| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Poll: How long did it take you to be able to live solely on your income as a freelancer? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Jane Phillips 
France
Local time: 05:54
Member (2013)
French to English
| Eighteen months down the road... | Feb 8, 2015 |
And I might just about be there. I could have lived on what I earnt last year if I'd had nothing else but it would have been tight.
On the other hand if I hadn't had anything else (I'm running down a small specialist plant nursery before closing completely) I would have had more time to chase clients, jobs etc.
Have to admit I was surprised, French>English being such a common combination and so much "yeah well anyone who English living in France can translate can't ... See more And I might just about be there. I could have lived on what I earnt last year if I'd had nothing else but it would have been tight.
On the other hand if I hadn't had anything else (I'm running down a small specialist plant nursery before closing completely) I would have had more time to chase clients, jobs etc.
Have to admit I was surprised, French>English being such a common combination and so much "yeah well anyone who English living in France can translate can't they..." I expected it to take at least 3 years, as with any other business. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Roy Oestensen
Denmark
Local time: 05:54
Member (2010)
English to Norwegian (Bokmal)
+ ...
| Freelancers are in the low income bracket in Norway | Feb 8, 2015 |
Antonio Fajardo wrote:
And I don't know ANY freelance translator who needed more than one year AS LONG AS they worked and looked for clients 8 hours a day, believing that this is a real job and not just "giving it a try to see how this works".
If you are serious about it, in one year your salary will be quite above the average salary in your country, I have no doubts about it.
This is regretably not the case especially in Norway if the translator mainly work through agencies. Somehow many agencies think a translator in Scandinavia can make a decent living with the same rates as someone in low cost areas as Russia or India. The result most are in the low income bracket in Norway these days. The top was the first few years of this century, and since then the living standard has gone down.
I have difficulties getting agencies to accept higher rates than what I had 10 years ago, and most want the rates I had 20 years ago. In the same period has seen a steady inflation, although it's hasn't been very high.
The only way to make a decent living would be to accept working more than 8 hours a day, and work 6 or 7 days a week. Normal hours would be 37 1/2 hours in Norway, but a freelancer can forget that.
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I took me more than 4 years but I took the time to set up my office as I had other incomes from the university ...
| | | | magsyl
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:54
French to English
+ ...
I replied less than 1 month because I was unemployed when I first started, so one way or another I had to live on whatever I made. If the question had been how long before my salary matched what I earned when I last had a regular job, the answer would have been about 10 years!!
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acetran
Member
English to Hindi
+ ...
| Business is very fluctuation | Feb 9, 2015 |
Any freelance work is fluctuating, it is not stable.
You never know where the next "$" will come from.
Sometimes, a regular client may post a job, totally ignoring you. While, a new agency may contact you on its own.
| | | | | Less than a month! | Feb 9, 2015 |
It all depends on the languages you translate. It´s like the stock market, supply & demand. I translate from swedish and I live in Spain. We´re living in a global society (internet) so I really don´t understand why I started with so much work when they can find high qualified translators in Sweden.
Now I am used to much more difficult texts, so I consider myself a medium qualified translator, always learning.
| | | | Haigo Salow
United States
Local time: 20:54
Member (2014)
German to English
+ ...
| It depends on how you define ‘making a living’ | Feb 10, 2015 |
Is it competing for USD 0.01 a word jobs on sites such as Odesk and Freelance, with people who are oftentimes not native speakers of either the source or target language, and have who no formal training in translation, or establishing a relationship with reputable agencies and/or direct clients?
Just a few days ago I read a post, written in 2011 on this site, about the downward pressure on prices for translation. Some of the contributors complained about rates of 3-4 cents per word.... See more Is it competing for USD 0.01 a word jobs on sites such as Odesk and Freelance, with people who are oftentimes not native speakers of either the source or target language, and have who no formal training in translation, or establishing a relationship with reputable agencies and/or direct clients?
Just a few days ago I read a post, written in 2011 on this site, about the downward pressure on prices for translation. Some of the contributors complained about rates of 3-4 cents per word. Since I am going to graduate from New York University’s translation program G>E this summer I recently started looking for jobs on Odesk and Elance. Many of the offers on these sites end with the sentence “please do not apply if you’re not happy with USD 0.50 per 100 words”. That is ½ cent US per word; a far cry from the 2-3 cents people complained about in 2011, just three short years ago. I am very lucky in having a very supportive instructor from the NYU program, who has encouraged me to attend as many trade events as possible, including the ATA conference in Chicago last year. Going to these events has helped me meet people in the industry, both translation agency representatives and other translators. I have done one job for an agency that paid a student rate of 9 cents per word, as opposed to their regular rate of 14 cents and up. I am very happy with that, but there are very few of these jobs and many agencies will not consider translators with less than three years of professional experience.
So, what is one to do? Keep applying for jobs with reputable agencies and/or looking for direct clients, keeping busy in the meantime by accepting 1 cent per word jobs (or less) and thereby contributing to the downward pressure on pricing?
In my case I accepted a buyout from my employer, otherwise I would not have taken the plunge to get into this business as a full-time occupation without having saved up enough to keep me going for 1-2 years. I believe that I’ll be able to make a living in this business within one year, by foregoing the 1 cent a word jobs and instead focusing on networking, sending out applications and most importantly improving my skills as a translator.
P.S. there are many markets within the translations industry that are worthwhile exploring, such as post-editing machine translation, content writing, etc.
[Edited at 2015-02-10 07:58 GMT]
[Edited at 2015-02-10 08:03 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Zhihua Liu
China
Local time: 11:54
English to Chinese
+ ...
Well, I used to work in a few international airports and had never thought of being a freelancer.
Then I decided to live in a small town, where there's no such career opportunity. I made a research and set my rules, I should say I was lucky, as in a month, I made it.
Actually, I want to say, besides the ability, to know your value and respect your profession are also important to grow fast.
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| Income as a freelancer | Feb 11, 2015 |
I work as an Admin Manager for 13 years, with a good income. Since December I have been worked very hard to get some translation projects. It seems very difficult to make a living as a freelancer. I will go on with my commitment. I hope ProZ help me to let me know as a professional. I love translation and I do not give up hope.
Best wishes!
Daniela.
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[quote]Roy Oestensen wrote:
Antonio Fajardo wrote:
This is regretably not the case especially in Norway if the translator mainly work through agencies. Somehow many agencies think a translator in Scandinavia can make a decent living with the same rates as someone in low cost areas as Russia or India. The result most are in the low income bracket in Norway these days. The top was the first few years of this century, and since then the living standard has gone down.
I have difficulties getting agencies to accept higher rates than what I had 10 years ago, and most want the rates I had 20 years ago. In the same period has seen a steady inflation, although it's hasn't been very high.
The only way to make a decent living would be to accept working more than 8 hours a day, and work 6 or 7 days a week. Normal hours would be 37 1/2 hours in Norway, but a freelancer can forget that.
On considering the given contingencies, the alternative to this worldwide situation is the search for direct clients. We -translators- ought not to rely on translation agencies or companies only. The research and acquisition of direct (and more profitable) clients is as important as working with the translation agencies and companies is. It is hard work and demands remarkable investment in terms of time and commitment. On purpose, we need to think and plan globally taking advantage of communication tools we can rely on. Eventually, the return on investment is rewarding and overcomes any expectations. Henceforth, we take care of present clients but look for further and more profitable alternatives to earn our living and do what we love. Good luck to us all.
Viel Spaß & Ciao!
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actually I couldn't live solely on my income as a freelancer at all.
| | | | | A couple of years - but I had to quit my day job first | Feb 16, 2015 |
I started freelancing when I still had a job and thought I would smoothly move from one status to another. Then I merely changed jobs and remained a one-leg freelancer until I really quit my day job. Then it went from good to better.
I must admit, I do more than just translating, as I need the variation. But freelancing now pays the bills.
So my motto is: either you go for it full scale or you're more or less fooling yourself. A freelancer with a day job is not entirely... See more I started freelancing when I still had a job and thought I would smoothly move from one status to another. Then I merely changed jobs and remained a one-leg freelancer until I really quit my day job. Then it went from good to better.
I must admit, I do more than just translating, as I need the variation. But freelancing now pays the bills.
So my motto is: either you go for it full scale or you're more or less fooling yourself. A freelancer with a day job is not entirely free... ▲ Collapse
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Jaka Geltar
Slovenia
Local time: 05:54
German to Slovenian
+ ...
| It can be a blessing in the skies | Mar 7, 2016 |
It took about 3 years before I could rely solely on translation income. So it takes time and patience, like everything else that is long-term and worth to build and grow.
But it just enables you so much freedom and a lifestyle that's totally your own.
I wouldn't replace sitting 2 weeks at the laptop and earning enough to go travel to Africa or Asia for the next 2 weeks for any other job or type of work!
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