Advertising on Yellow Pages- is it worthwhile for translators ?
Thread poster: Tim Drayton
Tim Drayton
Tim Drayton  Identity Verified
Cyprus
Local time: 13:51
Turkish to English
+ ...
Jan 16, 2002

Hi,

I would like to exchange views with other professionals about the benefits of taking display advertising in the Yellow Pages.

I am located in England, and last year I placed fairly large display ads (30-45mm) in 3 Yellow Pages directories here. The response was truly appalling - only 2 enquiries, of which one resulted in a one-page job.

I would be interested to know other people\'s experiences of advertising through this medium, both in England and elsewhere. Do
... See more
Hi,

I would like to exchange views with other professionals about the benefits of taking display advertising in the Yellow Pages.

I am located in England, and last year I placed fairly large display ads (30-45mm) in 3 Yellow Pages directories here. The response was truly appalling - only 2 enquiries, of which one resulted in a one-page job.

I would be interested to know other people\'s experiences of advertising through this medium, both in England and elsewhere. Does anybody believe it to be worthwhile?

[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-01-17 07:56 ]

[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-01-17 07:59 ]
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ttagir
ttagir  Identity Verified
Local time: 14:51
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
Results are pessimistic Jan 16, 2002

I am sure that all YP is something invented for editors/publishers to have their (our?) money. In Net the situation is even more pessimistic. Would somebody try to find almost wife (which is equal to the situation when you have to find translator for court hearings, or international contract, or letter to your love somewhere on the over end of the world) on ... Yellow Pages? I am sure in your negative answer.

For translation of a short instruction to baby\'s doll YP are good to find a
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I am sure that all YP is something invented for editors/publishers to have their (our?) money. In Net the situation is even more pessimistic. Would somebody try to find almost wife (which is equal to the situation when you have to find translator for court hearings, or international contract, or letter to your love somewhere on the over end of the world) on ... Yellow Pages? I am sure in your negative answer.

For translation of a short instruction to baby\'s doll YP are good to find a person who knows \"those barbarian words they put on that damned instruction\". For serious things serious people use other serious sources. They go to agencies (perhaps found on the same YP, but with half-page ads with words like \" no.1 in Universum\", or similar). Agencies are something very interesting: they are attractors of jobs and in some cases they never even heard about languages they order their translation into... They attract jobs and take off for themselves all the butter from this dry bread. I got once upon the time an invitation from a German agency promising to pay me Euro 0,04 per word. Their other answer (I wrote next day, asking their prices to order a translation) was saying that the minimal charge is .... Euro 0,25 s/w (!-) The situation was simple - one person trated me as a freelancer and quite different one treated those fat cats customers...



Briefly, I arrive at the same observation: YP is seemingly something for companies and agencies, not freelancers. YP on Net is something equally hated by every (separate) body (not every entity , except for the authors of ads



I am almost sure that at least 95% of people surfing the Net simlpy HATE ads, banners, bulk mail, huge-size moving idiotic pictures, etc. For those who prefer scopophilia, Net have specific sites and pictures. But they also hate YP.



Other observation: if your client must apply a certain force to find you, then (s)he starts to appreciate you (appreciating thus (her)his own efforts). My deep faith is that ProZ is the best place for somebody pro could meet you (also pro) in this giant world. And we should help ProZ to become even more popular to make our job income larger. All pros (no mater needing a translation or needing a job!) must have a place to meet each other DIRECTLY. Otherwise agencies will continue to pay pennies for our hours and write in contract terms something like \"...if my client will write me a piece of paper indicating that you are guilty for disclosure, you MUST pay me 500.000 pesetas next day\" - a good and very fair-play business, isn\'t it?!

You could write in your local YPcsomethin like: \"I am from ProZ - the largest place in the UNIVERSE (and you would be right indeed!) for translation\". Perhaps you could give them your ProZ page URL and explain that you are not in Arctic area but in just the same city they work in.



Yours,

Tagir.

[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-01-16 23:16 ]

[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-01-16 23:18 ]
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Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Werner George Patels, M.A., C.Tran.(ATIO) (X)
Local time: 07:51
German to English
+ ...
It all depends - as always Jan 16, 2002

I have had a YP listing for about 4 years now, and I get about 10 calls a week from people who saw my ad.



But having your own website is still the best you can do these days (and having your name included in the directories of various translators\' associations).


 
Angel Figueroa
Angel Figueroa
Local time: 04:51
English to Spanish
+ ...
Very little use for it. Jan 17, 2002

As a former \"sales person\" for YP advertising, I can assure you that will be the last place a qualified person will look for a translator. I agree with the other response regarding the agencies. My suggestion would be that if you specialize in a specific topic, contact the companies that you know would use that topic to offer your services. For me, that was the best thing. I approached about 15 companies with professionally made brochures and got jobs form 9 and out of their referrals more are... See more
As a former \"sales person\" for YP advertising, I can assure you that will be the last place a qualified person will look for a translator. I agree with the other response regarding the agencies. My suggestion would be that if you specialize in a specific topic, contact the companies that you know would use that topic to offer your services. For me, that was the best thing. I approached about 15 companies with professionally made brochures and got jobs form 9 and out of their referrals more are coming in.



Good luck.



Angel Figueroa-Translations
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Rachel Gruenberger-Elbaz
Rachel Gruenberger-Elbaz
Local time: 14:51
Hebrew to German
+ ...
Yellow pages hardly worth the money paid for it Jan 17, 2002

Dear colleagues,



After hardly having gotten serious jobs from that source, I have stopped advertising in Israels yellow pages. It\'s expensive and useless. I guess, translators\' lists are the tool of the near future. In the meantime, between one translation and another, I do some direct mailing or even phone-calls to potentional clients.


 
Margaret Schroeder
Margaret Schroeder  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 05:51
Spanish to English
+ ...
Good advertising for $0.02 translators Jan 23, 2002

I recently turned down a job from a new agency contact because they couldn\'t give me a good enough rate. My *regular* rate is one which on other forums, first-world translators have trashed as \"I wouldn\'t get out of bed for that rate\", \"No one who charges that low has the right to call themselves a translator\", etc. So go figure what they were able to offer me.



I had a pleasant chat with the head of the agency (keeping the doors open for future jobs at better rates), a
... See more
I recently turned down a job from a new agency contact because they couldn\'t give me a good enough rate. My *regular* rate is one which on other forums, first-world translators have trashed as \"I wouldn\'t get out of bed for that rate\", \"No one who charges that low has the right to call themselves a translator\", etc. So go figure what they were able to offer me.



I had a pleasant chat with the head of the agency (keeping the doors open for future jobs at better rates), and he told me that they have to offer very competitive rates to their clients who discover them through their Yellow Pages ad, because that kind of client typically opens the Yellow Pages, calls 2 or 3 or 4 agencies, and picks the one who gives the lowest price.



Conclusion: If you\'re willing to undercut any bid, (not to mention 365/24/7 availablity) then the Yellow Pages is for you.

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Advertising on Yellow Pages- is it worthwhile for translators ?







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