| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Have you set an income target for your translation work in 2009? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you set an income target for your translation work in 2009?".
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| | | | | Actual situation | Mar 10, 2009 |
Considering the actual situation around the globe, I will be pleased to have translation work along the year.
I have noticed that the situation is getting critical and that some of our collegues are taking jobs at very low rates and this is becoming hard to get well paid services.
So considering this it is just impossible to set a income taret for 2009.
Good luck to all, and wish you all the best.
Flávia Tafner (Brazil)
| | | | Angela Dickson (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:23
French to English
+ ...
| Financial years | Mar 10, 2009 |
I work by the UK financial year which ends on 5th April. My target is to equal 2007-08 earnings, as I had a lot of time off last summer which meant that it won't be possible to beat last year's earnings. I'm on course to achieve my goal though.
Aim for 2009-10 is a modest 5% increase on the past two years' earnings.
| | | | | ..and if so, how are you achieving it? | Mar 10, 2009 |
This seems the most interesting aspect to me. Are folks aiming to achieve goals through rate increases (or decreases, even), volume increases, working longer hours, finding new clients, etc. etc?
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Rebecca Garber
Local time: 08:23
Member (2005)
German to English
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| 5% increase over 2008 | Mar 10, 2009 |
@ Oliver:
I was lucky and picked up a new agency at the end of 2008 that includes at least one very long term project that has work every month. So far I have been very busy.
However, since I do not count on this to last, I am also working as much as possible right now, which means my weekends are spent with the computer. And everything is going into savings.
| | | | | who's paying the bills? | Mar 10, 2009 |
Rebecca Garber wrote:
. And everything is going into savings.
How are you managing that?
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It was drummed into me as a trainee lawyer to set and meet fee targets, so I suppose it's second nature for me to continue to do so today and continuously track income to see whether things are progressing according to plan - which, touch wood, they are so far this year.
I should be surprised to see many translators don't set targets but after hearing some also only invoice once in a blue moon, I'm not.
| | | | | The answer is... | Mar 10, 2009 |
Oliver Lawrence wrote:
This seems the most interesting aspect to me. Are folks aiming to achieve goals through rate increases (or decreases, even), volume increases, working longer hours, finding new clients, etc. etc?
Marketing, marketing, marketing. Consistent, intelligent marketing.
I hope this answers your question!
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sarandor
United States
Local time: 08:23
English to Russian
+ ...
I have a goal set for this year, but right now my workload is about 30% lower than usual. Last year my freelance income matched my past yearly salary in the corporate world. Considering how things are going now, I am not sure if I will be able to earn as much as last year.
Alexandra Speirs wrote: Rebecca Garber wrote:
. And everything is going into savings.
How are you managing that?
I can see how this can happen - in dual-income households, for example. My husband's income pays the bills and funds our retirement account, mine - goes into savings and allows us to afford little extras that make life more fun. But right now, almost everything I make goes into savings.
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 14:23
Spanish to English
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But it will be the first time I don't have a target. I've hit some records that were hard to beat during the past two years and don't expect as much this year.
| | | | Angela Dickson (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:23
French to English
+ ...
Oliver Lawrence wrote:
This seems the most interesting aspect to me. Are folks aiming to achieve goals through rate increases (or decreases, even), volume increases, working longer hours, finding new clients, etc. etc?
Much of the increase I've experienced recently has been passive, and is down to the favourable exchange rate between sterling and euro, though I have also been increasing rates here and there. I aim to achieve my target via rate increases, whether active or passive, as I don't think working longer hours would be a good idea in the long run. I do seek maximum productivity within those hours I do work, though.
Finding new clients is something I try to do all the time, but again this is often passive - they come to me, rather than the other way round. I do need to take control of this a bit more, I think.
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 17:53
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER | That has been a regular practice with me | Mar 10, 2009 |
I always set myself a target at the beginning of every year and constantly monitor my earnings to ensure that I reach the target. Usually I reach the target. For the following year, I revise the target upward depending on the trend of the past year and my reading of the future trend, and also my income requirements.
It is a great help as it keeps you on your toes, otherwise you could slacken and become too lazy to take up many job offerings or meander into too many of diversionary (... See more I always set myself a target at the beginning of every year and constantly monitor my earnings to ensure that I reach the target. Usually I reach the target. For the following year, I revise the target upward depending on the trend of the past year and my reading of the future trend, and also my income requirements.
It is a great help as it keeps you on your toes, otherwise you could slacken and become too lazy to take up many job offerings or meander into too many of diversionary (non-earning) activities which happen to me many in my case.
I have been setting targets for myself for many years and was pleasantly surprised when I read Napolean Hill's Think And Get Rich book recently (which I recommend to every one, especially to freelancers)and found that the author of this book strongly recommends setting up targets of the amount of money you would like to earn.
According to this book, you could set any amount you like (only your courage and your imagination set the limits) and if you follow the methods mentioned in the book, you will achieve the target you have set for yourself.
The methods are not easy, but not impossible either.
This book is particularly relevant to our difficult times because it was written during the years of the Great Depression in America which had filled many Americans with despair, driving some of them even to suicide. This book proved to be a best seller in those times and continues to be widely read and followed even today. It is available in many languges.
It is a compendium of the strategies that successful people have adopted to achieve their success.
A very compelling and useful book according to me. ▲ Collapse
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I do every year, although I confess it's little more than "more than last year"
For this year I actually have it as "the same as last year", but so far I've had far more work than in the same period last year - partly because last year I took quite a lot of time off in January and February and this year I didn't, and partly because I've had a couple of big projects come in out of the blue.
So far things are looking ... See more I do every year, although I confess it's little more than "more than last year"
For this year I actually have it as "the same as last year", but so far I've had far more work than in the same period last year - partly because last year I took quite a lot of time off in January and February and this year I didn't, and partly because I've had a couple of big projects come in out of the blue.
So far things are looking positive, but I am working as much as possible just in case the proverbial hits the fan later in the year.
Edited to thank Balasubramaniam L. for the book recommendation - sounds interesting.
[Edited at 2009-03-10 17:53 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Amy Duncan (X)
Brazil
Local time: 09:23
Portuguese to English
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I never think about how much money I'm going to make.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 15:23
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| Taxoffice wants it | Mar 10, 2009 |
I have to set a goal so that I know how much I have to pay tax each month. If it turns out that I earn more or less than expected, I must adjust the goal accordingly, otherwise I pay too much or too little tax.
Regards
Heinrich
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