In this article Karen Tkaczyk speaks to established professionals. Here are measures She uses to define “established”:

• You have repeat clients who come back to us on a regular basis and value our services.
• You have enough work on a general basis.
• You have outgrown our original clients.

So what are your aims for better business at this stage? The way she sees it, you want to work in a more relaxed way for the same amount of money, or to earn more money in the same amount of time. To achieve the first you  work smarter by increasing productivity. To achieve the second you raise our rates. Ideally, you combine the two. In achieving these aims you will be changing your position in the translation market—growing your niche—and working for higher-quality clients. There are many strategies to do this, but the most frequently cited is word-of-mouth, so you must raise your visibility within the T&I profession and to your potential direct clients. Here are three ways to increase visibility:

* An online presence

We all have an online presence, whether by design or not, so professionals need to control it and make sure it conveys a suitable image that will promote the image they wish to convey. There are many ways to achieve this, including a company website, association member databases, blogs, and networking sites like Linkedin and ProZ.com. Pick what you have time for and do some search engine optimization: by that she means fill your profiles and descriptions with the keywords that your desirable potential clients will use to find you. Put yourself in their shoes when you write. Show yourself to be an expert in your field in translators’ forums and mailing lists. Other translators will pass work on to you. Where possible make sure you have dynamic content in your website. Blogging is by no means the only solution for this. There are many methods, including headlines, quotes of the day and ezines.

* In-person networking

Personal contact boosts business. In spite of the ‘flat’ world, the value of meeting people in person is still enormous. Many people only do business with people they have met in person. Others only recommend people they have met in person. Attend the events held by local and national T&I associations.

* Speaking and writing

Conference presentations: a powerful image and business builder. As well as giving back to the profession, speaking at conferences and writing articles has raised her profile substantially. Four years later Karen continues to receive thanks for writing the article that prompted this one. Read full article.

See: NITA online