ProZ.com Translation Forums

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | CAT tool

linda gueye — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 22:43:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: linda gueye
Post title: CAT tool

Investing in the CAT Tool + time to train is definitely the best investment...saves me a lot of time, allows me to work with multiple agencies requiring similar tool and helps improve quality check and consistency...

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Combination of various

Rody Correa Avila — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 18:50:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Rody Correa Avila
Post title: Combination of various

Networking (through which proofreading and editing comes as well, and more work...)
PROZ Membership
Education (continual study that helps towards better output)

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | New laptop

Martina Russo — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 16:47:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Martina Russo
Post title: New laptop

The best investment I have made so far was to toss away my old, heavy and slow laptops which were causing me endless nightmares and buying myself a proper machine -- a MacBook Air with loads of memory and a battery life of 12 hours. It is absolutely fast, it doesn't just "stop responding" to my commands like my other window laptops and it's as light as my phone. It has has definitely costed me a lot of money, but it's making my life so much better. I'm in love with it!

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | About the same for me

Eric Wood — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 23:31:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Eric Wood
Post title: About the same for me

[quote]inkweaver wrote:

A combination of
- membership (I found some of my best clients on Proz - or they found me)
- software (using a CAT tool has allowed me to increase my output considerably and saves a lot of time when it comes to ensuring consistency)
- education/curiosity (my education plus my curiosity for all sorts of things have proven invaluable)

I don't market my services, I'm rubbish at self-marketing, and I prefer to work with good agencies instead. And I certainly don't network. In my book this amounts to using people which I find despicable. [/quote]

Membership here proved quite valuable in finding client agencies to work with. I let the paid membership lapse when I got settled, so to speak, but would very likely renew it to find new clients if I felt a need.

The education and general interest bit has been great for helping me cover a number of different topics in my work. I actually find myself wanting more variety than I have had.

I don't have a CAT tool, though. I'm not sure whether one would be very useful with a password-protected PDF source file that is also very often scanned as an image rather than as text. I enjoy formatting in Word as I go, anyway. I like to make sure I match the source document's formatting as closely as possible, and I figure a CAT tool would likely make that more difficult, especially since my target files are all created from scratch.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Project Management application

Oleg Semerikov — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 11:18:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Oleg Semerikov
Post title: Project Management application

My best investment was to develop our own project management online system for our team of translators. It was a rather pricey development, however now it saves us a lot of time from job creation to invoicing.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | what lilian said...

Catherine Pawlick — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 00:15:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Catherine Pawlick
Post title: what lilian said...

[quote]LilianBNekipelo wrote:
Proofreaders should, however, be collaborators and helpers, not the translator's enemies.

[Edited at 2014-01-29 09:13 GMT] [/quote]

yes. this.

[Edited at 2014-02-21 00:18 GMT]

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Honesty

Ralph Srouji — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 16:16:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Ralph Srouji
Post title: Honesty

Nothing ever paid more than honesty in my long career.
A computer fails, a desk breaks, education becomes obsolete, software loose their edge... only honest behavior keeps me successfully in business.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | ProZ membership

Francisco ABREU — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 00:42:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Francisco ABREU
Post title: ProZ membership

It all began with ProZ, so many years ago. My sizable portfolio of clients came directly or indirectly from ProZ, and it happens still today.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | translation course

reszenyi — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 13:51:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: reszenyi
Post title: translation course

The best investment was the MA I did in translation and interpreting: for the knowledge, the routine and the network.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Breast in vest meant

GregorSamsa — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 12:15:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: GregorSamsa
Post title: Breast in vest meant

Capitalise Dregon Niturolly spoking full-stop

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | A good full-sized keyboard

Luis Mondragón — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 02:20:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Luis Mondragón
Post title: A good full-sized keyboard

Also, a Moka pot

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Proz membership

Milton Guo — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Milton Guo
Post title: Proz membership

Proz membership is my take off point back 5 years ago...

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | For getting the right ROI on my basic business expenditure

Renata von Koerber — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 22:06:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Renata von Koerber
Post title: For getting the right ROI on my basic business expenditure

(investments in 1st class hardware, software, certification) PROZ was my best investment by far.
I grew my client base, and managed to build up a useful portfolio of contacts without having to spend to much time on networking.
It would not have been possible to develop such an international client base in my home town in any other way.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | 1) A height-adjustable desk 2) a mindfulness software

Doroth Engel — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 19:46:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Doroth Engel
Post title: 1) A height-adjustable desk 2) a mindfulness software

The first was a wonderful investment in my back!!!
I can change my working position whenever I feel like it. This is very comfortable, especially for review phases. The many years before when workload was high and breaks short I sometimes took my meals in a standing position - now I enjoy sitting at the kitchen table again!
If you plan to do the same, take one with a memory feature so you can always come back to the 2 positions that fit your own height best.

The second is my wonderful customizable mindfulness software that reminds me when it is time to have a break.
Check it out on [url removed] - it is sold in many versions and contains various relaxing suggestions by great buddhist masters and other wise men.

Enjoy - wellness all around ;-)!

Ps.:
Here is more of this kind of "little helpers":
[url removed]
[url removed]

[Edited at 2014-02-18 20:08 GMT]

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | KudoZ activity

Mats Wiman — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:28:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Mats Wiman
Post title: KudoZ activity

I was early attracted to answering KudoZ.questions:

See my article "Confessions of a KudoZ point grabber":
[url removed]

It has developped me as a translator, built my posture
a somewhat knowledgeable term translator and
collaborator and not to forget:

Put me high up on any translator list.

Investing, getting many jobs and having fun = a great combination

[Edited at 2014-02-18 16:34 GMT]

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Different investments at different phases of business

Lynn Webb — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 15:16:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Lynn Webb
Post title: Different investments at different phases of business

I consider a number of things my best investment, depending on the phase of the business:
1) Education and previous work experience before starting the business
2) Taking lower pay initially for a year to gain a great deal of experience in a particular technical field (now my top field of expertise); marketing myself to potential customers
3) Purchasing software and hardware that helped to speed up delivery and offer customers more options
4) Networking, which has brought in a number of new customers
5) Now that the business is mature and I am experiencing some physical discomfort, my ergonomic sit-to-stand desk with keyboard/mouse tray are helping me out greatly

[Edited at 2014-02-18 15:17 GMT]

[Edited at 2014-02-18 15:18 GMT]

[Edited at 2014-02-18 15:19 GMT]

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Best investment?

Lugubert — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 14:57:00 +0000

Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Lugubert
Post title: Best investment?

That's a question loaded with definitions and interpretations problems. Education? Well, I think I've made good use of my rather multifaceted university experiences, but tuition is free in Sweden and I would have had to live and eat and find a job anyway. Not much of an extra investment money-wise for translating.

Then I went to work in different capacities in different businesses. No investment other but time, but rather paying, and experience invaluable for my much later translating life.

Directly linked to my sufficiently thriving translation business, and jump-starting it, must have been the Microbee computer (it even had a mass memory: a tape recorder!) and the accompanying humble matrix printer (even less than 7X11?) with almost readable output. I bought the set (@ ca. USD 1600) to write programs to handle statistics in my then salesman job. I thought that the firmware word processor, WordStar style, was fairly unnecessary, but it was free and included.

When I at long last was forced to realize that I was no salesman, I contacted a couple of translation agencies. My combination of linguistics + technology + pharma got me started fairly on, and on it went. Had to upgrade from the Microbee to an "IBM clone", for which I invested in the rather unnecessarily and lavish 1024 kB memory (the chem lab stuff I was selling was generally considered to be totally sufficient @ 512) at the unbelievable speed of in Turbo Mode running at 12 M

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | And she's always right...

Félicien Sirois — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 23:35:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Félicien Sirois
Post title: And she's always right...

[quote]Triston & Gaby wrote:

Not only do we work in the same language pair (but in opposite directions), she also cooks and can read the future.

[/quote]

You forgot "she's always right..." LOL

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Dragon voice recognition software

Félicien Sirois — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 23:34:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Félicien Sirois
Post title: Dragon voice recognition software

Always been a terrible typist, but it's beyond that (and really the following applies for anyone).

I have to thank Jim Wardell, who I consider to be one of my greatest mentors, for insisting I get started using voice recognition software a number of years ago. It took some time to get used to (in fact I still can't use it exclusively - depends on the language and subject matter), but once I did, not only did it increase my productivity nearly 10-fold, but it reduced the strain on my entire body, expanded my thought processes as they relate to how I approach translation, and refined my ability to multi-task.

Second to that, I'd said getting not only a second, but a third monitor. I often update prior translations and can use the extra (virtual) desktop real estate to compare documents without having to flip between them or cram them into split screens. But even in my regular translation work, I can have Outlook open on one (to keep an eye on business correspondence), my translation on a second screen, and various resources accessed on a third screen. The possibilities are limitless. And ironically the second and third monitor setup has reduced my need to print things immensely over the past 10 years, thereby saving on the expense of paper, wear and tear on my printer and, of course, the environment.

Third would be a proper home office as many have mentioned, although that was more of a quality of life improvement than anything else (at least in terms of acquiring our home when we did).

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Networking - mutual help

larserik — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 20:09:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: larserik
Post title: Networking - mutual help

[quote]inkweaver wrote:

... And I certainly don't network. In my book this amounts to using people which I find despicable. [/quote]

I don't seem to understand this point of view. My regular networking consists of asking questions and answering questions in a group of colleagues. How could this be "using people"?

Sometimes I post terminology questions at Proz.com, too, and I am amazed by the amount of help I have received during the years (I've been a Proz member almost from the day it started, most of the time only as a basic member, though). And I don't feel guilty, since I have answered more questions (and had my answers rewarded) than I have asked. But beginners shouldn't feel guilty, either. Even a bad answer can have some kind of value, since it might inspire other people to think outside the box - the brainstorm effect.

So, what I invest in networking pays off every day.

I am glad that there are people who got in touch with good customers via Proz and put their Proz membership on the list for good investments. Unfortunately, nowadays I receive only offers for peanuts via Proz and it's growing worse. Sad, in principle, but for my practical needs it doesn't matter much because I'm busy with good customers from elsewhere.

I would say that my best investment was the first version of Trados that I bought in 1999. In those days it came in a bunch of floppy disks. Since then I am a CAT tool addict (but I switched to memoQ when Studio appeared).

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Glad my advice helped

Julian Holmes — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 01:09:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Julian Holmes
Post title: Glad my advice helped

[quote]Triston & Gaby wrote:

....

My eyes have been killing me ever since I got these new monitors. It never occurred to me to turn down the brightness. I brought them down to just 50% and there's a huge difference! Thanks for the saving me the headache! [/quote]

Yes, cut out as much peripheral and reflected stray light as possible. That 'huge difference' will make translating much, much more comfortable. Have a nice one! :smile:

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Whoa!!

Triston Goodwin — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 23:38:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Triston Goodwin
Post title: Whoa!!

[quote]Julian Holmes wrote:

[quote]Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:

.... and two new skylights that flood my space with sunlight.

....

In order of importance, I'd say:
Skylights
Chair
Computer
Keyboard
Book shelves
Workspace
File cabinets [/quote]

@Muriel
I hope you are redirecting sunlight coming into your office from above and/or behind your screen because ambient light difference between the brightness of your screen, the area around your screen and light reflecting off your screen (from skylights and overhead lighting) can cause terrible eyestrain, migraines, etc. because you have to refocus on different light sources of varying brightness.

I have my screens against a non-painted concrete gray wall which reflects no light at all, and find this very comforting albeit dull.

If you spend lots of time in front of a computer, worry about ambient light!

HTH [/quote]

My eyes have been killing me ever since I got these new monitors. It never occurred to me to turn down the brightness. I brought them down to just 50% and there's a huge difference! Thanks for the saving me the headache!

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Other - Importing my wife from Argentina

Triston Goodwin — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:33:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Triston Goodwin
Post title: Other - Importing my wife from Argentina

Not only do we work in the same language pair (but in opposite directions), she also cooks and can read the future.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Most recent best investment

Allison Wright (X) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:14:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Allison Wright (X)
Post title: Most recent best investment

My best *most recent* investment has been in networking.

Going to the ProZ Conference in Porto in June 2013 made me realise just how much I enjoy doing so face to face. Since then, I feel much more relaxed about online interactions (blogs, fora, LinkedIn, Google+), where the opportunity to share experiences, exchange ideas, and so on, really can be beneficial to one's general morale, and spark off unexpected collaborations.

I don't network specifically for monetary gain (although such a spin-off is always welcome!); I do it because I do so love a good conversation (especially if it is translation-related). ;)

In a recent video interview, fellow ProZian (weird word), Emma Goldsmith ( [url removed] ) described networking as "passive marketing".

I am loving this networking lark so much that I became a Twit eight days ago.

Early in my career, I placed importance on training, and membership of a professional translators' institute. These are still priorities. It is essential that we keep ourselves limber.

Investment in software and hardware makes sense, but I haven't done anything worth mentioning in this area for a while.

Marketing: This is where the introvert part of my personality springs to the fore. I would prefer a new desk to a new website right now, if you really must know. :)

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Membership + education

Eileen Ferguson — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 19:52:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Eileen Ferguson
Post title: Membership + education

I have found most of my customers through my memberships at Proz and the like. My investment in education has also proven to invaluable as it has enable me to specialize, removing me from the jungle of general translators.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Networking differently in different geographies

Mario Chavez (X) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 19:15:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Mario Chavez (X)
Post title: Networking differently in different geographies

[quote]Laureana Pavon wrote:

I'm also surprised this option isn't getting as many votes as it should.

I guess that's because most have interpreted the question to mean "networking with other translators".

A word of advice for those looking to find end customers: networking is key. [/quote]

In America, businesspeople and other professionals (and salesmen) talk about networking as some concept that is already embedded in the cultural psyche, forgetting, as usual, that networking modes are different and varied across countries and cultures.

Americans are casual networkers: if you find yourself at an event in the U.S.A. and someone approaches you with friendliness while trying to be helpful, you can be sure his/her friendship will have the endorsement of his/her business card in short order.

This may not be the way other people network in other parts of the world, but this is a topic for another day.

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | I voted membership...

Christine Andersen — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:12:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Christine Andersen
Post title: I voted membership...

I voted membership, because that is what started me off - clients find me.

It is how I stay informed and make myself visible so that more clients find me. It is also how I keep going, and how I pick up other people's ideas, KudoZ answers, or help when Trados seizes up - I always try the forum before logging a request for support from SDL, and often I find one.

Trados, of course, and my dictionaries, online, CDs and hard copy, are other very good investments.

I must remember to invest some time letting my husband know I appreciate him!

He should probably come right at the top of the list for sorting out my computers through my career and all those other things he does, which may be small, but are VERY IMPPORTANT!

:-) :-) :-)

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | other

Gianluca Marras — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 16:53:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Gianluca Marras
Post title: other

hardware, software, networking,

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | I replied Membership because...

Nigel Greenwood (X) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 15:25:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Nigel Greenwood (X)
Post title: I replied Membership because...

Since I moved to Spain -way back in 1974- and started working in different companies as a Marketing specialist cum translator, I have always had my own office space at home, well fitted with a PC and a laptop.
But when I became a full-time interpreter and translator in 2008, I also became a member of ProZ. This was and still is my best investment. My first good clients came through this website. I still work with all of them, and have obtained other clients from these. Of course, I still invest in computers and software, CAT tools, (necessary for me as a Engineering specialist). Now and again I renew my office furniture.
Nevertheless, perhaps the best current investment is "time". The time I manage to wrestle away from work so I can be with my wife, sons and grandsons.

Have a great day.

Nigel.

[Edited at 2014-01-29 15:26 GMT]

Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business? | Networking

Laureana Pavon — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 15:08:00 +0000
Forum: Poll Discussion
Topic: Poll: What is the best investment you have ever made for your business?
Poster: Laureana Pavon
Post title: Networking

I'm also surprised this option isn't getting as many votes as it should.

I guess that's because most have interpreted the question to mean "networking with other translators".

A word of advice for those looking to find end customers: networking is key.