Assistance needed in marketing an English to Irish website
Thread poster: Davidj (X)
Davidj (X)
Davidj (X)  Identity Verified

Local time: 05:04
English to Irish
+ ...
Jun 16, 2012

Hello,

I've recently started an English to Irish translation service and have received few clients despite the large number of visits. I'm not certified at the moment, but I'm In the progress of earning a certification. Do any of you have suggestions that I could use to attract costumers in the meantime?

Sincerely,

DavidJ

[Edited at 2012-06-16 06:17 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-06-16 06:18 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-06-16 06:26 GMT]

[Edited at
... See more
Hello,

I've recently started an English to Irish translation service and have received few clients despite the large number of visits. I'm not certified at the moment, but I'm In the progress of earning a certification. Do any of you have suggestions that I could use to attract costumers in the meantime?

Sincerely,

DavidJ

[Edited at 2012-06-16 06:17 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-06-16 06:18 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-06-16 06:26 GMT]

[Edited at 2012-06-16 06:28 GMT]
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Post removed: This post was hidden by a moderator or staff member because it was not in line with site rule
Emma Goldsmith
Emma Goldsmith  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 10:04
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
A few suggestions Jun 16, 2012

A few initial thoughts about your website (by the way, you need to remove the full stop at the end of your link to get it to work).

- The standard handshake photo in the header puts me off immediately. You need a logo or a photo of yourself, your desk, anything to show there's a real person behind this site.
- The voice recorded samples are a great new idea. I've never seen this before. I'm not sure if there's much of a market for voice recorded translations, but it's certainl
... See more
A few initial thoughts about your website (by the way, you need to remove the full stop at the end of your link to get it to work).

- The standard handshake photo in the header puts me off immediately. You need a logo or a photo of yourself, your desk, anything to show there's a real person behind this site.
- The voice recorded samples are a great new idea. I've never seen this before. I'm not sure if there's much of a market for voice recorded translations, but it's certainly an interesting area to explore.
- "Why choose us" section. I think you need to offer better reasons for choosing you than just "Able to provide correct contexts involving verb tenses" etc. That's the least I would expect of a translator. And if there's just one of you, I would avoid using "we" and "us" on your site.
- "Computer based translator". I'm a computer-based translator myself, if that means someone who bases their work on a computer. Do you mean Machine Translation?
- "About" section. I think it's important for a potential client to really get to know you here. An enthusiastic student of the Irish Language called David doesn't give me much confidence. If you're going to use your name (and I would certainly recommend it) then use your full name. If you're a student, then what exactly are you studying and where are you doing it?
- Get rid of the typos. "Causal letters" "costumer" ...
- I think a professional website warrants its own domain. Buy your own domain and get rid of the Weebly bit in your website address.

Last but not least, if you've only set up the website and business a couple of weeks ago then don't be too hard on yourself. Allow at least 6 months of active marketing to see how things go.

Good luck!
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Davidj (X)
Davidj (X)  Identity Verified

Local time: 05:04
English to Irish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Assistance needed in marketing an English to Irish website Jun 16, 2012

Thank you for your honest feedback :}. I appreciate it!

David


 
Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04
Hebrew to English
Iron out the wrinkles Jun 16, 2012

...such as the odd spelling mistake and random capitalisation. Your website is your billboard and you can't afford a single spelling mistake.

Also, I'm not sure it's best to describe yourself thus:
"Irish Translation Services Online was founded on June, 6, 2012 by an enthusiastic student of the Irish Language"
...maybe it's just me, but it's probably not the best idea to describe yourself as a "student" of the language if you are trying to translate it professionally. (I
... See more
...such as the odd spelling mistake and random capitalisation. Your website is your billboard and you can't afford a single spelling mistake.

Also, I'm not sure it's best to describe yourself thus:
"Irish Translation Services Online was founded on June, 6, 2012 by an enthusiastic student of the Irish Language"
...maybe it's just me, but it's probably not the best idea to describe yourself as a "student" of the language if you are trying to translate it professionally. (I understand what you're saying though, we are all still students of our source (and target even!) languages, but for marketing purposes I don't think it's advisable).

I also think some of the content of your website is great for linguists and language enthusiasts (illustrations of verbs in Irish, quirks of Irish grammar), which is really interesting to someone like me, but most clients aren't people like me. Usually, they neither know nor care one iota about the wonders of languages. Again, I know you are trying to illustrate your in-depth knowledge of Irish, to incentivise them to hire you, but maybe you're going about it in a too technical way.
You could achieve the same thing by posting a few sentences of machine translated Irish Gaelic and then provide your own translation (what is SHOULD be) highlighting why MT just can't handle the complexities of the Irish language and implying that by skimping on translation and using MT will place their translation in jeopardy.

I'd also enhance your "Services" page. You explain HOW to acquire your services but you don't explain WHAT your services are. Do you provide just translation? Proofreading? Localization? Do you have your own payment terms? BTW if you're going to use Paypal for invoicing be aware they take a hefty chunk!

Have a look around ProZ, look at other people's websites. Identify what you are missing in yours. Be a magpie, if you see something you like the look of, "steal" it (not verbatim, that won't win you any friends!) but adapt it to your website to work for you.
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Davidj (X)
Davidj (X)  Identity Verified

Local time: 05:04
English to Irish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Assistance needed in marketing an English to Irish website Jun 16, 2012

You're absolutely right! I should not describe myself as a student in this context. I'll begin the corrections right away.

David


 
Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04
Hebrew to English
Another thing to try.......... Jun 16, 2012

Look in the advanced directory for your language pair. Look at their websites, get ideas from people working in the same market as you.

Have you tried talking to any of them?


 
Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04
Hebrew to English
Market size Jun 16, 2012

Another reason why you might not have received many clients since launching your website is simply the size of the English>Irish translation market. I imagine it's not that large and probably doesn't see the same traffic that other languages (Spanish, French, German, Portuguese) do.

This is where and why I think contact with other translators working in the same pair and direction will be invaluable as only they will have the specific insights relevant to your situation and
... See more
Another reason why you might not have received many clients since launching your website is simply the size of the English>Irish translation market. I imagine it's not that large and probably doesn't see the same traffic that other languages (Spanish, French, German, Portuguese) do.

This is where and why I think contact with other translators working in the same pair and direction will be invaluable as only they will have the specific insights relevant to your situation and might be able to advise you better with your marketing, where to target your marketing, how to tailor it to clients etc.
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Neil Cross
Neil Cross
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:04
Member (2006)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Gaeilge Jun 16, 2012

A Dháibhí, a chara,

One thing I noticed is that you’ve misspelled Gaeilge on the front page (in the link to ‘The importance of Irish Geailge’). It’s obviously just a typo, but it might create a bad impression.

If I wished to be hyper-picky, I might say that ‘Irish Gaeilge’ is a pleonasm, since Gaeilge can only refer to the Irish form of Gaelic (as you know, Scottish Gaelic would be ‘Gàidhlig’, and the Manx variety ‘Gaelg’ or ‘Gailck’). I under
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A Dháibhí, a chara,

One thing I noticed is that you’ve misspelled Gaeilge on the front page (in the link to ‘The importance of Irish Geailge’). It’s obviously just a typo, but it might create a bad impression.

If I wished to be hyper-picky, I might say that ‘Irish Gaeilge’ is a pleonasm, since Gaeilge can only refer to the Irish form of Gaelic (as you know, Scottish Gaelic would be ‘Gàidhlig’, and the Manx variety ‘Gaelg’ or ‘Gailck’). I understand, though, why you would want to include both Irish and Gaeilge, so perhaps you could say ‘Irish (Gaeilge)’ or ‘Gaeilge (Irish)’. Just a suggestion, and I apologise for letting my translator’s pedantry get the better of me!

Anyway, all the very best for your new venture. Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat!

Is mise le meas,

Níall
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 09:04
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Irish to English? Jun 16, 2012

Hi,

I wonder how many of your visitors were actually interested in Irish to English translations, so went away disappointed. I see that you don't offer this pair, even though you are actually an English native speaker rather than Irish. If you look at the website in conjunction with your ProZ.com profile (which may or may not be what prospective clients do), then I suspect clients may be wondering if you are the best for the job:

You are translating into a language you
... See more
Hi,

I wonder how many of your visitors were actually interested in Irish to English translations, so went away disappointed. I see that you don't offer this pair, even though you are actually an English native speaker rather than Irish. If you look at the website in conjunction with your ProZ.com profile (which may or may not be what prospective clients do), then I suspect clients may be wondering if you are the best for the job:

You are translating into a language you have only been studying for 7 years;
You don't live in Ireland (your profile says GMT-4), although I gather you live in the US, where that language is spoken by a good few (but probably not as their main language);
You have no qualifications of any kind stated, whether in terms of language skills, translation-specific skills or related to your areas of specialisation.

I also have to say I find your "services" page very confusing:
"Provides detailed Information concerning the context of each inquiry to help the client better understand their translations" - shouldn't the client be providing information about the context to you, so you can give the best translation?
"Provides numerous translations for each inquiry" - ??? This sounds bizarre. Do they have to pay for 10 translations and then pick the one they want? How do they decide which is best? Isn't that your job?
"Provides sound files for each work order to help the client better understand their translations" - I don't really understand how that helps, but it could be a selling point in some cases, I suppose. On the other hand, aren't they again paying for something they don't necessarily need?

Sheila
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Davidj (X)
Davidj (X)  Identity Verified

Local time: 05:04
English to Irish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Assistance needed in marketing an English to Irish website Jun 17, 2012

Thank you all for your helpful comments. Sometimes one only thinks within their own perspective :}. I'll start correcting the website immediately.

sincerely,

David Joyce


 


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