the translator’s guide · translators and interpreters choose to specialise. ... value of human...

© 2017 Christelle Maignan. All rights reserved. www.coachingfortranslators.com

@Coach4Tran www.facebook.com/coachingfortranslators

THE TRANSLATOR’S GUIDE

TO

FINDING AND TARGETING A NICHE MARKET

by

Christelle Maignan



THE TRANSLATOR’S GUIDE TO


COPYRIGHT

No part of this guide may be distributed or reproduced in any form or by any means without

prior written permission of the author, except for brief quotations embodied in information,

articles, etc. with appropriate credit. To contact the author, please click here.

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http://www.coachingfortranslators.com/contact





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christelle Maignan has a master’s degree in European language and intercultural studies

and a post-graduate diploma in translation. She has been working as an English>French

translator for over 15 years (freelancing since 2004). She specialised in Information

Technology for many years before finding her true passion in coaching-related topics.

Christelle is also a qualified coach and the founder of Coaching for Translators. As well as

coaching and teaching webinars, she regularly gives talks around the UK and abroad. Her

public speaking activities have so far taken her to cities such as Oslo, London, Bergen,

Prague and San Francisco, with more events to come.

In September 2016, Christelle featured on the cover of the ATA Chronicle with her article

entitled “Translation in Transition”. A couple of months later, she presented a session on

finding and targeting a niche market at ATA’s 57th conference in San Francisco. Her session

was a success and she decided to make its content available to everybody in written format

as The Translator’s Guide To Finding And Targeting A Niche Market. In December 2016,

Christelle was presented with the International Coach Of The Year award by The Coaching

Academy for her work with translators and interpreters around the world.

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http://www.coachingfortranslators.com/

http://www.atanet.org/chronicle-online/cover-feature/translation-in-transition/





TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1

What is a niche? ..................................................................................................................................... 2

What are the benefits? ....................................................................................................................... 4

Main objection .................................................................................................................................... 5

Choosing a niche ..................................................................................................................................... 6

Values .................................................................................................................................................. 7

The Golden Circle ................................................................................................................................ 8

Tribes ................................................................................................................................................... 9

What is your Why? ............................................................................................................................ 10

Exploring your niche ............................................................................................................................. 10

The Marketing Mix ............................................................................................................................ 11

PESTLE-C ............................................................................................................................................ 12

Researching your niche ........................................................................................................................ 13

Targeting your niche ............................................................................................................................ 14

Offline................................................................................................................................................ 14

Online ................................................................................................................................................ 15

Tweeting ............................................................................................................................................ 16

Content marketing ............................................................................................................................ 17

Mailing lists ....................................................................................................................................... 18

More information ................................................................................................................................. 19

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INTRODUCTION

While some translators see themselves as generalists, others choose to specialise to stand

out from the competition, be seen as experts in their fields, and charge higher rates. But

how do you select a niche market? Do you choose it, or do you let it choose you? And when

you’ve done that, how do you target it?

In this guide, we will explore the benefits of working for niche markets, as well as key

aspects to consider when choosing a niche. I will share several business principles with you,

together with a couple of coaching models, to help you explore your niche before

committing to it. Targeting strategies, both on and offline, will also be explored.

Before we start, it’s important for me to point out that the principles and “soft skills”

presented in this guide are NOT meant to replace the “hard skills” required to be a

successful translator/interpreter. Of course, they will hopefully help you market your

services more efficiently, but if the quality of your work is poor, they won’t help you

establish yourself as a specialist. Bottom line: “Hard skills” are essential.

~ 1 ~





WHAT IS A NICHE?

In our profession, we often talk about specialisation. Many translators and interpreters

specialise in fields such as medicine, information technology, marketing, construction, law,

oil & gas, etc. The term “specialisation” refers to the subject matter in which a

translator/interpreter specialises.

The terms “niche” and “specialisation”

are often used interchangeably, but

“niche” tends to refer to a small but

well-defined and specific segment of

the market, rather than to a subject

matter. Translators and interpreters

can choose to work for niche markets.

According to the Merriam Webster

dictionary, a niche is the “situation in

which a business's products or services

can succeed by being sold to a

particular kind or group of people.”

While medicine, law, tourism, etc. can be regarded as niche markets within the wider

translation market, niches can be even more specific, e.g. dental medicine, shipping law and

sailing. And some of them can be quite unique. For example, while I was preparing a

presentation on niche markets, I was contacted by a lady who had been translating

magazines and books on quilting for the past 10 years.

The term niche also suggests that the specialisation you’ve chosen is right for you. We say

things like “He’s found his niche” and “She’s carved a niche for herself”. If we consult

Cambridge Dictionaries Online, a niche is a “job or position that is very suitable for

someone, especially one that they like”. We’ll come back to this later.

~ 2 ~





Danaë Hosek-Ugolini specialises in legal, business and maritime translations. Her first career

was as a shipping lawyer and she chose to remain in this market when she became a

translator.

Abigail Dahlberg translates for the recycling and waste management industry. Her niche

shows that it’s possible to focus on a very specific market and run a successful translation

business.

These two examples show how selecting images and colour schemes that work for your

chosen niche can help you stand out and attract the type of clients you want to work with.

~ 3 ~





What are the benefits?

There are many benefits to working for a niche market, which is why a lot of successful

translators and interpreters choose to specialise.

A niche will help you establish yourself as an expert in your field. Rather than being seen as

a generalist (a small fish in a big pond), you’ll be seen as someone who has in-depth

knowledge of the subject matter you cover (a big fish in a small pond). Being an expert will

boost your credibility and will help you build relationships with your clients; relationships

which are based on trust. Moreover, as machine translation continues to improve,

establishing yourself as an expert or premium translator will help you communicate the

value of human translation to your clients.

A niche will also help you stand out

from the competition because your

potential clients will instantly

recognise you as the type of

professional they’re looking for. Why

would they hire a generalist when

they can hire someone who

understands their market and is

knowledgeable about what they do?

Targeting a niche will also help you

focus your research efforts, as you

won’t have to start from scratch

with each new job. For example, you’ll be able to reuse and improve your glossaries. You’ll

also become extremely familiar with the terminology and concepts used in your niche,

which means you’ll need to spend less time looking them up.

In the same way, a niche will enable you to maximise your marketing efforts because you’ll

target specific clients only, you’ll be able to choose specific networking events and

conferences to attend, and you won’t need to adapt your marketing material to lots of

different markets. In other words, you won’t spread yourself too thin.

Ultimately, the aim of choosing a niche is to make it easier for you to attract better clients,

become more efficient and charge higher rates, while finding fulfilment in a career that’s

right for you.

~ 4 ~





Main objection

The main objection that people have to focusing on a specific niche is that they may not

receive enough work from that niche, and could potentially miss out on other work

opportunities. It can be tempting to translate/interpret for everybody, especially if you’re

just starting in the profession and you’re not sure who your ideal clients are, but as we’ve

seen above, selling your services as a generalist makes it much more difficult for you to

stand out.

Your hard skills will make a difference here. If you’re a talented translator/interpreter, your

clients are likely to recommend you not only to contacts within their niche, but also to

contacts outside their niche. Word-of-mouth will bring work to you and it will be up to you

to seize these opportunities.

For example, if you specialise in recycling, you could be asked to translate materials about

other environmental issues. However, before you accept such contracts, make sure that

you’re the right person for the job. Make sure you possess the right skills to translate for

these other clients. Likewise, if you specialise in shipping law, you probably shouldn’t take

on any medical translation job.

If you have two niches – e.g. Sailing (your passion) and Finance (the bulk of your work) – it

may be a good idea to have two separate websites to avoid confusing your clients or looking

unprofessional. Make sure, however, that maintaining two websites won’t be too time-

consuming. You may also need two sets of business cards, etc. Try to keep things as simple

as possible (for you and your clients), to avoid wasting precious time.

~ 5 ~





CHOOSING A NICHE

How do you choose a niche? Do you choose it or do you let it choose you? When I left

university with my translation diploma, I didn’t know who I was going to work for, or in what

field. I simply looked for an in-house position and was lucky to find one in the IT department

of a large multinational company. This led to my second in-house position in a software

localisation company, and I later specialised in IT as a freelance translator because it was the

only area I had real experience in.

You could therefore say that IT chose me. I translated in

that field for many years, and enjoyed it most of the time,

but I didn’t have a passion for it, and when I reached a

point where it would have been a good idea to grow my

business and start looking for better, bigger clients, I simply

didn’t feel the drive to do so. IT didn’t make my heart sing.

I had to look for something else.

My advice to you would therefore be to choose a niche

you really like; a specialisation that makes you want to go

the extra mile, because you’ll need that energy to grow

your business. You’re going to spend a lot of time researching concepts and terminology,

and talking to people at networking events and conferences, not to mention translating or

interpreting for your clients. It will also be a lot easier to connect with potential clients if

you’re genuinely interested in what they do.

“Be sure that the ladder of success is leaning against the right building.” Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People

To avoid the risk of feeling unmotivated or worse, unfulfilled, further down the line, be sure

to base your translation/interpreting business on a niche that’s right for you. Many of my

colleagues graduated in fields other than translation/interpreting or had careers in other

sectors (e.g. medicine, law or finance) before they joined our profession. They chose niche

markets they liked and understood. Others, like myself, studied translation and/or

interpreting at university, and choosing the right specialisation took more time.

If you’re not sure what to choose as a specialisation, take a moment to think about activities

that make you feel energised, focused and engaged. It could be something you enjoy doing

in your spare time, work experience that didn’t feel like work, or a school project you’ve

never forgotten about. If you think you’ve identified a niche, give it a try. Spend at least one

day translating a document (website, article, passage from a book, etc.) and note how you

feel at the end of the day. It will help you decide whether that niche is right for you.

~ 6 ~





Values

As a coach, I usually ask my clients about their top values at the start of the coaching

process. By values, I mean what’s really important to them, what matters most in their lives.

The reason I ask them to think about their top values is to make sure that their goal, the

thing they want to achieve, is aligned with what’s important to them.

If there’s a conflict between your values and your goal, you could encounter some

difficulties on your path to success. It may even cause you to self-sabotage in some cases.

For example, if you decide to specialise in the oil and gas industry and one of your top

values is protection of the environment, there might be a conflict there.

Take a moment to read the following list of values and think about your top 10 values. This

list isn’t exhaustive. Please add any value you feel is missing. You may realise that a lot of

these values are important to you. In fact, most of us share the same values, but we often

prioritise them differently.

What are your top 10 values? What are your top 5 values? Your top 3? How is working in

your chosen niche going to help you honour these values?

Achievement Adventure Art Awareness Balance

Challenge Community Connection Consistency Co-operation

Creativity Culture Democracy Effectiveness Entrepreneurship

Fame Family Freedom Friendships Growth

Health Helping others Honesty Independence Integrity

Knowledge Laughter Learning Love Loyalty

Money Nature Openness Order Patience

Pleasure Power Recognition Relationships Religion

Responsibility Reward Risk taking Security Self-respect

Serenity Spirituality Spontaneity Stability Status

Success Time Truth Understanding Wisdom

… … … … …

~ 7 ~





The Golden Circle

In his popular TED talk, Simon Sinek talks about the importance of the “Golden Circle”,

which he also calls your “Why”. Most companies know their “What”, i.e. what they sell,

their products or their services. Most of them also know their “How”, i.e. how to make

those products and how to deliver those services. But, according to Sinek, few companies

truly know their “Why”. By Why, he means more than simply making a profit. He means

what inspired the founder of the company to create the company in the first place. Another

word for it is their mission.

Knowing your Why is crucial because, as Sinek puts it: “People don’t buy what you do, they

buy why you do it”. People buy from people they trust, from people they connect with, from

people who share the same values, the same Why. A very good example of this is Apple.

Many people buy products made by Apple because they like what the company represents

and they feel loyal towards the brand.

We like to think we make our buying decisions based on logic, but 80% of our decision-

making process is actually based on emotions, on gut feeling, with only 20% rooted in logic.

Therefore, if you want to be successful at selling your services to potential clients, make

sure you connect with them on an emotional level. With your Why.

WHY

HOW

WHAT

~ 8 ~





Tribes

Marketing Guru Seth Godin is a big fan of finding your Why. He also talks a lot about tribes –

another word for niches.

A tribe is “a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader and connected

to an idea.” And “a group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to

communicate.”

Seth Godin encourages business people to start their own tribes and become the leaders of

their tribes. As a translator or an interpreter though, you don’t actually need to lead a tribe,

you don’t even need to create a tribe, you just need to be an active member of your tribe.

You’re the member of the tribe who other tribe members go to when they need a translator

or an interpreter. Why would they go and look for a translator or an interpreter outside

their tribe if you’re already there and they trust you?

Another interesting point about tribes is that, thanks to the Internet and social media,

today’s tribes are global. In the past, it could be difficult to specialise in a very narrow,

specific field because there weren’t always enough clients locally. But today, with the

Internet, potential clients can be found all over the world, and a narrow niche could turn out

to be a big enough market for you.

~ 9 ~





What is your Why?

The following questions will help you identify your Why so you can communicate it to your

tribe.

What will/does your business enable your clients to do? What else?

(Ask yourself this question until you identify the Why (or core value) that you share with

your niche. For example, someone who translates for pharmaceutical companies helps

these companies cure sick people around the world.)

What would happen if your business didn’t exist?

What is your business bringing to the world?

What difference will/does it make?

EXPLORING YOUR NICHE

Once you’ve identified your niche and you’ve made sure that it’s right for you in terms of

your Why, it’s important to explore it before you commit to it. You’ll need to make sure that

your niche is viable and that you have everything you need to translate/interpret for that

market, including the right hard skills. A couple of models often used in business coaching

can help you do that.

~ 10 ~

Use this space to write down your answers:





The Marketing Mix

The Marketing Mix combines a number of internal factors that businesses can control in

order to market their products or services effectively. Explore each of these factors by

asking yourself as many relevant questions as possible. For example:

Product: What product or service are you

selling? What value are you creating for your

clients? Does your product/service fulfil

their needs? How can you improve it?

Price: How much do you need to charge?

How much can your niche market afford

to pay? What pricing strategies will best

suit your niche? (Charging by the word,

by the hour, on a project basis?)

Place: Where are you selling your

product/service? Is your

geographical location right for your

niche? Is it relevant?

Promotion: What are your niche’s preferred

methods of promotion? What’s the best way to

promote your product/service in your niche?

How much will it cost?

People: What skills do you need to possess to work for your chosen niche? What skills do

you need to acquire/improve? Who will work for you? (Employees, business partners, etc.)

What skills do they need to possess?

Processes: Which systems and processes do you need to put in place? (Sales process,

queries, invoicing, customer service process, etc.). How can you ensure that your systems

and processes are adapted to your specific niche?

Physical environment: What should your working environment include? How much space

do you need? Will you need an office / meeting room?

What other relevant questions could you ask yourself for each of these factors?

~ 11 ~

Your business

Product

Price

Place

PromotionPeople

Processes

Physical Environ.





PESTLE-C

The PESTLE-C model covers the external factors that influence your niche, and therefore

your business. It stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental

and Competition. As with the previous model, ask yourself relevant questions for each of

these factors.

Political: What political changes are likely to impact your niche in the near future? For

example, what impact is Brexit going to have on your niche?

Economic: Is your niche a growing market? How is the current economic climate impacting

your niche?

Social: What social trends/changes are likely to impact your niche? What impact will they

have?

Technological: How will you keep up-to-date with technological advancements in your field?

Which technologies will you need to translate/interpret for your chosen niche?

Legal: Are there any legal requirements? Do you need to be certified? Do you need specific

qualifications?

Competitors: Who are your competitors? What can you learn from them? Who could you

collaborate with?

Take your time to explore all of these factors one by one. What other relevant questions do

you need to ask yourself?

The Marketing Mix and PESTLE-C models will help you explore your niche carefully, to

determine whether it’s viable, and to check whether you have everything you need to make

it work.

~ 12 ~





RESEARCHING YOUR NICHE

Ideally, you’ll already be familiar with your chosen niche market. For example, you’ll have

worked in this market (as a lawyer, doctor, financial expert, etc.) and/or obtained

qualifications in this field (university degree or other). If you’re not familiar enough with the

market you intend to target, you’ll need to ask around and do some research in order to

answer some of the questions highlighted in the previous sections.

One way of doing this is by carrying out a small market survey. You could interview

potential clients face-to-face, on the phone or on Skype to get to know them, learn more

about what they do and understand their needs.

For example, during the interview, you could ask your potential clients about their

experience with translators and interpreters so far, how and where they found them, and

how the service they received could be improved. Ask them what’s missing and what could

be better. This type of information is very useful, because the more you can find out about

the experience and needs of your potential clients, the more you can use that information

to create a website and marketing materials that really speak to them.

You can also use the interview to ask your potential clients how much they’re willing to pay

for quality work, which is certainly worthwhile knowing! Of course, they’re likely to give you

a figure that is below what they can actually afford to pay, and the answers you’ll get will

vary from client to client, but it will give you an indication of the sort of rates you can

charge.

As an incentive to interviewees, you can offer them a free gift as a thank-you for their time.

For example, you could offer to review their translated homepage or brochure for free, or

anything you can think of that won’t cost you too much but will show them how good you

are at what you do. It’s also a great way of promoting your services.

You can find people to interview at networking

events, tradeshows or conferences, or online, in

groups or forums where your potential clients

gather (check first if it’s okay to post about your

market research project). Contacting potential

clients directly, by phone or email, is another

option, although not many people like to be

contacted for market research purposes. If you

choose to contact people directly, try and identify

in advance the person who will be qualified to help

you.

~ 13 ~





~ 14 ~

TARGETING YOUR NICHE

Once you’ve explored your niche and you’ve established that you’re ready for it and that it

has potential, it’s time to target this market and to make yourself known. This can be done

in many different ways, as highlighted below.

Offline

Many of you will be familiar with the

traditional methods of marketing yourself.

Conferences, trade shows and other

networking events are great opportunities

to meet potential clients in person, and to

start building relationships. You can attend

events like these as a guest or a delegate,

or go one step further and attend as a

speaker or an exhibitor. These last two

options are sure-fire ways to stand out

from the crowd.

If you find networking events intimidating, start small. Attend a local event and practise

chatting with people. Don’t worry about “selling” yourself. Just practise building rapport –

that’s the secret to winning new clients. To build rapport, all you need to do is listen to the

other person, ask them a few questions and be genuinely interested in the answers.

Focusing on the other person will also help you relax and stop worrying about how you

come across. Once rapport has been established, the rest will flow much more naturally.

Another possibility is writing for publications that are read by your potential clients, such as

trade magazines, and establishing yourself as an expert in this way. The more regularly you

can write for a given publication, the more recognisable you’ll become, and the more trust

you’ll create among your readers.

Another method used by many translators and interpreters, and often referred to as “cold

calling”, consists of calling businesses that might be interested in your services and

introducing yourself. Not many people like to be approached in this way, so if you want to

use this method, make sure to contact the person in charge of hiring translators/

interpreters. The same applies if you choose to introduce yourself by email. It’s important to

check the legality of these two methods in your country before embarking on them.

These offline methods are still the best way to initiate professional relationships, but online

marketing/networking is quickly growing among translators and interpreters too. Depending

on the nature of your niche, these new methods could be an effective way for you to target

your market.





Online

Online marketing starts with a good website, which acts as a shop window for your business

and allows people to get in touch. As we’ve seen earlier, choosing images and colour

schemes that reflect your niche market will help you get noticed and win your clients’ trust.

The next step is to link your website

to various social media such as,

LinkedIn, Google+, Xing, Twitter and

Facebook Business. Add links to your

social media accounts on your

website, and links to your website

on your social media accounts.

These social media platforms will

open doors to online groups and

forums where you’ll be able to

“meet” other members of your tribe. You’ll then be able to join or start conversations on

topics related to your niche, and gradually make yourself known to potential clients in this

way. To do this effectively, you’ll need to identify which social media platforms best suit

your niche, and which groups and forums are the most active.

Writing articles for online magazines or guest posts for other people’s blogs is another

efficient way of standing out from the crowd and promoting your services. Make sure to

include a short bio with a link to your website and, if possible, your Twitter handle (i.e. your

Twitter name).

Another online option is writing your own blog and attaching it to your website using a

platform like WordPress. Whoever reads your posts will discover your website and will gain

access to your other pages, such as your Services page or your Contact page. A blog will also

help drive traffic to your website. Here are a few examples of topics you could write about:

“How to choose the right translator”, “What you need to know about machine translation”,

“5 reasons why translating your content will boost your bottom line”…

A word of caution: Social media can become addictive and can have a serious impact on

your productivity. Try and dedicate a specific amount of time each day or each week to

social media, and stick to it. Using a social media management platform such as HootSuite

can also save time. It will enable you to manage all your pages and profiles in one single

application, and to schedule tweets and posts in advance for different dates and times so

that you can forget about them and focus on your work. If you can afford it, you could also

hire a professional social media manager and let them take care of your social media

marketing.

~ 15 ~

https://www.linkedin.com/

https://www.xing.com/

https://twitter.com/

https://www.facebook.com/business/products/pages

https://wordpress.com/

https://hootsuite.com/





Tweeting

A growing number of translators and interpreters are connecting on Twitter. Tweets are a

quick and easy way to stay connected with colleagues and potential clients, and to keep up-

to-date with what’s happening both in our profession and in our clients’ industries.

It’s difficult to say how many times a day you should tweet because a lot will depend on the

nature of your chosen niche and how active it is on this platform. Alison Hughes tweets

twice a day, early morning and lunch time, while Vadim Kadyrov tweets 15 to 20 times a

day. He gets a lot of work this way from countries where he can charge higher rates

compared to the rates he would charge locally.

Tweeting may not be common practice in your niche, but more and more organisations are

using Twitter for business. It’s therefore worth investigating. And if you feel unsure or

uncomfortable about sharing information online, consider simply following influencers both

from your niche market and from the translation/interpreting industry, and retweeting the

tweets you find interesting and useful.

“Social media is one of the most important sources of

new leads for the industry. You can have projects

from your followers in social media worth thousands

of dollars.”

Vadim Kadyrov, www.engrutra.com

“I use social media to advertise my niche to both colleagues and

potential clients. I try to post on Twitter twice a day (early morning

and lunchtime).” Alison Hughes, www. alisonhughes-translations.co.uk

~ 16 ~





Content marketing

Content marketing is a form of

advertising that is a lot more interesting

for potential clients than the traditional

adverts we see in magazines or online –

which we’ve all learnt to ignore. As the

name suggests, content marketing

consists of writing interesting content

with a view to promoting your services.

The AIDA model can be used as a guide

to help you create effective content.

AIDA stands for Awareness, Interest,

Desire and Action. All your marketing material, whether online or offline, should raise

awareness about your service, i.e. how it works and how it helps. It should also create

interest with stories that show how your service can help specifically. These stories can be

in the form of testimonials or case studies, for example. Your material should also create a

desire for your service by showing how it will fulfil the needs of your potential clients –

which is why it’s important to understand what these needs are, and why the

interview/market survey exercise is useful. Finally, your material should incentivise the

reader to take action and contact you.

To make the most of social media and increase your chances of your articles and blog posts

being shared online, here are a few more things you’ll need to do:

Obviously, you’ll need to write in your clients’ language, otherwise they won’t be able to

read your content. If your clients’ language isn’t your native language, you may need to

have your material proofread by a native speaker. To avoid extra costs, you could pair up

with another translator who works in the opposite language direction, and proofread each

other’s material.

You’ll also need a headline that grabs attention and will make people want to stop and

read. If you can combine it with an eye-catching photo, you’ll boost your chances of getting

noticed. There’s so much information being shared online that these two principles will

make a real difference. Your headline must also give a clear indication of what the post is

about.

The topic of your post must be relevant to your potential clients. It should be about

something they’re interested in, ideally something they’re likely to search for online. Clients

aren’t usually interested in translation or interpreting techniques. They’re interested in the

results and the benefits they’ll get from using your services.

~ 17 ~





For example, you could write an article about how a particular region of the world is looking

for new recycling technologies and how translation can help recycling companies in the US

target that market.

If you want people to share your content with their contacts and spread the word about

you, present a new, unexpected angle. One of the reasons why people like to share articles

online is because it makes them look clever. So write something new and interesting and

you’ll boost your chances of it being shared around the world.

Finally, don’t forget to add a call to action at the end of your article. This is what content

marketing is all about. You want people to take action and get in touch with you. Your call to

action could include a special offer, or simply a bio with your contact details and information

on where people can find you online or in person, at an upcoming event.

Once your content is ready, start sharing it online via your social media accounts, i.e. your

Twitter account, your business page on Facebook, LinkedIn (if appropriate, consider

publishing an article in Pulse), etc. You could also share your content in groups or forums,

but before you post it, check it’s okay to do so. In some groups content marketing is

welcomed (especially if it’s not too salesy and contains useful information), in others it’s

totally unacceptable. Check with the group admin if the rules aren’t clear.

Mailing lists

You could go one step further and use content marketing to capture the email addresses of

potential clients and create mailing lists. This technique is widely used and accepted in other

industries, and it involves creating content that potential clients will want to download, such

as a free guide or eBook. In order to receive this content, they need to provide their email

addresses, which will be stored in your mailing list. You’ll then be able to use this mailing list

to send regular updates, such as newsletters, to all your subscribers. Sending out

newsletters is a good way to ensure that potential clients don’t forget about you. People

usually need to hear about you several times before they decide to work with you.

Websites like LeadPages, Drip and MailChimp can help you do this quite easily, and legally.

For instance, the emails you’ll send to your subscribers will contain a link that enables them

to easily unsubscribe – this is a legal requirement in many countries. It must be easy for your

subscribers to remove their details from your database if they no longer wish to receive

your updates.

For more information about content creation, you can visit Jo Rourke’s business blog at

www.silvertonguetranslations.com/business-blog

~ 18 ~

https://www.leadpages.net/

https://www.drip.co/

https://mailchimp.com/

http://www.silvertonguetranslations.com/business-blog





You now have several principles, techniques and models at your disposal to identify,

explore, research and target a niche market efficiently and effectively. Some of these

principles, techniques and models may not apply to your chosen market, while others will

need to be adapted, and the information I shared in this guide may inspire you to develop

your own techniques.

If you’d like to take things further and you’re interested in personalised one-to-one coaching

sessions, detailed information about my services can be found on my website:

www.coachingfortranslators.com

For updates and announcements about future eBooks, webinars, talks and workshops,

simply follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Books:

The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey

Start With Why, How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action, Simon Sinek

Tribes, Seth Godin

TED Talks:

How Great Leaders Inspire Action, Simon Sinek

The Tribes We Lead, Seth Godin

For more information about coaching:

“Calling Yourself A Coach?” – Demystifying Coaching In The Translation Community

~ 19 ~

http://www.coachingfortranslators.com/

https://twitter.com/coach4tran

https://www.facebook.com/coachingfortranslators/

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

https://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead

https://coachingfortranslators.com/2017/01/19/calling-yourself-a-coach-demystifying-coaching-in-the-translation-community/

the translator’s guide · translators and interpreters choose to specialise. ... value of human...

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