How to figure out Facebook costs Thread poster: Jessie Nelson
|
|---|
I am a French/English medical translator and have been advised to investigate setting up a Facebook page.
I went through the process and had no difficulty, but I can't follow how they charge. I spoke with a representative and he said $40.00 could last 1 month or 1 week. I could not understand the mechanism so did not do it.
Can someone explain.
Jessie
| | | | Sarah McDowell 
Canada
Local time: 07:24
Member (2012)
Russian to English
+ ...
| I thought it is free | Aug 7, 2013 |
As far as I know Facebook is still free. What kind of request did you have?
| | | | Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:24
German to English
+ ...
| I don't pay anything for Facebook, | Aug 7, 2013 |
and I don't use it for professional purposes - more for keeping up with friends and family. You can pay for various features, like games or to place advertisements, but not just for normal use, as far as I know. I don't care for it much and hardly use it.
There are a few articles and forum posts here on Proz, but I can't link my search, but you can do your own. Put in "social media" in the search box and check the boxes for Articles ... See more and I don't use it for professional purposes - more for keeping up with friends and family. You can pay for various features, like games or to place advertisements, but not just for normal use, as far as I know. I don't care for it much and hardly use it.
There are a few articles and forum posts here on Proz, but I can't link my search, but you can do your own. Put in "social media" in the search box and check the boxes for Articles and Forums.
http://www.proz.com/?sp=search
LinkedIn is a platform more geared to professional interests, and I also have a free account there.
http://www.linkedin.com/
You can pay monthly fees to unlock more features, but I haven't found it necessary - at least not so far. There are a number of groups for translators you can join there, also at no charge. Some of the discussions are lively and interesting, also some jobs are announced there. If you know nothing about social media, there's really a lot of information available so you can make a better decision about what seems appropriate for you. Personally, I don't really use any of them for job-hunting, but others do. Hopefully some of them will post their experiences here. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jessie Nelson
United States
Local time: 08:24
French to English
TOPIC STARTER | Advertising on Facebook | Aug 7, 2013 |
Hi Sarah:
Facebook is free for communicating with friends and family.
But I wanted to set up a separate page, to use for my business.
This is when the charges come in.
In the right upper corner of a Facebook page, there is a symbol to click, and a page comes up fpr info on your business.
There is a charge for this page. depending on how many people click on it..
But the process as explained to me was rather expensive, and when I run into that, I go the other ... See more Hi Sarah:
Facebook is free for communicating with friends and family.
But I wanted to set up a separate page, to use for my business.
This is when the charges come in.
In the right upper corner of a Facebook page, there is a symbol to click, and a page comes up fpr info on your business.
There is a charge for this page. depending on how many people click on it..
But the process as explained to me was rather expensive, and when I run into that, I go the other way if I cant understand it.
Jessie ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Hi,
You can build your own page for your business, maintain it, and everything for free. What they do charge for is their paid advertising. For example, when you see adds on the sides of the page, or how some sites are promoted and viewable in your home page where you browse your friend's and family's activities. You don't have to pay advertising if you don't want to, but it does bring more eyes to your information.
I set up a page for my wife and I's translation busin... See more Hi,
You can build your own page for your business, maintain it, and everything for free. What they do charge for is their paid advertising. For example, when you see adds on the sides of the page, or how some sites are promoted and viewable in your home page where you browse your friend's and family's activities. You don't have to pay advertising if you don't want to, but it does bring more eyes to your information.
I set up a page for my wife and I's translation business, and we manage several other pages for some of our other clients (not translation related). All in all, we have about 20 such pages that we manage and we haven't paid a penny. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:24
German to English
+ ...
| I'd like to know | Aug 8, 2013 |
Triston Goodwin wrote:
I set up a page for my wife and I's translation business, and we manage several other pages for some of our other clients (not translation related). All in all, we have about 20 such pages that we manage and we haven't paid a penny.
if it really helps your business? Have you noticed any increase in translation assignments or professional contacts due to your FB presence? I know a lot of people do use it for business, but does it really make a difference? Using LinkedIn as a business platform makes a lot more sense to me than using Facebook for that purpose does, but as I mentioned above, I don't use any social media to build my business, though I'm sure many have done this successfully. Personally, I find Twitter to be the most enjoyable and useful for following news about the translation industry, plus - when I remember to use it (on my PC) - I have seen job announcements there quite frequently.
| | | | | It actually has! | Aug 8, 2013 |
Woodstock wrote: Triston Goodwin wrote:
I set up a page for my wife and I's translation business, and we manage several other pages for some of our other clients (not translation related). All in all, we have about 20 such pages that we manage and we haven't paid a penny. if it really helps your business? Have you noticed any increase in translation assignments or professional contacts due to your FB presence? I know a lot of people do use it for business, but does it really make a difference? Using LinkedIn as a business platform makes a lot more sense to me than using Facebook for that purpose does, but as I mentioned above, I don't use any social media to build my business, though I'm sure many have done this successfully. Personally, I find Twitter to be the most enjoyable and useful for following news about the translation industry, plus - when I remember to use it (on my PC) - I have seen job announcements there quite frequently.
But I have to admit that I cheat a little. We have our own pages which we use as examples, and then we charge other companies to manage their pages and provide translations of their materials.
Our most recent project is a chiropractic center that we are working with. They are based in an area with a lot of Spanish speakers and wanted to update their look and try to reach new clients. Their page was receiving one or two visits a month and they weren't making any money off of it. After we got a hold of it, today alone, they had 379 unique visits and 3 new clients. We have also received several projects from our page, and many of our corporate clients like that they can see how they can reach their target markets.
The thing that we have to remember with facebook, twitter and linkedin, is that we have to know who target client is. You cast your nets where the fish you want are swimming. On facebook, you market to the average individual, not large companies or other professionals, like you will see in linkedin (I can't comment on twitter because I don't really like it that much, though I see myself more obligated to learn it every day). The projects that we receive through our facebook page are from people needing immigration paperwork translated, facebook pages or games, and the occasional teacher looking for a little help. Linkedin brings us more professional/larger projects and clients. Of course, if you can find a facebook group that focuses on what ever field(s) you work in, you can potentially find many new clients.
We charge our normal rate for what ever we translate, plus a monthly fee to maintain the pages. We've started branching out into building websites as well, since we already have the experience, technology and personnel to do so. So far it's been working out really well for us and has brought in several new clients. I almost never get to sleep anymore because there's so much to do, but I'm a little addicted to work so I enjoy it
[Edited at 2013-08-08 07:07 GMT]
| | | | | I'll explain the advertising fee structure | Aug 8, 2013 |
I have paid for advertising on facebook before. This is entirely optional. If you want to set up a business page with no advertising it's free.
Here are some good step-by-step instructions:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-set-up-a-facebook-page-for-business/
This site recommends not setting up a business-only page but rathe... See more I have paid for advertising on facebook before. This is entirely optional. If you want to set up a business page with no advertising it's free.
Here are some good step-by-step instructions:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-set-up-a-facebook-page-for-business/
This site recommends not setting up a business-only page but rather setting up a profile and then creating a page for your business and I agree with this.
If you do want to pay for advertising however, the way it works is this:
1) You set up a fee that you're willing to pay to advertise your services on facebook. Let's stick with your €40 example. This will be the upper limit to any advertising services you obtain until you decide to pay another fee, or not as the case may be.
2) You can then select a daily limit or none at all. This means that either you can set for example a limit of €2 per day, in which case you have 20 days' worth of advertising or your €40 will get used up when it gets used up.
3) Then you set up the public you want to reach. You can decide to only reach people located in Japan, or only reach people based in Paris whose employer is Sanofi. Basically any information that people enter when they create a personal profile can be selected to limit your search criteria. This is why for example when you change your relationship status to "engaged", you suddenly start getting bridal pages appearing to the right of your profile on facebook. This is because the advertisers of bridal services will have selected to appear only on the profiles of people with their relationship status as "engaged".
4) Essentially the more you limit your critera, the more expensive each appearance on a person's profile is going to cost you. I'm not sure exactly what the costings are (you will see it when you're purchasing the advertising and you'll be able to modulate accordingly) but as an example, let's say you targeted anyone who lived in Japan, perhaps each appearance on someone's page will cost you 1c. However, if you limit your audience to those who live in Paris and work for Sanofi, each appearance will cost you €2, the idea being that the more targeted your marketing is, the more it's worth to you. In the latter example, if you have a set a limit of €2 a day, you will only appear on one person's profile each day.
These are the basics as far as I understood them when I purchased advertising on facebook. I didn't do this for translation so I can't comment on how well it would work. I'm not sure that medical translation is enough of a mass market product/service to make it worth your while and I'm not sure how you would select the facebook criteria to target the right market for you. Still, €40 isn't much if you want to take a punt.
However, it's important that you know that you can set up a business page without needing to pay for advertising at all.
As Woodstock has said, I would think that perhaps LinkedIn and Twitter were better social media for business purposes. I now only use facebook to keep in touch with my friends all over the world. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:24
German to English
+ ...
| Thank you for your detailed answer. | Aug 8, 2013 |
Triston Goodwin wrote: ... So far it's been working out really well for us and has brought in several new clients. I almost never get to sleep anymore because there's so much to do, but I'm a little addicted to work so I enjoy it
I really appreciate that you took the time to elaborate on your business model - congratulations on it working so well for you!
| | | | Jessie Nelson
United States
Local time: 08:24
French to English
TOPIC STARTER | Thank you for your help | Aug 8, 2013 |
Hello Marie Helene,
Your reply really explained it so well. I am afraid I am a better nurse and translator than businesswoman, but I will persist. I have printed the material and already started constructing the page. I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to help.
Jessie Nelson RN BSN
| | | | | You're very welcome Jessie | Aug 9, 2013 |
I'd be a rubbish nurse and medical translator
Good luck with it!
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » How to figure out Facebook costs | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
| | Wordfast Pro | Translation Memory Software for Any Platform
Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users!
Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
