| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Any experience with Silvia Macor's list of 6000 agencies Thread poster: Samuel Murray
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| It is a positive thing, but why should you pay it | Jan 20, 2015 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
Somehow I see the fact that the list "contains much more agencies than we can actually approach in this 'personalised' way" as a positive thing, and you apparently see it as a negative thing.
It is a positive thing, but why should you pay for it? Are the agencies somehow "camouflaged"? Cannot we find / discover / unravel them all by ourselves? After all, we are takling about keeping busy for 10 hours a day. How much more do we really need / can do?
Exactly, Tom. And that is why a list that contains only information for making solicited requests is far more beneficial than a list that is designed to enable (or even: encourage) mass unsolicited requests.
If the agency goes out of business and the link is no longer there, you will not get your money back from the seller of the list. What I am trying to say is that ours not being "the more the better" oriented business, we can pretty much find the "right" business all by ourselves. Again, it is just my opinion, not "the truth".
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| May I add.... | Jan 20, 2015 |
May I add that no business address is given on the Silvia Macor website? As a general principle I never buy anything from anyone unless I know their business address. Added to which, the English is very clunky. I would instinctively not trust anyone whose website is written in such poor English.
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 11:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | The mysterious list author | Jan 20, 2015 |
Tom in London wrote:
May I add that no business address is given on the Silvia Macor website? I never buy anything from anyone unless I know their business address.
Horndon on the Hill, London, UK. Just a bit of judicious googling.
Added to which, the English is very clunky. I would instinctively not trust anyone whose website is written in such poor English.
She is a German native and none of her target languages are English. Yes... very dodgy... *wink*
[Edited at 2015-01-20 10:33 GMT]
| | | | | I get his point | Jan 20, 2015 |
Merab Dekano wrote:
It is a positive thing, but why should you pay for it? Are the agencies somehow "camouflaged"? Cannot we find / discover / unravel them all by ourselves? After all, we are talking about keeping busy for 10 hours a day. How much more do we really need / can do?
Sure we can, but Samuel's point (which I agree with, but not enough to buy the list) is that it would take much longer to manually compile a similar list than to pay for the work someone else has already done. That time could be spent actually contacting the agencies on the list through the means they prefer: a sign-up form.
What I have doubts about is whether all 6,000 agencies on the list are real or not, but that's hard to check without buying the list. Perhaps Samuel would care to be our guinea pig?
[Edited at 2015-01-20 11:40 GMT]
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| We spend time on the actual "sign up", not on the actual "search" | Jan 20, 2015 |
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei wrote: Merab Dekano wrote:
It is a positive thing, but why should you pay for it? Are the agencies somehow "camouflaged"? Cannot we find / discover / unravel them all by ourselves? After all, we are talking about keeping busy for 10 hours a day. How much more do we really need / can do? Sure we can, but Samuel's point (which I agree with, but not enough to buy the list) is that it would take much longer to manually compile a similar list than to pay for the work someone else has already done. That time could be spent actually contacting the agencies on the list through the means they prefer: a sign-up form. What I have doubts about is whether all 6,000 agencies on the list are real or not, but that's hard to check without buying the list. Perhaps Samuel would care to be our guinea pig? [Edited at 2015-01-20 11:40 GMT]
My experience is that the "bulk" of the time is spent on the actual sign up, not on finding the agencies (this includes "cover letter", which needs to be "personal" and adapted to that specific agency. Otherwise it finds its undisputed place in the trash bin of that agency).
Moreover, who will just click on the link and sign up without first having a thorough look at the agency's website, without looking into their language pairs, fields of specialisation, actual wording on the website, Blue Board or whatever rating?
You will end up spending the same amount of time, regardless.
For example, if I check Blue Board and it consistently holds: "Nice PMs, but late or no payment", I do not want to spend ANY amount of time on that agency. And no list will "remedy" that.
[Edited at 2015-01-20 12:47 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Samuel Murray wrote:
Horndon on the Hill, London, UK
That is not a business address; it is only a street name. There is no such place in London as "Horndon on the Hill", although away out in Essex, many miles from London, there is a village called Horndon-on-the-Hill.
So I fear you are misinformed. Added to which the image of the Brandenburg Gate strongly suggests a distinctly metropolitan, German domicile.
I agree with the others, Samuel; given your enthusiasm, why don't you buy the list and let us know how useful you find it? There's no point in us all sitting here speculating about it. Someone has to actually try it.
[Edited at 2015-01-20 14:28 GMT]
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I would never touch it, because I want to choose agencies according to the criteria I set, not those set by someone else. On what basis has she chosen these agencies? I specialise in medical translation, and want to work with agencies who are familiar with all the aspects and issues that this sector involves. As a general rule (there may be exceptions), I don't trust agencies who specialise in all subject areas. This holds especially true for medical translation.
It's also pretty ob... See more I would never touch it, because I want to choose agencies according to the criteria I set, not those set by someone else. On what basis has she chosen these agencies? I specialise in medical translation, and want to work with agencies who are familiar with all the aspects and issues that this sector involves. As a general rule (there may be exceptions), I don't trust agencies who specialise in all subject areas. This holds especially true for medical translation.
It's also pretty obvious that working with 6000 agencies would be impossible, so a large proportion of them are going to be useless to me for my purposes by default. Lists are like smartphones; 6000 features are useless unless you actually have some use for them. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 11:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Tom in London wrote:
There is no such place in London as "Horndon on the Hill", although away out in Essex, many miles from London, there is a village called Horndon-on-the-Hill.
Yes, but Essex is not a city, so as far as I'm concerned (from where I'm sitting), Horndon on the Hill is in London. Londoners and Horndon on Hillers may flame me if they wish. After all, I live in Holland, heh-heh.
Given your enthusiasm, why don't you buy the list and let us know how useful you find it?
I doubt if I will buy the list. The sample is too short (why only 5 rows out of 6000?) and it looks a bit slap-dash, to be honest. Yes, the list is useful in that it contains links to sign-up pages, but I would still have to visit the home pages to determine if those agencies might be interested in my services. For example, there is no indication in the list about whether the agency might service my language combination or what the agency's requirements for translators are (e.g. bachelor's degree, at least 3 references, native resident, etc).
I support the idea that a list like that should not contain e-mail addresses, however, and that links to sign-up pages (or information about how they prefer to be contacted by freelancers) are worth more than e-mail addresses would ever be.
[Edited at 2015-01-20 16:16 GMT]
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| The cheaper it is, the less valuable it becomes | Jan 21, 2015 |
If anyone can buy such a list for 35 bucks, any translator who has the time and believes in swamping/spamming (these two are synonyms to me) everybody around will post their details via those forms, and the sheer volume of indiscriminate and irrelevant applications will render the databases totally useless, if they have any use left today.
Let's face it: when an agency or direct customer has a need, they use Proz.com, association directories, or other translator portals to find what... See more If anyone can buy such a list for 35 bucks, any translator who has the time and believes in swamping/spamming (these two are synonyms to me) everybody around will post their details via those forms, and the sheer volume of indiscriminate and irrelevant applications will render the databases totally useless, if they have any use left today.
Let's face it: when an agency or direct customer has a need, they use Proz.com, association directories, or other translator portals to find what they need. When they find a translator that serves their needs, they stick to that translator as much as they can and very rarely search again. CV archives and databases are sitting there with no use! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| I agree -it's too cheap | Jan 21, 2015 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
If anyone can buy such a list for 35 bucks, any translator who has the time and believes in swamping/spamming (these two are synonyms to me) everybody around will post their details via those forms, and the sheer volume of indiscriminate and irrelevant applications will render the databases totally useless, if they have any use left today.
Let's face it: when an agency or direct customer has a need, they use Proz.com, association directories, or other translator portals to find what they need. When they find a translator that serves their needs, they stick to that translator as much as they can and very rarely search again. CV archives and databases are sitting there with no use!
I agree -it's too cheap. I happen to have a database, initially compiled by myself over many months and subsequently updated on a regular basis, consisting of hundreds of entries, each containing updated information, weblinks, etc. about individual prospective clients. This database is worth **thousands** not merely because of the time I've put into it, but much more importantly because of the valuable information it brings together, all in one place.
$35? You must be joking. Even if I wanted to sell this database, it would be worth $35K ! Any offers above that will be carefully considered.
[Edited at 2015-01-21 10:52 GMT]
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 11:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | When agencies have a need | Jan 21, 2015 |
Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
When an agency or direct customer has a need, they use Proz.com, association directories, or other translator portals to find what they need.
If that were so, why do so many agency web sites have sign-up forms or pages with specific instructions inviting translators to contact them with applications? Don't forget that many agencies vet their freelancers in some way (e.g. require them to sign an NDA), and vetting takes time, so a vetted freelancer on the books is worth slightly more than a list of results in a translator directory.
| | | | | Historic reasons | Jan 21, 2015 |
Samuel Murray wrote: Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:
When an agency or direct customer has a need, they use Proz.com, association directories, or other translator portals to find what they need. If that were so, why do so many agency web sites have sign-up forms or pages with specific instructions inviting translators to contact them with applications? Don't forget that many agencies vet their freelancers in some way (e.g. require them to sign an NDA), and vetting takes time, so a vetted freelancer on the books is worth slightly more than a list of results in a translator directory.
Oh, quite simply because in the 2000's companies liked to show that they were very proactive and dynamic and open to new applications. It is so old fashioned that it really strikes me that such forms still exist!
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Natalie
Poland
Local time: 11:46
Member (2002)
English to Russian
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MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 11:46
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Natalie
Poland
Local time: 11:46
Member (2002)
English to Russian
+ ...
MODERATOR SITE LOCALIZER | You have completely missed my point, Samuel | Feb 1, 2015 |
Have you looked at the thread poster in both these cases? Simply read two initial posts. The thread poster has made correct conclusions from your discussion and now sells her own smaller and much cheaper database of 6000 translation agencies for about EUR 35.00, and without email addresses
[Edited at 2015-02-01 15:14 GMT]
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