Poll: Do you market your services in your source language as well as your target language?
Postavljač teme: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
OVLAŠTENI DJELATNIK PORTALA
Oct 10, 2025

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you market your services in your source language as well as your target language?".

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Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Belgija
Local time: 12:18
Član (2020)
francuski na nizozemski
+ ...
Source Oct 10, 2025

I would think that you should market your services in a language that is understood by your potential customers, which may differ from your source languages. I don't really understand the emphasis on "source/target" for marketing in this poll question. It seems irrelevant.

Luis M. Sosa
Josephine Cassar
Sebastian Witte
Philip Lees
expressisverbis
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 11:18
Član (2007)
engleski na portugalski
+ ...
Other Oct 10, 2025

Marketing was never my strong point. Of course I had to do it at the very beginning. As I was living in Brussels at the time, I did this mainly in English and French, but also in Portuguese (Embassy, consulates, emigrant associations). Then I have been very fortunate as over the years potential clients have come directly to me through word of mouth (referrals from colleagues and clients), ATA, Proz, my translator association and my website. When I returned to Lisbon in 2015, I had a solid client... See more
Marketing was never my strong point. Of course I had to do it at the very beginning. As I was living in Brussels at the time, I did this mainly in English and French, but also in Portuguese (Embassy, consulates, emigrant associations). Then I have been very fortunate as over the years potential clients have come directly to me through word of mouth (referrals from colleagues and clients), ATA, Proz, my translator association and my website. When I returned to Lisbon in 2015, I had a solid client’s base, so I didn’t market my services here. A lot has changed in these 10 years, but fortunately(?) I’m at the end of my career. ▲ Collapse


 
Ricardo Aries
Ricardo Aries  Identity Verified
Indonezija
Local time: 17:18
Član (2020)
engleski na indonezijski
+ ...
A Tale of Two Sides of the Same Coin Oct 10, 2025

When it comes to marketing our services, both the source and target languages are super important. Think about it: customers who speak your native language are usually your main source of income, acting as that solid safety net that helps balance out what you earn from clients who speak your second language. By appreciating both groups, you can build a lively and lasting business in your second language.

 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us
Sjedinjene Američke Države
Local time: 06:18
Član (2005)
engleski na kineski
+ ...
This depends on the targeted market Oct 10, 2025

As far as I know, most translators market their services targeting the Chinese market in Chinese. If Chinese is their source or target language is not that relevant.

[Edited at 2025-10-11 01:49 GMT]


 
Michelle den Boer
Michelle den Boer
Nizozemska
Local time: 12:18
engleski na nizozemski
Primarily Oct 10, 2025

Marketing in my target language, which I did when I started 23 years ago, only resulted in monolingual proofreading jobs.

My translation work is mostly software localization, dominated by American end clients, which hire international agencies, staffed by non-native English speakers. So I communicate with them in English, my source language.

One German agency gives me instructions in German sometimes. Which is fine - it's perfectly understandable to me, but it doesn't m
... See more
Marketing in my target language, which I did when I started 23 years ago, only resulted in monolingual proofreading jobs.

My translation work is mostly software localization, dominated by American end clients, which hire international agencies, staffed by non-native English speakers. So I communicate with them in English, my source language.

One German agency gives me instructions in German sometimes. Which is fine - it's perfectly understandable to me, but it doesn't mean I could translate from German.
▲ Collapse


 


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Poll: Do you market your services in your source language as well as your target language?






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