I don't usually publish any "guest articles" in this newsletter, but today I would like to make an exception. Alex Eames has been publishing a very successful newsletter on the business side of translation for many years. The newsletter has been in hiatus for a few years, but it has recently been resurrected. To commemorate the occasion, I asked Alex to adapt the main article from his last edition for you. You can subscribe to his free tranfree newsletter right here. (And don't criticise Alex for his British spelling -- it comes naturally to him.)

What Does the Term "Freelance" Actually Mean?

"Free lance" was coined in 1820 by Sir Walter Scott and it meant a "medieval mercenary warrior".

So basically you are a warrior who will work for whoever pays the best. If you substitute warrior for translator, does that measure up to your reality? Are you a translator who will work for whoever pays the best? Hmmm.

Wrong Attitude

A lot of people have a very wrong attitude towards what it means to be a freelancer. They like the idea of being FREE, but they don't actually live it out. They feel enslaved to accept the rates and onerous terms that anyone wielding a job tries to slap upon them.

Now it may be fear, or inability to negotiate, but I think it's also partly to do with not quite having grasped what the FREE in freelance actually means. Think for a moment. What are the benefits of being freelance?

You are FREE to...

·         accept or reject any project offered to you.

·         set your own rates (the client is FREE to accept or reject them).

·         work (or not) for anyone you choose.

·         persuade clients to accept your higher rates and that you are worth what you are asking for.

Position in the Marketplace

I often get emails applying for "a freelance position". This shows a lack of understanding of what freelance is. Freelance is a position in the marketplace, not a position in an organisation. When you're a freelancer, you don't have a position in someone else's company. You are not in their company. You are . . .

FREE.

Remember the FREE in freelance! You are not ensnared or imprisoned or closely tied to an employer. You are an outsider!

That means you are FREE to accept or reject any terms, any payment levels, any projects - and any nonsense from clients. If you decide "I'm not taking that" you can say, "Bye bye. I'm not working for you anymore." I've done it before. And believe me, people aren't used to it.

Real-World Example

We once did a press release project for a fairly large multi-national company. The chief executive was rude and obnoxious, so when he phoned to speak to my wife I gave him a talking to before I would let him speak to her.

Chief execs of large multi-nationals are not used to being talked to like that. But it's very good for them. ;)

He spoke briefly to my wife after that. He was much more polite and friendly. When we'd finished the piece we were working on we decided not to take any more work on that project. :)

Think Like a CEO

What I said to my friends when I discussed it with them was, "Well, he's chief executive of one company, I'm chief executive of two companies." You've got to think of yourself as the CEO of YOUR company, and NOT as a low-life sub-contractor. This puts you on a level with the top people in large organisations. In fact, many of them will envy your freelance status because you get to work from home and watch your kids grow up.

Employment VS Freelance

What's the difference between employment and freelancing? Well the difference is huge actually. Your client won't . . .

• pay you any benefits.

• deduct any of your taxes.

• pay any of your insurance or pension contributions.

• give you any perks.

You decide how much they pay. They'll accept, negotiate or walk away.

A freelancer is a FREE agent -- a separate independent business. That's what the FREE in freelance really means.

• You set your own rates.

• You accept/reject projects you want/don't want.

• You negotiate terms.

• You are FREE to succeed or fail on your own merits.

But not everybody can handle the responsibilities that go with freedom. "Freedom is a battle that must be fought and won each day" (Sartre). It's the ultimate performance-related pay, but not everybody can cope with it alone. Don't worry, help is at hand.

View From The Other Side

When we were operating as an agency, we used to ask translators what they wanted to be paid. If it was too high, we wouldn't work with them. If it was a level that we could still make a decent profit on -- then we worked with them. We gave them what they asked for. And they were happy to take that money. It was profitable for both sides and that's how EVERY business transaction should be. If both sides don't profit from a transaction, that is not sustainable in the long term.

Highlights of Being FREE

Let's remember some of the best aspects of being FREE. I'm FREE to . . .

• organise my time and use it wisely - if I wish.

• practise my hobbies whenever I want.

• do unusual things that other people can't do. FREE to spend many weeks per year in another country in our second home.

• organise my life the way I want it to be.

• go and do my supermarket shopping or go to the gym in the middle of the day, any day of the week if I want to. And that means I can choose the best time to go, when it's not busy.

So are YOU, but you may not have quite captured the "dream" yet. It isn't just a dream though. It can be a reality. And for many successful freelance translators it IS their reality. It can be yours too. But it does require work, effort, sometimes a little bit of luck. But ALWAYS a lot of skill and a lot of hard application over a sustained period of time.

Sadly, some FREE lance warriors get defeated and captured in battle. But don't let that drag YOU down. You can do it.

Let's start with a very laudable effort by John Di Rico who will embark on a "round the world trip to train translators on Wordfast software, meet JCI (Junior Chamber International) members, and raise $20,000 to purchase bednets to prevent the spread of malaria and save lives." He will be offering training for both Wordfast Classic and Wordfast Pro. You can find his progress and training dates on this website (where you can also donate to buy a mosquito net.)

A few months ago, I wrote about Google Transliteration IMEs, "Input Method Editors" that allow you to type the sounds of words in languages with non-Latin scripts and have the tool transliterate it into the respective script. (Note that this means a conversion of the pronunciation only, not a translation.) Wanting to be cute, I gave the article a heading with Devanagari characters, only to be justifiably chastised by reader Martin Cassell because they didn't make any sense. (Please note that this time I have refrained from any attempt to be cute. What was I thinking?!)

More to the point, this program has gotten an extension with the addition of Amharic, Russian, Sanskrit, Serbian, and Tigrinya (the original languages were Arabic, Bengali, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Persian, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu).

If you want to use this for short texts without actually installing anything on your computer, you can also go to a web-based version and enter text in all these languages to your heart's delight.

And again, what is this for? Well, I already mentioned the heart's-delight aspect. The other is to enable rudimentary communication if you know how to speak a language but you can't write it. This weigh u mite bee able two communicate (ore knot).

Also awhile back I write about PCLOSTrans:

It's a Linux system "developed for translators on the basis of the distribution PCLinuxOS. It is not only a full-fledged operating system, it also includes a broad collection of software applications which allow a translator to do his/her job most efficiently and in line with the latest standards." If you look through the list of applications that are preinstalled you will recognize many that have been mentioned in this newsletter in their Windows incarnation and/or because they are Java-based and therefore run on all operating systems that support Java.

Just this week, a new version of this system has been released. It's called tuxtrans and, like its predecessor, it contains a long and updated list of software programs that are helpful to look at just to get an idea of what else is out there (in the non-commercial OS world).

tuxtrans comes with English, Italian, and German pre-installed, but many other languages are available as a download. What's also remarkable is that tuxtrans is completely portable as a DVD or USB system (if that is so desired) so that no install is necessary.

Lastly, I was pointed to TMbuilder by Roberto Savelli's excellent blog. It's a small freeware tool by Polish translator Tomasz Ankudowicz, and it allows you to take any number of Excel or CSV files and convert them into a translation memory (in TMX or Trados Workbench text format). Another helpful tool in the translator's tool kit.

In the Premium edition of the last newsletter, I had a lengthy article about the newly available Translation Workspace from Lionbridge. (You can find a reprint here.)

One of the areas that I wrote about was the apparent conflict of interest for a translation service provider (such as SDL or Lionbridge) to offer a tool to competitors, particularly where the licensing fee is directly related to how many words are being translated. I wrote:

(...) I don't have a problem with the actual pricing, but I foresee a huge problem once Lionbridge starts talking to other LSPs, who are of course direct competitors. I imagine a response something like this: "They want me to give them a month-by-month rundown of how much I translate?"

When SDL tried to offer a similar business model with an early version of SDL TeamWorks it sort of blew up in their face, and I would be surprised to see anything different happen here.

I can imagine that we'll see LSPs buying into the tool for specific customers who themselves already use Workspace (because they might be Lionbridge clients). But even then it's a strange concept that Lionbridge would still have to be informed how much they translate for client XYZ when they directly compete for that business (unless the client "pays" for the words -- see below). Well, I guess it's that kind of mess you get yourself into when you provide both tools and services. . . .

It would be less than truthful to say that Lionbridge was particularly happy about my analysis. In fact, Lionbridge representatives felt that I had completely misrepresented the situation. After a number of emails that went back and forth, they issued this statement to clarify what they felt I had misunderstood:

With respect to the issue of seeing who competitors are doing business with and how much business they're doing, Lionbridge clarified that there is a clear separation between the services side of the organization and product business. This is why the GeoWorkz business unit was created. Moreover, Lionbridge reiterates that they are bound by the terms and conditions of their subscription agreement, which clearly defines a customer's data is private, including clients, projects, language assets and suppliers.  It would be a violation of their own license agreement to access customer data for any reason other than routine troubleshooting of technical issues. Lionbridge takes this obligation very seriously, as it is the basis of trust between their new commercial products division, GeoWorkz, and the market.

Since that still sounded a little too political to me, I asked them:

So that means that someone who is selling services for Lionbridge will not have access to any data about GeoWorkz subscriptions, including whether any other company subscribes. Is that correct?

To which they answered:

That is correct.  However, we are encouraging subscribers to collaborate via the GeoWorkz Directory -- including our suppliers, competitors, all subscribers.  Our hope is that everyone finds more business as result.  To be clear, entering your profile in the Directory is optional.