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Poll: Which method do you find most useful to get clients? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which method do you find most useful to get clients?".
This poll was originally submitted by Mario Chavez. View the poll results »
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| ProZ profile | Nov 27, 2015 |
Definitely. I have gotten the most leads from people who have found me on ProZ.
Word of mouth (not listed) comes second. Then comes my website. I landed my best client of all time (and still going strong) through my professional website.
Though I am on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, none of them have given me any job leads.
[Edited at 2015-11-27 08:29 GMT]
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| Word of mouth | Nov 27, 2015 |
I had to answer "other" but really it was "none of the above".
All of those options are completely useless in my experience (haven't tried Twitter but can't see many bankers caring what I had for lunch).
I find the best way of getting work is always to do a good job and wait for word of mouth.
I get all my new customers from people moving to another department/office/company or recommending me to colleagues and friends.
Build it and they will ... See more I had to answer "other" but really it was "none of the above".
All of those options are completely useless in my experience (haven't tried Twitter but can't see many bankers caring what I had for lunch).
I find the best way of getting work is always to do a good job and wait for word of mouth.
I get all my new customers from people moving to another department/office/company or recommending me to colleagues and friends.
Build it and they will come. ▲ Collapse
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 06:35
Spanish to English
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Used to be word of mouth, but as luck would have it, I don't have to try to "get" clients - in fact get rid of some of them would be more like it... I have more work than I can shake a stick at these days. Had to refuse a large, ongoing long-term project (tourism texts) the other day, and couldn't even find anyone else willing to take it on either.
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Enrico Zoffoli 
Italy
Local time: 06:35
Member (2013)
German to Italian
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| Word of mouth | Nov 27, 2015 |
By far
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| Proz profile | Nov 27, 2015 |
Most of my new customers have found me through my Proz profile; others have come to me through word of mouth or my website. I’m on LinkedIn but I'm not really that active there. I’m not on Facebook and Twitter.
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i.e. me writing e-mails to potential customers
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 06:35
Spanish to English
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| Word of mouth | Nov 27, 2015 |
then Proz.com.
The advantages of word of mouth are low risk and repeat business practically guaranteed. Another is volume, which is a consideration not covered by number of hits.
One curious development in on-line business is those clients "cultivating" databases. They seem to keep you on for, say, the number of years of experience they judge kosher and check back later to see if you've survived the jungle.
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Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 13:35
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
I get quite a few inquiries from Proz but they generally fizzle out into thin air - some don't even bother to reply after I have contacted them  Their loss!
By far the best method for me is to target specific companies after doing a search that focuses on particular niche services that I can offer. Once I start dealing with prospective people, I then direct them to my online profile in LinkedIn.
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Gudrun Maydorn (X)
Germany
Local time: 06:35
English to German
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| Word of mouth | Nov 27, 2015 |
The best is being recommended by existing customers, followed by membership in my professional association (BDÜ).
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Cindy Presne
France
Local time: 06:35
English to French
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| Those "cultivated" databases | Nov 27, 2015 |
Parrot wrote:
One curious development in on-line business is those clients "cultivating" databases. They seem to keep you on for, say, the number of years of experience they judge kosher and check back later to see if you've survived the jungle.
Exactly what is happening to me right now: now with four years of experience behind me, a few agencies that I had contacted four years ago and that have never sent me any inquiries are now getting back at me with regular offers.
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Indirectly my Proz.com profile, but it is largely word of mouth these days. A few good clients have found me through the CIoL Find a Linguist page.
I have been trying to fight them off lately...My regular clients have offered more work than I can take on!
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Of my currently active customers (4+ jobs this year):
70% have contacted me through proz (some more than 10 years ago)
15% through my personal network (humans, not web pages)
15% through word of mouth (roaming PMs)
Philippe
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| Word of mouth | Nov 27, 2015 |
Proz.com is involved, because other translators on the site have recommended me. Thanks! And word of mouth off the site has also been very beneficial for me. A few direct contacts because of my Proz profile too, it is true, but they are not the biggest percentage.
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