| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Where do the majority of your projects come from? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
|
|---|
This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Where do the majority of your projects come from?".
This poll was originally submitted by Milena Taylor. View the poll results »
| | | | | Almost evenly split between agencies and direct clients | Jun 27, 2016 |
This year (until the end of May), I made 40 invoices: 21 to agencies, 19 to direct clients
| | | | Michael Harris 
Germany
Local time: 08:47
Member (2006)
German to English
I gave up on direct clients as their invoicing was too time consuming paired with completely incompetent accounting departments - not to mention any names.
I have a great pool of agencies that I work with and the best thing about it is that they pay on time without any hassle.
[Edited at 2016-06-27 22:40 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 02:47
English to Spanish
+ ...
| Giving up on direct clients? | Jun 27, 2016 |
Perish the thought, Michael!
Agency or direct client, big company or small, sometimes on-time payments are a minor concern. Mediocrity is, in my eyes, inexcusable. I can't, for the life of me, understand how or why some employees in any of these organizations are still working there, despite their obvious incompetence.
And to the pollster: Who cares where the majority of my projects com... See more Perish the thought, Michael!
Agency or direct client, big company or small, sometimes on-time payments are a minor concern. Mediocrity is, in my eyes, inexcusable. I can't, for the life of me, understand how or why some employees in any of these organizations are still working there, despite their obvious incompetence.
And to the pollster: Who cares where the majority of my projects come from? They pay the bills, they fill my working hours with interesting texts to read and translate, they prod me to do research and find better ways to express a concept.
Maybe you should step away from your calculator and think of the above at least once. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Direct clients | Jun 27, 2016 |
All of them by word of mouth recommendation from friends, colleagues, former students and acquaintances. And I thanks my stars every day for the fact!
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
+ ...
Quite a time ago I found out that a single project from a direct client is worth several indirect jobs--some three in my case, yet under more favourable (and negotiable) conditions!
Sometimes I still do Wiki or volunteer jobs, yet my life seems not that cheap and long)
[Edited at 2016-06-27 10:05 GMT]
| | | |
For the first time this year I have done more work for direct customers than for agencies.
Direct = more money but more hassle. It's a trade-off.
I'd rather work through agencies, but with very few exceptions they're becoming insufferable with their clueless PMs and stupid systems and mindless penny-pinching.
Mario Chavez wrote:
And to the pollster ... Maybe you should step away from your calculator and think of the above at least once.
Maybe you should step away from this forum with all its stupid polls from stupid pollsters so you sound less like the 48%?
[Edited at 2016-06-27 10:48 GMT]
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 02:47
English to Spanish
+ ...
Chris S wrote: For the first time this year I have done more work for direct customers than for agencies. Direct = more money but more hassle. It's a trade-off. I'd rather work through agencies, but with very few exceptions they're becoming insufferable with their clueless PMs and stupid systems and mindless penny-pinching. Mario Chavez wrote:
And to the pollster ... Maybe you should step away from your calculator and think of the above at least once. Maybe you should step away from this forum with all its stupid polls from stupid pollsters so you sound less like the 48%? [Edited at 2016-06-27 10:48 GMT]
If I were a less equable person, I would complain that you hurt my feelings and that you are itching for a fight.
Here's an idea for a poll: How many cynical replies do you find in Proz polls?
| | |
|
|
|
| Evenly split | Jun 27, 2016 |
Mario Chavez wrote: Perish the thought, Michael! Agency or direct client, big company or small, sometimes on-time payments are a minor concern. Mediocrity is, in my eyes, inexcusable. I can't, for the life of me, understand how or why some employees in any of these organizations are still working there, despite their obvious incompetence. And to the pollster: Who cares where the majority of my projects come from? They pay the bills, they fill my working hours with interesting texts to read and translate, they prod me to do research and find better ways to express a concept. Maybe you should step away from your calculator and think of the above at least once.
Hi Mario,
You are right.:)
However, it is interesting to see the statistics.
Thank you!
Milena
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 15:47
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Japanese customers are notoriously finicky and picky. The amount of running around and visits to customers' offices, etc. to satisfy their every whim, do sales and discuss jobs, etc. would eat up any time I had for actual translation if I were dealing with them directly.
This is why I choose agencies who do all the interfacing and running around and earn their slice of the pie. This allows me the time to what I am best at - translating without any added hassle.
| | | | EvaVer (X)
Local time: 08:47
Czech to French
+ ...
Used to be the other way around, but I was too dependent on one direct client. Agencies made it possible for me to diversity quickly.
| | | |
99.74%
28 different names since moving to Spain 6 years ago, of which 21 have assigned me less than 10 jobs.
Stability, variety and a consistent stream of work.
Philippe
| | |
|
|
|
Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 02:47
English to Spanish
+ ...
Hi, Milena,
Pardon my snap judgment, but I hold a healthy skepticism around statistics and percentages.
MC
| | | |
[Editado em 2016-06-27 20:19 GMT]
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 03:47
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Good to see that... | Jun 29, 2016 |
It's good to see that we are all actually in the same situation. 80% from agencies, huh? So I was right when I said some people are showing off when they spit out all their direct clients and magnificent rates.
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Poll: Where do the majority of your projects come from? | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.
More info » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
