When you are a travel nurse, then you need to have a pretty good understanding of per diem rates and how they might lower your taxes. Many travel nurses believe that per diem is only a tax benefit that staffing agencies offer and yet, surprisingly, others do not. This misunderstanding about what per diem is and how it may affect your taxes is an important financial issue that you need to understand. How you report your per diem earnings could mean the difference in thousands of pounds in tax savings.

Weather you are looking to maximize deductions, reduce taxes, or increase your returns, travel nurses should take the time to learn as much as possible about the IRS per diem tax rules. Certainly, one way to learn is to go to the IRS home page, download publication 1542 and read the rules so that you have a working idea of what to expect by tax time next year. Another great resource, especially, now a days is to do your taxes yourself, if you have a personal computer or laptop. Turbo Tax is a great software program. Not only is it inexpensive and tax deductible itself, but it is very easy to work when you use the step-by-step wizard. You can walk through your entire tax return, and file it electronically. You can get your refund deposited directly into your checking account in a matter of days.

A couple of travel expenses to have a heads up about include:
The travel nurse has a permanent tax home
The travel nurse takes a temporary (less than 12 months) assignment away
from their tax home
Any travel nurse meeting the requirements outlined by the IRS can claim deductions for certain travel expenses or receive tax free reimbursements and tax free per diem allowance payments. These tax benefits are one of the great perks of being a travel nurse.

Unfortunately, one of the most common tax mistakes that a travel nurse makes is not being educated or even aware of the tax advantages to per diem deductions. Now that you are are aware that savvy travel nurses are eligible for per diem deductions for every day that they are on temporary assignment away from their tax home, pass on the work to your co-workers, or email them this article so that they can bookmark this overview and take advantage of these tax benefits themselves.

It is important to be aware that some companies don’t pay per diem allowance, pay too little per diem, or only pay per diem as a function of hourly pay. You can learn what these scenarios mean for you personal tax situation by consulting with a tax advisor or researching the IRS rules. You deserve to to get every pound of per diem related deductions that you are entitled to, and we hope that this article has help you.

Note: while much care has been taken to make this article accurate, tax rules do change. Please be sure that you are up-to-date on the latest IRS rules. This article is meant for informational purposes only and is not meant to replace the advice of a skilled tax advisor.

There are some people who begin work not as a permanent employee but rather as a temp. Whatever the case may be, being a temp does not end at just a temporary position, but can lead to a permanent position so long as the time and effort into the job is put forth and noticeable. Here are a couple of tips to help transition from a temporary position to a permanent position.

Many people today go through job or temp agencies to find work. Some treat it as just a temp position while others treat it as a stepping stone to become a permanent employee. In either case, as an employee of the company, one should put forth 100% to their work. Some temporary workers treat their jobs differently as if their work would be different if they were permanent employees at their place of business. If you want to land a permanent position at that company, you should not take the work lightly. Treat it as if you were a permanent employee and work to your highest potential. Having people notice your work is important, especially if you want to transition from temporary to permanent. Make sure that the quality of your work is what it would be if you were a permanent employee.

Dressing for the position is important as well. Dress professionally and most likely you will be treated like a professional. Be sure to ask for the company dress code before you begin your temporary employment at the company. Remember to always follow the dress code, even if you feel that nobody is paying attention to your attire.

Getting to know some of the employees is at the company is a good way to earn your way into a permanent position. Just because you are a temp does not mean that you should just shut yourself to a corner, interact with the employees and socialize with them, they may be the people who can recommend you to become a permanent employee at the company. Who knows, you might even become good friends with the hiring manager.

Lastly, make people know that you are dedicated to the company. If you feel that you have extra time on your hands and can take on extra work, ask for some. If you feel that you have to stay a little after your normal work schedule just to finish a task, stay a while longer. If you feel that you can do more challenging tasks than the one that is given to you, request to take on more challenging work; by doing so, you show your supervisor or upper management that you are dedicated to the company and that you would make a valuable asset if they hired you on board permanently.

Postmeup.com
http:www.postmeup.com

When it was first used and aired over the radio, the word transcription drew large attention and become the gist of the publics conversation. Newspapers also have many data about and everybody who can read it become interested in getting into it.

Being a transcriptionist, working on transcriptions offers a different kind of job opportunity. It is a task that you can get fond of, aside from that you will also be earning more money as compared to other jobs.

However, does working as a transcriptionist present to you the greener pasture you are looking for?

Quality transcription generally means providing the client with the clearest and most comprehensive drafts that the clients look into. In order to achieve this goal, the company makes sure that they get highly experienced transcriptionists and the best audios that can be acquired.

The work somehow leads to pressure, aside from being a deadline-driven business; it also needs a full precision. All the information that you will be hearing over the audio, you must be able to transcribe it accurately. The clients always seek for an output that is both credible and reliable.

The companies also have to make it sure, that they will deliver the complete transcripts in the quickest time as possible. Aside from accuracy, deadline is another important consideration. Once the client has given a particular cut-off limit, by whatever means, it has to be delivered.

The value of a transcription will vary on how the clients assess the work that these transcriptionists accomplished. The increase or the decrease on the number of their clients will also depend upon the quality of output that the transcriptionist produced.

Most of the noted formats that are accepted by the transcriptionist are the following:

1. Court tapes- This will be comprise of the coverage of court hearings be it in higher or lower courts. It will also include testimonies from both of the parties involve in a particular case.

2. Interviews- This will also include the dialogue usually between the interviewer and the interviewee.

3. Board Meetings and Conferences- The important agenda of the meeting are necessary things to be discussed and taken into account.

4. Roundtable Discussions- this refers to either a formal or an informal manner of laying discussing things out by a group.

5. Medical Advisory Groups- Usually, this is one of the most in demand services in transcription at present.

6. Video and Film Time Coding- Clients who are in the field of movie editing are offered these services.
On the other hand, when it also deals with the transfer of your audio in various media types, you can do it on neither of the audiotape, Compact Disc, CD-ROM, DVDs, and some can be transmitted to videocassettes. There are several preferences so that it will be easier for you to transfer the data from the audio that you needed.

The entire task in transcription needs to be done precisely. The transcriptionists make it sure that they are able to make all the necessary omissions, corrections, formatting and other technical tasks that must be done before sending the outputs to the clients.

The companies also provide for several trainings and reviews for their transcription to keep track that the quality of their work is for the better.

For many, transcription work is a life saver. It is good work. It is a job that is likely to be needed for a long time. And, it provides you with the flexibility that you need. Sometimes, transcription can be done from home. Other times, it can only be done through the use of specific computers at a location. Nonetheless, there are some things that you will need to do in order to get a job in transcription.

While many places on the web would like you to think that there are endless opportunities for individuals looking for transcription work, the fact is that there are only a few and those that are out there want skilled individuals. There are some opportunities available to those who want to do transcription from their homes, but again, these companies want individuals who are trained. You may find that many companies offer the work to you to do at home if you have the necessary equipment as well as the necessary skills.

So, how do you get the skills that you need for transcription? You can get them on the web or in a traditional school setting. On the web, you can learn how to transcribe at various online schools. Many universities carry this field and help you to get job placement as well. If you really would like to get into transcription, you can do so simply by getting into the right schools to start with.

But, remember that there are no guarantees in transcription either. Many companies may have openings now, but that does not mean that they will down the line. In many cases, you are likely to find companies that offer only a small amount of work to you. Although there are jobs available in transcription, you will need to be high quality, skilled and willing to work hard to get and keep them.

Today’s interview questions are becoming increasingly more difficult. I have compiled a list of questions that interviwers regard as the toughest to answer. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions, but be prepared to for them to be asked.

1. Talk about yourself? (Prepare for 2 minutes)
2. If you were a Leader of a country, which problem would you tackle first and why?
3. If you made a film about yourself, who would play your character?
4. Is a Tomato a Fruit or Vegetable?
5. Describe a Tennis Ball?

Be prepared for Questions like these as this will prove you really want the job, have a creative thought process, be able to sell yourself and be confident is a stressful environment.

Paul Evans – FastFinders.co.uk

www.fastfinders.co.uk

I have exciting news if you want to stay home with your precious babies, but still need a weekly paycheck. If you think you cant do both, Im here to tell you that you can! The official word for what Im talking about it Telecommuting, but its also known as a work at home job.

If youre brand new to the concept let me tell you a quick overview of the meaning. Basically, a telecommuting job is much like a job outside the home. You work for an employer, you have assigned duties, you often make an hourly rate, receive a paycheck and do this all from home.

The differences from outside the home to inside is that you often do not receive any type of benefit such as you would outside the home. For instance, you wont receive health insurance, paid holidays, paid sick leave or vacation time. The benefit you do receive is the luxury of working inside your home and being with your kids.

First Steps To Breaking Into This Field

If telecommuting does interest you there are some basic things you need to know in order to get started. First, you need to know where to find the legitimate jobs. The internet is filled with scams and its important that you know where to find the legitimate jobs. The following are just a few of the great resources online that provide many legitimate job listings.

FREE SITES:

www.WAHM.com

www.Craiglist.org

www.ABYZNewslinks.com

www.Workaholics4hire.com

FREE NEWSLETTERS:

www.TelecommutingAnswerLady.com (which is my weekly newsletter)

www.Workoptions.com

www.homejobstop.com

Paid Membership Sites

You certainly dont have to pay to access legitimate job leads, but there are two websites that are legitimate and offer many leads and those are:

www.homejobstop.com

www.teleworkrecruiting.com

What Jobs and Pay You Can Expect

Often, Im asked what types of jobs are available and what one can make at home. First, Im excited to say that there are just as many types of positions available for telecommuters as those who work outside the home. Anything from customer service to sales to marketing to data entry to medical transcription and much more!

The pay is going to vary from position to position, but the average pay seems to range from 8.00-14.00 an hour. There are exceptions to this and it will honestly depend on your experience in a particular field and what company you get into. And there are chances to move up in many telecommuting companies so keep that in mind as well.

Read This BEFORE Applying

Its so important that you realize getting a job at home is not easy and will take time. Not only that, but your competition will be tough and you need to stand above the rest. Being professional with your cover letter and resume and any follow up is key.

Make sure you spell check like a maniac and tailor each and every cover letter and resume to that specific job youre applying to.

I would highly recommend you have a professional rsum writer craft a winning cover letter and resume for you. You can find an affordable and creative resume writer at www.resumeasap.com.

And in a final note with this topic, please remember to always be professional in all correspondence. If you dont happen to receive a job you applied for dont email the employer angrily because you did not receive the position. I received this great tip from an employer on this topic. And believe it or not, this does happen all too often.

Don’t burn bridges. When you receive a letter saying you didn’t get the job, send a polite reply asking that your information be kept on file and express your interest in being considered for future openings. There is nothing to be gained by voicing any anger or resentment at not being chosen.

Linda Stacey

What Equipment Is Needed

Just like working outside the home youll need certain things to do the job. You often need either all or some of the following:

Home Office

Computer

Printer

High Speed Internet (in most cases)

2nd Phone Line (sometimes)

Fax Machine (sometimes)

Quiet Environment

Depending on the job you might need something that I didnt list. For example, if youre a transcriptionist you might need a foot pedal or something of that nature. And there are also instances in which you wont need all of the equipment I mentioned. The one obvious thing you will need in all cases of legitimate employment is a computer and internet access.

Final Thoughts

Please keep in mind that it often takes much longer to find and get a telecommuting job then a job outside the home. The market is very competitive and although there are many more jobs now then a few years ago there is also much more competition. So please dont think that you will get a job tomorrow as that is not likely to happen.

Persistence is the key. Dont give up on this happening. I firmly believe that where theres a will theres a way. It could take months, but when you do receive the welcome letter to a great telecommuting position it will all be worth it!

The great thing about being a traveling nurse boils down to one key component its about the travel! For those of us who love moving around and seeing the world, travel nursing is the profession of our dreams. There are many travel destinations available, based on weather, activities, cost of living, and salary. Therefore, I have gathered a list of my Top Ten destinations that nurses choose, based on the number of travelers who inquire about each location every month. Are you a travel RN scouting a new assignment? Then Id like to suggest the following ten Hot Spots:

HAWAII Its no shock that Hawaii generates over 500 travel nursing inquiries per month. The wide range of outdoor activities from snow-capped mountains to snow-white sandy beaches elevates Hawaii to one of those meccas where you can build a snowman or a sand castle all in one day. Nurses tell me that youll discover virtually every type of outdoor activity imaginablehiking trails that wind through erupting volcanoes, secret beaches, and lush green ranchlands. Many travelers also hunt, mountain bike, go rafting, and golf on some of the worlds most extravagant courses.

ALASKA Travel nurses are intrigued by the possibilities of Alaskas rugged mystery. Alaska is a huge wilderness with beautiful scenery, and travel nursing assignments offer plenty of time to see and do everything you want, whether in winters darkness under northern lights, or the glorious spring and summer where its light most of the time. Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy Alaska for its wildlife, spectacular natural landscape, and fishing expeditions where the fish really are as big as the stories about which theyre told. Countless day cruises and sightseeing expeditions abound, as well as opportunities to hike, kayak, canoe, ski Need we say more?

MONTANA Whether photographer, adventurer, or both, Montana is truly a state that beckons with open arms. River trips, fishing and camping, history, snowy mountain ranges, and waterfalls are what youll encounter, along with plenty of open space to explore. Assignments in Montana appeal to those travel nurses who just need some time to break away from their city grind to enjoy marching to the beat of an entirely different drummer. The Big Sky Country boasts some of Americas most famous mountains, canyons, river valleys, forests, grassy plains, badlands, and caverns, and many travelers find it just irresistible enough to keep coming back.

MAINE Maines splendor has inspired artists like Georgia OKeefe and three generations of the Wyeth family, since the mid-nineteenth century. Travel nurses cant resist at least one adventure in this charming getaway. Whether you embark on outdoor adventures like skiing and snowmobiling, or if you prefer the cozy ambience of antiquing through charming villages or just strolling or riding horseback on miles of sandy beaches in the smell of salt air, Maine is legendary and offers some wonderful travel nursing experiences. Its unique culture is outdoorsy and quaint, and of course you get to enjoy lobster as the locals dofresh from the ocean!

CALIFORNIA Warm weather and world-famous beaches make California a favorite choice for traveling nurses. Nine-hundred miles of coastline gives nurses in all locations the chance to spend many hours near the waves; and for nature lovers, California is home to many wildlife parks, remote wilderness areas, and safe-havens for endangered animals. If youre an excitement junkie, you can scout out a wide selection of theme parks; and no matter what your taste in music, concerts abound in every type of venue. Historic sites and museums invite, as do five-star restaurants and clubs in which to see and be seen. The shopping is unparalleled, whether its trendy Melrose Place, La Jolla, or the strand in Venice Beach; and of course its home to Hollywood, and, yes, movie stars. Whether northern, southern, or coastal locations, traveling nurses return to California time and again.

WASHINGTON The Evergreen State boasts the gorgeous Pacific Ocean, the Cascade Mountains, desert experiences, rain forests, towering volcanoes, glaciers, and lush wine country. Washington State rates high on the list of many nurse travelers. Must-sees are the Space Needle and Coulee Dam. The culture here is incredibly diverse; sophisticated, outdoorsy, and loaded with resorts, history, parks, museums, and botanical gardens. Whether touring downtown Seattle for cozy antique and book stores, exploring ancient Indian grounds, or hiking and biking mountains or trails, Washington holds a strong allure for many nurse travelers.

SOUTH CAROLINA Endless adventure, excitement, fun and exploration represent why South Carolina is always a favorite destination for travel nurses. Americas oldest landscaped gardens frame mansions rife with historical heritage, in addition to pristine beaches and legendary marshy wetlands. For all you golfers, with over 330 golf courses, theres always a new place to swing your clubs. But what fascinates many traveling nurses is the rich heritage in which South Carolina has paved the roads of culture, art, and folklore in our past. You can visit several historical areas and discovery centers of American history, including the American Revolution and the Civil War.

COLORADO World-class winter skiing and summer music festivals in the mountains are just two reasons that nurses love traveling to Colorado. Boasting four spectacular seasons, Colorado is where travel nurses get to explore the states 18 million acres of state and national parks, forests, and monuments for biking, hiking, fishing, mountain climbing, and kayaking, to name a few. Colorado has many cultural treasures, including ancient Native American sites and dinosaur fossil exhibits, historic ghost towns, and even award-winning vineyards in Grand Junction. And for those who enjoy city life, amid all this natural beauty lie wonderful metropolitan areas like Denver and Boulder, full of shopping, performing arts, and professional sports.

TENNESSEE From energetic nights of blues on Beale Street, to gorgeous rolling acres of Tennessee Walker horse country, to peaceful Smoky Mountain sunsets, Tennessee is a vacation that offers many world-renowned attractions. Nurse travelers who visit Tennessee will find that theyre within a days drive of 75-percent of the U.S. population via quality interstates and highways. Attractions in Tennessee include the Jack Daniels distillery, Elviss Graceland, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and lots of southern hospitality. And dont forget the crown jewel of the southern Appalachians, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

ARIZONA If you adore the outdoors, then the Grand Canyon State might just be for you. The nurses who go there just rave about Arizonas landscape which takes in tall mountain ranges, swift rivers, grasslands, sand dunes, and cactus forests all set against a beautiful sky that glows pink in the sunset. The traveler nurses who enjoy history will find plenty of it here, including Old West reformations, Native American nations, and Spanish-influenced areas all in one state. Arizona is also home to the nations greatest golf courses, resorts, spas, cabins, and ranches.

As you can see, limitless possibilities exist for those nurses who want travel, fun, and adventure to be part of their daily lives. If youre a nurse who travels and it’s time for you to move on to a new location, try one of these top travel nursing destinations and see what new experiences lie ahead.

The ability to make good “people” decisions is today’s most important source of competitive advantage. All factors of production are easily available and accessible to all organizations but what separates the best from the rest is the quality of human resource a company possesses. Top leadership talent has always been hard to attain and this has only aggravated in recent times due to globalization, growing worldwide competition, aggressive headhunting practices etc. With growing demand and limited supply top level executives are so much in demand that companies are paying extravagant salaries, bonuses, perks whatever it takes to attract the best brains from across the world. Newly developing economies such as India and China are also giving fierce competition to business leaders who can now earn top pound working in these countries as well.

Companies are in need of capable leaders who can steer their firm steadily into the future. Here is where the role of executive search firms comes into play. An executive search firm is a specialist talent acquisition service provider who enables companies to get their dream candidate on board. Executive search firms have come a long way and are today considered crucial participants in a companies recruitment strategy. Also its not the big boys of executive search who are in the limelight but also small and efficient firms such as Servnet which is a specialist firm helping companies hire top talent from India. Normally a smaller firm is able to devote more time and resources for a search assignment resulting in faster and better results which are critical to business continuity and growth.

Author: Udit Bhandari
Servnet
www.executive-search-india.com

Mid-career crisis? Have you got what it takes to teach English for business?

Teachers often ask me what direction they can take after a few years of teaching general English. To continue as an ordinary classroom teacher seems like stagnation, so choices have to be made about how to develop both professionally and personally. Specializing in English for business can be a fruitful move if the teacher is able to transfer existing skills to the business context.

Let me deal with the prospects first. Teaching business people is recognized as a specialist field and the teacher often has to be a program planner and materials developer as well, so salaries are generally higher. The training can take place in dedicated centers, often residential, in-company or as a special program offered at a traditional language school, but wherever it takes place, the teacher will have to be able to deal with the people who are sponsoring the training and is thus answerable to a wider range of stakeholders. But by engaging in the corporate world, the trainer may find many opportunities to widen his or her range of training skills: interpersonal communications, written communications, cross-cultural communications and ultimately consultancy work in the communications field.

However, the prospects will only open out to the kind of teacher who can adapt from the world of pedagogy to the corporate world. The clients are usually highly motivated and work in small groups or as individuals hence the teaching dynamics are quite different. Business people do not wish to go back to the classroom as they already have the professional expertise they need. What they want is someone who can help them communicate effectively in the global business world. The trainer needs to slip into the role of facilitator, working with clients to understand their learning styles, to discover their specific needs and immediate objectives and to help them set achievable targets. I have seen many a hopeful business English trainer fall at this hurdle. They cannot throw off their accustomed teacherly approach.

So who can become a successful business English teacher? It is certainly helpful to have experience in fields other than teaching. However, although it is very useful to have experience of other professional domains, or of the commercial world, it is not essential. On the other hand, it is necessary to be interested in the world of business and to understand how companies are structured and to be familiar with business terminology. Regular reading of the business pages of the daily press can help you build awareness of the field and of the latest developments.

The business English teacher needs to have an international perspective. In dealing with many different nationalities, and with clients who have to operate in the increasingly globalized business field, the teacher needs to be aware of the implications of cross-cultural communications. Clients, who have to use English–which is not their native tongue, to do business with other non-native English speakers in another country–have several layers of cultural information to deal with. First they have to acknowledge that their own national and company culture is not necessarily shared with their foreign counterparts or even understood by them, and secondly that nobody’s culture is intrinsically right or wrong, better or worse. The teacher may have to help them understand the nature of cross-cultural interaction.

The qualities needed by a business English teacher are thus different in many ways. They need the confidence to play the role of instructortrainerfacilitator with people who may occupy senior company positions. They have to be adaptable and not have rigid ideas about how to conduct training sessions and what the content should be. And they need to have an understanding of how English is used internationally as a lingua franca among people who may never meet a native speaker. They need skill in giving feedback and must be robust enough to take feedback themselves. And they need to be clear and precise in describing what they can offer clients and in their post-training debriefing. Clearly, therefore, that this is not a field for someone new to teaching–it demands a certain maturity of approach and confidence both personally and professionally. However, for teachers able to make the transition from classroom to the world of corporate training, the rewards and prospects are excellent.

Tips To Help You Start Your Own All-Round Translation Business

There is no shortage of translators who take the plunge and set up shop as self-employed freelancers, but few have the ambition or the spirit to start up their own all-round translation agency. This is not surprising, of course, as the establishment of a full- scale translation agency is a quantum leap compared with what it takes to launch a viable freelance practice. Nevertheless, the intellectual and financial rewards of business ownership can be substantial. Below I will discuss various aspects you will have to take into account should you consider beginning your own professional and all-round translation business.

All-round translations
First of all, what is meant, in this particular context, by the term all-round? Basically, it refers to the scope of your product. As a freelancer your output would be confined to your own language combination and degree of specialisation; as an agency owner you will be able to supply your clients with translations across a whole range of source and target languages and disciplines, including commercial, technical, medical and legal documents. In theory, your range would be limited only by the number of staff you would be prepare to contract.

Internal organisation
If you want to establish your own translation company, you would be well advised to find a competent partner first unless you are willing to hire staff right from the start (which, in most cases, is not a recommendable procedure). Ideally, your business partner should be a person whose qualities are complementary to your own, if only because in such cases the division of tasks is usually quite obvious (and a potential source of conflict is removed). There are good reasons to separate responsibility for product quality (i.e., the quality of the translations) from organisational responsibilities (order processing, account management, etc.). These two roles do not go together very well in practice, and the associated skills are not usually combined within one and the same person anyway.

Find suitable office accommodation that includes at least two rooms: one library-style room where you can work in peace, and one nerve centre where the business is done. Make sure you have at least three computer workstations (one spare station is no luxury) and an office printer, a telephone switchboard with at least two external lines and a fax. Get yourself a straightforward high-quality accounting programme with a CRM module and document your working methods in detailed systematic procedures.

Dont forget to lay down and formalise a number of essential agreements on tasks and responsibilities with your business partner, so as to prevent any misunderstandings.

Business Plan
Once you have gathered all the information you need, you should draw up a Business Plan. Examples of such plans are available at your local Chamber of Commerce, or can be downloaded (for a fee) from the Internet. These specimen copies are structured in such a way that they will assist you in each step of your own Business Plan. One of the main advantages of having a reliable Business Plan is that it will present you with a realistic estimate of the money you will need to get your agency off the ground. If your capital requirements exceed your private budget (and it is quite likely that they will), you will have to present a thorough Business Plan to the bank in order to persuade them that your plans will pay off.

High-quality freelance translator network
The main asset of any translation agency is obviously its network of reliable translators. Incidentally, you need not be a networking freak to build up such a freelance network. Many freelancers will present themselves to you spontaneously as soon as they get wind of your existence; alternatively, you can actively recruit them and check out CVs on a variety of collective freelance websites, such as Translators Caf or GoTranslators. The snag is that you will be hard put to appraise a freelancers skills if you do not master the language concerned. CV assessment is important, but by no means sufficient: you will need to be able to judge the quality of a freelancers actual output before entrusting him or her to your clients!

To obviate this problem, check your own network of colleagues or friends for highly-educated native speakers of the language concerned, ask several freelancers to submit (free) trial translations, have them assessed and select the two or three most promising freelancers for each language combination you intend to offer. Carefully document the strengths and weaknesses of each selected freelancer and list the specialisations. Note that you wont get a truly reliable picture of a freelancers capacity and skills until heshe has had the opportunity to do several translation jobs for you.

Once you have a pool of reliable freelance translators for each language combination, you can obviously also ask them to check and assess trial translations submitted by other candidates.

Another point to bear in mind is that the freelancers you decide to work with should comply with all the requirements imposed by your countrys Tax & Customs Administration. Each freelancer should be able to produce a formal statement, issued by the tax authorities, attesting to hisher status as an independent translator.

Reliable network of suppliers
Your freelance translators are obviously your most important suppliers, but the supply network comprises other parties as well that will need to be carefully selected as you will need to use their services on an ongoing basis. These include the bank, the accountant, the printer and the graphic designer.

Marketing
Once the internal set-up of your agency is in place, your first priority should be to recruit clients in a systematic manner. For many start-ups in the translation business, this is the most difficult hurdle. Obviously there is a multitude of strategies that can help you attract clients in the business-to-business segment (which accounts for most of the turnover of any self-sufficient translation agency). One very helpful tool, if used correctly, is Direct Marketing. In principle, two different Direct Marketing strategies are available:

1. Internet marketing
One effective and relatively cheap method of generating business in the short term is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), a term that refers to a variety of techniques to help you strengthen your presence on the Internet, and to help prospective clients find you there. A strong position in Internet search engines will increase the number of times you are invited to submit a quote for a translation job, for the simple reason that you will be more likely to be selected if you are easy to find on the Internet.

Some Internet facility agencies have specialised in Search Engine Optimisation and will be able to improve your search engine rating within a couple of months. Most of these companies charge annual subscription fees. If you want immediate results, ask for an adword campaign.

2. Database marketing
This a rather more expensive client acquisition technique. Call large international corporations and government agencies likely to produce texts for translation on a regular basis, and ask for the name of the person who is responsible for translation services (usually an official at the Directors Office, Communications or the Marketing Department). Gather the information in a database and mail the contact persons four or five times a year. The mailing could comprise your company brochure, a letter of recommendation, flyers, a magazine for business relations or any other item that will help remind the reader of your name and the level of quality that you offer.

An effective database contains at least 1,000 companies or other organisations, and should also contain the names of the contact persons. It goes without saying that you will also have to invest in continually updating your database.