5 Reasons Why You Should Maintain A Good Work-Life Balance
Content marketing is, for those who are not familiar with the term, the gathering, assembling and sharing of content. In the online realm it comes in the form of articles, social media and blogs.
Since word of mouth moved to word of web, content marketing has begun to play an increasingly more important role in the way we market ourselves online.
In order to make ourselves visible, credible and searchable we need to create content. And not just any content. We need to share relevant, interesting, and insightful information freely.
The more you know, and share, the more others take notice. The way humans build social capital offline is how we should be looking at our own online presence.
The good thing about this is that the important people we want to connect with are MUCH closer online that offline. You can almost touch, feel and smell them, when in reality they may be on the other side of the Globe.
How to get started in the World of Content
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Facebook – Join relevant groups such as ‘freelance translators’, and get in on the discussions. Ask friends to ‘like’ your page and share.
- LinkedIn – Join groups both with whom you share a common skill with (translators), and also join groups where you are likely to find your potential clients. Contribute to the discussions in these groups and create new discussions around topics where you can show off your knowledge.
- Twitter – Follow your current, past and potential clients. Don’t be afraid to engage – everyone likes to be retweeted and commented on. Remember to follow newspapers and other organisation that naturally share a lot of content. You can learn what’s ‘in’ and retweet accordingly.
- Google + – Google + is becoming increasingly more popular, with many journalists discussing the SEO benefits of having an account. In addition to this, Google+ can be a great way to find new leads, which you can then ‘follow’ and engage with.
BLOGGING
Blogging is one of the easiest tools to use in order to increase your SEO. Or if you don’t currently have a website, it’s an easy alternative which doesn’t take any technical skill to start up.
Two of the most popular and probably best blogging platforms are Blogger and WordPress. Both these sites allow users to set up free accounts and start blogging straight away.
Don’t worry about getting your blog ‘right’. Yes, it’s important to have good grammar and flow but by having a look at other blogs on the web you will see that each one is unique in its writing style and content layout.
Things to keep in mind:
- Be Current
- Be Relevant
- Be Yourself
Write pieces that interest you, but that also have relevance to translation, or languages.
Remember: Use Social Media to share links to your blog to get more subscribers.
Guest Blogging: There are a plethora of blogs out there who are on the lookout for guest bloggers. It’s a great way of showing off your knowledge and most people will allow you to place a link to your website/blog in return.
ARTICLES
Article marketing has become a popular tool for freelance translators over the last five years. The easiest way to start is to:
- Write an article, relevant to industry, i.e. about translation, techniques in translation, new developments etc.
- Submit to article sites: this article will tell you which ones Google likes best.
- Share these articles with friends, followers and groups on social media groups and on your blog.
Author bio
My name is Niamh Lacy, I work as a Digital Marketing Specialist for KantanMT. I love to travel, learn languages, and discover new cultures. Check out KantanMT on Linkedin, Facebook and Google+.
About the author
This post was written by a lovely contributor. If you would like to write for the Adventures in Technical Translation blog or participate in one of our ongoing series, please visit the Contributions page for more information. You can also check out the awesome contributions already published on our blog.
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Be Current
Be Relevant
Be Yourself
Of these three I think Be Yourself is probably most important. Authenticity comes across, even in a blog or aritcle and if you are preoccupied with expectation, trying to say the same as someone else, or copy someone’s style, it’s an instant turnoff.
Now more than ever, we are marketing ourselves not just as experts and professionals, but because of the huge availability of similar professionals, the one thing that separates us from another is our personality.
I know it took me a while to realise this. I try to think of what Oscar Wilde said: Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. These days, that’s essential.
Thank you for the very nice and insightful comment Geraldine 🙂
Great stuff….I have just started my career as an freelancer and I think I am not happy with my job. I love writing and translating, but I really dislike all the hassle of marketing and promotion. After all, I’m essentially a word-smith not a business person.