How comfortable are you with an online presence?

MaV

We are in the era of social profiles blurred with cvs and job applications.
How comfortable are you with that?
Do you feel, like me, that the constant self-advertising and the constant demand for exposure are hard to adhere to?
How dependent are you of your social profiles when it comes to getting clients?
Do you give everyone your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ WhatEverElse links, or only job-related ones, like Academia.edu, LinkedIn, Proz, and things like that?

Of course, I’m asking this because it’s a side of the modern world with which I’m still having a hard time. ?

eleonorang

Hi @MaV ? I guess the stereotype of all translators being introverts is indeed a stereotype but as far as I'm concerned, I've never been that good at promoting and advertising myself. I'm getting better in time, you know, because this is just one more thing we have to learn in this business. The idea that you just 'need to be social' to get clients is not entirely true. Every social network must be studied and a specific plan must be drawn on how you're going to use it, and this 'planning side' makes the whole matter a bit easier to accept. I've always found planning comforts me, takes away any insecurity ? So I'll plan a course of action for each and every social I decide to be present on.

MaV Do you give everyone your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ WhatEverElse links, or only job-related ones, like Academia.edu, LinkedIn, Proz, and things like that?

I try to keep professional and private contacts as separated as possible, but on Facebook the two melt a little bit

alyonaxl8

MaV Do you feel, like me, that the constant self-advertising and the constant demand for exposure are hard to adhere to?

Yes! Yes, it is hard. Not that I'm a complete recluse or hate socializing, but I'm unable to adhere to it, as you say. Some days I just don't want to speak to strangers, you know. Some days I don't feel like wasting time on social media. And a part of it is that I've never cared much about social media, like posting photos or telling the whole world what I'm up to-- it's not that interesting anyway. Also, this online presence business takes too much time that I'd prefer to spend doing something else.
I basically take care of my profiles on work-related platforms. I visit Twitter and Facebook sometimes, but not regularly (which now that I think about it I haven't visited Facebook for like 3 months).
So you're not alone in having difficulties with this thing ?

RenataFTorres

MaV Building an on-line presence still feels really awkward. I agree with what Eleonora said about planning, like investing time (and money, perhaps) on a digital marketing strategy. I'm totally up for it, but the whole concept of editorial calendar still feels pretty far from where I stand right now. You see, I want to be seen, but sometimes I lack the self-confidence to delve into the marketing seas.
When it comes to social media, I use Twitter and Paper.li (not social media, but really helps) to catch up with the translation world, not really for seeking clients. Facebook groups and warm e-mail for seeking clients. Finally, Linkedin for networking and searching for job opportunities.

Has anybody here developed a digital marketing strategy and has it been working out for you?

Dmitry

Excellent questions and a great discussion, @MaV! Thank you for starting! I figured I'd share a few thoughts of my own if you don't mind. ?

MaV How comfortable are you with that?

Very uncomfortable, but that's the world we live in. All we can do is learn how to adapt and use it to our own advantage.

MaV Do you feel, like me, that the constant self-advertising and the constant demand for exposure are hard to adhere to?

I wouldn't say that it's hard. It just requires practice and a plan. It's just like any other aspect of running your business. ;

MaV How dependent are you of your social profiles when it comes to getting clients?

They don't come directly from them, but my paranoia tells me that they're probably looking me up, so having active profiles helps. They work as a credibility of sorts. I'm here. I'm not hiding. I'm sharing things and stuff. I have a growing following that probably means that I can be trusted. At least that's how I see it. I may be very wrong about this one, though.

MaV Do you give everyone your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ WhatEverElse links, or only job-related ones, like Academia.edu, LinkedIn, Proz, and things like that?

Pretty much anyone can Google Dmitry Kornyukhov and find all of my networks, so I don't really keep them private or secrete.

RenataFTorres Has anybody here developed a digital marketing strategy and has it been working out for you?

Great question @RenataFTorres! My strategy so far was having a website (I recently re-designed mine: https://videogamestranslator.com/), having social media presence, blogging and direct emails to clients in my niche).

Of course, I have to deal with a ton of rejection, but there are clients who are actually impressed by my website and my overall online presence that they're happy to work with me. ?

maysaa

MaV Thank you @MaV . It is an interesting question. We live in the social media era but it is really uncomfortable and very annoying. Even though, it is important to be present online because it is a part of your success, especially as a freelance translator.

MaV

I like that idea of planning. As it happens, most of my social accounts were made out of the circumstance - Facebook was because my department started "forcing" its use (but I was called Diogenes Laertius there, at first, as a sign of protest!), my Twitter account was born because of a friend who was a Twitter addict, and so on. But you're quite right - a strategy might help all that.

That said, my Portuguese clients are always referred by someone else. It's at the international level that I found it a bit harder to deal with all the requests for social network contacts. When it comes to work profiles, like LinkedIn, it feels like a universal cover letter. It is a bit weird if you like to adapt what you have to say to a specific employer. It's like standing on a shop window, as universal as possible!

MaV

Wow. If Dmitry, Mr Internet Nice Guy, is very uncomfortable, there's hope for all of us!
But this is one of the things I loved about OpenMic from the first second: it deals with the pressure of online exposure of the modern world (we have our profiles, rates, cv, etc), but it's about all about people. Here, even if it's an open and public forum, I feel as if we were exchanging ideas in a real world office.
So maybe that's one thing to keep in mind when deciding to embrace the modern requirements: finding "humane" places where it's not all about bidding and selling and advertising...

eleonorang

MaV I think, if we value human relationships, time will prove us right ? Can you believe all the connections we're able to make today and the gazillion opportunities that could arise from them? After all, the "new" marketing teaches us that we should appear as human as possible to our readers to engage them.

Dmitry

MaV

MaV Wow. If Dmitry, Mr Internet Nice Guy, is very uncomfortable

That's largely because I've had my fair share of super unpleasant conversations with my "colleagues" on social media who were rude, pushy, vicious even. So that made me paranoid to a curtain degree and super cautious about everything I share online.

MaV finding "humane" places where it's not all about bidding and selling and advertising...

Being human and civil in public places even if they're online places are my credo, so that was one of the reason I wanted to build a platform like this. It's difficult to maintain something like this and not everyone gets the ideas behind it (we even have our fair share of critics who despise The Open Mic and everything it stands for), but it's a rewarding experience and I think it has its value.

After all, I think we deserve to have a friendly and fun place where we can be ourselves without constant judgement or evaluation of our words and actions. I hope we'll manage to keep it that way for years to come. ?

coveredweb

Yeah this is difficult for me. I designed my website a few years ago but I never get the guts to publish it. I think there is always something missing and it isn't good enough. Here it is: https://coveredweb.000webhostapp.com/index.html

MaV

I hear you there... One day I'll press the "publish" button.
And you just showed us your site. Now, that's a privilege!

coveredweb

Yeah I just posted here, but I don't think it's ready yet!

eleonorang

coveredweb When it's ready, make sure you open a thread in the Showcase section to collect feedback from our fellow users ?

coveredweb

Yes I will. As soon as I feel that the page is "ready". I hope it doesn't take forever ?

Dmitry

coveredweb Yes I will. As soon as I feel that the page is "ready". I hope it doesn't take forever ?

That's what weekends are for @coveredweb ?

I highly recommend you check out WordPress if you haven't done so yet. It's an excellent platform that makes building beautiful websites rather easy (with the help of numerous free and paid template). There's a learning curve, of course, but it's worth investing your time into it.

By the way, The Open Mic was built with WordPress, so it shows that anything is possible with this platform. ?

If you need help on getting started, check out this series of posts on building a website for your translation business that I wrote a while back. My recent post on rebranding might also come in handy.

coveredweb

Thanks Dmitry. I like programming as well so I prefer programming my own pages instead of using pre-made platforms like Wordpress, but thanks for the tips.

Dmitry

coveredweb That's the beauty of WordPress, you can either pick a template and just go with it, or you can customize it to your liking and add your own HTML, javasript or change page templates in php ? Plus, it comes optimized for SEO, so that's one less thing to worry about.

erikasbat

Well, to be honest, although I do have accounts on many social networks, I only actually use Facebook, and I programmed my Twitter to repost the content I post on Facebook. So I think it's useless to give potential clients the links to all my profiles.
I have found out that it stresses me, the obligation of being everywhere, always online... But I can't deny that social media has helped me as well. Most of my clients were found in translators' networking groups on Facebook, indicated by fellow translators I contacted with there or found me through my blogs or profiles in translators' sites. The fact is that, as our work is developed mostly online nowadays, getting offline for a lot of time means getting no work during those 'vacancies'.