How to Get Premium Rates for Your Services

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Written by Karen Hodgson

To get top dollar for your services, you need to be strategic about where you market yourself. You may be able to offer your usual services to a different audience and double or triple your income – without working more! There are, however, a few things to consider when strategically targeting clients.

It is a global world, and the fact is that some countries and companies are doing better than others. When companies choose to spend money on particular goods and services, their purchases tend to fall into one the following three spending categories:

• Nice to have, but not absolutely necessary
• Important
• Urgent

The bottom line for translators and interpreters is that there is a market for your services in any of these categories; however, it may be more beneficial to target your efforts toward those countries and companies whose main needs fall under the “important” and “urgent” categories – what we might call “hungrier markets.” Hungrier markets are willing to pay more for your services.
When conditions deteriorate in an economy or within a company, budgets suddenly become more focused on these “important” and “urgent” (and lucrative!) projects, and any projects that would be considered “nice to have, but not absolutely necessary” will be shelved.

Some translation services are considered “soft programs” whose return is not immediately apparent to executives. The projects that ultimately get approved will usually be those that have a direct impact on a company’s profit – those that are considered “important” and “urgent.” Your time is valuable, so focus your efforts on these types of projects.

Tips for targeting clients in need of “Important” and “Urgent” services:

1. Go where the money is by identifying products and services that are hot or growing.

• • Keep your eyes and ears open and listen to what people say.
  • Read forums and blogs and Twitter. What are the hot discussions?
  • Monitor translation job boards and try to identify the companies or countries that are posting the projects.
  • Review lists of fastest-growing companies and markets.
  • Find out which countries’ economies are growing at a faster rate than average.

2. Devote a portion of your time to experimenting with hungrier markets, and dedicate 1 to 2 hours per week (or more if you have the time) to marketing yourself. To get you started, here is a link to 25 ways to market yourself.

Mine your opportunities and earn what you are worth!