| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | Marketing member services ("Project Connect"), part 3: Premium job postings Thread poster: Henry Dotterer
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| Great idea, Henry! | Sep 20, 2006 |
I am looking anxiously to see how it works out. Count on me. Super idea!
Lucinda
| | | | Yolande Haneder (X) 
Local time: 04:10
German to French
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| I think it is a good idea but... | Sep 20, 2006 |
If on the one side the agency can be booted out for not respecting some criteria, will there be a way for the agency to demand that some translators not working in a professional way (i.e. lying on their languages abilities (mother tongue, experience in a field) or constitently not delivering on time be booted out of the premium ability to apply if say premium agencies are not satisfied.
I think that making a two class job should not be only done on the outsourcers side, the outsour... See more If on the one side the agency can be booted out for not respecting some criteria, will there be a way for the agency to demand that some translators not working in a professional way (i.e. lying on their languages abilities (mother tongue, experience in a field) or constitently not delivering on time be booted out of the premium ability to apply if say premium agencies are not satisfied.
I think that making a two class job should not be only done on the outsourcers side, the outsourcer should be sure that they get a minimum level of professionability or respectability if they are to pay a fee to be the best translators and be prepared to pay a premium fee.
I don't think the problem for the most known company is to prove that they are good at what they are doing but rather have a way of "trusting" what is being said in profiles (and as I said again and again in the past, to send a test translation through internet is not a garantee that the one doing the test is the one doing the translation).
As a outsourcer I would like to block :
- Translators sending application for translations from x into z just because I asked quotes for a translation from a to b
- People self made as native when they are not (checking the language abilities and especially not allowing double native languages without somebody really checking for it)
- People not delivering on time and not contacting the agency
- People subcontracting the translation on your back (you usually notice it when there is a trouble)
Offers should not even made visibles to translators that had multiple bad reference from agencies but the fact that they have bad reference should not be made visible outside the closed circle of selected agencies (i.e. wwa).
I am not sure I could make it to your closed circle of premium agencies (after all I am not as known as the agency you took as an example - about what I am worth, I prefer let the translators decide) but I would be surely prepared to pay an extra membership if somebody could help me see clear between genuine translators worth paying more and the ready for all rowdys which would adapt themselves as your demand and really not care about the sake of the translation except to be paid in time. My clients are also expecting it and that's why I am still here as not a 0,0000X $ a word agency (if the client wouldn't feel what he was paying for, I would have closed long ago). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kirill Semenov
Ukraine
Local time: 05:10
Member (2004)
English to Russian
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| I don't see any reason... | Sep 20, 2006 |
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any reason why an outsourcer would like to become premium.
Does ProZ guarantees that only "premium" translators will answer? I mean even if the outsourcer pays for their job posting to become "premium", what's their benefit, in fact? I can't see it. Again, my apologies if I miss the idea.
| | | | Roomy Naqvy
India
Local time: 07:40
English to Hindi
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I am really impressed. Great news. I have been a member since 2001 and I have seen ProZ growing consistently... and I like it.
Roomy
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| Thanks, Kirill | Sep 20, 2006 |
Kirill Semenov wrote:
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any reason why an outsourcer would like to become premium. ... I mean even if the outsourcer pays for their job posting to become "premium", what's their benefit, in fact? I can't see it.
There are many job sites in which outsourcers pay simply to have increased exposure for their opportunities. In fact, I would go so far as to say it may be the norm on the web.
In the forums, we often hear talk about jobs receiving twenty or more quotes. The fact is that there is a large number of job postings that get zero quotes. It is not as easy to find people as some translators believe it to be. (In short, "You're worth it!")
Does ProZ guarantees that only "premium" translators will answer?
No. What we are selling are increased exposure and tools that companies can use to make their qualification processes more efficient. The companies we are targeting are those who know how to qualify translators for themselves.
That said, we may find that we need to take steps to curb certain undesirable practices...such as quoting in languages in which one does not work, etc. (Which happens now more than one might think.) I'll expand upon that...
| | | | | I hesitate, but here goes | Sep 20, 2006 |
On the face of it, this sounds quite reasonable. You’ve thought of a way to generate some income from the job-posters, which is nice for you, and it is hoped would be beneficial all round. So now you’ve got a 2-tier (paying versus non-paying) system in place for both sides of the equation.
As regards the “standard of desirability” of the client – OK, I understand this is a pending issue to be decided.
Now, presumably these paying job posters will be seeking so... See more On the face of it, this sounds quite reasonable. You’ve thought of a way to generate some income from the job-posters, which is nice for you, and it is hoped would be beneficial all round. So now you’ve got a 2-tier (paying versus non-paying) system in place for both sides of the equation.
As regards the “standard of desirability” of the client – OK, I understand this is a pending issue to be decided.
Now, presumably these paying job posters will be seeking some kind of assurance that the translators that they are paying to be put in touch with are also of a certain quality/desirability (as others have pointed out since I began drafting this).
Otherwise, one would think that they are unlikely to come back for more. And we have discussed ad nauseum on the forums the fact that being a Member (previously known as plat) does not necessarily a “good” translator make, it just means you’ve got a hundred odd bucks to pay for it.
I’m not completely sure that I dare type the acronym that will soon follow, but here goes. Is there any link, therefore, between premium clients and the WWA feature?
(runs to hide behind sofa for the rest of the afternoon) ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Thanks, Charlie | Sep 20, 2006 |
Charlie Bavington wrote:
On the face of it, this sounds quite reasonable. You’ve thought of a way to generate some income from the job-posters, which is nice for you, and it is hoped would be beneficial all round. So now you’ve got a 2-tier (paying versus non-paying) system in place for both sides of the equation.
That is basically the model, yes. By giving outsourcers a better platform, asking them to pay, and retaining the right to exercise some discretion with regard to the quality of posts, we should boost the quality of the offers for members, give outsourcers a better service, and yes, increase ProZ.com's revenue. Let's see if it actually works out that way in practice.
Now, presumably these paying job posters will be seeking some kind of assurance that the translators that they are paying to be put in touch with are also of a certain quality/desirability (as others have pointed out since I began drafting this).
Otherwise, one would think that they are unlikely to come back for more. And we have discussed ad nauseum on the forums the fact that being a Member (previously known as plat) does not necessarily a “good” translator make, it just means you’ve got a hundred odd bucks to pay for it.
I'll make another post in more detail on this topic, since it is getting significant attention, but the market condition seems to be that additional exposure and tools to make the processes more efficient are commodities that some top companies--companies that take pride in their workforces--do not hesitate to pay for.
Is there any link, therefore, between premium clients and the WWA feature?
Not a direct one, at least not at this point. When probing the market needs, we dangled a number of things that we have to offer before prospective clients. For whatever reason, WWA was not among the items that attracted the most attention, so we have not made that a central point. I tend to think WWA and project histories, or some evolution of them, will take on an increasing role, but of course that remains to be seen.
For now, WWA remains primarily a marketing tool for profiles, and those using it are reporting good experiences. That topic will be covered in the next newsletter.
| | | | Monika Coulson
Local time: 20:10
Member (2001)
English to Albanian
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SITE LOCALIZER | The way I understand it (please correct me if I am wrong) | Sep 20, 2006 |
Kirill Semenov wrote:
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any reason why an outsourcer would like to become premium.
There are a lot of corporations out there (Financial Institutions/Companies for example) that need translators to work for them. Usually, they pay for ads on several newspapers and other (e-)medias to find these translators.
By being a Premium outsourcer, they do not need to do that anymore: they can come to this pool of all-languages-translators (ProZ.com) and they can ask for all they need: at one stop shop.
I remember when I translated some materials for MetLife Financial Services a few years ago and the person who hired me told me that they had a very difficult time to locate a professional Albanian translator. I am sure that they have needs for many different languages.
Does ProZ guarantees that only "premium" translators will answer?
Well Kirill, do you think they will be luckier if they found their translators through their newspaper or other ads? That's always a question !
Monika
[Redaktuar më 2006-09-20 17:28]
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Brandis (X)
Local time: 04:10
English to German
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| I was infact indicating this | Sep 20, 2006 |
Kirill Semenov wrote:
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any reason why an outsourcer would like to become premium.
Does ProZ guarantees that only "premium" translators will answer? I mean even if the outsourcer pays for their job posting to become "premium", what's their benefit, in fact? I can't see it. Again, my apologies if I miss the idea. hi there, when the outsourcer and the service provider are both members the situaion is different. Usual scene is that the outsourcer wins a situation , because he / she brings in the business / work, the providers just waits for a project. The attempt honestly tried is not to make the service provider bad, but that is the usual market situation today. So the outsourcer ( member -premium ) gets the best of the lot I guess. that is as far as I can go (AFAICG) funny may it sound . Now if the outsourcer pays just like any other member, he sure would be selective. Sometime back somebody had indicated that an outsourcer registration could be as expensive as €500,- or was it USD 620 per quarter / annual / life time. Best Brandis
[Edited at 2006-09-20 19:35]
| | | | Giles Watson
Italy
Local time: 04:10
Italian to English
In memoriam
hi there, when the outsourcer and the service provider are both members the situaion is different. Usual scene is that the outsourcer wins a situation , because he / she brings in the business / work, the providers just waits for a project.
The attempt honestly tried is not to make the service provider bad, but that is the usual market situation today.
That may not be everyone's experience.
In fact, I'm quite sure that some of the contacts I have had recently were from companies that I might have considered, even to the point of postponing or outsourcing existing projects, if I had had more time to investigate them, or more information up front from the posting.
So the outsourcer ( member -premium ) gets the best of the lot I guess. that is as far as I can go (AFAICG) funny may it sound . Now if the outsourcer pays just like any other member, he sure would be selective.
One would hope that outsourcers were selective, whether they pay or not
Sometime back somebody had indicated that an outsourcer registration could be as expensive as €500,- or was it USD 620 per quarter / annual / life time. Best Brandis
[Edited at 2006-09-20 19:35]
This is surely the business of ProZ, which is proposing the service. The more outsourcers are prepared to pay, the more the service is worth: it is up to ProZ, with the help of the invisible hand of market dynamics, to find a sustainable rate.
Cheers,
Giles
[Edited at 2006-09-20 20:53]
| | | | | My thoughts exactly Monika | Sep 20, 2006 |
I, too, am excited about the new feature.
Yes, it probably will take some time but I'm sure that we will see the results eventually.
All I can say to the team is:
Keep up the good work and those great ideas rolling in.
Branka
[quote]Monika Coulson wrote:
Well Kirill, do you think they will be luckier if they found their translators through their newspaper or other ads? That's always a question !
Monika
uar më 2006-09-20 17:28]
[Edited at 2006-09-20 21:28]
| | | | | Thanks, Roomy | Sep 21, 2006 |
Roomy Naqvy wrote:
I am really impressed. Great news. I have been a member since 2001 and I have seen ProZ growing consistently... and I like it.
You've done your part in helping it to grow, Roomy. Thanks always.
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| Thanks, Branka | Sep 21, 2006 |
Branka Stankovic McCarthy wrote:
All I can say to the team is:
Keep up the good work and those great ideas rolling in.
Thanks, Branka!
| | | | | Right, Monika | Sep 21, 2006 |
Monika Coulson wrote: Kirill Semenov wrote:
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see any reason why an outsourcer would like to become premium. There are a lot of corporations out there (Financial Institutions/Companies for example) that need translators to work for them. Usually, they pay for ads on several newspapers and other (e-)medias to find these translators. By being a Premium outsourcer, they do not need to do that anymore: they can come to this pool of all-languages-translators (ProZ.com) and they can ask for all they need: at one stop shop. I remember when I translated some materials for MetLife Financial Services a few years ago and the person who hired me told me that they had a very difficult time to locate a professional Albanian translator. I am sure that they have needs for many different languages. ... do you think they will be luckier if they found their translators through their newspaper or other ads? That's always a question !
That is exactly it, Monika.
| | | | Larissa Dinsley
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:10
Member (2003)
English to Russian
+ ...
| Not enough information | Sep 21, 2006 |
Henry wrote:
I'll make another post in more detail on this topic, since it is getting significant attention, but the market condition seems to be that additional exposure and tools to make the processes more efficient are commodities that some top companies--companies that take pride in their workforces--do not hesitate to pay for.
Thank you Henry. It would be very helpful to know more about the proposed tools and any implications to freelancers.
Larissa
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