What do you do if your translation services are not standing out from the competition?

First, focus on providing high-quality and accurate translations. Make sure that your team of translators is skilled and experienced in the relevant languages and subject matter. Second, offer additional services that set you apart, such as quick turnaround times, 24/7 customer support, or specialized industry expertise. Third, build a strong online presence and showcase your expertise through blogs, case studies, and client testimonials. This can help potential clients see the value you bring to the table. Lastly, consider networking and building partnerships with other businesses or organizations that could benefit from your translation services. This can help you reach new clients and stand out in a competitive market.

As a translator, carving out your niche is one of the main steps towards being recognized for your skills. For this reason, you have to choose not only domains in which you are comfortable but also domains in which you excel. This will build a good reputation for you and help you gain more clients through recommendations.

- For LSPs Compare your selling proposition to your major competitors' to differentiate. If you have a solid, loyal and large vendor base, you can experiment with SLAs. Develop a capability statement to use as a showcase. Use SLAs with customers to keep them loyal. - For translators Create your own portfolio to showcase your work. Be open and flexible, but never underprice your services. - For both Try to diversify your services and unbundle your offerings. Do not use a price list, or worse, a fixed rate, and develop a flexible offer.

As a Brazilian Portuguese translator, I never thought my days would be split between deciphering the latest fashion trends and navigating the complexities of AI manuals. But this versatility has become my biggest strength! It allows me to offer a unique skillset to companies, ensuring both flawless fashion copy and creative translations for virtual assistants. My advice? Don't be afraid to explore seemingly disparate niches. Your ability to adapt and learn across industries can be a valuable asset in today's ever-evolving translation landscape.

1. Guarantee top quality: This should be a default standard. 2. Improve your Customer Experience: Communicate with your clients and strive to surpass their expectations. Always aim to provide faster and better service and ask for feedback. 3. Market Yourself Smartly: Utilize social media, content marketing, and networking to promote your unique services. Showcase to potential clients what sets you apart and why you are better than the competition. Make sure everyone knows about it.

In order to stand out from the competition as a translator, you must achieve a strong online presence and establish your authority by working with a professional strategic marketing and personal branding expert like Debora Prossomariti, M. Sc. A marketing strategy to showcase skills and social proof; a solid brand to present the uniqueness of your solutions and attract clients.

I strongly recommend you building a strong online presence to get more orders and be recognized as a specialist. A webpage with your picture, your fields of competencies, your experience, and some references (even anonymous because of confidentiality) will give more trust to an agency, that wants to work with you. How can a Vendor Manager know who you are with a single application email? Create a webpage, a PROZ account or even a LinkedIn account to show that you care about your online presence and to be different from your peers.

Trying to take reviewing, proofreading, QA tasks in order for learning from the competitors and willing to do more R&Ds should be considered a best solution…

Identify a specific niche where you have expertise or interest. Secondly, create a compelling online presence through a professional website, engaging social media profiles, and a blog where you share insights and successes. This digital footprint helps potential clients find and assess your expertise. Offer value-added services like quick turnarounds, 24/7 support, or sector-specific expertise to differentiate yourself further. Start a blog to share industry knowledge, and use SEO strategies for visibility. Regular updates and engagement with your audience build credibility and attract potential clients.

💻 Building a robust online presence is key to differentiating your translation services. Whether through a personal website, blog, social media, or professional profiles, showcasing your skills, portfolio, and client testimonials can significantly boost your visibility. Regular updates and sharing insightful content can help you connect with potential clients and establish your authority in your niche. Ensure your online presence is consistent and professional, employing SEO techniques to enhance your reach. Embrace the digital landscape to make your mark and stand out from the competition!

Added value in translation lies in providing a reliable, accurate service that serves the client's purpose, with professionalism, responsibility, and confidentiality. If you have one job, do it well. Less is more. Avoid LinkedIn AI-generated articles that tell you how to do your job. If you want advice, ask your colleagues or enroll in a mentoring program provided by a professional translators' association, instead of relying in AI-generated content.

🚀 Offering value-added services is a fantastic strategy to distinguish your translation services from the competition. Think beyond mere translation; include proofreading, editing, formatting, localization, or transcreation to elevate the quality and impact of your work. Consider branching out into consulting, training, or coaching to assist clients in enhancing their communication skills or cultural competency. These additional services not only boost your income and client loyalty but also significantly enhance your professional reputation. Embrace the opportunity to provide comprehensive solutions, making your services indispensable.

Having a great knowledge of language(s) is important nowadays in more jobs than one. Copywriting, subtitling, quality checks or final editing are all fields that require people like translators in today's multicultural working international working arena. Start looking for projects you might not have tried before and see where your knowledge could be useful for brands/institutions etc!

I believe in a customer centric approach that is based on client's needs analysis to design a specific offer. In the translation industry we all offer best quality and specialisations, but what makes one stand out is adapting to new needs and preparing to respond accordingly.

If my translation services are not standing out from the competition, I would reassess my approach by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of my services compared to competitors. This might involve enhancing the quality of translations, improving turnaround times, offering competitive pricing, or providing additional value-added services such as specialized expertise in certain industries or languages. I would also focus on effective marketing strategies to highlight unique selling points and reach potential clients. Continuous improvement, innovation, and personalized customer service would be key elements in making my translation services stand out in the competitive market.

Networking with other translators will help you to be recommended for your language combination. If one of our main translators recommends us a colleague, we are more likely to have a look at his CV.

This can be very important to establish successful collboration relationships.For example, if you work with a language pair, maybe another translator with a different area of expertise or language pair may recommend you.

For you to stand out, you must do something different and unique. One mistake translators do is that they think being a native speaker is just enough to make a professional translator. That's a fat lie. You need to understand, brainstorm, make researches, raise valid queries and perform quality check in your translation before you are able to stand out. Don't be afraid of networking with professionals. They are like a lamp in your road. They are there to combine worthwhile experiences and outcome to help you. This is one approach that helped me transition to best in my translation career. I don't rub shoulders with my superiors in this industry. I bend down to get what I want from them and thank God I am succeeding.

🤝 Networking with fellow translators can be a game-changer. Dive into online forums, join associations, and attend events to connect with peers. This community is a treasure trove for exchanging ideas, learning, and uncovering collaboration opportunities. Such connections not only broaden your skill set and professional network but also elevate your credibility. Embrace networking as a way to stand out, showing that you're not just another translator but a proactive member of a vibrant professional community.

There is need for me to synergize with other translators to know what they are doing better that I am not doing. No shame in learning from others as no one is an island.

Doing this has helped me a lot. I am good in reaching out to mentors. They keep me on guard and show my strength and weaknesses

To be a great translator you must never stop studying, reading, learning, find courses, workshops, webinars, any classes in the field that are connected to your area of expertise so you can, not only keep up with the market that's always changing, but also continue improving your skills. The more you learn, the more you study, the better and faster your growth and development as a translator will be.

Since some years, our industry is moving fast with CAT-tools, neuronal MT, MTPE and now LLMs. Translators (ans LSPs) have to stay up-to-date to offer the best value to their customers. You can learn from projects, from peers, from seminars but LEARN !!

Reach out to other translators in the field, especially the ones that's been in the business for longer. Find out the trends, new softwares, and other resources. Do more research. How quality is your good quality?

📚 Embracing continuous learning and improvement is crucial for standing out. Engage in courses, webinars, workshops, or certifications to refine your language skills, grasp new terminologies, or navigate the latest technologies. Open yourself to feedback, mentoring, or coaching from seasoned professionals or clients. This pursuit not only sharpens your competencies but also showcases your dedication, flexibility, and pursuit of excellence. Commit to being a lifelong learner to ensure your translation services remain relevant and top-notch.

Delivering exceptional results should be the base. But beware, "exceptional" has different meanings to different ears. For some clients, "exceptional" is related to top-notch quality, for others it may relate to delivering high volumes and fit-for-purpose quality (make sure you ask what that means specifically!). Different clients have different needs, different content types have different requirements. Standing our from competitors is about talking with your customers, understand their specific needs and trying to adapt, if you want, and deliver on promise.

Delivering exceptional results is the base! We are in the "service" industry, we help companies to communicate internationally better. You need to deliver a perfect translation to help your customers to win new customers abroad! You also need to deliver ON TIME since your customers have deadlines to meet!

Delivering exceptional results is more than good grammar and correct terminology. Exceptional results are achieved when you understand what the client needs, when you can suggest something else, when you can propose other services, when you ask and when you are available to answer on a timely manner.

Delivering exceptional results only happens when you understand the client's true needs, what the client wants the translation for, and above all, the focus should be on adapting the work to produce the desired legal or informational effects. The Translator must have enough common sense to give the client what he/she needs and, if it is in him/her, to exceed those expectations.

In a world where standing out in the translation industry feels akin to navigating a dense jungle, the key to emerging victorious lies not just in mere survival, but in mastering the art of differentiation. Reflect on your unique journey as a translator. What specific experiences or insights have shaped your approach to translation? Dive deep into your personal arsenal of skills and identify that unique gem that sets you apart. Find the ingredient that makes your translations resonate with authenticity. Highlight these qualities to attract clients who value your accurate and authentic work. Promote and showcase your unique path and relentless pursuit of excellence . Ready to share your secret ingredient?🚀

Our industry is changing and we all need to change to be up-to-date. Focus on: - the quality of your translations - a good service (= be reliable and deliver on-time) - good productivity tools and you will belong to the winners 🏆🏆

The best way to stand out is the overall quality of your work, whenever you get a translation job. Many wannabe translators are impatient, they want money and success immediately. I would rather suggest not to waste too much time on virtual presence, the online world is extremely saturated with very naive marketing strategies of self-promotion which can be faked easily with stealing other people's hard work. Translators are trading their time for money. Many service providers are trying to use that urge to build you a reputation for a fee. Even recommendations can be faked on the basis of „you scratch my back, I scratch yours". Read books, get literate, and learn how to sell your services to the appropriate business partner. It takes time.

Find something else to do. The translation market is highly competitive, everybody thinks they are a translator, most of the clients are unappreciative of your hard work, and unforgiving. And most of them want you to finance their business demanding ridiculous payment terms. Some take 6 months to pay you.

To ensure your translation services stand out, focus on specialization, quality, technology, customization, customer service, and strategic marketing. Specializing in specific fields, maintaining high-quality standards, leveraging technology, providing tailored solutions, offering exceptional support, and promoting your unique value proposition can differentiate your services and attract clients in a competitive market.

Consider asking your current and former clients to assess your job, recommend and even write a testimonial of how good and an asset you are for them. This has helped me along the years. Keep a survey and a score for overall services. Getting to know how your clients see you and assess you also help on improving your services