| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | How can I raise my rate? Thread poster: Bárbara Hammerle López-Francos
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Verena Schmidt (X) 
Germany
Local time: 04:07
English to German
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| Are you serious? | Apr 16, 2013 |
Please don't take this the wrong way, but you are hurting the industry and yourself with such rates.
Whenever I receive an application from a translator in this price category, it goes straight to the trash as I can't take this seriously. I always think that there must be a reason for such low rates (low quality, lack of professionalism, self-confidence, marketing issues etc. etc.).
Such prices really have a negative impact on your image.
I also have to ... See more Please don't take this the wrong way, but you are hurting the industry and yourself with such rates.
Whenever I receive an application from a translator in this price category, it goes straight to the trash as I can't take this seriously. I always think that there must be a reason for such low rates (low quality, lack of professionalism, self-confidence, marketing issues etc. etc.).
Such prices really have a negative impact on your image.
I also have to go for a walk now ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Another truth in the industry | Apr 16, 2013 |
If you use low rates, you are considered cheap in all respects. Use higher rates, and people will start taking you seriously.
Of course if you charge a rate in the high end, you have to live up to that expectation in terms of responsiveness and quality, but that is another story.
| | | | | Raise your rates dramatically ... and do it today! | Apr 16, 2013 |
Dear Barbara,
With your 20-year experience and background, you should charge at least €0.08-0.10. Let me guess your current situation:
• None of you existing clients has ever complained that your rates are rather high compared to what they generally pay to other translators in your language pair and/or subject domain.
• You haven't raised your rates in several (20?) years.
• You are hardly coping with the workload, churning out translations (60, 70, ... See more Dear Barbara,
With your 20-year experience and background, you should charge at least €0.08-0.10. Let me guess your current situation:
• None of you existing clients has ever complained that your rates are rather high compared to what they generally pay to other translators in your language pair and/or subject domain.
• You haven't raised your rates in several (20?) years.
• You are hardly coping with the workload, churning out translations (60, 70, 80...) hours per week, but you are still struggling to make ends meet.
Why you should raise your rates? When you increase your rates:
(1) You get a chance to work smarter, not harder. You have more time to market your services, to learn new skills, to spend with your family... You can afford buying a new PC or a CAT tool...
(2) You can be more selective in what translation projects you want to take on, and what clients you want to work for.
(3) It fattens your wallet. You can put aside money for sick days, retirement, travel... And you can afford to stay in bed when you are sick, instead of having to punch your keyboard late at night.
(4) Your clients respect you and your time much more if you charge (relatively) high rates. First, it's general perception that quality does not come cheap, although it may not be your case. Second, higher rates imply higher commitment to quality and higher investment into your knowledge and skills. On the contrary, having rates that are too low can lose you some clients who are well aware how much translation talent can cost them. Even worse, the clients that you lose for this reason are likely to be the ones you’d rather keep, while the bottom-feeding agencies may not be so pleasant to work with.
Granted, you are most likely to lose all your existing clients. Therefore, I am not offering any advice on how to deal with existing clients when it's time to raise your rates. It's a different story altogether.
You should start offering new rates to each new client as of today, while grandfathering your existing clients (that is, retaining the current rate for them) until you can afford to drop them. This way you should be able to maintain and gradually improve your bottom line without harming any existing client relationship until you have secured a nicer place under the sun. As a precaution, you may offer different rates, e.g. €0.06, €0.07, €0.08, to different clients depending on your gut feeling as to your future with each one of them (interesting projects, great project managers, etc.).
As you have obviously seen from your previous experience, clients are unlikely to offer you premium rates on their own initiative. However, they may well accept them if you quote them. As they say, if you don't ask, you don't get.
You have to be patient. I am absolutely confident there are clients that will recognize reliability, quality, responsiveness, but it will take time and effort on your part to identify them and win them over.
Re-focus your freelance translation business around better clients. You will eventually be able to take on less work at higher prices and focus on the value that you bring to your clients rather than competing with others for bottom-feeders.
Don't wait any more, just do it right now! It's high time to finally start making the money you deserve to make.
P.S. Certainly, raising rates might not be a viable option in the long term, if any of the points below are applicable to you (I understand it is not the case, though:)):
• You are not eager to do the things that make the client appreciate that you are worth every cent you charge.
• You are not confident enough in the service and value your clients get for their money. If you have trouble seeing yourself as the top gun, it’s rather unlikely your clients would see you as one either.
• You are sloppy in your work (missed deadlines, slow response, typos, you name it).
[Edited at 2013-04-16 18:09 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 22:07
Spanish to English
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| I was earning twice as much per word... | Apr 16, 2013 |
back in 1993 and at that time I had zero experience.
[Edited at 2013-04-16 19:19 GMT]
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Audra deFalco (X)
United States
Local time: 22:07
Italian to English
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Bárbara Hammerle López-Francos wrote:
Hi,
I am a freelance translator, working for several european translation agencies. My current rate is 0.025 - 0.03 EURO/ word, and as I can see in that forum, this rate is clearly too low. My idea now is to raise my rate up to 0.04 EURO / word. I think this is still a rather competitive rate for the agencies.
My question is now, how can I tell the agencies that I would like to raise my rates. Has somebody experience on that?
Many thanks in advance!
Is this real?! No disrespect (but this honestly hurts me deep down)... but you need to be asking no less than .10 eur per word with your qualifications and background. You are a published scholar with a PhD and 20 years of experience in this industry. I know it's hard but you need to grow a backbone. You will find (and this seems counterproductive) that once you raise your rates to those befitting of a professional such as yourself, you will attract a better, more well-informed and all around easier to deal with clientele. Lots of clients (the good ones, so to speak) are wary of translators who work for such low rates. I know I would be!
Stop accepting work from these agencies or slowly phase them out and raise your rates immediately. Like as of yesterday immediately.
[Edited at 2013-04-16 18:44 GMT]
| | | | | don't always charge the same rates. | Apr 16, 2013 |
Start charging according to the text/project. They are not all the same, are they?
There must be at least one project that will give you the opportunity to start applying higher rates immediately.
Yes, we charge per word, but how much work is behind one word? How much time spent on research etc.....you have to get paid for your time and skills/knowledge, just like every professional is paid for theirs.
And at these low rates, NO further discounts.
You're running a busi... See more Start charging according to the text/project. They are not all the same, are they?
There must be at least one project that will give you the opportunity to start applying higher rates immediately.
Yes, we charge per word, but how much work is behind one word? How much time spent on research etc.....you have to get paid for your time and skills/knowledge, just like every professional is paid for theirs.
And at these low rates, NO further discounts.
You're running a business, the object is: profit.
There are plenty of agencies out there.
Start increasing your rates, if your current agencies like the way you work they'll come back to you even with higher rates (they might try to convince you otherwise, but don't let them frighten you in any way). If they don't want to pay, well...NEXT customer please.
You only show them you are smarter and more business savvy than they thought you are.
In the meantime, look for new clients, which should be a weekly, if not a daily task.
[Edited at 2013-04-16 19:28 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Unbelievable indeed | Apr 16, 2013 |
€0.04 is still a very low rate even for the Spanish agencies. For years, lots of translators through associations and our day to day work have been making efforts to promote sustainable and professional rates for professional work, only to see someone asking how to raise her rates from 0.025 to 0.04 after a 20-year carrier! This is so frustrating and sad.
[Edited at 2013-04-16 20:44 GMT]
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 22:07
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| Marketing to a new class of clients | Apr 16, 2013 |
Bárbara Hammerle López-Francos wrote:
Hi,
I am a freelance translator, working for several european translation agencies. My current rate is 0.025 - 0.03 EURO/ word, and as I can see in that forum, this rate is clearly too low. My idea now is to raise my rate up to 0.04 EURO / word. I think this is still a rather competitive rate for the agencies.
My question is now, how can I tell the agencies that I would like to raise my rates. Has somebody experience on that?
Many thanks in advance!
First, it's unlikely you will be able to raise your rates with your existing clients. Those who pay such prices are probably one of many in a chain of suppliers and simply don't have the room in their costs. They are in a low-paying category of client.
What you need to do, immediately, is find better paying clients. They are here, on this site, but not on the job board. Go through the BlueBoard and find clients that are highly rated, for starters. You can also go to the different corporate associations that agencies are members of - check out www.euatc.org for example.
Don't think of "raising" your rates, think of "setting" your rates. You can safely begin by checking out the "rates" section of this site ( http://search.proz.com/employers/rates ) and don't offer anything less than the "minimum" - rather start at the "standard" and work up from there.
It will take a little time, but you should aim to develop a clientele of this type of client. As you find yourself busy with better paying work you will be in a position to tell your existing clients of your new rates. Many will drop you, but you might find some will accept the higher rate - which will mean that you've been leaving money on the table before then!
[Edited at 2013-04-17 02:42 GMT]
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 04:07
Spanish to English
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| Cloud cuckoo | Apr 17, 2013 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
Bárbara Hammerle López-Francos wrote:
My current rate is 0.025 - 0.03 EURO/ word, and [m]y idea now is to raise my rate up to 0.04 EURO / word.
Raising to EUR 0.04 is not worth it. You should raise to at least EUR 0.07 or so.
With the economic crisis and fierce competition from Spanish-speaking countries outside Europe (particularly one beginning with "A"), very few people translating into Spanish can manage to get 7 cents a word from agencies nowadays. Many translators find themselves obliged to work for 4 or 5 cents, although anything less does seem unacceptable.
The comparison with other languages is also a false premise: rates for German have always been higher and how some of my French colleagues manage to charge rates of 10-15 cents still never ceases to baffle me.
Other than informing her current clients that her rates will be going up (to 4 0r 5 cents) as of a certain date and sticking to her guns, even if it means losing these clients, the only solution I can see for this asker is to gradually seek new clients, if possible directly rather through agencies, but don't ask me how to achieve it - all mine just sort of gravitated towards me by word of mouth.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 04:07
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Cloud cuckoo | Apr 17, 2013 |
neilmac wrote:
Samuel Murray wrote:
Bárbara Hammerle López-Francos wrote:
My current rate is 0.025 - 0.03 EURO/ word, and [m]y idea now is to raise my rate up to 0.04 EURO / word.
Raising to EUR 0.04 is not worth it. You should raise to at least EUR 0.07 or so.
Very few people translating into Spanish can manage to get 7 cents a word from agencies nowadays. Many translators find themselves obliged to work for 4 or 5 cents, although anything less does seem unacceptable.
My point is that breaking your head over an extra cent is unproductive. I deliberately avoided being part of the "oh, raise it to at least 0.15, my dear" lot when I wrote my answer. Different rates apply to different countries and different languages, and that is fine by me.
| | | | | There are different translation markets in each country | Apr 17, 2013 |
neilmac wrote:
With the economic crisis and fierce competition from Spanish-speaking countries outside Europe (particularly one beginning with "A"), very few people translating into Spanish can manage to get 7 cents a word from agencies nowadays. Many translators find themselves obliged to work for 4 or 5 cents, although anything less does seem unacceptable.
For everyone freelance translator charging $0.08/word there’s a colleague charging $0.12/word and another charging $0.04/word. Quite a few translators in Moscow work for local agencies for $0.03-0.04/word. Yet, there are others who are very busy working for $0.10-0.12/word for overseas clients, whether agencies or direct ones.
Many of you have heard and read about the "Good, Fast & Cheap - pick two" dilemma faced by translation clients. From my own experience, when the law firm I work for has to outsource some overflow translation work to Moscow-based translation agencies, it may often get an inferior translation later than originally agreed, at a rather steep price, i.e. the above formula would look like "Poor, Slow & Expensive".
For this reason, skilled legal translators are in high demand and hard to find (most of them are unavailable for any additional freelance work).
I do think there are translators in Spain and even in "Spanish-speaking countries outside Europe (particularly one beginning with "A")" with the experience, expertise and skills similar to Barbara's who manage to get more than €0.07/word.
Barbara, decently-paying clients may be hard to find, but they do exist and this is the way to go... In the mean time, raise your rates to €0.05 for existing clients and start offering €0.07 to new clients. As soon as you get a new client (or a couple of them) willing to work with you at €0.07/word, start offering €0.08 to all subsequent new clients, and so on.... If they balk, consider lowering the rate but do not go below €0.07/word.
[Edited at 2013-04-17 13:26 GMT]
| | | | | Many thanks! | Apr 18, 2013 |
Many thanks to everybody for your helpful comments and advice!
I will definitely set higher rates now!!!
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Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 21:07
Greek to English
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| Very difficult | Apr 19, 2013 |
With your rate at 0.03, you have already put yourself in a specific category, the "low price" category.
You see, when you are at 0.08, it's easy to ask 0.09 for some more difficult or demanding jobs. That's because in the mind of your project manager, 0.08 and 0.09 are in the same "category".
From where you are right now (0.03), it'll be almost impossible to go to a reasonable taxable professional level of, let's say, 0.07 at least (as a minimum). You'll have to stick t... See more With your rate at 0.03, you have already put yourself in a specific category, the "low price" category.
You see, when you are at 0.08, it's easy to ask 0.09 for some more difficult or demanding jobs. That's because in the mind of your project manager, 0.08 and 0.09 are in the same "category".
From where you are right now (0.03), it'll be almost impossible to go to a reasonable taxable professional level of, let's say, 0.07 at least (as a minimum). You'll have to stick to your category and go up to 0.04 or 0.05 max., with your current clients.
My guess is that you can't exceed 0.05 with your current clients for at least two years (that's two decades experience talking), so you'll have to find new clients and start from a higher rate with them.
It's all "perception". Some of your current clients may be also working with 0.08 translators when you are not around, and you just don't know it. These people earn twice as much... so, if you' re making 20K per year, they' re making 40K (or 37K net, to account for tax differences). In the mind of the project manager, a translator that stayed at 0.08 for the last five years, is easier to handle than you, if you decide to "increase your rates by a scandalous 50% all the way up to 0.045".
To the project manager, the 0.08 guy is steady and modest, but if you decide to "increase by 50% to 0.045", that's too daring, audacious... (!) - perceptions rule.
That is why the vast majority of new translators quit after only a few months: they start with a very low price that they can't increase... there's no steady salary, no benefits, no vacations, no insurance, no advancement, nothing to put in your resume for your experience, and no proof of your work without violating confidentiality agreements. You' re just a "temporary worker paid by the piece" that they fire as soon as the project is over. This job is a terrible deal if you have low rates.
[Edited at 2013-04-19 05:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kate Tomkins
Local time: 03:07
Member (2012)
German to English
| University Graduate | Apr 19, 2013 |
A highly qualified medical translator with 20 years of experience earning EUR 18,000 a year (assuming you translate 2500 a day and take the weekends off) - not really worth all that hard work and studying!
I hope you manage to get some good new clients soon and can charge what you are worth.
| | | | Verena Schmidt (X)
Germany
Local time: 04:07
English to German
+ ...
| With your background... | Apr 19, 2013 |
...you should charge well above 0.10 EUR (new clients, of course).
0.07 or 0.08 EUR for a highly-specialized translator? No way.
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