Russian localization: would you like to know more?

Should translators be coders?

Specialization is the key. You will never ask a dentist to fix your car, or a plumber to write a poem to your sweetheart. You may do it of course, but the result you’ll get can be somewhat “discouraging”. Still, when it comes to the translation industry, the situation is quite the reverse.

Translators are often offered tasks they haven’t – and aren’t meant to have – skills to cope with. I don’t know why this is happening, but this was actually the thing which happened to me this month.

How to keep existing clients: 3 tips for video game translators.

I’m a video game translator, and I sell 80% of my translations to my old clients. It’s easier than selling to new ones, which costs a lot of time. First I wait for a potential job, then I send my CV and then I pass a translation test. If I success, I have to wait for an invitation to a project. It’s a lot of time and efforts – that’s why I focus on working with existing clients.

However, there is always a chance to lose a client. It’s bad, and I try to avoid it. Of course, if a client goes bankrupt or says farewell to game development, I can do nothing about it. But what I can do – is to prevent them from choosing another translator.

In this article I will share my own experience on how do I keep my clients.