How to Start a Translation Service

-Mahaveer Sanglikar

If you are a multilingual person and can develop a skill of translating from one language to another, then you can start your own professional translation service and make it your main income source, as there is lot of opportunities in this field.

Your knowledge is your capital, and you do not need to invest a lot of money to start your work. You can start this just with your visiting card.

You can get lot of translation work from Book Publishers, Newspapers and even from Radio Stations. The type of work is to translate a book, article, speech, News, stories etc. from one language to another. The charges vary with the type of the work, the number of words or number of pages. In some cases, it could be your part time job with monthly fix payment.

You can get translation work from NGOs, Banks, Business Houses and individuals also. Here you get documents, letters, press notes, write ups, Notices etc. to translate.

Advertisement agencies are another source of getting translation work.

You should accept any translation work only if you can understand the subject very well. Even if you are fluent in different languages, you should keep yourself up to date with the terminologies, current affairs etc. The translation you do should never sound like artificial. Each language has its own style of expressing things, so never try to do word to word translation.

You should buy standard dictionaries of the languages in which you want to work. The dictionaries can help you to find perfect words and terms in related languages.

Have friends in different linguistic groups and always speak with them in their own languages. This will help you to be in touch of practical usage of different languages.

Finally, you should never hesitate to ask for assistance from your friends from related linguistic group if you have some trouble in translating.

Once you get establish, you can outsource the excess work to your friends who can translate well.

Meet Prospective Clients
To get translation work, you have to meet your prospective clients, business houses, editorial departments of printed media, Banks etc. The very first thing you have to do is to print a visiting card (business card). Meet the prospective clients, introduce yourself and ask for if they have any translation work. This method is very effective.

Online Classified Advertisements
There are many advertisement agencies which offer free and paid classified advertisements. Create an advertisement of your translation service and post it in appropriate section on the website. The title of your advertisement should be catchy and to the point. You should post your advertisement under your City Section.

Initially you should go for free option, later you can choose paid option of advertising on such websites.

Classified Advertisements in Local Newspapers
Publishing classified advertisements in local newspapers is another effective method of advertising your local business. Choose one or two popular newspapers published from your city to advertise. Newspapers offer a package of insertions with concessional rates. Try a package and see the response. If you get a response, try advertising occasionally.

Please note that you should give your cell number on your visiting cards and your advertisements, so that the clients could contact you. Also add your email address in your contact details in your visiting card.