Next Phase And A Big Favor

It all started with two people and today we are a community of over 200!  Now we will begin focusing all our marketing efforts to direct clients, and for this, we need your help. Since eLingual.Net was launched, in late 2013, we have faced Goliath like hurdles. Our profession is plagued with bad and sometimes even criminal business practices and abuse. It sometimes feels as though we are fighting a losing battle. That is why I wish to ask you for a big favor. If you can and are willing to help read on and I'll explain. When we started eLingual.Net we included agencies (language companies or language service providers, or whatever you call them) to work side by side with us as members on our platform.  As we became more informed, my team and I quickly realized that our focus should be on getting direct clients (as we call them) to work with us and not agencies. So early this year 2016, we have removed agency membership from our site and only have membership for individual freelance translators, interpreters, and (direct) clients.  This is where you come in. Trying to recruit agencies, middleman, and outsources, ended up being a complete waste of time.  On a positive note, in our quest to get our site off the ground we uncovered lots of insight (more on this in a future blog).  Now we are focusing all of our attention on finding direct clients who seek professional translators and interpreters. In order for us to attract (direct) clients and successfully compete against mega agencies (language companies, language services providers, and outsourcers), our marketing efforts need to be louder, better, and stronger than theirs.  How can we do that? We must inform the clients about all the benefits of working directly with professionals versus a middleman. We currently are working on a client's guide highlighting the benefits of working directly with professionals.  We wish we knew everything there is to know about each language pair, specialty, service, and everything in between, but we don't. This is why we need your help.  If you can and are willing to help, we invite you to guest blog (or we can re-blog one you already have).  Let's work together to inform the client to make better choices for their own good and our own as well. You can write about any or all of the following: your language pairs and challenges the benefits to the client of working directly with professionals like you interesting facts about your areas of expertise and other branches within your expertise area your services and what they entail, the behind the scenes that clients are not aware of any topic you think would help the cause For us to change the status quo of our profession and make a positive change, every little advantage helps.   I'm sure you are tired of being or seeing others treated unfairly like disposable laborers. Tired of being cheated. Tired of bad and criminal business practices. Tired of watching other colleagues abused and harassed. Tired of being stripped of dignity. Tired of being invisible. Tired of watching criminals get away with their crimes. We are too.  The eSlavery has gone on long enough.   eLingual.Net is more than merely a website, it's a platform for our movement, and we are finding solutions to our problems. In effect, we have started a movement. We are the movement. We are the underdogs. It's exciting and scary.  Because it's different.  And that's the beauty of it. We need courage. We need to be brave. We need to be strong. We need to be united. We need each other. What we are doing is different and we are not trying to appeal to everyone. Certainly not the unprofessional and unethical. The struggle to get direct clients will be long and hard. We have spent the last three years talking to freelancers who share our same values, inviting them to join our platform, so we can build a strong enough community to really make an impact.  That is why we need your help.  Our team can't do it alone. We'll be called crazy. We'll be called dreamers. We'll be criticized. We'll be bullied. And all that's great! Because the dreamers of the world are the inventors. The dreamers, are the visionaries. The dreamers are the creators, the pathfinders, the trailblazers, and the pioneers of the world. Did people believed the Wright Bros in their quest for flight? Did people support the inventions that seemed crazy at the time which we now take for granted like the Internet, telephones, televisions, cars, space rockets....the list goes on and on. Let's stay positive and stand together! Together, we will do what the Wright brothers did. They made their dreams a reality. And that is what we are going to do for ourselves and our clients, if we help each other. We hope to hear from you soon. And sorry for the long post, but I believe if we work together...the sky is the limit. As always, thank you for reading and sharing my posts.  Please, if any of my blogs inspire you, give credit where credit is due.  Let's be fair, honest, and professional.  Let's help each other be great and stay great! Feel free to connect or email me, Carmen Arismendy.  I'm a professional Spanish interpreter-translator and founder of eLingual.Net.  I started the eLingual Network because I could not find a fair, no middleman, no job bidding, ethical, and transparent meeting place for translators, interpreters, and clients online.  The website is in beta phase and by no means perfect but it's a step in the right direction. eLingual.Net's mission is to spread happiness worldwide through happy translators, interpreters, and clients. For the professional translator and interpreter, this means no middleman, no job bidding, the freedom of setting their own fees, having control over their services, and who they choose to work with. For the clients, this means working directly with ethical and professional translators and interpreters committed to quality and value. Join our happy community, let's work together! Translators' & Interpreters' Register | Clients' Register | About Us | FA eLingual.Net, by freelancers for freelancers.  Let's make a difference together! Updated 12.1.16