Tips: How to be an annoying freelancer? Thread poster: Veronica Lupascu
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Hello,
I have just completed a big translation project for one of my end clients. Since we are in great relationships, also friendly relationships, I asked them (a non Translating Company) to provide their feedback on proZ, their WWA. They did so, I also provided my feedback in their Blue Board profile. Everything seemed to be great.
Few minutes ago, my client (I hope not my former client) contacted me to say that they receive annoying emails every 20 minutes from tra... See more Hello,
I have just completed a big translation project for one of my end clients. Since we are in great relationships, also friendly relationships, I asked them (a non Translating Company) to provide their feedback on proZ, their WWA. They did so, I also provided my feedback in their Blue Board profile. Everything seemed to be great.
Few minutes ago, my client (I hope not my former client) contacted me to say that they receive annoying emails every 20 minutes from translators who want to cooperate with my client.
I also use to browse the BB to find new contacts, but I ALWAYS visit their website to see what they offer, to see if my services suit their requirements etc. I think that those who sent the emails did not even open the website. Otherwise they would observe that my client does not need translations. I am really really angry.
Furthermore, my client forwarded me some emails and guess what? ProZ.com freelancers are offering services for 0.02$ per source word!!! Can you believe it? After so many related forum posts, after starting to change the BB posting jobs system etc... they still have these huge rates!!!
I am simply disappointed and angry!
I am gonna contact those lovely proZ.com colleagues... ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Sorry to say this | Apr 12, 2010 |
Veronica Lupascu wrote:
Hello,
I have just completed a big translation project for one of my end clients. Since we are in great relationships, also friendly relationships, I asked them (a non Translating Company) to provide their feedback on proZ, their WWA. They did so, I also provided my feedback in their Blue Board profile. Everything seemed to be great.
Furthermore, my client forwarded me some emails and guess what? ProZ.com freelancers are offering services for 0.02$ per source word!!! Can you believe it? After so many related forum posts, after starting to change the BB posting jobs system etc... they still have these huge rates!!!
I am simply disappointed and angry!
I am gonna contact those lovely proZ.com colleagues...
...but you should have never put your client in contact with a website full of prospective competitors. That's the way it goes...
| | | | | Why would you say so? | Apr 12, 2010 |
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons) wrote:
...but you should have never put your client in contact with a website full of prospective competitors. That's the way it goes...
Hi Giuseppina,
I do not understand your comment, when you yourself show 2 WWA comments in your profile.
What should Veronica have done? Not request feedback from her client? Not write a positive BB entry? Isn't this one of the main purposes of this site? How was she to know that a flood of e-mails would ensue after her client posted a WWA entry on her profile?
However, the WWA section of her profile is empty, so I am not sure if the comments were deleted or freelancers are getting her client's data from somewhere else. It would be nice if she could clarify this, and I would also suggest that she sends a support request asap, so that she can get an explanation from the site of why this is happening. I do not think it is a good idea to contact the prozians who sent the e-mails until she has a clear picture of what happened, as they might have not done anything wrong, other than selling themselves cheap.
[Edited at 2010-04-12 16:25 GMT]
| | | | Buck
Netherlands
Local time: 08:29
Dutch to English
Hi Veronica. I think posting the client's details on Blue Board was unwise. After all, don't translators read those comments when deciding whether or not to work for a company or, as presumably happened in this case, looking for potential clients? I wouldn't panic just yet. Can't you delete your entry from BB? And apologise profusely to your client? LOL
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Veronica Lupascu 
Netherlands
Local time: 08:29
Dutch to Romanian
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TOPIC STARTER
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons) wrote:
..but you should have never put your client in contact with a website full of prospective competitors. That's the way it goes...
but not exactly in this case. My client is not a translation agency, and they do not need translations often. I didn't even think that freelance translators would contact them, seeing that they are not a translation agency.
When one advertises a product, he chooses very carefully the target public. One of the main criteria when making such choices is: would be a potential client interested in my product? We offer services. Shouldn't we think in the same way. I have read before in a similar forum thread agencies' opinion, which receive such emails every day. How could I, working with Greek, Russian and Romanian send an email to an agency who translates only from and into Chinese and Japanese?
| | | | Veronica Lupascu
Netherlands
Local time: 08:29
Dutch to Romanian
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TOPIC STARTER | no, i can not delete it | Apr 12, 2010 |
Buck wrote:
Hi Veronica. I think posting the client's details on Blue Board was unwise. After all, don't translators read those comments when deciding whether or not to work for a company or, as presumably happened in this case, looking for potential clients? I wouldn't panic just yet. Can't you delete your entry from BB? And apologise profusely to your client? LOL
as proZ rules say, I can only edit my post after 1 year, as I can remember. I did not post my client's details, my client was kind enough to provide the feedback and registered the company in BB and offered the feedback after. I only gave him the proZ.com URL.
I think my biggest mistake was to give them a feedback as well (a 5 ).
| | | | | It really does not matter | Apr 12, 2010 |
Veronica Lupascu wrote:
[
When one advertises a product, he chooses very carefully the target public. One of the main criteria when making such choices is: would be a potential client interested in my product? We offer services. Shouldn't we think in the same way. I have read before in a similar forum thread agencies' opinion, which receive such emails every day. How could I, working with Greek, Russian and Romanian send an email to an agency who translates only from and into Chinese and Japanese?
I am on the BB too and I have received a lot of e-mails from translators during the years, for all different language combinations, even if it is pretty clear that I am not a translation agency.
The fact that your client is not a translation agency makes it even worse for you. I still believe you should have never posted his details on this website. You are lucky enough to have a direct client, why do you need to advertise that? If I had direct clients, the last thing I would do is publishing their details on this website or even letting them know about the existence of this website.
| | | | Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 08:29
German to English
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| Yes, it seems a little naive to | Apr 12, 2010 |
post the info of a direct client on a board full of competitors. Lesson learned, I hope. If you need a WWA in the future, ask for a reference from your client on paper or a willingness to respond to queries about the quality of your work by e-mail or phone, but don't volunteer anything in a public place. Even so, the behavior of ProZ "colleagues" is even worse than I thought it could ever be.
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Veronica Lupascu
Netherlands
Local time: 08:29
Dutch to Romanian
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TOPIC STARTER | lesson learned :) thanks | Apr 12, 2010 |
Woodstock wrote:
post the info of a direct client on a board full of competitors. Lesson learned, I hope. If you need a WWA in the future, ask for a reference from your client on paper or a willingness to respond to queries about the quality of your work by e-mail or phone, but don't volunteer anything in a public place. Even so, the behavior of ProZ "colleagues" is even worse than I thought it could ever be.
I agree it was a little bit naive, but, as I said, I have friendly relationships with that client. I know that this company needs translations extremely seldom or even does not need them at all. This was my point. So, I was not thinking about competitors.
Now, after reading your posts (Thank you all, by the way), I understand it was not a good idea. I hope we can solve the problem some how.
| | | | Veronica Lupascu
Netherlands
Local time: 08:29
Dutch to Romanian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thank you, Aguas! | Apr 12, 2010 |
Aguas de Marco wrote: Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons) wrote:
...but you should have never put your client in contact with a website full of prospective competitors. That's the way it goes... Hi Giuseppina, I do not understand your comment, when you yourself show 2 WWA comments in your profile. What should Veronica have done? Not request feedback from her client? Not write a positive BB entry? Isn't this one of the main purposes of this site? How was she to know that a flood of e-mails would ensue after her client posted a WWA entry on her profile? However, the WWA section of her profile is empty, so I am not sure if the comments were deleted or freelancers are getting her client's data from somewhere else. It would be nice if she could clarify this, and I would also suggest that she sends a support request asap, so that she can get an explanation from the site of why this is happening. I do not think it is a good idea to contact the prozians who sent the e-mails until she has a clear picture of what happened, as they might have not done anything wrong, other than selling themselves cheap. [Edited at 2010-04-12 16:25 GMT]
I helped my client (since he is not familiar with this site) to request support form proZ team. I hope they can solve the problem as soon as possible. I think this is the reason why my WWA is not there yet, maybe it won't be. Probably site staff is already working on it. We received a response back! They are really great! I am lucky I am in good relationships with this company and I have received my lesson, so everything is fine.
The reason I posted this thread was not because of the BB entries, but because I was surprised of our proZ colleagues (i visited their profiles, by the way. Did not contact them.) who say that offer high quality services (high quality rates as well - 0,02-0,04EUR LOL ). How can one say this and send emails to everybody who has an email address? Weird people.
Also, note that the email address of my client was not posted in BB, only the website URL. So, one should anyway visit the website to find the contact details. As far as I can understand, they only look for emails and do not bother to read anything there. It is like trying to drive with eyes closed.
| | | | | Just to explain | Apr 12, 2010 |
Aguas de Marco wrote: Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons) wrote:
...but you should have never put your client in contact with a website full of prospective competitors. That's the way it goes... Hi Giuseppina, I do not understand your comment, when you yourself show 2 WWA comments in your profile. What should Veronica have done? Not request feedback from her client? Not write a positive BB entry? Isn't this one of the main purposes of this site? How was she to know that a flood of e-mails would ensue after her client posted a WWA entry on her profile? However, the WWA section of her profile is empty, so I am not sure if the comments were deleted or freelancers are getting her client's data from somewhere else. It would be nice if she could clarify this, and I would also suggest that she sends a support request asap, so that she can get an explanation from the site of why this is happening. I do not think it is a good idea to contact the prozians who sent the e-mails until she has a clear picture of what happened, as they might have not done anything wrong, other than selling themselves cheap. [Edited at 2010-04-12 16:25 GMT]
I never requested the WWA to my clients. I think it is a waste of time, I've never requested to any of my clients, since there is no need to show to anybody that they like to work with me. This is only between me and them and I don't need to advertise this. They decided to send them to me anyway. But remember that these clients are NOT direct clients, they are agencies.
As a matter of fact, I don't attribute any importance to WWA. It is just another gadget.
| | | | | Very interesting comments... | Apr 12, 2010 |
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons) wrote:
I never requested the WWA to my clients. I think it is a waste of time, I've never requested to any of my clients, since there is no need to show to anybody that they like to work with me. This is only between me and them and I don't need to advertise this. They decided to send them to me anyway. But remember that these clients are NOT direct clients, they are agencies.
As a matter of fact, I don't attribute any importance to WWA. It is just another gadget.
Thank you, Giuseppina, both your comments and Veronica's are very interesting. I was a paying member when the WWA was implemented amid much discussion and controversy. At that time, I remember we were told members would have the option to enable it or not. I do not know if that has changed now. But I wonder if the staff is reading this forum and if they realize(d) some of the unintended consequences of the WWA, like other freelancers contacting clients, either agencies or direct ones, and undercutting colleagues rates. I also wonder how many other members do not care about the WWA or think it is a waste of time. It was supposed to become one of the best features, along with the BB, which I still think is a good place for freelancers to check potential clients.
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Igor Popov
Russian Federation
Local time: 09:29
English to Russian
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Dear Veronica,
Perhaps, you could not even imagine how many literally hungry translators are browsing the Internet in search of a job. There are thousands of freelancers who are offering services for 0.02$ per source word and even less (e.g. in emerging countries). And no one is entitled to forbid them to do so. Actually, there is no remedy to cure this.
You just have to be more careful about what you post. That’s it.
Good luck
Igor
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