#24: "Can't clients just do this themselves with AI??"

In July 2026, I sent two surveys to my mailing list (~5,000 subscribers) with various questions about the state of freelance translation. To see the full results, visit this blog post: https://www.trainingfortranslators.com/2026/10/19/survey-results-the-state-of-freelance-translation-in-2026/ The survey was limited to people who earn the majority of their income as a freelance word person (translator, interpreter, editor, subtitler, etc.), not those who have a full-time job and do this work as a side hustle. For the first survey (general questions about the state of freelancing), 337 people responded, and for the second survey (questions specifically about translation work), 229 people responded. This episode summarizes the results from survey #1, including the data and some comments from me. There were also many (many) individual and "Other" responses that I don't have space to include here but that I've incorporated into my comments. Thank you to everyone who responded! I appreciate your honesty and vulnerability in helping to create this snapshot of where our professions are headed in these turbulent times!

When you pair the words "freelancer" and "vacation," there's good news and there's bad news, right? Yay, no boss to tell you if you can or can't go! Bummer, no paid vacation time! In this episode, I dig into three freelance vacation models, as well as an option if your budget is pretty much zero.  This episode is based on this blog post, and there you can also find the links I mention in the episode. Thanks for listening!

There are two kinds of freelancers: those who've already lost a major client with no warning, and those who will in the future lose a major client with no warning! This episode is based on a blog post from July 21, 2026, and discusses what happens when a client that represents 25%, 50%, or even more of your income dumps you in an e-mail.  Visit https://www.trainingfortranslators.com/ for classes and blog posts! 

Welcome to Training for Translators, the podcast for translators, interpreters, and other multilingual word people, helping you do better work, earn more money, and enjoy your job.  This episode is based on a LinkedIn post, which was based on a question from a student in my online course alumni group. How do we turn down work from clients, and are the clients likely to come back?  It's a dilemma we all face, and it depends on how much you want or need the client's work, whether the client works with other freelancers, and how much you have to work in order to reach your target income.  If you enjoy this podcast, you should subscribe to my mailing list for weekly free tips! You can do that in the sidebar of any blog post. 

In this episode, I detail four ways I've recently found new clients. It's based on this post from the Training for Translators blog. 

In this episode, based on a blog post I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I talk about how the first quarter of 2026 is going for me, and for other freelancers I've talked to!   

Episode 24 of the Training for Translators podcast is based on this post on my blog. Lately, I've heard from a number of students and colleagues who have a hard time marketing right now, because they feel icky/dishonest/deceptive about marketing a service "that clients could get for free from an AI tool." Personally, I don't have this mental roadblock, and in this episode, I break it down!  If you're not on the Training for Translators mailing list, sign up! 

This episode is based on a webinar I taught today, "What now??" aimed mainly at mid-career freelance translators whose businesses are really struggling. I offered six options you might want to consider (from "keep doing what you're doing" to "re-train and change careers completely"), depending on your personal circumstances.   Find out more about Training for Translators, including my upcoming March Marketing Madness challenge group, at https://www.trainingfortranslators.com/

It's time for my annual year in review post!  I've been writing year-end review posts for a while. Here's 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021. I'll say that this year feels different. I had a great year, due to various factors including luck, experience, working hard, and being willing to try new things. And at the same time, I'm aware that a lot of people in the language professions had a truly terrible year. My goal here isn't to rub it in, it's to give some examples of what's working for me, a few fails, and what I'm looking forward to this year.

If you're thinking about shaking things up in your business in 2026 (a good idea in the current economic climate!), tune in for six ideas of how to do that, and three ways to market a portfolio business in which you do more than one thing. This podcast episode is based on this post on the Training for Translators blog. And if you're not on the Training for Translators mailing list, you should be! Join from the sidebar of that blog post.  Happy 2026 and thanks for helping the T4T podcast get to 9,000+ downloads!