The ITA 2025 Conference – a multi-perspective view of the translator/interpreter client challenge

 

Last week, the Israel Translators Association (ITA) held its 2025 conference in Tel Aviv with the theme being the customer challenge, or more specifically how find and retain customers in a changing market. The two-day event was packed with lectures, each offering a different point of view and series of suggestion on how to create and maintain a successful language provider business. The speakers ranged from experienced translators and interpreters in Israel and abroad to professional marketers. Of course, some, but far from all, of the presenters discussed the application of AI with an emphasis on using it for administrative and creative tasks. Overall, it was an enriching and enjoyable experience.

Over the two days, many experienced linguists shared their wisdom on how to seek new customers in a market in which some niches are shrinking. One important theme was the necessity for active steps to remain relevant. Hadassah Levy noted in her presentation “Marketing Your Translation Business in 10 Minutes a Day” that creating content and then automating their publication renders digital marketing much more time-efficient in the long term and creates a vital effective online presence. Helen Baker discussed a weekly time investment in business networking groups as a means of building productive business connections. Finally, Tess Whitty discussed the attaining additional skills, in her case SEO, to add value to her services and income to her business. Other relevant lectures include Chiara Vecchi on her effective reaction to reduced business volume, Miriam Blum on the importance of the ITA “Recognized Translation” and Mikhal Heffer on working with agencies. I contributed a presentation on how to prepare a professional presentation to clients and colleagues. Overall, the lectures provided a bounty of ideas.

The conference also featured presentations by professional marketers. Dotan Grably provided a strong theoretical and practical approach to the general principle of how to attract customers. He focused on two concepts and explained how to apply them in practice. Yarden Lerer went into great detail on content creation and its effect use for marketing. Both of these presenters provided great food for thought.

Of course, as in any professional conference today, AI was on the agenda. Aliza Berger showed and compared translation of a short legal title using various AI engines as well as human translation. Uriel Shuraki discussed the characteristics of several AI applications. Beyond the use of AI as a translation tool, Alfonso González Bartolessis and Dominique Bohbot related AI to business management and its benefits in increasing efficiency.  These and other lectures helped reduce the “flight or fight” reaction to AI in many of the attendees.

To those presenters whose name I failed to mention or whose content I did not do justice, I apologize and remark that both space on this post and in my brain’s memory is limited. The two days were truly packed with information and ideas, the recipe for an ideal conference. Chapeau to the organizers, who organised the event. I strongly recommend any translator or interpreter that is feeling nervous about the market to attend such events. The meeting of minds and people opens up great opportunities because it provides a multi-perspective view of what is and what can be. I am looking forward to further events on the same subject as well as the conference next year.

On seizing opportunity -the sometimes long and windy road to success

 

[path through mouintains*]

Warren Buffett is famous for emphasizing the importance of seeking and seizing opportunities. For service, providers, the best opportunities occur when the potential buyer has already decided to seek the services or products a business has to offer. Under those circumstances, the customer will properly consider any reasonable offer. However, despite the increased probability, there is no guarantee of an immediate deal. Curiously, the lack of immediate success does not necessarily mean failure as the act of making an offer often creates its momentum, which leads to later, sometimes unforeseen opportunities as I recently experienced.

The best opportunities for service providers is when potential customers publicize their needs for a specific service whether in a forum or service hub or other source. At this point, if the matter is relevant in terms of material and rate,  the provider merely needs to send an initial contact either with a full proposal or a request for more details. The customer has an interest to examine each proposal but generally has several options if the notice was public. For example, when an individual or business posts a request for translation on proz.com or a Facebook forum, unless the subject matter or deadline is extreme, a large number of freelancers may respond. These responses vary in relevance and skill, with the certain providers having an advantage in attaining the job due to their professional background, price and/or communication skills. Clearly, better proposals have a higher chance of winning but there is no guarantee of success as the provider knows neither the level of competition nor the mindset of the customer. These service requests are easiest way to market as the customers themselves opened the door.

Yet, even if the potential customer does not accept the proposal, the freelancer, including translators, editors and writers, may eventually gain a client. Occasionally, the initial provider fails to provide a suitable product or any prodcut at all. Sometimes, the customer is highly impressed with the skills of the service provider but already had awarded that job. However, when another opportunity arises, the customer, often agencies in the case of translation, contact that service provider. The additional opportunity may in the same week or even in the next year. The key point is that the freelancer made a positive impression without even being aware of that fact. The initial proposal eventually bears fruit.

To demonstrate, in the last few weeks, I have gained a new customer and also conducted a paid webinar. Neither was expected but both were results of taking the initiative. In the first case, I had submitted a proposal for a translation in response to a notice in a forum but never received any response, an extremely common pattern in the translation industry. Out of the blue, that same agency contacted last week and requested a quote for another translation, which was immediately accepted. My first bid, unknown to me, had created the opportunity to begin collaboration with that agency. On a more surprising note, I submitted a proposal for a lecture on plain English for legal writing at the American Translators Association conference a year ago. The organizers did not accept the proposal as it receives far more proposals than it has lecture hours. However, to my joy, I just gave that lecture in teh form of a paid webinar. The administrators chose it among the unaccepted proposals. In other words, if I had not submitted that proposal, they would not have contacted me.

To succeed in the long term, freelancers must seek opportunities. Therefore, it is advisable to apply for every relevant project on condition the service provider has the skills to properly complete it.  That technique involves consistent and significant effort. Even under the best circumstances, it does not guarantee immediate success. Still, the fruit of that effort often only arises long after the initial proposal in ways that are unforeseen. The way to success is often rather long and windy.

* Pictures enable the blind to fully access the Internet.

Picture credits