As the German title says, this practical little book is a basic guide on marketing and is specifically tailored to the needs of translators and interpreters. Although it's written for speakers of German, I expect much of what it has to say is equally applicable to other cultures as well, although marketing styles no doubt vary internationally.
Author Birgit Golms is an expert on the subject of marketing and holds workshops on it as well as writing articles and books on related issues (partly for the German Association of Interpreters and Translators (BDÜ), which I happen to belong to). You can tell she's familiar with the way in which translators and interpreters work and think as she provides lots of practical examples that ring a bell.
The book is a handy size approx. 150 pages long and A5 size, so it can just about fit into your coat pocket. It's divided into four practical sections: (1) how to position yourself, (2) the basic marketing material you need, (3) how to win customers and (4) developing your own marketing strategies and putting them into practice.
One of the things that make it a bit different from many "Ratgeber" is that it's meant to be used, not just read it includes various checklists and plenty of practical tips and links to resources on the Web. Since the guide was published in 2011, it's also fairly up to date (so most of the links will still be active) and it puts a lot of emphasis on self-marketing via the internet, e.g. by means of your own website or blog or by using social media. What I particularly liked here was the author's open-minded approach to tapping social media as a marketing resource it's not everybody's cup of tea, and how much (and how successfully) you use it will depend on your own personality.
In my opinion, "Marketing für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer" is well worth the read for any self-employed person interested in boosting their turnover and winning new customers. At 20 euros, it's reasonably priced as non-fiction goes and the investment is quite likely to help you move your business in the direction you want it to go (and make your income flow more steadily as well thanks to the extra custom you get).
You can order the book from BDÜ Fachverlag in Berlin or from any good bookseller.
(German) ISBN: 978-3-938430-34-7
Carl
image: courtesy of BDÜ Weiterbildungs- und Fachverlagsgesellschaft mbH
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