When I first decided to set up my freelance translation business in 2023, I had no clue where to start.

Yes, I knew how to translate well, but I had no idea how to run a business, how to attract clients to work with me or even where to start looking for work.

So, in this post, I’m going to be sharing everything I did in the first few months of running my freelance translator business.

Create Your Translator CV

The first thing you need to do is create your translator CV.

I’m sure you have some idea of how to make a CV in general, but there are a few extra things you will want to include when applying for translation jobs.

As well as your general qualifications and work experience, every translator’s CV should include:

• The language pairs you work with
• Specialisations
• CAT Tools you use (e.g. Trados Studio)

Make sure to display this information prominently on your CV. The unfortunate truth is that many agencies and employers will simply skim your CV, so you need to make sure they spot these core elements straight away.

Choosing Your Specialisation

When you’re just starting out, you probably have no idea what your specialisation should be, which is totally normal.

However, it is best to list a few specialisations on your CV.

I recommend starting with subject areas you studied either as part of your translation degree or during your Bachelor’s degree since these are the easiest skills to prove that you have. If this doesn’t work for you, you’ll want to pick a specialisation you have a lot of knowledge about already.

For example, I travel a lot so I decided to make one of my specialisations travel and tourism translation. I also did my Master’s dissertation on literary translation, so that is also listed on my CV.

Create a LinkedIn Page

If you don’t already have a LinkedIn page, create one.

LinkedIn is one of the best ways to find jobs and to connect with fellow translators. Translation is a difficult industry to be in, so making friends is important for support, advice, and to get referrals for jobs from your translator friends.

A few LinkedIn tips to get you started:

• Make sure your profile mirrors the information on your CV
• Change your profile link to a custom profile link to make your profile easy to find
• Look for connections – people who went to the same university and people who specialise in the same fields as you are a good place to start
• Personalise your connection message – to make a good impression, send a personalised message when asking to connect with someone. This could simply be that you are new to the industry and looking for translator friends. Trust me, most people are very friendly.

And, if you’re looking for your first connection, connect with me: linkedin/laurencampbelltranslator.

Getting Experience

Before applying for jobs, I highly recommend getting some translation experience.

The truth is that most agencies are not going to hire a complete newbie without any experience on their CV, even if they have a translation degree (although that does help).

But, if no one will employ you, how can you get experience?

By volunteering.

The easiest place that I found to volunteer as a newbie translator was TED Translators.

I’m sure most of you have heard of TED Talks, those speeches from conferences on a whole variety of topics that you often ended up watching in school.

Well, TED has a translation programme where you can volunteer to transcribe and translate the subtitles on their YouTube videos. All you have to do is make a free account, choose your language pairs and then you can get started.

Once you submit work, it may take a while for it to appear online as a reviewer has to check it. But, once it does, you now have proof of your translation experience, which is extremely valuable when applying for jobs.

Create a Profile on Proz.com and Translators Cafe

Proz.com and Translators Cafe are the two most recognised translator marketplaces on the Internet. So you’ll definitely want to create a profile on each site to help potential clients find you.

As with your CV and LinkedIn, make sure to include all the key information about you as a translator on your profile, including your language pairs, experience, specialisations and CAT tools.

If you have the money, I would also highly recommend upgrading to a professional account on Proz.com. Having a professional account allows you to bid on jobs earlier, which could be the difference between getting employed or not.

Many agencies and independent clients post their jobs on these two sites (but particularly Proz.com), so you’ll want to be active on these sites at least once a day to find the best opportunities. At first, this will involve sending off a lot of applications without many results, but I’m sure you’ll soon see results.

I got my first translation agency client after just a month and a half applying for jobs on Proz.com, so it does pay off!

And, although the job board is the most important page on these sites, there are also other useful tools for newbie translators. This includes forums where you can ask translation-related questions, which I’ve found very useful indeed.

Setting Your Translation Rates

Before you start seriously applying for jobs, you’ll want to have a general idea of how much you intend to charge, both per word and per hour since what clients ask for varies.

When I was first asked about my rates, I had no idea what was standard. But, luckily, there is a really useful tool on Proz.com to help you work this out. You can search for your language pair and specialisation and it will tell you the average rate translators are charging for that particular service.

Now, here is the challenging part. As a newbie, you will need to charge lower than average to attract your first clients to take a chance on you. However, there is a tendency for new translators to undercharge too much, which shows that you do not value your skills. So, you need to try to find a balance between charging less than average but not too little that people don’t take you seriously.

Once you’ve done your research, I recommend creating a rates sheet for all your services, including your per word and per hour rate for each language pair and specialisation or service. This way, you have a quick reference document when anyone asks you for your rates.

Create a Website

With marketplaces like Proz.com available, a website is by no means a must but, if you can afford it, it is a great way to market yourself as a translator.

When I say start a website, I don’t mean a free website: you want a professionally hosted website. Since you are running a business, you want to appear professional, and a great way to do that is with a good website.

I host my website with Bluehost, which comes with free access to WordPress. This is great since WordPress has so many pre-formatted templates to use, so you don’t have to worry about having great coding or design skills.

With most Bluehost plans, you can also create an email address for your website, which will add an extra layer of professionalism when applying for jobs.

So, what should you include on your website? As a minimum, I recommend having the following pages:

• A homepage containing key information about your services, including language pairs, specialisations and how to contact you
• A page for each of the services you offer
• Translation portfolio (if you have any examples of your work that you can display legally)
• About You page
• Contact page

Create Social Media Accounts

Making connections is really the name of the game in the translation industry. So, creating social media profiles for your business is a great way to reach even more people.

If you’re only going to create one account, I recommend Instagram as this is one of the most popular networks and one of the easier ones to create content for as a translator. Facebook is also a good option.

In terms of content, the recommendation is always to show your skills rather than directly advertise your services. What I mean by this is that you should show off how good of a translator you are and then tell people where they can hire you, rather than asking them to hire you but providing no reason for them to do so.

I’ll be honest, I’m terrible at keeping up with my social media, but I do believe it is a great way to make connections and could be a great asset in helping you find clients as a translator.

Diversifying Your Services

Here’s the truth: you’re unlikely to make a full wage from translation in your first couple of years of freelancing.

So, most translators choose to offer other related services to make some extra money.

In my case, I work as an online tutor and this accounts for a significant amount of my income at the moment.

Popular services other translators offer include:

• Online tutoring
• Transcription
• Proofreading

How Much Will I Make As a New Translator?

Not a lot, at least at first.

Becoming a successful freelance translator takes time. I am in my second year of business and, while my workload is increasing, it is by no means enough to constitute a full wage.

I’m not saying this to put you off. I’m just saying that diversification and perseverance are key elements of becoming a freelance translator. And, if you’re willing to work at it, you will start to see results.

That’s it for today’s post. I hope you found these beginner tips useful. If you did, consider subscribing to my email list for updates every time I upload a new post. If you have any questions about freelancing or translation, leave them in the comments below.

If you’re looking for a translator to work with, you can get in touch at lauren@laurencampbelltranslation.com or via the contact form below.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time.