| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] | What's your best rate? Thread poster: Bernhard Sulzer
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Abba Storgen (X)
United States
Local time: 16:16
Greek to English
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| A New York Times article about that... | Sep 19, 2013 |
“It was the result of a combination of me not making enough money and the real estate meltdown. I had bought a small condo that was now way under water. However, I made sure to protect the business from going under, even though I wasn’t making much. I have to make this work — not just for me but for the children and their families. When you said, ‘You need to charge more,’ it was hard to digest, because I wanted to spread my message and not lose a potential customer. I didn’t want th... See more “It was the result of a combination of me not making enough money and the real estate meltdown. I had bought a small condo that was now way under water. However, I made sure to protect the business from going under, even though I wasn’t making much. I have to make this work — not just for me but for the children and their families. When you said, ‘You need to charge more,’ it was hard to digest, because I wanted to spread my message and not lose a potential customer. I didn’t want them to think I was greedy.”
Greed is not good, and neither is going broke. This is a typical response from entrepreneurs who are not making money because they are not charging enough. They also say things like, “I want to be fair,” “I don’t want to gouge anyone,” or “It is a very competitive market” — or my favorite, “The customers like my low prices.” None of these thoughts have anything to do with establishing prices to run a successful business."
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/i-did-not-want-to-raise-my-prices/?src=dayp&_r=0 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 23:16
French to English
| I can see myself in that | Sep 19, 2013 |
Eleftherios you just described me, I'm hopeless at doing business. My mindset is better tuned to caring and supporting people than making money out of them.
However, it dawned on me a while ago that high rates are necessary simply because it is good for my sense of self-worth.
If I charge what I perceive as a lot for my services, then I feel good about myself: clients are prepared to pay what I charge because I'm worth it. And if I charge more than average, they seem ... See more Eleftherios you just described me, I'm hopeless at doing business. My mindset is better tuned to caring and supporting people than making money out of them.
However, it dawned on me a while ago that high rates are necessary simply because it is good for my sense of self-worth.
If I charge what I perceive as a lot for my services, then I feel good about myself: clients are prepared to pay what I charge because I'm worth it. And if I charge more than average, they seem to respect me more. I can earn more in less time, leaving me free to do voluntary work, which makes me feel good too.
Charging low rates means churning out more work for the same amount of money, and you feel like you're not really worth much. You don't have time to go the extra mile and so you end up delivering work that may be competent, just about fit-for-purpose, but that doesn't ever leave the reader feeling anything much. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Barnet Siu
Hong Kong
Local time: 05:16
Chinese to English
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| confrontation with the translator, rather than co-operation.. | Sep 19, 2013 |
Steve Kerry wrote:
.. is generally about three or four cents above theirs!
The "let's work our way down the ProZ list to find the cheapest" agencies are rarely satisfactory to work for, because their attitude from the outset is one of confrontation with the translator, rather than co-operation.
Steve K.
i was laughing when i read this comment
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 23:16
Spanish to English
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| I can't really take offense | Sep 20, 2013 |
Surely people would know that an adjective such as "best" invites subjective qualification. I quote what's best for me under the given circumstances, and they take what's best for them under their conditions. What rather DOES rub me the wrong way is that other adjective, "competitive". Because, boiled down, they compete for my time as much, if not more, than I compete for their work.
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Bernhard Sulzer
United States
Local time: 17:16
English to German
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TOPIC STARTER
Parrot wrote:
Surely people would know that an adjective such as "best" invites subjective qualification. I quote what's best for me under the given circumstances, and they take what's best for them under their conditions. What rather DOES rub me the wrong way is that other adjective, "competitive". Because, boiled down, they compete for my time as much, if not more, than I compete for their work.
competitive means "as low as you can go" for those posters who invite it, a synonym for "best" here.
You knew that anyway.
Of course we all compete, but not in that way.
What rubs me the wrong way is with what frequency these words with their implied meaning keep appearing and how many are answering the call.
B
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