www.goihata.com
We can see the results now but the economic slow-down started over a year; we have read about banks in crisis, credit restrictions, freezing of corporate investments, household consumption in freefall, rising unemployment in both industrialized and developing countries.
No doubt all economists agree about the situation being serious, involving wide-reaching reforms of our financial systems and resulting in a recession that will last for months, or even years as it’s becoming evident right now. Across the globe, many freelance Translators (like me!) have been forced to find other sources of income (I’m an In-Company English Trainer in the mornings!) and countless Translation agencies have closed down as a result of the recession.
The Translation world, which is almost entirely dependent on international trade, will obviously put up with the impact of the cost of such a downturn. If companies innovate less, open less branches in a foreign country and trade smaller quantities of products and services with their partners and clients abroad, there will be millions of manuals, corporate letters, advertisements that will no longer need to be translated in such circumstances, only those professionals with a strong will to remain visible in the market will obtain contracts in this diminishing market and stronger competition from colleagues ready to work for less.
I found these tips which might be useful for all of you to consider:
• Have your own web page where you present your profile and reference it carefully on Google
• Take advantage of public or professional websites such as Facebook or LinkedIn and create your profile there
• Remind your old customers that you are willing to serve them and provide satisfactory service. It is much easier to obtain a repeat order from an old satisfied customer than to obtain a new customer.
This will increase the chances of being contacted and will insert you in the global market as our markets are interwoven. We’ll survive
Paulina Torres de Witt
www.goihata.com