Translation agency databases - good investment or waste of money? Thread poster: Clare Forder
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Hello,
I've seen that it is possible to purchase databases of translation agency details so that you can contact as many people are possible without having to trawl the internet to collect the information yourself. Are these databases a) genuine, and b) worth the investment? I am wary of paying out for such things when ultimately I could get the info myself even though it would take a considerable amount of time to do so. Has anyone actually done this and been successful? Thank... See more Hello,
I've seen that it is possible to purchase databases of translation agency details so that you can contact as many people are possible without having to trawl the internet to collect the information yourself. Are these databases a) genuine, and b) worth the investment? I am wary of paying out for such things when ultimately I could get the info myself even though it would take a considerable amount of time to do so. Has anyone actually done this and been successful? Thanks for your comments! ▲ Collapse
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| Never will such a list be complete | Nov 6, 2006 |
Clare Forder wrote:
ultimately I could get the info myself
So, why would you pay for it, then? I think that for the people selling such "databases", it is just an extra source of income - and unfortunately, too many people get fooled.
In my opinion, they can't be better than a good ol' directory search on ProZ combined with a Google search with such terms as "language service provider"+canada.
If you buy it, let us know. However, judging from the number of references per country, they are far from having a complete list. I wouldn't pay $30 to get info on 80 agencies... I can pick up much more than that by myself. It's another question if I really want to contact them all... They don't all have a good reputation.
[Edited at 2006-11-06 07:36]
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 03:23
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Good investment | Nov 6, 2006 |
Clare Forder wrote:
Are these databases a) genuine, and b) worth the investment?
The ones I know of, appear to be genuine, yes. They seem to be a good investment if they're not too outdated and if you use the correctly. I have no personal experience using one, though (I simply repeat what I've heard).
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Sanjay Ray
India
Local time: 06:53
Member (2002)
English to Bengali
+ ...
| It is a good investment | Nov 7, 2006 |
When I started as freelance translator I did not have money to invest so I invested my time and over a period of 6 years I collecetd emails of about 1000 agencies and I continue to search. I send my CV only once or maximum 2 times. It works for me. I think for a new translator it is a cheaper option and whatever people says, it works. I could sell the databse also but I did not do that. I think once you send your cv to an agency they keep you in their database and very often they contact you. ... See more When I started as freelance translator I did not have money to invest so I invested my time and over a period of 6 years I collecetd emails of about 1000 agencies and I continue to search. I send my CV only once or maximum 2 times. It works for me. I think for a new translator it is a cheaper option and whatever people says, it works. I could sell the databse also but I did not do that. I think once you send your cv to an agency they keep you in their database and very often they contact you. I often get jobs from agencies whom I sent my CV 2 years back.
So you need to invest either time or money. And one more point, never send spams. Tell them it is an onetime mail and never put any CV as attachment. No body opens that and your mail mey be deleted without opening. ▲ Collapse
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| How much is your time worth? | Nov 10, 2006 |
Clare Forder wrote:
Hello,
I've seen that it is possible to purchase databases of translation agency details so that you can contact as many people are possible without having to trawl the internet to collect the information yourself. Are these databases a) genuine, and b) worth the investment? I am wary of paying out for such things when ultimately I could get the info myself even though it would take a considerable amount of time to do so. Has anyone actually done this and been successful? Thanks for your comments!
I would imagine that it is impossible to generalize. I purchased a database of French agencies (I work F>E and live in France) for about 35 euros, and from the hundreds of agencies (good and bad, many with comments) I have at least two good customers.
In theory I could have researched much of the information myself, but I would have spent dozens of hours doing so, equivalent to dozens of times the price of the list.
Regards
David
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| If it is good value... | Nov 10, 2006 |
Viktoria Gimbe wrote:
[So, why would you pay for it, then?
If you can obtain useful information at a lower cost than doing it yourself, of course. Agency information searches take time and, if you're charging a reasonable rate for your time in your translation work, soon become expensive in equivalent cost.
regards
David
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Sanjay Ray
India
Local time: 06:53
Member (2002)
English to Bengali
+ ...
| Can I do more with my database? | Nov 15, 2006 |
Hi,
During the last few years I have collected a large no of email id's of agencies. I use this list to send my resume once/twice a year. Now I see people are selling databases in internet. My question is is it Ok to sell database, would it not be considered as spam or assisting in spam? The agencies might not like to receive unsolicited mails. What is sure is that I have benefitted from my database. What do you think about it?
Ostom
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Kevin Zhang
China
Local time: 09:23
English to Chinese
+ ...
| I don't think it is a good investment. | Nov 17, 2006 |
Though it can be said in some way that information resource is a kind of wealth, I still don't believe it. What you need is the agency suitable for you instead of every agency. Anyway, this is only my idea. Please feel free to try. Remember to share your experience, thx. ^_^
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| Why buy a database when your ProZ membership already bought you one? | Feb 14, 2007 |
The blueboard might not be complete (although... I have not seen what the databases come up with), but it offers all the data you need to approach them, not even talking about the ratings from colleagues.
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