| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: If I got better paying clients I would: Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "If I got better paying clients I would:".
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629
| | | | | I would work the same! | Jul 24, 2007 |
I spend most of the day working, which is perfect for me. I preferred not work more because in that way, I wouldn’t make a balance between my job and my personal life. Of course, my income would raise with those better paying clients! Personally, I prefer to work at the same pace and deliver a good quality translation.
| | | | | Intermediate results: does this mean that only 1/4 are happy with what they earn? | Jul 24, 2007 |
From this perspective, I find it a bit sad.
I would work less and maintain my income.
I raised my rate last year and this is exactly what happened. Well, roughly. I lost some business, but gained some free time. How much is that worth?
Philippe
| | | | Steven Capsuto 
United States
Local time: 22:19
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| My answer's not there | Jul 24, 2007 |
I'd work slightly less and increase my income. I'd try to drop down to around a 36-hour week.
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Philippe Etienne wrote:
From this perspective, I find it a bit sad.
I would work less and maintain my income.
Philippe
I also find it sad - seems like there are still too many of our counterparts that are underpaid. Unless most of us are greedy and are happy to be rich and overworked...
Primarily, we work for money, I admit. But aren't we all doing our best to earn that revenue to ultimately buy ourselves a certain quality of life? If you have no free time but plenty of money, how can you call that a good quality of life?
When I invested in Dragon Naturally Speaking, I wanted to raise my productivity, not to earn a better revenue but rather to have more free time while I keep the same revenue. It makes sense to me - I wonder now if I am abnormal...
[Edited at 2007-07-24 16:48]
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I think that it would be great if I had better paying clients. The problem is that I would not like working more than I do nowadays, simply because I consider that I need time to study, attend courses and do everything I can to become a better translator.
| | | | | assumptions, assumptions | Jul 24, 2007 |
Viktoria Gimbe wrote:
I also find it sad - seems like there are still too many of our counterparts that are underpaid. Unless most of us are greedy and are happy to be rich and overworked...
Primarily, we work for money, I admit. But aren't we all doing our best to earn that revenue to ultimately buy ourselves a certain quality of life? If you have no free time but plenty of money, how can you call that a good quality of life?
When I invested in Dragon Naturally Speaking, I wanted to raise my productivity, not to earn a better revenue but rather to have more free time while I keep the same revenue. It makes sense to me - I wonder now if I am abnormal...
[Edited at 2007-07-24 16:48]
You make many assumptions Viktoria.
First of all, you're assuming that everyone is already working at full capacity or thereabouts. Previous polls have shown that this isn't the case. If you're only working at 75% capacity it's fairly natural that you'd want to work the same (or more!) even if your income/unit of time increases.
Secondly, you're assuming that just because people want to earn more money that means they're currently underpaid. That is not the case at all - just think of famous sportsmen who earn ridiculous amounts of money and readily acknowledge this, yet still haggle over a 10% increase in their weekly wage from $100,000 to $110,000.
Thirdly, it is a well-known fact that people work differently at different stages of their life. At 60, someone with grown-up children and a paid-off mortgage can afford to relax a little (or a lot!). At 30 that same person was probably working their socks off to prepare their finances for putting their kids through college while paying off the mortgage. People of different ages have very different priorities.
My answer to this is that I would work more until I reached a certain monthly income level at which point I would adjust my working hours/rates in such a way as to a) maintain my monthly income at that level and b) work as little as possible. I suspect that is the case for most people and the only difference is the target monthly income
| | | | | The elusive freedom of the freelancer | Jul 24, 2007 |
I would love to work less hours, but I do not have that freedom that some people mention. As a minimum, I have to do all the work that gets sent to me by my main client, and that occupies an extraordinary number of hours in a week most of the time already. On top of that, since I cannot only have one client, I have to accept the work from my other regular clients, even if I am extremely busy, otherwise I will lose them and only be left with the one client, which does not do.
In the ... See more I would love to work less hours, but I do not have that freedom that some people mention. As a minimum, I have to do all the work that gets sent to me by my main client, and that occupies an extraordinary number of hours in a week most of the time already. On top of that, since I cannot only have one client, I have to accept the work from my other regular clients, even if I am extremely busy, otherwise I will lose them and only be left with the one client, which does not do.
In the situation of having one main client, the subject of rates is meaningless. To alter my rates for that client takes lengthy negotiations, and I cannot put up my rates for the other regular clients, again for the reason that I cannot just be left with the one client.
There appears, therefore, to be no choice at the moment, but to work the prescribed amount of hours in a week for the prescribed amount of money.
Astrid ▲ Collapse
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| Agencies vs. end customers? | Jul 24, 2007 |
Astrid Elke Johnson wrote:
I would love to work less hours, but I do not have that freedom that some people mention. ...
I see your point. As I work only with agencies (98+%), I tend to forget that many translators work only with end customers, who may not enjoy the kind of flexibility agencies should have. Working with agencies makes it easier to just say "no, I am busy", because I know that they can always find another translator. And if not, well, there is my 50% mark-up option for night/WE jobs.
Anyway, I still believe that anybody can be replaced. The only issue lies in doing one's best to not be replaced permanently.
Good evening,
Philippe
| | | | | My goal is to earn as much as I can... | Jul 24, 2007 |
while maintaining a fair quality of life, which I already enjoy.
When I grow older I'd like to work less, and that's why I intend to earn as much as possible now and invest for later times.
Take care,
Andrés
| | | | Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 20:19
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Work as much as I can to get a better income.... | Jul 24, 2007 |
because I am a young man and I MUST take advantage of my knowledge and my age. I consider people should work as hard as possible from 15 to 50 years old. Then, it's convenient a change of rythm in job.
| | | | Irene N
United States
Local time: 21:19
English to Russian
+ ...
| There is no way to finish remodeling, only to call it off | Jul 25, 2007 |
Or
It is never enough until you say it's enough.
It is truly amusing to read young people plans to resolve it all at a specific age and expect to smell the roses from that moment on... I guess I did the same.
From gifts to grandkids to a leaking roof above the paid-off house, life keeps sucking money out of our pockets at a light speed until we kick the bucket:-). Life is always one step ahead. Plus, it would be really nice to arrive to the paradise on Eart... See more Or
It is never enough until you say it's enough.
It is truly amusing to read young people plans to resolve it all at a specific age and expect to smell the roses from that moment on... I guess I did the same.
From gifts to grandkids to a leaking roof above the paid-off house, life keeps sucking money out of our pockets at a light speed until we kick the bucket:-). Life is always one step ahead. Plus, it would be really nice to arrive to the paradise on Earth with some teeth left to chew on a hearty steak. Without a good training in priority setting from the start nothing will change with the age... except for the eyeglasses prescription:-).
When I pay off a major credit card after a major purchase I feel as rich as Sultan of Brunei. Next day the air conditioner goes even further south.... Still, I prefer not to postpone my life until retirement. Life IS a priority, and there are no 2 todays. I work no more than 8-9 months a year total and strive for less. ▲ Collapse
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1279 (X)
Local time: 22:19
| How does Dragon Naturally Speaking improve productivity? | Jul 25, 2007 |
"When I invested in Dragon Naturally Speaking, I wanted to raise my productivity..."
Viktoria:
You mentioned Dragon Naturally Speaking and it's a topic I'm quite curious about. I always see the ads and wonder how exactly it can help a translator be more productive.
Do you use it just for replying to emails, etc.? Or do you use it in translation as well? In my mind I can't imagine being a "smooth" enough translator to be able to just speak my translation as... See more "When I invested in Dragon Naturally Speaking, I wanted to raise my productivity..."
Viktoria:
You mentioned Dragon Naturally Speaking and it's a topic I'm quite curious about. I always see the ads and wonder how exactly it can help a translator be more productive.
Do you use it just for replying to emails, etc.? Or do you use it in translation as well? In my mind I can't imagine being a "smooth" enough translator to be able to just speak my translation as I read it and have it come out well. Do you find that it is hard to "play around" with translations when you are using the program?
I would love it if you (or anyone else out there!) would explain a bit more about how you use Dragon and how it makes you more productive!
Thanks,
Clare ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Off topic - DNS | Jul 25, 2007 |
Clare Corado wrote:
"When I invested in Dragon Naturally Speaking, I wanted to raise my productivity..."
Viktoria:
You mentioned Dragon Naturally Speaking and it's a topic I'm quite curious about. I always see the ads and wonder how exactly it can help a translator be more productive.
Do you use it just for replying to emails, etc.? Or do you use it in translation as well? In my mind I can't imagine being a "smooth" enough translator to be able to just speak my translation as I read it and have it come out well. Do you find that it is hard to "play around" with translations when you are using the program?
I would love it if you (or anyone else out there!) would explain a bit more about how you use Dragon and how it makes you more productive!
Thanks,
Clare
Hi Claire,
Since this is going off-topic slightly, maybe you'd be best looking for answers in the special forum that was created recently for Speech Recognition (see Technical Forums under Software and Internet) or opening a new thread there and calling Viktoria's attention to it. There is already quite a bit of info there that you'll probably find helpful.
I'm also interested in the response. I've just ordered DNS because of niggling wrist problems that are going to get worse if I don't act now.
Keep well
Deborah
[Edited at 2007-07-25 07:53]
| | | | | Work the same and earn more | Jul 25, 2007 |
Although that certainly doesn't mean that I'm not happy with what I earn now! On the contrary, I was the one who started this thread:
http://www.proz.com/post/501560#501560
I disagree that it's "sad" or "greedy" to want to earn more. I'm doing fine but I could still do better. There's also the fact that I actually like my work, and as I'm never likely to be rich enough to be able... See more Although that certainly doesn't mean that I'm not happy with what I earn now! On the contrary, I was the one who started this thread:
http://www.proz.com/post/501560#501560
I disagree that it's "sad" or "greedy" to want to earn more. I'm doing fine but I could still do better. There's also the fact that I actually like my work, and as I'm never likely to be rich enough to be able to not work at all *and* fill that 1/3 of my previously-working day with interesting, fulfilling things to do, day in, day out, working is as good a way as any to fill the time. ▲ Collapse
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