Comments for Andrei Shmatkov's Blog

Comment on Client paid only a half of the contract amount by Arkadi

Arkadi — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 14:58:13 +0000

>”the end client is not happy with the translation” + No explanations whatsoever!
Looks like a very ’smart’ way of dodging your responsibility.
Thanks for posting it!

Comment on Contact me by Interpreter in Minsk, Belarus | Andrei Shmatkov's Blog

Interpreter in Minsk, Belarus | Andrei Shmatkov's Blog — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 10:08:02 +0000

[...] meetings and interpret for you. If I am not available, I can recommend a colleague of mine. Please contact me for more [...]

Comment on No slowdown in translation industry by Katya

Katya — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:49:15 +0000

Here is a good article on this subject: http://translationjournal.blogspot.com/2009/08/translators-and-recession.html

Comment on No slowdown in translation industry by Arkadi

Arkadi — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:25:52 +0000

Yes, 2009 was a difficult year – I also slowed down somewhat and had to use my ‘fall-back’ clients more than I would have liked to. But 2010 got off to a very robust start. So, though I may feel like cracking down under the pressure of multiple projects and tight deadlines, I welcome it.

Comment on Discounts for larger translation jobs by admin

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:36:19 +0000

Nice comment, Arkadi! I agree with every word in it – thank you for your input!

Comment on No slowdown in translation industry by admin

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:29:18 +0000

Looking back to the year 2009 now I can say that there was a slight decline in orders in the 2nd half of the year, specially compared to 2008 (that one was really fat!), but nothing dramatic.

Comment on No slowdown in translation industry by Ex-Freelancer

Ex-Freelancer — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:55:46 +0000

I’m an experience translator and I experience a huge slowdown. I had to leave the freelance for an in-house work in another field.

“To whom how”

Comment on Discounts for larger translation jobs by Arkadi

Arkadi — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:28:18 +0000

I do agree that no hard and fast rules can be applied to discounts. This part is always open to negotiation. However, here’s what I normally do if approached by a potential customer. I quote a price that is somewhat higher than my standard rate. First, this in a way mitigates the risk that any “out-of-the-blue” client poses. Second, I can always consider a “discount” if the customer insists on one (provided they meet my eligibility requirements, which often boils down to a good record on the BB). But if “know your customer” search yields no results, this means both no discount and (at least partial) upfront payment.
Alternatively, you can promise to offer a discounted rate on any further projects that might follow from the customer but not on the one they have contacted you with. As you know, they just love to promise “large volumes” of work – but I know better than to buy that.

Comment on No slowdown in translation industry by admin

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:12:53 +0000

Arianavoto, yes, you can use any posts from here. Thank you for reading my blog and adding the backlink to it!

Comment on Russian and/or Belarusian by mykhailo

mykhailo — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:28:17 +0000

The same goes about translation into Ukrainian. 95% will understand Russian, and…
about 50% will not understand or will have difficulties in understanding any kind of text in Ukrainian