Translation Services

Are you fluent in two or more languages? Then setting up an online translation business may be appropriate for you. Many people are not fluent in multiple languages, so they have no choice but to outsource their translation activities to an outside firm. This can provide you with an excellent money making opportunity.

This type of business generates revenue by taking requests for translation services via the Web and receiving a fee for providing the services. The translation software on the Web today is typically a one-time sale, which can offer a word-by-word translation but cannot get the meaning across as well as a human translator can. This means your personal translation services will be in high demand for businesses that want to present themselves professionally and are not afraid to pay for it. It will not be difficult to stress the added benefits of having a personal translator to quality clients.

It is said that the Internet language is English, but this is not entirely true. To globalize any online business, operators must consider the languages of their target markets and make their site understandable to the whole array to ensure success. Providing translation services is a promising venture.

SKILLS NEEDED

The capability to effectively communicate orally and in written format in two or more languages is essential to operate this type of business. You will need basic Web publishing skills to update and maintain your Web site.

COST TO START THIS BUSINESS

Initially you will have to pay for the development, design, and hosting of your Web site, computer hardware, computer software (including any translation software that you might need to assist you), and a printer. If you currently have some of these items, your initial start-up costs will be considerably lower. Other costs that you will incur are related to the promotion of your Web site. Estimated cost is $3,000 to $5,000 to start.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NEEDED TO START

Approximately one talented and organized employee is needed to run this operation. If your service requests exceed what you can handle, you may want to hire an additional translator.

INTERNATIONAL POTENTIAL

This type of business has very high international potential. In most cases, companies need information translated for international reasons.

E-BUSINESS MODEL/PAYMENT PROCESSING METHOD

E-business level 1 would be appropriate for this type of business.

IMPORTANT BUSINESS ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED

The main issues you need to be concerned with are reinforcing the privacy and security of materials entrusted to you by your client and how delivery of pretranslated and translated materials will be dealt with. How can you make your clients comfortable with entrusting sensitive materials with you? Do you want to transfer materials back and forth electronically by e-mail? By CD? All formats? Or do you want to stick to traditional hardcopy distribution? Whatever you decide, you should ensure that it is in the best interest of your client’s privacy. Since mainly businesses will be interested in your services, you should attempt to have your business listed on as many business services-oriented Web sites as possible. These are the sites that people are going to visit if they are interested in your services. There are thousands of service directories online. You should attempt to develop links from as many of these sites as possible.

ONLINE MARKETING TECHNIQUES

• Launch a strategic banner advertising campaign on Web sites frequented by your target market. These sites could relate to international business or business services where visitors would be interested in your target market.
• Develop as many links as possible from Web sites, directories, and metaindexes related to your target market. These sites should relate to international business, business services, or just business in general.
• Develop a sponsored listings campaign to bid on appropriate keyword phrases with the popular search engines.
• Make sure your site is optimized for organic search engine placement.
• Participating in newsgroups and discussion forums related to business would be quite effective. Make sure that any message postings that you make provide a valuable contribution to the group. To generate traffic to your site, include a cleverly designed signature file with a catchy tagline in all of your postings. An “Ask Us about Our Translation Services” tag line could be quite effective.

ADDITIONAL INCOME

If your primary focus is providing translation services, then your additional income could come from the software or related tools you sell. You could also consider offering bilingual copy-writing services to firms looking to advertise in foreign countries. This would be a great way to earn additional income.

ONLINE EXAMPLES

Click2Translate.com

https://www.click2translate.com This is a dynamite translation services business. They offer a “translation tips” section, which is a great repeat traffic builder for their site..

The Language Bank, Inc

https://www.language-bank.com A full-service document translation and interpretation company, they offer full translation services including basic translations, e-mail translations, Web design, and voiceover translations for audio and video.