Professional subjects from a personal perspective
Happy birthday, blog!
19 Mar 2013 | 5 Comments | posted by Megan Onions | in Me
When I started this blogging journey almost exactly a year ago (time flies!), my main aim was to share my experiences and, hopefully, provide some food for thought for other translators and freelancers. Since then, I have written on a wide range of topics, from marketing to professional development and from productivity to client relations. I’m delighted with the response to my blog, in what is already a pretty saturated field. When I started out on my own (I had already blogged for employers), I never imagined that I would be invited to give presentations and interviews on blogging – not a bad start!
In order to say happy birthday to my blog (I think maybe it needs a name – what do you reckon?), I thought I’d run through a few of the most popular posts so far:
• The 1 Linguist, 3 Questions series – this has been amazingly popular, with a lot of my translation role models agreeing to take part. There are still one or two to come, so keep your eyes peeled for them! If you want to catch up, have a browse through the series so far.
• The Freelance Translator’s Reading List – another collaborative effort, receiving suggestions on my Twitter and Facebook accounts. If you have anything to add, please get in touch and I can add your favourite(s) to the lists.
• Dealing with the quiet times – despite being one of my more recent posts, this has proved one of the most popular. I think everyone can relate to the feeling you get when things have a been a little slower than normal. In fact, Judy Jenner has recently posted some great tips on dealing with famine periods over at Translation Times.
The past year in blogging has been very successful (and enjoyable!) for me, having been invited to contribute to the ITI Bulletin, do presentations with colleagues, write guest posts and do online and audio interviews about blogging and my business – all on the basis of this little blog. Here’s a quick round-up of what opportunities blogging has resulted in for me:
• Articles for the ITI Bulletin (more to come soon!)
• Presented with Marta, Valeria and Meg at the Language Show in London
• Invited to write a guest post for Dana Translation
• Interviewed for Sharp End Training’s Blogging Toolkit, along with Judy Jenner and Corinne McKay, and hosted a giveaway of a free copy
• Interviewed on Lloyd Translates about how I got into translation
• Included in the blogroll of 10 colleagues’ blogs
• Interviewed on Sara Colombo’s blog about work/life balance
If you’re considering starting a blog, or you have let yours slide somewhat, I’d definitely recommend going for it – who knows what it could lead to?
Interview with Olga Arakelyan at Sharp End Training
8 Feb 2013 | 1 Comment | posted by Megan Onions | in Colleagues, Me
Quite a while ago now, I was invited to be interviewed by the lovely Olga at Sharp End Training. The subject of the interview was blogging, and I have just finished listening to it again. I am definitely one of those people who hates the sound of their own voice, but I didn’t squirm too much!
If it’s something you’d be interested in, you can now get the interview (just over 25 minutes) for free on the Sharp End Training website.
The local touch
10 Jan 2013 | No Comments | posted by Megan Onions | in Me, The Business of Translation
Last night, I attended the Winter social of my local networking group for women in business. I first learned of the network through a contact I made in the proofreading field, who kindly invited me to join, and last night was my first event. As it was a meal, it was not possible to speak to all the attendees, but the women around me were very welcoming and I have already picked up lots of good advice. The food was amazing too!
If you’re interested in widening your pool of local contacts, or just getting out of the house/office once in a while to chat to like-minded entrepreneurs, have a search online for local networking groups in your area. You won’t regret it.
I’m really looking forward to the next meeting of Inspire Herefordshire, and I hope to be a member for a long time to come.
Refresh, recap, rethink
20 Dec 2012 | No Comments | posted by Megan Onions | in Me
As my translation workload grinds to a festive halt, I’m using some of my spare time to really work on setting a few goals for 2013. If you’re wondering where to start, Corinne McKay has just written a great post on the subject. I also revisited a guest post on Catherine Translates, which provided some inspiration.
Here’s a quick ‘n’ dirty overview of my 2012 in numbers:
11 months of blogging
76 posts
148 comments (some my own)
10,958 pageviews (according to Google Analytics)
170,534 words translated
1 MA nearly completed
2 published articles
3 presentations
And here are a few goals for 2013:
Attend the ITI Conference – if any colleagues will be there, get in touch and we’ll meet up!
Identify and attend at least 2 industry events for my specialist areas
Work on finding some local direct clients
Attend industry workshops, either in person or online
Off-topic
Take at least 2 breaks with my other half – mainland Europe is right on our doorstep!
Refresh my neglected Spanish skills
Learn to play the piano – very much a long-term objective!
I’ve shown you mine, how about showing me yours? In the meantime, I’d like to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas break and a fulfilling and prosperous 2013.
Megan’s proofreading has been very beneficial to me. I appreciate her accurate linguistic knowledge of English, and especially her stylistic recommendations.