You can also download this edition of tranfree 69<\/i> as a PDF<\/a>.<\/P><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We had a longer than expected Easter break in Poland. Due to the Icelandic volcano ash plume in European airspace we had an extra week away. We considered driving back, but there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t much point when the ferries would have been so busy with all the other people who “have to be back at work on Monday”<\/i>. We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fancy driving all that way in our Polish Daewoo Lanos either. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good local runabout, but not so comfortable for really long journeys like that.<\/p>\n We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to be back at work on Monday. We had our computers with us and could work where we were if needed. So we awarded Tomek an extra week off school and elected to sit and wait in the comfort of our Polish house. This is an interesting application of the kind of freedom I will be talking about in this tranfree edition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s main article. Other people in more “normal”<\/i> jobs might been forced to make superhuman efforts to get back home quicker.<\/p>\n (If anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interested in butterflies, check out the photos in my photography blog<\/a> for some recent shots).<\/p>\n I hope you enjoy and benefit from tranfree <\/i> Alex Eames <\/p>\n <\/p>\n There seems to be a certain amount of confusion out there about what the term freelance<\/b> actually means. Misinterpretation of freelance translator<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n So let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s find out where the word came from. Looking up freelance on http:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/<\/a> gives…<\/p>\n So basically you are a warrior who will work for whoever pays the best.<\/b> 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?<\/b> Hmmm.\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nA lot of people have a very wrong attitude towards what it means to be a freelancer. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to be living the part, although they probably harbour, somewhere at the back of their imaginations, the dream of somehow being FREE. But they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually live it out. They feel enslaved to accept the rates and onerous terms, that anyone wielding a job tries to slap upon them.\n<\/p>\n \nNow it may be partly to do with fear, or inability to negotiate, but I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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 which is offered to you. You are FREE to set your own rates (the client is FREE to accept or reject them). You are FREE to work (or not) for anyone you choose. You are also FREE to persuade clients to accept your higher rates and that you are worth what you are asking for.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nBut you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be able to do that unless you truly believe it yourself.<\/b> In sales and marketing, a lot of importance is attached to your self-worth. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talked about a lot in marketing courses. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something very personal and it fluctuates during your life, according to your levels of confidence and your (often most recent) experiences. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a bit like a free market. Free to rise and fall according to changing times, circumstances and situations.\n<\/p>\n \nOne online portal has a facility letting translators apply to agencies by email. The subject line of those emails is automatically set to “application for a freelance position”. This could well be a linguistic error, but it also shows a lack of understanding of what freelance is. Freelance is a<\/b> position in the marketplace,<\/b> not a position in an organisation.<\/b> If you look at recruitment ads in newspapers or online, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll often say “position of marketing director” or “position of salesperson”. When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a freelancer, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a position in someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s company. You are not in their company. You are… What are you?\n<\/p>\n You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re FREE.<\/b> Remember the FREE in freelance! You are not ensnared or imprisoned or closely tied to an employer. So you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a position in the organisation. You are an outsider.\n<\/p>\n \nYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a freelancer, a FREE agent. You are FREE. That means you are FREE to accept or reject any terms, any payment levels, any projects – and let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s go further. You are also FREE to reject any crap from clients. If you decide “I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not taking that” you can say “bye bye. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not working for you any more. Get lost!” I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done it before. And believe me, people aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t used to it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We once did a project for a fairly large multi-national company, in the financial sector, working on press releases. It was over the weekend. It was a major announcement about the merger of two large financial companies. (I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give any more details in case you start trying to guess who it was). We had the chief executive of the Polish branch on the phone telling us how he wanted this translation done. To a small extent he was being helpful. But he was also being condescending, rude, arrogant and upsetting us. So in the end, one time he phoned and said “I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to speak to your wife please” and I said “well she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to speak to you because you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being rude and we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to accept work on these terms. So if you want to be like that, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re probably better off doing it yourself.” It was quite empowering to be able to say that because – let me tell you – chief execs of large multi-nationals (even the lowly national branch CEOs) are not used to being talked to like that. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very good for them. \ud83d\ude09\n<\/p>\n \nI did let him speak to my wife briefly after that. He was much more polite and friendly. When we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d finished the piece we were working on we decided not to take any more work on that project. He either did the rest of it himself or found somebody else he could bark at. What I said to my friends when I discussed it with them was “well he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chief executive of one company, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m chief executive of two companies.” There you go. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to think of yourself as the CEO of YOUR company, and<\/b> NOT as a low-life sub-contractor.<\/b> 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. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to see their kids from the time they get up – early in the morning to beat the rush hour traffic – to the time they come back late at night, if at all (perhaps they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to jet off overseas to a meeting)? They may not see their children for several days at a time, whereas YOU get to watch your kids grow up. YES. Many of them are envious of YOU. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you forget it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s empowering.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the difference between employment and freelancing? Well the difference is huge actually. Your client won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay you any benefits and won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deduct any of your taxes. They won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay any of your insurance or pension contributions. They won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give you any perks. You tell them how much you want them to pay. If it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too much, They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll negotiate or walk away.\n<\/p>\n \nA freelancer is a FREE agent – a separate business. You are your own person, an independent unit. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the FREE in freelance really means.<\/p>\n \nBut do you know what? Not everybody can handle the responsibilities that go with freedom.<\/b><\/p>\n “Freedom is a battle that must be fought and won each day” (Sartre).<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the ultimate performance-related pay, but not everybody can cope with it alone. Not everybody is cut out to be a business person. But don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry, help is at hand. <\/p>\n 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work with them. If it was a level that we could still make a decent profit on – by which I mean selling the translation for twice what I bought it for – then we went with them. We gave them what they asked for. And they were happy to take that money. Nobody was abused, nobody felt bad about it. It was profitable for both sides and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how ANY business transaction should be. If both sides don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t win – and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t profit from a transaction – that means one side is getting a raw deal, which is not sustainable and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work in the long term. <\/UL><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Alex Eames is the founder of translatortips.com<\/a>, How to Earn $80,000+ Per Year as a Freelance Translator<\/a>Editorial<\/H3><\/p>\n
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\n tranfree<\/i> editor, Author –
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\nHow to Earn $80,000+ per Year as a Freelance Translator<\/a> and
\nSelling Your Professional Services on the Web<\/a><\/p>\n
\nUnderstanding the FREE in Freelance<\/H2><\/p>\n
\n<\/P>
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/alexeames.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/free-lance-translator.gif\" "\\"free-lance-translator\\""){kind=spacer}
<\/a>
\nalso free lance, free-lance, “medieval mercenary warrior,”<\/b> 1820, from free + lance; apparently a coinage of Sir Walter Scott’s. Figurative sense is from 1864; specifically of journalism by 1882. Related: Freelancer. The verb is first attested 1903.<\/font>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWrong Attitude<\/H3><\/p>\n
Your Self-Worth Really Matters<\/H3><\/p>\n
Real-World Example<\/H3><\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\nEmployment VS Freelance<\/H3><\/p>\n
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\n<\/p>\nView From The Other Side<\/H3>
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\n<\/P>
\nLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s remember some of the other elements of being FREE – some of the best sides of being FREE.
\n<\/P>
\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m FREE to go and do my supermarket shopping or go to the gym in the middle of the day, any day of the week<\/b> if I want to. And that means I can choose the best time<\/b> to go, when it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not busy.
\n<\/P>
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\nSo are YOU,<\/b> but you may not have quite captured the “dream” yet. It isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just a dream though. It can be a reality. And for many people – 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. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where many people fall by the wayside. Some FREE lance warriors get defeated and captured in battle. But don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let that drag YOU down. You can do it.
\n<\/P><\/p>\n
\neditor of tranfree<\/i> and author of the eBooks…<\/p>\n
\nand<\/p>\n