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tranfree issue 44 - 19 December 2001

"Rates Erosion & Online Behaviour"

 

Welcome to issue 44 of tranfree - the newsletter for translators.

Warning for Hotmail subscribers

If you are subscribed to tranfree using a hotmail address, you should ensure that your mailbox is regularly emptied. Hotmail has recently reduced email box quotas. You can only have 2 Mb of emails stored at Hotmail. Could this be the precursor to a paid- for service do you think? If you want to have more, you'll have to pay?

Could be. But if you do not regularly empty yor Hotmail account, you will be automatically unsubscribed from tranfree after three consecutive failed deliveries.

This affects a large percentage of tranfree subscribers. I recommend you change your subscription to your dial-up email account to avoid this problem.

All you have to do is subscribe your new details by sending a blank email from your new account to subscribe@tranfree.com

...and unsubscribe your old account by sending an email to unsubscribe@tranfree.com (If you're a Spanish speaker, don't forget the B in [un]suBscribe)

 

Christmas is nearly upon us again. I'd like to wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year. If you don't celebrate Christmas - have a nice break anyway.

In How to Earn $80,000+ per Year as a Freelance Translator...

http://www.translatortips.net/ht50.html

...is an example letter we sent to prospective clients in 1996. This letter was sent to one particular client who "sat on it" for two years and then gave us a project worth $6,000. Well, another 3 years after that, we've just been given version 2 of that project, which is worth another $9,000. Hallelujah :)

So, it was a profitable letter. It generated $15,000 worth of work over a 5 year period. Now that's what I call a good return. But it was not immediate. We reap the profits of our labours, but not always immediately.

Enjoy and benefit from tranfree

Alex

Alex Eames
tranfree editor, Author -
How to Earn $80,000+ per Year as a Freelance Translator

 

 

This tranfree contains...

 

Star Letter

    Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 21:41:06 -0500
    To: tranmail@translatortips.net
    From: "Mark N. Moore" <mnmoore@*******.***>
    Subject: Tranmail

    I have only been working as a freelance translator for about 2 years. Once I got out of school I didn't really know how to get started, but I found your book and tranmail and gave them a try. I began to get a small amount of work, but naturally it was kind of slow the first year. Then it all suddenly turned around at once and I now have more work than I know how to deal with.

    I'd like to give myself a little credit for my translation skills, and my wife lots of credit for supporting us until the work started flowing, but all the rest (i.e. getting the work in the first place) I can directly attribute to your book and list. Thanks very much

    Best regards,
    Mark Moore

Thanks Mark. Glad to see that your hard work is paying off


translatortips.com product URLs are as follows...


eBook How to Earn $80,000+ per Year as a Freelance Translator

http://www.translatortips.net/ht50.html

tranmail - system for applying for work by email at 1800+ translation agencies around the world (Newly Updated)

http://www.translatortips.net/tranmail.html

Alex Eames, tranfree editor

 

    This tranfree's Feature Articles...

  1. Rates Erosion - How to Tackle it - Alex Eames
  2. The Internet and the Translation Market - Glyn Haggett
  3. Are You a Professional or an Idiot? - Alex Eames

 

 

Add A tranfree Signup Box Competition

I am keen to get as many of you as possible who have your own web sites to put a tranfree signup box on your web site.

To encourage you all to do this we are holding a monthly prize draw for everyone who does. This is in addition to the linkers free prize draw. So you can double your chances of winning if you do both

Each month, all those people who have put a tranfree signup box on their own website (and let me know about it) will go into a ballot and the winner gets a FREE translatortips® product of their choice from the following...

This edition's winner is Sean McClelland - please contact me within the next 3 months to claim your prize from the above selection.

If you wish to put a tranfree signup box on your site you can find instructions at the bottom of this edition.

 

 

Translation Joke

I am going to try to make this joke come off on the written screen. It really should be spoken to get the full comic effect. Also, it is quite funny in Portuguese (with a Portuguese fall guy and a Brazilian taxi driver).

Here goes...

A backwoods midwesterner, Delbert, went on a trip to Berlin. As the plane was landing, he realized that he had no idea how to speak German. On the plane and then at customs, everybody spoke English, so there was no problem. But then Delbert got to the taxi line. He had to fight back the panic. When it was his turn, he got in a cab, took a deep breath and said, very pausedly, "Ho... tel..."

The cab driver gave a thumbs up sign and drove off to the nearest hotel. Then Delbert said, very deliberately, "Please... wait... for... me..."

The cab driver gave another thumbs up and waited. When Delbert got back, he said, "Res... taur... ant... please..."

Off the cab driver went to a restaurant. Delbert thought it was time to start getting more friendly. He said, "I... sure... am... glad... you... un... der... stand... me..."

The cabby said, "My... dear... fel... low... I... am... from... Lon... don..."

Delbert was amazed. "Then... why... on... earth... are... we... talk... ing... to... each... oth... er... in... Ger... man...?"

Contributed by Michael Stuart Kelly

 

***End of issue 44***