Should you hire a headshot photographer to boost your freelance translation business? Here's my take.
Joachim Lépine, M. Ed., C. Tr.
Getting academics published in English | Certified French-to-English translator | Mane Educator at LION Translation Academy
It can be so tempting to go it alone as freelance translators. After all, we're already our own administrative assistants, janitors, bookkeepers, PR people, and marketers! Might as well go full-on "lone wolf," right? Who needs other people?? ??
Hold that thought... This morning I'd like to introduce you to Mathieu Deslandes, a wonderful photographer I discovered here in Sherbrooke, Quebec in December 2021 when I finally decided to get some PROPER corporate pictures done (https://sherbrookeheadshots.com/).
Now, just to be clear, I am totally unphotogenic. My biggest fear was that the shoot would be a waste of time. And sure enough, when I saw the first batch of pictures, I was horrified. Holy CRAP, are those crow's feet?and wrinkles? Who is this burned-out looking?middle-aged dude staring back at me with a goofy-arsed expression? When did I age so much? Must be fatherhood, or the damned pandemic. Ugh. Is that really me??
But you know what? In no time at all, Mathieu got me to relax, smile, and even laugh a little. I started to shake the awkwardness. And Mathieu started to get to know me. He realized very quickly that I don't like harsh lights and white backgrounds. I needed more muted lighting to come into my own. And I?have a hard time showing my teeth when I smile (a?lingering effect of many years of crippling shyness).?He started calling me "mystery man" and I told him about how some people still tell me I look like Fox Mulder when I take off my glasses lol. Yep, there's some truth to that!
Some 400 pictures later (yes, you read that right... 400!!!), we went through the pile and I picked out over a dozen that I LOVED. These were pictures that I felt captured the essence of my identity... my "Joe-ness." I just couldn't believe that someone had managed to take pictures of me that I actually liked, and that I would be able to use on LinkedIn, my email signature, my brochures, etc.
The benefits of that photo shoot went so far beyond just having a few headshots. They helped me feel good about how I look and take pride in my identity.?It was almost cathartic. And I have greatly enhanced my online presence thanks to pictures that I can use in all kinds of places.
So... do you need other professionals in your life? No. You can go it alone.
But you'll go so much farther and feel so much better when you hire people who are experts in their respective fields. They will take you to a whole other level in your career... and your life.
领英推荐
Speaking of which, did you know that Ann Marie is offering a short webinar on all the dos and don'ts of creating your own dream team as a freelance translator? It's next week! I'm taking it myself and I'm sure I'll learn a lot. ??
https://joachimlepine.samcart.com/products/freelancerateam
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
CATALYST CULT GROUP, ETHICAL HACKER, SOFTWARE ENGINEER, SOFTWARE DEVELOPER, CYBER SECURITY, COMPUTER SECURITY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, EXPORT AND IMPORT BUSINESS , MICROSOFT OFFICE, POWERFUL PRESENTION PPT, ALL FIT
1 年I'm interested
Higher education administrator (part-time), and ESOL tutor and translator (part-time)
2 年Some interesting points here both for and against the argument. I've had two headshots taken since I've been freelance. I think it helps when clients can see the person they're communicating with, and I also think it helps to reinforce in a visual way two of the qualities I want to demonstrate in my profile as a freelancer: that I'm both approachable and professional. And by the way, it doesn't have to cost a fortune: the first headshot was taken by the daughter of a colleague who was studying photography (that's the one you can still see on my LinkedIn profile) - it cost me around ￡40. Recently, when I decided it was time to update my headshot, I discovered a local photographer who was offering this service for ￡25. Neither photo was a fashion shoot but both were sufficient for my purposes (of course, those of you reading this post may have a different opinon)!
Conference and business interpreter, translator □ Into English and Hungarian, from Hungarian, English, German and Portuguese □ MA EMCI MITI MCIL CL □ Member of the ITI, CIOL and BDü
2 年This can also happen: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-61100181
Traductrice-réviseure, trad. a, EN, SP -> FR
2 年very nice shots and excellent paper!
Translator from English to French specialized in environment with a passion for science and nature
2 年I decided to take the plunge! As soon as spring settles in, I'll hire a photographer to take some outside pictures of me for my website (in beta version here https://traductionosmose.com/). I finally decided to hire a web designer (https://cyrdesigner.com/) after the Translate and Prosper course (https://joachimlepine.samcart.com/courses/directory) which gave me the courage I needed!? *By the way, I'll need someone to translate it as soon as it's been running for a while in French and I'm satisfied with it.