Growing Your Freelance Business. Olga Melnikova, speech at International Summer School in Freelance Translation'18 (Riga, Latvia). July 3, 2018

1. GROWINGYOUR FREELANCE
BUSINESS: MOVING UP INTHE
TRANSLATION MARKET
Olga Melnikova
Summer School For NoviceTranslators And Interpreters
July 3, 2018

2. ABOUTTHE SPEAKER
• Website: https://olgamelnikoff.com/
• LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgamelnikoff
• Email: olgamelnikoff@gmail.com

3. ABOUTTHE SPEAKER: RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE
ØDegrees: MA inTeaching French and English from
Kaluga State University and MA in CreativeWriting
from Gorky Literature Institute
Ø2007-2014 – translator for RussianTranslation
Company (Ru, En, Fr)
Ø2010-2012 – court interpreter (Ru, Fr)
Ø2010-now – futureactually.com - volunteer

4. ABOUTTHE SPEAKER: US EXPERIENCE
ØMay 2015: MA inTranslation and Localization
Management, Middlebury Institute (MIIS), Monterey,
California, US
ØMay 2015 – May 2018: Localization Project Manager at
Venga Global, Inc. and Moravia, Inc. (Monterey, CA, US)
ØSeptember 2017 – December 2017: Adjunct Professor at
Middlebury Institute (course: Introduction to CAT
Tools)

5. ABOUTTHE SPEAKER: PRESENTATIONS AND ARTICLES
ØMay 2017 – Software Localization Testing,
presentation at Adobe in San Jose (link)
ØFebruary 2018 – UTIC Webinar Find Your Customer
How To Be Successful In The GlobalTranslation
Market? (link)
ØApril 2018 – How to become a localization project
manager (article in Multilingual Magazine) - link

6. CREDITS
Many thanks to Tereza Dyerova, Resource
Manager and Project Manager at Moravia, for
giving her insights about the topic of this
presentation.

7. RESOURCES
• The General Theory of the
Translation Company (by
Renato Beninatto and Tucker
Johnson)
• Multilingual Magazine
• Common Sense Advisory
(research and presentations)

8. AGENDA
• TopTen Most Important Languages
• General Remarks
• Most RecentTrends InThe Industry
• Language Services Industry Structure
• Ideal Candidate’s Profile - StepsTo Succeed
• No One-size-fits-all
• FindingYour Niche

9. TOPTEN MOST IMPORTANT LANGUAGES
The top ten most important languages for the future,
according to a 2013 report from the British Council:
1.Spanish
2.Arabic
3.Mandarin
Chinese
4.French
5.German
6.Japanese
7.Portuguese
8.Italian
9.Russian
10.Turkish
Source: Multilingual Magazine, October / November 2017

10. GENERAL REMARKS
• Most of the world content is generated
in English and needs to be localized into
other languages
• The US market / Silicon Valley clients
want to go global, they are major clients
right now
• Boosting economy drives the industry
structure

11. LANGUAGE INDUSTRY: PAST, PRESENTAND FUTURE
Past Present Future
Products Books (Novels,
short stories)
Poetry
Press
Documents / Legal
Websites, desktop and mobile apps
Marketing materials (online / printed)
Cloud-based services
Videos
Interpreting: medical and court (the
US), government, humanitarian (Europe)
Mobile apps will dominate
Voice and speech (two-way
communication)
Videos (marketing, help)
SEO and cloud
Remote interpreting
Main
Actors
Publishing Houses
Translators
Clients
Language Service Providers
Freelancers
Clients
TranslationTechnology Startups
Post-Editors
Tools Paper and online
dictionaries
MSWord
CATTools
Translation Management Systems (TMS)
Content Management Systems (CMS)
MT Engines (Neural MT) andAI
CAT and MT Combination
(LILT)
Unit A word, a page String, segment Speech, segment

12. MOST RECENTTRENDSTHE INDUSTRY: MOBILE,
SPEECHANDVIDEO
• Mobile phones domination
• 10-20 languages will be insufficient – think 126 and
more for mobile
• Speech and video localization is the future
• 5 billion videos watched onYouTube every day (2017)
• New generations prefer listening to reading
• Africa has the highest rate of illiteracy so speech and
videos are widely used, not text
Source: Multilingual Magazine, Common Sense Advisory

13. MOST RECENTTRENDSTHE INDUSTRY: MT,AI,VR
AND REMOTE INTERPRETING
• MachineTranslation (MT) combined withArtificial Intelligence
(AI) does 99% of all the translations right now
• Automation will be expanding to new areas (voice over
recordings)
• Virtual reality and augmented reality
• Remote Interpreting (due to speech localization)
• Demand for interaction using voice means linguistic variability
– accent, intonation, idiolect, dialect, language
Source: Multilingual Magazine, Common Sense Advisory

14. MOST RECENTTRENDSTHE INDUSTRY: CLOUD,
TRANSLATIONTECHNOLOGY, SEO
• Cloud is becoming the main trend (90% of
new software apps will be deployed in the
cloud)
• There are many startups inTranslation
Technology right now, and their number
will grow
• SEO (search engine optimization) is one
of the key marketing strategies right now
Source: Multilingual Magazine

15. LANGUAGE SERVICES INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
• There is a textbook describing the
structure of the language services
industry nowadays
• https://www.nimdzi.com/book/UTIC/ -
you can download the eBook at a lower
cost

16. LANGUAGE SERVICES INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
Example:
• End Client: Google
• Global LSP (Language Service Provider): localizes
Google Maps into 100 languages, works with 100
translation agencies in different countries.
• Local LSP: does one language for the global LSP
• Freelancers: work for the local LSP
• Consumers: users of Google Maps in 100 languages
Source: John Ritzdorf for Moravia

17. LANGUAGE SERVICES INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
Source:The General
Theory of the
Translation Company

18. LANGUAGE SERVICES INDUSTRY STRUCTURE
Source: John Ritzdorf for Moravia

19. THREE PILLARS OFTHE LANGUAGE INDUSTRY
Language Business
Industry
Today
Technology

20. IDEAL CANDIDATES PROFILE: ALL 3 COMPONENTS
Language Technology Business
1. Excellent target
language skills
2. Excellent
English skills
(understanding
the source
correctly)
3. Excellent
business
communication
skills (knowing
how to write
emails)
1. CAT Tools (keeping
up to date, ready to
learn);TMS
(Translation
Management
Systems)
2. Experience in
translating the right
type of content
3. Product knowledge
(big clients like
Apple, Microsoft,
Google)
1. Building an online profile
(readiness to spend a lot of
time on this)
2. Readiness to take unpaid tests
(passing the test and following
the instructions)
3. Fitting the budget (price
negotiation)
4. Responsiveness (replying as
soon as possible)
5. Reliability (meeting deadlines)
6. Keeping names of your clients
confidential

21. COMPONENT 1: LANGUAGE
1. Excellent target language skills
2. Excellent English skills
(understanding the source
correctly)
3. Excellent business
communication skills (knowing
how to write emails)

22. THE US BUSINESS LANGUAGE: CLICHES
Hi Helene [Hello Helene],
I hope this email finds you well.
If it is Monday: I hope you have had a nice
weekend.
If it is Friday: Happy Friday!
Thank you for your reply!
Greetings
Intro
Email Body

23. THE US BUSINESS LANGUAGE: CLICHES
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you so much for your understanding!
Looking forward to your reply!
Hope you have a nice week! (if this is Monday or
Tuesday)
Hope you have a nice weekend! (if this is Friday)
Email
Closure

24. THE US BUSINESS LANGUAGE: CLICHES
Best regards,
[Kind regards,]
[Regards,]
[Cheers,]
[Thank you,]
[Thanks,]
Olga
Signature

25. COMPONENT 2:TECHNOLOGY
1. Product knowledge (big clients like
Apple, Microsoft, Google)
2. CATTools (keeping up to date, ready to
learn);TMS (Translation Management
Systems)
3. Experience in translating the right type
of content

26. COMPONENT 2:TECHNOLOGY
CATTOOLS
1. Memsource – free edition (2 files max)
2. memoQ – free trial
3. SDL Trados Studio – free trial
4. Smartling – used by many clients in the US
5. Other online tools (Lilt, Lingotek,
Wordfast Anywhere, Matecat, Smartcat)

27. COMPONENT 2:TECHNOLOGY
TMS (TRANSLATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM)

28. COMPONENT 2:TECHNOLOGY
TYPE OF CONTENT
• Most common types of content: apps and
websites (IT segment)
• Most common specializations: UI (user
interface), Marketing, Support (Help), Legal
• How to gain experience: a) work for a local
translation agency (SLV); b) register on online
crowdsourcing platform (Transifex, Crowdin),
translate for free, gain experience, put it to your
resume.

29. COMPONENT 3: BUSINESS
BUILDING ONLINE PROFILE
• Identify top 10-20 LSPs (language service providers)
• Register your profile in their databases (example of
Moravia: https://www.moravia.com/en/company/partners/).
Own freelance database is always the first choice.
• Follow them on other platforms:
o LinkedIn
o Upwork
o TranslatorsCafe
o ProZ

30. COMPONENT 3: BUSINESS
BUILDING ONLINE PROFILE
• Detailed experience, type of content you translated
• Descriptive nominations of your clients (confidentiality)
• Skills - hard (CATTools, specialization in certain content
types) and soft (meeting deadlines, responsiveness)
• Credentials (degrees, certifications)
• Endorsements and Mentions (including clients reviews)
• Membership in professional associations, networking

31. COMPONENT 3: BUSINESS
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
1. Readiness to take unpaid tests (passing
the test and following the instructions)
2. Fitting the budget (price negotiation)
3. Responsiveness (replying as soon as
possible)
4. Reliability (meeting deadlines)
5. Keeping names of your clients
confidential

32. NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL
• Big Recruitment Paradox
• The US job market has its strict laws: your resume
should match the job description
• Client’s requirements can be very specific (e.g.:
loves music, or movies, or fitness; uses certain types
of software / apps)
• In-country vs out-of-country linguists

33. FINDINGYOUR NICHE: STRUCTURE OF INDUSTRY
DOES NOT FAVOR FREELANCERS
Source:The GeneralTheory of theTranslation Company
John Ritzdorf for Moravia

34. WHY CLIENTS AND GLOBAL LANGUAGE
PROVIDERS PREFERWORKINGWITHAGENCIES
PROS CONS
1. Efforts: it is easier to manage 1 agency,
instead of 2 freelancers
2. Money: it is less expensive to pay to 1
agency for Translation + Review, rather than
paying to 2 freelancers, one for Translation
and one for Review
3. Time Difference: by the time the
project manager in the US wakes up, the
agency already completed T + R
4. Backup Management: freelancers get
busy, get sick, go on vacation, get pregnant,
etc.; it is more convenient for the local agency
to do that
1. Lack of transparency (we cannot
guarantee that only resources who have
passed the tests are used)
2. For certain types of tasks (LQA, test
reviews) freelancers are better.

35. FINDINGYOUR NICHE: USE EXCEPTIONS
1) The industry is too fragmented
2) The economy is booming right
now, but not always
3) There are niches that local LSPs
cannot fill
Source: John Ritzdorf for Moravia

36. FINDINGYOUR NICHE:WHERE FREELANCERS ARE
BETTERTHANAGENCIES
• Working as a group
• LQA (evaluating language quality of Translation +
Review workflow)
• Transcreation
• Voice-over
• Review of tests
• Glossary, style guide, pronunciation guide creation,TM cleanup, testing

37. SENDYOUR QUESTIONSTO:
• Website: https://olgamelnikoff.com/
• LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgamelnikoff
• Email: olgamelnikoff@gmail.com