Poll: To what extent has your ProZ.com membership helped in building a client base? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "To what extent has your ProZ.com membership helped in building a client base?".
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Maybe half of my client base has come to me through Proz, mostly directly through the directory or recommended by peers. I must say though that lately my answer has been mostly “sorry, but no” because of the rates “offered”…
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 21:14
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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Half, although not all of that half is directly from ProZ.com. Some clients found me by word of mouth, but then the first client in that mouth chain found me on ProZ.com.
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ProZ is very important for my business, and I continue getting good clients from it. I accepted the first assignment of a new one yesterday 
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 21:14
Spanish to English
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Over the years, I think I've collaborated once or twice with one or maybe two translator colleagues through proz. However, I don't recall acquiring any regular clients, agency or otherwise, this way. All my current contacts have come to me by word-of-mouth recommendation from previously satisfied clients.
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As a PM, I have found good translators. But I have never found a client, and the postings board now is utterly useless.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Being a Proz member helps me to put my skills in front of prospective clients who are looking for a specialist translator in construction, architecture, real estate, academe, and related sectors like interior design, contractual documents, architecture culture and history, territorial planning, landscape design, etc.
To what extent has Proz helped? I don't know. Let's say a significant extent, and perhaps with more enquiries coming from private direct clients than agencies.
... See more Being a Proz member helps me to put my skills in front of prospective clients who are looking for a specialist translator in construction, architecture, real estate, academe, and related sectors like interior design, contractual documents, architecture culture and history, territorial planning, landscape design, etc.
To what extent has Proz helped? I don't know. Let's say a significant extent, and perhaps with more enquiries coming from private direct clients than agencies.
But Proz could do so much more. The posting board is completely useless. In more than a decade of membership I have never, ever, got any of the jobs being posted. I stopped bidding a long time ago. Now I just trash the offers as they come in, usually without even glancing at them.
Instead of ****ing around with AI, Proz should reconfigure itself to facilitate much better interaction between the best translators and the best clients. At present it's a very hit and miss process. Having a profile on Proz is too much like having a shop window and then hoping the right people will stop and look.
[Edited at 2024-02-13 10:44 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Four months into paid membership and I've been offered two jobs totalling 30 euros. The agency in Rwanda wasted my time for a bit then disappeared. The agency in Luxembourg paid me my 20 euros on time.
I've even lowered my rates on the site to average (pitiful) levels. But nothing. I think the clients just aren't looking here.
I also did paid membership once before, and got nothing at all.
I got all excited a couple of years ago when I was offered quite a l... See more Four months into paid membership and I've been offered two jobs totalling 30 euros. The agency in Rwanda wasted my time for a bit then disappeared. The agency in Luxembourg paid me my 20 euros on time.
I've even lowered my rates on the site to average (pitiful) levels. But nothing. I think the clients just aren't looking here.
I also did paid membership once before, and got nothing at all.
I got all excited a couple of years ago when I was offered quite a lot of work out of the blue by a dream client in Germany. High rates, no deadline, professional, respectful, prompt payment, come back periodically. But it turns out they didn't find me here.
So, after 20 years of hanging out on ProZ, all I've gained (apart from the pleasure of all your company) is two US agencies a decade ago which gave me a few hundred dollars of work between them.
I don't think it's down to me... ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Christopher Schröder wrote:
I don't think it's down to me...
Yes; it's a cost/benefit thing. I'm constantly asking myself if the cost of membership is equal to the amount of work it brings me. The answer is always "no" but there is benefit in maintaining contact with other translators. So maybe I should revert to being a non-paying member.....(thinks......)
[Edited at 2024-02-13 11:17 GMT]
| | | | Tradupro17
United States
Local time: 15:14
English to Haitian-Creole
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I never got an offer I could accept.
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85% of active clients (billed more than twice last year) have contacted me through proz.com (or my website after visiting my proz profile.
The latest returning one is from 2023.
I fail miserably trying to stand out in select offers on the job board. But Proz.com visibility works for me.
Philippe
| | | | Kay Denney
France
Local time: 21:14
French to English
I got a handful of jobs when I first became a member. One client gave me several jobs then disappeared during the pandemic, one told me they loved my work but just never had any work in my language pair, they came here just for a one-off. There's just one client I'm still working with who I think came from Proz, simply because I charge them an agency rate even though they are a direct client, so I must have assumed it was an agency.
Luckily, I have found much more work elsewhere.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Kay Denney wrote:
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If you just type a dot . as the title of your post, there'll be nothing in the email notification. Which means it'll probably go straight to the trash.
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