I’ve done my homework. I’ve invested some time in doing my market research and defining the niche that I want to approach within my translation services. I’ve been researching different companies that may be interested in my services. I’ve also read about what they do, the manager that I want to approach, events that they’re going to attend, among a long list.

And when it comes to take the first step and engage with them, they come up with an excuse not to invest in a Spanish translation. They probably didn’t even think about the excuse, they just don’t feel like investing money in that. Well, dear potential client, this is what you’re missing out.

1. Hiring a professional translator is expensive.

Most of the time it’s all about the money. But this is the truth:

[Tweet “You can’t afford not to hire a translator. “]

And this reminds me of the story of one of my clients. He never considered hiring a translator before. He was going to launch a product in Spain but targeting only British people or English speakers. He never thought about getting this product translated into Spanish, which totally makes sense when you’re targeting Spain.

Well, he invested some money in my services and launched the same product but with two different approaches: one for British people living in Spain, as he planned; and another one for Spanish people interested in British culture.

The process was very simple; he launched a marketing campaign, to drive people to a landing page, where people could buy the product. So he invested in the translation of the marketing campaign, the landing page and the packaging that he was going to use to send this product.

Well, guess what? Taking into account only this second marketing campaign, he earned four times more of what he invested in a Spanish translation.

Now think about your own business; can you afford not to hire a Spanish translator?

2. I only work with clients in the UK/US.

Maybe you just want to target your own country and that’s totally fine. However, do you know how many Spanish speakers are living in your country? Just to mention a few figures: there are nearly 80,000 Spanish speakers living in the UK (officially registered in the UK, so I’m sure that there are a few thousands more), and there are 41 million Spanish speakers in the US, plus 11 million that are bilingual. Yes, more than in Spain.

No that you have some context, ask yourself this question: can I afford missing out this part of the population in my country?

Also, a lot of Spanish people living abroad (and believe me here, I’m one of them!) are always afraid to contact native business because they think that they’re not going to be understood. They always try to look for a Spanish friend to solve X problem. Don’t you think this would be a good niche for your business?

3. I only work with clients that speak English.

Great, that’s also totally understandable, as I don’t work with clients that speak Chinese, for example. But if you run your own business, as I do, you’d be probably thinking about going the extra mile.

So, imagine that you’re copywriter working for clients based in the UK. Some of these clients may have an international audience and even a website translated into Spanish. Imagine that they’re looking for a Spanish copywriter and you can help them recommending my copywriting services.

You aren’t just a service provider, but a problem solver. And I’d be able to do the same for you at some point. Why should we compete when we can collaborate? Although you’re not going to need Spanish translation services, maybe it’s a good idea to have a Spanish translator in your network. And the same applies for any freelancer!

As I said, I don’t work with Chinese clients, but I do know Chinese translators that can add value to my clients.

4. I can use Google Translate for free.

You certainly can! But should you? It depends on how you’re going to use it. If you use Google Translate just to see what a website is about, that’s fine. But if you’re creating content that your audience is going to read, do you really think this is the best choice?

Imagine that you’re working on the translation of your website: do you think that Google Translate is going to do a keyword research, culturally adapt your headlines or find a unique tone of voice for your business? Well, you probably know the answer.

5. I/My secretary know/s a bit of Spanish.

That’s also great and maybe can even get you out of trouble at some point. But do you think that’s enough to translate all your marketing/corporate/legal documents?

Let’s even imagine that you are bilingual and can produce a decent translation. How much time would that take you? Wouldn’t be more intelligent to outsource this so you can take care of the main activity of your business?

6. Most people speak English, I don’t need a Spanish translation.

I won’t get back to the figures I have mentioned before. The thing is there are probably some Spanish speakers interested in your business. They would probably read your blog posts and understand more or less your messages. They could struggle at some point, but as they are very interested, they make an effort to follow your updates. However, they have never bought from you.

Now imagine that you launch a new offer for them, in Spanish. They can understand everything and you’ve addressed their specific needs. Don’t you think that that can be the difference between a follower and a client?

 

Are you going to use any of these excuses next time or are you going to take some action?

Are you a translator? Then spread the word to your clients!

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