and your new clients.

This is where I would like to say thank you to those of you who expressed their interest in targeting a new group of Polish clients as well as those who inspired me by a stimulating and witty conversation. I truly hope to see you at another networking event soon!

The joy of going deeper ...

Recently, I was approached by a client, who asked me to do what turned out to be one of the shortest but simultaneously one of the most challenging translations I have done this year. As you may recall, translators charge for their work on a per word basis, so given the amount of hours I had to spend on these 4 (yes only four) sentences, this project quite clearly did not appear as a lucrative one. Normally, one would ask: what's the point of taking it on?