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I am a very mature student, following the MA in AudioVisual Translation Studies (French & Italian) at Leeds University. I worked in Brussels for 25 years, as an IT manager, and want to combine the experience gained there with my knowledge of languages to give me a hobby in retirement, translating business and techie texts.

I use Facebook but only for personal matters. I have a rather elderly LinkedIn account, which thinks I am still working in Brussels.

My question is: how can I delete LinkedIn contacts without the contacts being aware?

Looking forward to seeing you next Saturday!

Best wishes,

Sue

Hi Marta, thank you for setting up this page. It’s good to have a chance to start thinking about the event before it takes place!

As you know, I’m the social media secretary for YTI and have also been working full-time in a social media marketing and SEO position for an online retailer for a couple of years. As I’m now setting myself up as a freelance translator, I’m really looking forward to finding out more about blogging and using social media in a professional context as an individual/for my own business, rather than on behalf of a bigger company. I’m also really interested to hear what you have to say about time management - I know many freelancers feel they simply don’t have the time to dedicate to a fully fledged social media campaign across multiple channels.

Looking forward to the workshop and, in the meantime, to reading what others have to say on here!

Hi Marta, thank you for setting up this page. It’s good to have a chance to start thinking about the event before it takes place!

As you know, I’m the social media secretary for YTI and have also been working full-time in a social media marketing and SEO position for an online retailer for a couple of years. As I’m now setting myself up as a freelance translator, I’m really looking forward to finding out more about blogging and using social media in a professional context as an individual/for my own business, rather than on behalf of a bigger company. I’m also really interested to hear what you have to say about time management - I know many freelancers feel they simply don’t have the time to dedicate to a fully fledged social media campaign across multiple channels.

Looking forward to the workshop and, in the meantime, to reading what others have to say on here!

Very much looking forward to the 25th! I’m a busy freelance translator (German to English) with over a decade of experience. My specialism is corporate and product communications, mainly with a technology or automotive slant, and my business facebook page is intended to reflect this: https://www.facebook.com/SarahApplebyTranslation. I’m hoping to use your workshop to hone that strategy.

Over on twitter (@apfelbee), which is helping me to attract more of the work I like most, my main motivation is to forge links with fellow translators. One of our ideas behind “TweetUp North” (the second one takes place after the workshop) is to create opportunities for translators and interpreters to share knowledge in an informal setting. I’ve included a link to my blog above because it could probably be working harder to support that aim! #LinguistsUnite #TweetUpN

Very much looking forward to the 25th! I’m a busy freelance translator (German to English) with over a decade of experience. My specialism is corporate and product communications, mainly with a technology or automotive slant, and my business facebook page is intended to reflect this: https://www.facebook.com/SarahApplebyTranslation. I’m hoping to use your workshop to hone that strategy.

Over on twitter (@apfelbee), which is helping me to attract more of the work I like most, my main motivation is to forge links with fellow translators. One of our ideas behind “TweetUp North” (the second one takes place after the workshop) is to create opportunities for translators and interpreters to share knowledge in an informal setting. I’ve included a link to my blog above because it could probably be working harder to support that aim! #LinguistsUnite #TweetUpN

Hi Marta,
I’m currently in a salaried job, but am looking to expand my professional activities to freelance working in various areas where I have experience: translation, language tutoring and speech and language therapy. I’ve never used social media professionally (though I am on Facebook for social purposes) and would like to find out how social media can be used to make contacts in my areas of interest and to attract business. I’m also looking for tips on how to include different professional activities on my profile(s) without giving the impression that I’m not fully focused on any of them.
I’m very much looking forward to the day, though with some trepidation!

Hi Marta,
I’m currently in a salaried job, but am looking to expand my professional activities to freelance working in various areas where I have experience: translation, language tutoring and speech and language therapy. I’ve never used social media professionally (though I am on Facebook for social purposes) and would like to find out how social media can be used to make contacts in my areas of interest and to attract business. I’m also looking for tips on how to include different professional activities on my profile(s) without giving the impression that I’m not fully focused on any of them.
I’m very much looking forward to the day, though with some trepidation!

I’m a new translator, hoping to ‘launch’ as a freelancer in the next few weeks. I’ll be translating Portuguese into English, specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. I’m not on social media professionally yet, and need to know everything! I have a personal page on Facebook, but am hoping to soon get professional one up and running (I take it that your professional account just needs to have separate name?). I’ve never been on Twitter, which remains a complete mystery. I joined LinkedIn quite a while ago, but haven’t really got a profile up there yet, and started using it. I’m hopefully going to get a WordPress website up next week, and had considered putting a blog on there. At the Judy Jenner talk back in autumn, something was mentioned about it being possible to synchronise all your social media, so that you don’t need to spend a huge amount of time putting different things on Facebook, Twitter, website blogs etc. I’d be interested in finding out more about that.

I’m a new translator, hoping to ‘launch’ as a freelancer in the next few weeks. I’ll be translating Portuguese into English, specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. I’m not on social media professionally yet, and need to know everything! I have a personal page on Facebook, but am hoping to soon get professional one up and running (I take it that your professional account just needs to have separate name?). I’ve never been on Twitter, which remains a complete mystery. I joined LinkedIn quite a while ago, but haven’t really got a profile up there yet, and started using it. I’m hopefully going to get a WordPress website up next week, and had considered putting a blog on there. At the Judy Jenner talk back in autumn, something was mentioned about it being possible to synchronise all your social media, so that you don’t need to spend a huge amount of time putting different things on Facebook, Twitter, website blogs etc. I’d be interested in finding out more about that.

Hello Marta,

Thank you for this, looking forward to meeting you.

I’m a freelance translator, Swedish to English, of 1 year’s standing, but with 5 years’ in-house experience back in the 1990′s and an arts management career in the intervening years.

I have a LinkedIn profile, having been persuaded into it in my previous employment; I’ve made it into a translation profile but am not really making the most of it at the moment. Apart from that - nothing! No Facebook profile, no website (though the latter is very much on my list), and I need to be persuaded about Twitter. I find it hard enough to keep up with the blogs I supposedly already follow, let alone add anything to the traffic myself.

So, lots to learn, and I’m looking forward to it.

Hi Marta,

This is a great idea! Looking forward to Saturday and also feel that I have LOTS to learn from the workshop! I’m been a freelancer for three years (French and Spanish into English), before which I worked as a Project Manager for three years.

I have been busy balancing work with starting a family, but now feel that I need to give my career a push and hope that 2014 will be the year I start working with more direct clients on much more exciting projects.

To do this, I need a marketing strategy and, in addition to the website I am working on, I would like this to include getting the best out of social media. I have never been on Twitter either, and only have a personal Facebook page. I have a LinkedIn profile and attended a free webinar on how to use it for marketing purposes, but I do feel that Twitter and blogging are the avenues I want to explore fully.

I too worry about how I will manage to maintain an online presence around translating, admin and bringing up a toddler! Looking forward to hearing your tips!

Hi Marta,

This is a great idea! Looking forward to Saturday and also feel that I have LOTS to learn from the workshop! I’m been a freelancer for three years (French and Spanish into English), before which I worked as a Project Manager for three years.

I have been busy balancing work with starting a family, but now feel that I need to give my career a push and hope that 2014 will be the year I start working with more direct clients on much more exciting projects.

To do this, I need a marketing strategy and, in addition to the website I am working on, I would like this to include getting the best out of social media. I have never been on Twitter either, and only have a personal Facebook page. I have a LinkedIn profile and attended a free webinar on how to use it for marketing purposes, but I do feel that Twitter and blogging are the avenues I want to explore fully.

I too worry about how I will manage to maintain an online presence around translating, admin and bringing up a toddler! Looking forward to hearing your tips!

Hi Marta,

Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday. I’ve been a freelance translator for 4 years, translating from French to English and specialising in clothing/textiles/fashion. I am on Facebook for social reasons and recently started a blog about my observations of French life http://frenchlifebahtat.wordpress.com/about/ (as we spend about six months of the year over there) but don’t blog professionally. I have a LinkedIn account but don’t really do much with it, and have never joined Twitter (worry it will take up too much of my time and be too distracting).

Hi Marta,

Looking forward to meeting you on Saturday. I’ve been a freelance translator for 4 years, translating from French to English and specialising in clothing/textiles/fashion. I am on Facebook for social reasons and recently started a blog about my observations of French life http://frenchlifebahtat.wordpress.com/about/ (as we spend about six months of the year over there) but don’t blog professionally. I have a LinkedIn account but don’t really do much with it, and have never joined Twitter (worry it will take up too much of my time and be too distracting).

Hi Marta,

I am also looking forward to your workshop on Saturday. I have been a freelance translator working from French into English for three years, after a long career (not in translation) spent in Strasbourg and Brussels.
I translate in the areas of business, family & property law, finance, food & drink, human resources, management, marketing & tourism.

I have a website (link above) which I am about to update, a LinkedIn profile (http://uk.linkedin.com/in/carolinehirst/) which I mainly use to keep in touch with past and present colleagues and people I meet and also one on Viadeo (popular in France) but I need to develop that. I am on Twitter and use that for sharing articles of interest related to translation. I’m also on Facebook (personal for the moment, but I am connected with some translation colleagues/friends) and I like to keep in touch with Facebook pages of interest to me.

My social media efforts so far have not brought in any business as such although I did get one job from a direct client through Viadeo in my first year.

Time is definitely an issue - I try to find a bit of time to keep up with some blogs and Twitter feeds I follow and generally find them really interesting. I think social media tools are great for networking, and keeping up to date, in an otherwise quite solitary profession.

For me, social media marketing is work in progress and I am sure you will give me plenty of food for thought and action!

See you soon!

Hi Marta,

I am also looking forward to your workshop on Saturday. I have been a freelance translator working from French into English for three years, after a long career (not in translation) spent in Strasbourg and Brussels.
I translate in the areas of business, family & property law, finance, food & drink, human resources, management, marketing & tourism.

I have a website (link above) which I am about to update, a LinkedIn profile (http://uk.linkedin.com/in/carolinehirst/) which I mainly use to keep in touch with past and present colleagues and people I meet and also one on Viadeo (popular in France) but I need to develop that. I am on Twitter and use that for sharing articles of interest related to translation. I’m also on Facebook (personal for the moment, but I am connected with some translation colleagues/friends) and I like to keep in touch with Facebook pages of interest to me.

My social media efforts so far have not brought in any business as such although I did get one job from a direct client through Viadeo in my first year.

Time is definitely an issue - I try to find a bit of time to keep up with some blogs and Twitter feeds I follow and generally find them really interesting. I think social media tools are great for networking, and keeping up to date, in an otherwise quite solitary profession.

For me, social media marketing is work in progress and I am sure you will give me plenty of food for thought and action!

See you soon!

Dobry wieczor Marta,

looking forward to meeting you again in Leeds on Saturday.

I had to take down my business FB page as someone with exactly the same name as me in Australia kept putting her details on my page and no doubt mine were going on her’s! I don’t think she realised what was happening at my end and that it was completely unintentional .

I am now trying to build a new FB page but this time not in my own name but in the name of my company ie “Avocate” - however I can’t seem to get past the ” Admin ” page for reasons unknown - the system just blocks me every time !

I fully admit that IT doesn’t come naturally to me - I’m from the generation that has had to learn the hard way - my twin nieces started learning the alphabet at nursery school at the age of four!

Best,
Sue Leschen
Director of Avocate
Legal and Commercial French Interpreting and Translation
and
Legal terminology and professional interest workshops for freelancers

Solicitor (non - practising) ; LL B; BA

Committee Member of APCI and of ITI and NRPSI Professional Conduct Committees.

Hi Marta! I’m looking forward to your workshop on Saturday! I have been a translator for more than 7 years, although until recently I had worked mainly in-house. A few months ago I started working as a freelancer and I created a website and professional profiles in a few Social Media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest). I have worked in marketing in the past and therefore I enjoy this side of things. However I haven’t created a blog yet. Sometimes I write “news” or articles on my webpage but without the pressure of writing regularly that a blog demands. I follow a few blogs and sometimes I get the feeling that the market of translation blogging is saturated. Hopefully you will give us great ideas to make it work!

Hi Marta! I’m looking forward to your workshop on Saturday! I have been a translator for more than 7 years, although until recently I had worked mainly in-house. A few months ago I started working as a freelancer and I created a website and professional profiles in a few Social Media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest). I have worked in marketing in the past and therefore I enjoy this side of things. However I haven’t created a blog yet. Sometimes I write “news” or articles on my webpage but without the pressure of writing regularly that a blog demands. I follow a few blogs and sometimes I get the feeling that the market of translation blogging is saturated. Hopefully you will give us great ideas to make it work!

Hi Marta,
I look forward to the workshop as I’m still in social media denial. I started my business as a freelance translator last summer, coming into the industry with a different career background. I am an experienced and published PhD scientist and translate mainly from English into native German. I specialise in sciences and medical translations. I started a Blog on my website and try keeping my LinkedIn profile (http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/birgit-obermuller/31/915/a95) up to date but that’s about it. So far I’ve mostly viewed social media as time eaters/wasters but could be persuaded othewise by good professional arguments.

Hi Marta,
I look forward to the workshop as I’m still in social media denial. I started my business as a freelance translator last summer, coming into the industry with a different career background. I am an experienced and published PhD scientist and translate mainly from English into native German. I specialise in sciences and medical translations. I started a Blog on my website and try keeping my LinkedIn profile (http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/birgit-obermuller/31/915/a95) up to date but that’s about it. So far I’ve mostly viewed social media as time eaters/wasters but could be persuaded othewise by good professional arguments.

Hi Marta,

Nice to meet you. Really looking forward to Saturday!

I’m Giorgia, freelance Italian translator from English and French. It’s almost 1 year exactly since I became a freelancer but I have a few years of experience as in-house translator too. I mainly work on marketing & business, technology and legal texts.

I have a professional website both in English and Italian, which I try to keep updated as much as I can and I’m quite active on social media. I have Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts, which I believe are rather complete. I’ve also discovered about.me recently, which I quite like and brought me one client. I have a personal Facebook page, which I started years ago. It’s mainly for personal use but I also drop something about my activity every now and then. During the workshop, I hope we can explore possible ways on how to boost the personal page or ideas for developing a page (not the personal one).

But something I’m very interested in is social media as marketing strategy. Does it work? How many leads have actually become repeat clients? Could you give us practical examples on how Twitter, for example, can create a business opportunity?

Looking forward to the workshop and meeting you

Giorgia

Hi Marta,

Nice to meet you. Really looking forward to Saturday!

I’m Giorgia, freelance Italian translator from English and French. It’s almost 1 year exactly since I became a freelancer but I have a few years of experience as in-house translator too. I mainly work on marketing & business, technology and legal texts.

I have a professional website both in English and Italian, which I try to keep updated as much as I can and I’m quite active on social media. I have Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts, which I believe are rather complete. I’ve also discovered about.me recently, which I quite like and brought me one client. I have a personal Facebook page, which I started years ago. It’s mainly for personal use but I also drop something about my activity every now and then. During the workshop, I hope we can explore possible ways on how to boost the personal page or ideas for developing a page (not the personal one).

But something I’m very interested in is social media as marketing strategy. Does it work? How many leads have actually become repeat clients? Could you give us practical examples on how Twitter, for example, can create a business opportunity?

Looking forward to the workshop and meeting you

Giorgia

Hi Marta

I have been a freelance translator for English into German for over 8 years. I specialise in Business, Finance and Market Research as I previously worked in these areas as a business graduate. Like many I find it difficult to find the time for social media and I have not yet been convinced that they are really worth the time and effort spent on them. I have a blog http://satranslationnews.wordpress.com/ which I have been neglecting recently and a LinkedIn Profile http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/sonja-allen/33/a8a/766 which I have never really taken care of properly. I hope to get some more information on how to use social media effectively and a honest answer if it is all worth it. Also, getting some advice about the do’s and don’ts would be nice.

Hi Marta
I’m a student of MA Applied Tranlsation Studies at Leeds Uni, with a view to working freelance after the course. I’m looking for general pointers really, I’ve got Twitter, Linkedin and Proz set up but only really scan them to look for work. I’ve also got a wordpress blog and a .co.uk domain name. It would be great to hear some ideas on how to integrate all of this.
Looking forward to Saturday!