Freelancers receive tons of requests to work for free, or to charge reduced rate for their services and projects. This article from the Pricing policies for freelancers mini-series will go through some of the most common requests for discounts or free services freelancers get. It also features some practical tips and guidelines on how to deal with such free service requests.

THE AWFUL TRUTH: IT'S (ALSO) OUR FAULT

Apparently, nobody would ever ask a plumber to fix their washing machine for free (the guy's working, after all), but lots of businesses find it absolutely legitimate to ask freelancers for freebies and discounts. Why is that so?

There are several different reasons, but as business copywriter Laura Spencer pointed out in a recent article on FreelanceFolder, freelancers have their share of responsibility. Let's face it - every time a translator, web developer, copywriter or photographer accepts to work for free, they are both negatively affecting their income and devaluing their rates.

There are instances where using your professionals skills for free it's acceptable: it is called volunteering.
When it comes to work, things should be different.


WORK FOR FREE on UNPAID TESTS

Unpaid tests are pretty common in several industries. In the translation industry they are often required by translation agencies willing to asses the translator's skills and expertise before entering a collaboration agreement. If your industry is affected by this phenomenon, there is something you might want to consider before accepting or declining an unpaid test offer.

Accepting to work for free on an unpaid test does not necessarily mean you will get paid jobs afterwards.

As a matter of fact, several agencies will use that test as an assessment tool to decide whether to add your name in their providers' database or not. After that unpaid test you might never hear back from the company again, or maybe they will contact you after 6 months or 3 years because they have a project matching your skills and rates.

I am not all against unpaid tests - we all go through the "crazy test submissions" phase in our freelancing career. Moreover, in times of famine it might be beneficial to work on a few unpaid tests to establish new business collaborations.
If you are willing to accept the unpaid test policy, however, you need to set boundaries. Before accepting an unpaid test, make sure it has reasonable requirements in terms of length/working time commitment and deadline.

WORK FOR FREE on SMALLER PROJECTS

Sometimes freelancers are required to work for free on smaller projects. Customers usually come up with something like "it's just a few words" or "we just have a few additions to last week's project" or ask their provider to work for free because "it won't take much". Freelancers sometimes find it hard to just say "NO", and in worst case scenarios they end up working like hell on "smaller projects" which get bigger and bigger at every new addition - for free.

Set a minimum project fee.

A minimum project fee is what you would charge for all those smaller project that "wouldn't take much". To help you identify cases where minimum project fees can be applied, I recommend taking your hourly productivity as a parameter.
If the project requires less than an hour to complete, then it's eligible for a minimum project fee.

Setting a minimum project fee helps you

• protect your income. Freelancers are businesses, so your actions should aim at reaching your target income and earning a living. Never forget about this.
  
• value your professional skills. There are instances when working for free on minor additions and smaller projects is quite understandable and acceptable. Translating a thank you card or adding an address line on a letterhead template  for a company you're already working with is not a crime. Accepting to work for free for a company you've never done business with just because they ask you to, however, doesn't vouch for your professionalism and devalues your skills and expertise.
  
• avoid working for free and value your time. Smaller project doesn't mean you need to take care of it with all due attention, skill and care. Moreover, smaller project doesn't mean it won't need research, nor that the project is trouble-free.
  

Beware of "we don't have budget for this".

Some companies asks for freebies on smaller projects claiming that they don't have budget for it. Before sympathising and accepting to work for free, think about this: if the company doesn't have budget for a 50 $ project, how would they pay you when bigger projects come up?


WORK FOR FREE for FUTURE LONG-TERM COOPERATION

"If you do this for free, there will be paying gigs coming your way in the future".
This mechanism looks a lot like blackmailing to me, and the answer is always "NO". Enough said.


REQUESTS FOR DISCOUNTS AND REDUCED RATES

Requests for discounts and reduced rates are an all-time classic. Such requests come with all kinds of reasons and motivations, and newly established freelancers might find it tempting to go for the discount in order to get more jobs from a customer or company. However, adopting a heavy discount policy might convey a dangerous message to the customer: what I did for X, I could have done it for less. Keep in mind that it takes a lot more to raise your rates than to reduce them. Also, if you charge 50 $ for a service today, that same company would not be keen on paying 80 $ for the same service type 3 weeks later.

Guidelines for discounts and rates reductions

• You are the freelance professional - you set your rates. You shouldn't apologise for charging what your work is worth. Also, remember your rates should not only cover your working time commitment to the project, but they should also reflect your level of expertise as well as pay off for some of your non-billable hours. 
• Discounts should be an exception to a very different rule. Every time you charge less for a service, you're negatively affecting your profitability. If you're receiving frequent requests for discounts and reductions, maybe it's time to look for more profitable gigs and business relationships.
• Your discounted rate should never be lower than your rock bottom rate. Charging over your rock bottom rate is essential to meet your target income goals and work with profit.

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How about you? Do you have any other policies on working for free and discounted rates?
Feel free to share it by leaving a comment on this post!
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This music playlist features 10 great songs about New York.  Also, it is the first of a few playlists featuring songs about famous cities in the world.

The idea first came to mind during my recent trip to the UK. Travel is no news within the 10 tracks series, as I really love the way music caters for travelling without actually moving. So I decided to kick in a few city-oriented playlists, which will keep us through these last few months of hard work before our well-deserved summer holidays.

So, here's 10 songs about New York City, gorgeously sketched by the good ol' blend of styles and voices. Today we're ranging from R.E.M. with Leaving New York to the all-time-classic New York, New York by Frank Sinatra. I wanted this to be some kind of "black and white" playlist with a few splashes of colour, so I went for a rather classical selection of songs about NYC - after all, there are so many great classics you just cannot lock them out all.

Enjoy the ride and ... stay tuned!

01. Manhattan Transfer - The boy from New York City
02. R.E.M. - Leaving New York
03. George Benson - On Broadway
04. The Trammps - The night the lights went out in New York City
05. Ace Frehley - New York groove
06. Joni Mitchell - Chelsea morning
07. Chicago - Another rainy day in New York City
08. AC/DC - Safe in New York City
09. Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street
10. Frank Sinatra - New York, New York

More music playlists from the 10 tracks series on this blog:

• 10 tracks: Takes off [+ bonus track]
• 10 tracks: Sweet and sour
• 10 tracks: Peter Gabriel
  
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Deciding on a pricing policy can be hard for freelancers, especially if you're just starting out. Defining your rates is a crucial step, which shouldn't be overlooked. This article from the Pricing policies for freelancers mini-series will hopefully help you through the process and make it a bit easier than it looks like.

In the first article of the series we talked about defining your target income. It shouldn't come as a surprise that your pricing policy - i.e. your rates - will play a crucial role in actually achieving that target income.

The most important aspect you need to take into account when defining your rates is the difference between billable and non-billable hours.

Briefly, billable hours include the time you spend working on a customer's project. Non-billable hours include the time you spend in activities other than "work on the project" which are connected to the customer's project (correspondence with the customer, providing a quotation, billing, answering follow-up questions etcetera), PLUS the time you spend on your business in general (marketing activities, CPD, paperwork, idle times etcetera).

If you want your business to be profitable, you have to make sure that your rates cover both billable and non-billable business costs and activities.

PROJECT RATE vs. HOURLY RATE

Should I charge by the hour or apply a fixed project rate for my services? This question is probably one of the most common amongst freelancers, in any field. Specific industries have their own set of practices - as an example, most freelance translators charge by source word for translation or proofreading projects. In the broader picture, however, freelancers mainly charge by the hour or by project. The decision is really up to you and you might also find that you can use project rates for some services and charge hourly rates for other services. It is true, however, that in most cases customers tend to prefer project rates over hourly rates.

Ed Gandia, freelance business writer and co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer, recently held a brilliant podcast on pricing policies for writing project where he also analysed the reasons why customers are more likely to accept fixed project rates. Some of the highlights included that clients need a fixed price they can fill in their budgets (so intuitive but so often overlooked!) and that hourly rates are more questionable than fixed project rates. As I went through the podcast, I realised those reasons are more or less the same in any freelance business, so I really encourage you to listen to the podcast if you want to know more about this.

If you want to have a closer look at defining hourly rates, you can also try the FreelanceSwitch hourly rate calculator. People at FreelanceSwitch created a free tool for freelancers which analyses your annual business and personal costs as well as your billable and non-billable hours to provide information on the hourly rate you would need to charge to achieve your target income.

DEFINING YOUR RATES: 3 IS THE KEY

"Defining your rates is a difficult matter
it isn't just one of your holiday games
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a freelancer must have THREE DIFFERENT RATES."

Regardless of the pricing policy you will adopt - whether a hourly rate or a fixed project rate - I suggest you to define your rates with a very simple scheme. Each service should have its own standard rate, premium rate and rock bottom rate.

In this scheme, the standard rate would be what you'd charge for a standard service (i.e. with no special requirements) with an average turnaround; the premium rate, on the other hand, is what you'd charge for an express service (i.e. short turnaround) or servicing with other special requirements (e.g. extensive research, availability for short term changes and additions etcetera).

The rock bottom rate does not represent a rate you would charge in specific occasions, but rather your minimum rate, i.e. the minimum price you can apply to a service. It is important to realize that even rock bottom rates have to be profitable, as there is no use in working at rates that do not support your minimum living standard.

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Next week we'll talk about one of the most common rates-related dilemmas: To discount or not to discount?
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When it comes to pricing, most newly-established freelancers don't know where to start from. Some look at a proposed price and think it's a good deal, but later they find out the project takes a lot more time to complete, or maybe that they find out that the project actually comes along with smaller updates whose price hasn't been set before.

So how to deal with the pricing policy nightmare? How to define your rates as a freelancer if you're just starting out in the industry? And, above all, how to price your services so that customers won't scream away in panic?

This new mini-series within the Marketing Pills series will try to provide you with some food for thought about pricing policies for freelancers, including some free online resources that can help you through the process of defining your prices as well as some tips on how to communicate your prices effectively to your prospective customers.

SMART MONEY MANAGEMENT FOR FREELANCERS: DEFINING YOUR TARGET INCOME

The most important thing when deciding on a pricing policy is to take into account all of your annual business costs (office rent, telephone and other utilities, furniture, business travel expenses, IT equipment, manuals and books, stationery etc.). Your pricing policy should be designed to cover all of these costs plus providing you with some profits who'll feed your belly, dress you up and cater for all of your other needs.

Now you found out how much your business will actually cost you per year, you need to figure out what your personal expenses would be. Make sure to include mortgage or house rent costs, car insurance, health insurance, retirement savings, taxes, food and groceries expenses, holidays, entertainment expenses, transport costs and all of those kind of expenses you normally have on a regular day. Your pricing policy should cover all of these costs as well, plus the profits we talked about earlier.

By now you actually found out what would your minimum income be. When defining your rates, this very number represents the top bottom of your barrel. No matter what your pricing policy will be, this is the amount of money you need if you want to keep up with your annual expenses and still avoid starvation.

Now we secured survival, we need to fill our money barrel with profits. What you want to make out of your profession is really up to you but, as a minimum, you should at least go for 20% of your income. So, what you'd need to do is basically divide your minimum income in 4 parts, and one of these parts is your profits share. Just add your profit share to your minimum income and you get your target income for the year.

Still trying to figure out how to make that huge number fit your everyday business?
Stay tuned for next week's article: Defining your rates

10 tracks live from the UK

I'm on a business trip this week, so I decided to bring the 10 tracks experience to the next level and send you a bit of music love live from the UK :-))

This week's music playlist features 10 tracks I always bring with me when travelling - not only songs about travel in a stricter sense, but rather songs that grasp a bit of the concept of travel itself.

These songs kept me warm over a freezing night in Prague, and walked me up to the Acropolis in Athens; they kept me company over a 2 hour queue to report a missing luggage in Milan, and kept me awake during a 800 km night drive ...

So ... here's to travel, and enjoy the music!

01. Roger Hogson - Take the long way home
02. Iggy Pop - The passenger
03. John Denver - Take me home, country roads
04. Negrita - Rotolando verso sud
05. Lenny Kravitz - Fly away
06. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Around the world
07. Crosby, Stills & Nash - Marrakesh Express
08. AC/DC - Highway to hell
09. Claudio Baglioni - Via
10.Jethro Tull - Locomotive breath

11. Manowar - Carry on

More music playlists from the 10 tracks series on this blog:

• 10 tracks: Santa rocks!
• 10 tracks: How's the weather today?
• 10 tracks: It's a man's world
  

Writing marketing material can be quite a tricky task, especially when it comes to your own brochures, flyers, website etc. As a professional copywriter myself I learned that it is often harder to come up with rocking marketing copy for your own services and products rather than writing for customers.

So, here's my brand new entry for the Marketing Pills series, which will hopefully help you avoid those 5 top mistakes you can often find in freelance marketing material. Powered by experience.

1. INCONSISTENCY

A very common scenario: you set up a nice brochure (with pictures, headlines, captions, website & contact details and all) and you send it to 200 companies in your area. Prospects read "10 years of experience in medical translations" and think you might be the right person to hire for their next project, so they go to your website to know more about you and your service, but your website hasn't been updated for a long time and it reads "8 years of experience in medical translations". What would the prospect think about this?

Inconsistency throughout marketing materials is a plague, and it doesn't vouch for your professionalism. Yet there is a simple way to stop wasting business opportunities: when writing your marketing material, think about the broader picture. Go through your existing material and double-check figures, services, contact details and key information. Your brochure should not be a "shorter copy" of your website, but you really want to make sure that key facts and figures are consistent throughout all of your marketing material.

2. BOASTING

When it comes to marketing, prospective customer already had it all - from the good old "customer-oriented solutions" all the way up to "award-winning company". But here's the awful truth: prospective customers are sick and tired of companies boasting around like male giraffes in July.

When writing your marketing material, try to avoid an excessive use of superlatives, exclamation marks and fancy sentences which add nothing to your actual experience and expertise. Also, be very careful in the use of bold: you can use it to effectively highlight facts and figures (the good ones - see below), but avoid using it every time you mention your business name.

3. INEFFECTIVE FIGURES

We've been taught figures are a great way to make a great first impression on prospective customers. Way to go, but now it's time to learn which figures actually make our marketing copy shine and which ones should be avoided instead.

An example found on a translator's website a while ago:
"March 2012: 3 projects completed (5000 words)".

Now, 5000 surely looks like an impressive number, but if you've been around in the translation industry for some time now (either as a translation professional or as a translation buyer) you know that a professional translator could easily handle 5000 words in a couple of days (provided knowledge and expertise in the subject field).

Adding figures to support your claims can be tempting, but before you actually write your marketing material you should at least spend some time gathering information on your competitors and trying to understand whether your figures would make you stand out or would rather make you stay out of the choice pile.

4. GRAMMAR, SPELLING, PUNCTUATION & MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS

I,m pretty confidnet that this very short sentenence will be self-explantaory.

Would you read any further?
Well, your prospective customers wouldn't either.

5. STYLE, TONE AND LANGUAGE

I will never give up on this: make sure you speak your customer's language.
When you write, every word is set in stone and often weighs like stone as well.

Your style, tone and language should be in line with your customer's. To do so, you need to know your target audience before you even start drafting your marketing material. Create marketing personas to help you through the process and think about the best way to get your message across. Define the style and tone of your marketing communication beforehand (formal, informal, use of slang, etc.), After writing your draft, revise it according to the analysis you did before and amend all the bits and pieces where words, style or tone do not match the general "style outline".
Write, read, amend, polish, repeat.

The bunnies came to visit and brought a nice bunch of hopping news to MTM Translations' office last week.

First, I was interviewed by my colleague Sara Colombo for her blog, Between words and worlds. Sara recently started a blog series about work/life balance in the translation industry and she asked me to contribute, which I gladly did. You can find my take on work/life balance here, hope you enjoy!

Upcoming webinars for translators & live events

Plenty of news from the training side of the border as well.
Last month I presented a webinar on Fundamentals of Transcreation with Alexandria - Translation Knowledge Hub. The staff is great, I really loved working with them and ... good news is we're in track for more:

- April 22nd: Understanding English medical terminology
- May 13th: Writing that sells - key principles of effective communication

Understanding English medical terminology is designed for translators willing to approach the field of medical and science translation. The webinar provides participants with a good grasp on the formation of medical terms, which caters for an easier analysis and subsequent effective translation of the term itself. In an hour, we will go through the most common Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes and their meaning to help you recognise these elements more effectively.

Writing that sells - key principles of effective communication is designed to for freelancers willing to improve their writing skills to maximise the impact of their marketing material, business blog, or website. The webinar will cover the key principles of effective communication and will provide participants with lots of practical tips on how to write better content.

June: Meet me at ProZ.com International Conference in Porto

Paula, Rafaela and Maria are working hard to make the 2013 ProZ.com International Conference "the Rock in Rio of translator's conferences". The conference will take place on June 8th-9th in Porto (Portugal), and the program is now live. On Sunday I will be presenting a workshop on Copywriting for web projects, but there's more to listen and learn: other colleagues will share their knowledge on various topics (such as personal branding, IT, SEO & more), and the post-conference activities also look like lots of fun! Come join me for the workshop on Sunday or meet me around over the coffee break!

Brand new: MTM4WEB

Yes, MTM4WEB is now live! MTM4WEB is a tailor-made copywriting service designed for professionals and small businesses willing to boost their inbound marketing strategy with fresh, new content on their business blog and compelling newsletters. Read how MTM4WEB works or e-mail me for a free quote.

Website makeover and ... Easter egg!

Since the bunnies were so nice to bring me a part-time workaholiday as an unexpected Easter gift, I couldn't help but reciprocate by helping them in their treasure hunt: an Easter egg awaits you among the pages of MTM Translations' website. To make it a bit easier to find out, I can tell you it can be found both on the Italian and English pages and that it's a bit personal ...

Also, I took the time to spice up all pages with some wonderful pictures from the Flickr community (all under Creative Commons). The Flickr community is a real treasure chest, if you like photography and colours go check it out for some great pictures (and don't forget to credit the owner if you use a Creative Commons-distributed picture on your website or elsewhere!).

... More coming soon

What next? Well, there's a lot cooking right now and still need to sort out a few details before making any official announcements, but I can tell you Autumn will surely bring new webinars for translators and new surprises!

Stay tuned!

Freelance marketing is a bit like a jam session - solopreneurs jump together on the same train, trying to make their voices heard through the mare magnum of business offerings. Some like to play it safe, others are willing to take it a step forward to beat the competition.

This reminds me of jazz music, of jam sessions and musicians willing to risk it all to get their next gig, or to get noticed by that Big Name in the industry who could have granted them their LP of fame ... Reading through the biographies of some of the most influential jazz musicians of all time, it is clear that they all shared the same attitude, the same willingness to rise and shine.

So, here's my special Easter treat for you: the top 3 freelance marketing lessons I learned from jazz artists.


It's all in the details

Think of Charles Mingus, one of the most influential bandleader and composer of all times: one of the keys to Mingus' success was his ability to focus on the interactions between each instrument and the others, to provide room for each and every band member to shine yet looking at the band as a whole. The result was a glorious combination of sounds and rhythms which magically combined to create a unique, marvellous voice.

In freelance marketing, as well as in marketing in general, details are the key to rise and shine over the competition: markets are crowded with freelancers offering their services, often putting up a price fight resulting in a bizarre and unpleasant shriek. Thinking about every single details results in a better output, be it a website or a cold call. Make sure to speak your customer's language, to fine-tune your communication to successfully reach your niche and create new, meaningful connections. A smaller but more targeted marketing campaign might have a huge impact on where you stand within your industry.

Don't be afraid to take risks

In jazz music, improvisation plays a crucial role. Think of Thelonious Monk and the magic of his improvisations: Monk wasn't afraid to take risks and take every music challenge to the next level. Every time he played, he tried to add something new, surprising and refreshing to keep up with his own expectations. He wanted to be great, played hard to achieve his goals and he ended up being one of the greatest.

In freelance marketing, taking risks is as crucial as in jazz music: competition is tough and chances are you might end up caught between budget limitations and lack of that unique spark that turns a plain marketing copy into a star. So what to do? Well, there are a lot of low-cost marketing opportunities out there (with guerrilla marketing being one of the bravest). Coming up with something brand new can be quite tricky, but trying to boost your promotional activities with something different can help you improve your results and bring new spirit to your marketing enthusiasm.

Be unique, be you

Let's face it - as music evolves it's more and more difficult to come up with something which is completely new. Nevertheless, being unique isn't (just) about having that Great Big Idea - being unique is about finding your best side and being great at what you do.

Think of Clifford Brown: his four years' worth of recording might look small compared to Dizzy Gillespie's over 50 years of career, yet Brown has his own share of fame and fans. And when you think of Clifford Brown you don't think about the small figures of his music production - you think about the intensity of the sounds, you think about the way he mastered up-tempos and even the most complex harmonic progressions. You think about HIM as an artist, and you think about how you feel when you hear his recordings.

In freelance marketing, it is no different - when thinking about you and your business, your customers will not value how many tweets you sent per day, or how many brochures you printed last year. They will think about you and the way you answered their questions, cleared out their doubts, managed their projects. So you have to be YOU right from the start, being true to yourself and your customers: if you lie about your skills and capacity your customers will find out. Don't be afraid to go the extra mile, find out what you're great at and deliver quality consistently. Let your actions be your marketing mirror.

Apparently, complaining about the weather and the never-ending winter which has been biting Italy hard in the last few months has become some kind of national sports - not that this hasn't happened before, but with all the snow we've had lately the noise of complaining is magnified, exorbitant and a bit over the top.

Besides that, the history of music is bursting with songs about the weather. So I decided to dedicate this new 10 tracks music playlist to the sky and the weather, with all of their shades and nuances - with the signature blend of styles, voices and genres.

Oh, and if you're wondering where does the picture here comes from, it's not some faraway land: this is a snowy day in Turin, just a couple of weeks ago.

Chilly greetings and ... enjoy the music!

01. Eric Clapton - Sunshine of your love
02. Grateful Dead - Cold rain and snow
03. Bob Seger - Against the wind
04. Supertramp - It's raining again
05. Scorpions - Rock you like a hurricane
06. Tina Turner - I can't stand the rain
07. Dio - Rainbow in the dark
08. The Wombats - Jump into the fog
09. Mumford & Sons - After the storm
10. AC/DC - Thunderstruck

SWOT analysis is a planning and auditing tool which is used to evaluate a project or a business idea and its environment. The acronym SWOT sums up the four key elements which are taken into account in the analysis:

• STRENGTHS - the characteristics of the project or business idea that can offer a competitive advantage (such as a strong, well-tailored service, or a solid quality assurance process)
• WEAKNESSES - the characteristics of the project or business idea that might result in a lack of competitive advantage, or might put you off the choice pile (such as lack of resources or poor reputation)
• OPPORTUNITIES – the elements the business owner or project manager can exploit to improve or strengthen the competitive advantage of the venture (such as new partnership opportunities, or a new market niche that hasn’t been covered yet)
• THREATS – the elements in the business environment which could negatively affect the outcomes of the project or business idea (such as new competitors on the rise, or the race for low rates)

Traditionally, the analysis of strengths and weaknesses takes into account internal factors, whilst opportunities and threats analysis deals with external (i.e. environmental) factors.

Nevertheless, SWOT analysis can also be used to evaluate internal opportunities and threats, resulting from a thorough analysis of strength and weaknesses combined with the analysis of information and feedback received from customers. Here are six questions that can help you through the process of evaluating your strengths and weaknesses to identify possible internal opportunities and threats for your freelance business.

EVALUATING INTERNAL OPPORTUNITIES

• Can I wrap up some of my skills to create a product or services that can satisfy the needs of a new niche, or help me strengthen my position as a business partner amongst my clients?
• Can I partner up with other freelancers working in my field to create a strong network to suit my customers’ needs? What kind of a competitive advantage would this provide to my new partners?
• Is my marketing supporting my competitive advantage by providing customers with clear and defined solutions to their needs? Are my collateral activities (such as blogging and social media engagement) strengthening my professional profile and how can I use these communication tools to stand out?

EVALUATING INTERNAL THREATS

• Am I cutting myself too thin across a myriad of services which make me look like a Jack of all trades rather than a professional with a well-defined offering?
• Is my knowledge in my fields of expertise up-to-date or should I investigate the topics further to provide a better product or service to my customers?
• Are my objectives and goals as a solopreneurs specific and well-defined and is my strategy consistent with them?