If you need something more precise, try a forum where you can ask an expert. Translators Cafe is such a resource (www.translatorscafe.com ). As an example, you can click on to see my wife’s profile at Translators Cafe.

If you choose this option, you should be mindful that there is a limit to what Professional Translators will do for free on these forums. You might, judging from quality of responses you obtain, decide to hire one of freelance translators as an editor or proofreader to perform a quality check for you. As a rule, review profiles of potential translators, editors or proofreaders. Ask them questions and compare responses. In some cases, a simple check of their responses will give you some indication as to how good they really are. That is, if their response is careless or contains errors, you really need to cross them off your short list.

For translation, rate is sometimes hourly, but is usually by word. A typical Professional Translator will charge between $0.10-$0.15 US/word on average. The relative difficulty of source language will be a determining factor in per-word rate you will likely be offered. Typical editing rates average between $25 and $35/hour.

Of course, if company budget allows and you have absolutely no time, you are well advised to retain a top-notch translation service provider. Even in doing so, you should not assume that you can then close your eyes, receive translation and be done with it. In fact, with respect to English-Chinese translation for which I was responsible, I did hire an agency with a sterling reputation and they performed with excellence. However, because of my diligence in checking with my in-house experts and my foreign country representatives, I was able to obtain a much, much finer translation product. I managed to do so without upsetting translators or translation manager.

When you do actually begin your translation review/feedback process, be sure that you present your questions in an orderly manner, so as not to annoy person performing or coordinating work. Be mindful of their time. Try to minimize number of times you go back and forth over text.

Are you drawing a blank as to where you should start with respect to evaluating target language text or even evaluating service provider? You can see some of items we check for when editing a translation, at . Ask your potential translation service provider what they look for in providing a quality translation. If they seem clueless or give you a blankstare.com look, pass them by, as you deserve better.

As an executive, even though I did not know target languages of translations for which I was responsible, I was able to spot some potential problems and needed improvements that were addressed during review process. My diligence paid off and my on-site language expert played a critical role in winnowing out finest of details. The bottom line is that you need to assess and utilize all potential resources that you have available to you to ensure a well-done translation product.

With respect to other two vantage points from which I can speak, I will have to leave something to your imagination for now. I will write another article on these two subjects at another time. For next article, I will share significant ‘insider’ insights, gleaned from a professional translator. The title however, will be “Translation Matters - Insider Insights gleaned from a Professional Translator.” Copyright 2005 Thomas Mayhew

If your business name includes cleaning, people who would be interested in you are not thinking about laundry and dishes; they’re looking for good, thorough cleaning.

Your business name may include a benefit. If your vision includes houses or offices that sparkle, you may want to include it in your business name. You will actually get inquiry calls and new clients because of it.

Your business name is really important and must not be changed after you start using it. If you change it and people recognize that you did, they begin to wonder immediately why you had to change your business name, assessing it was for negative reasons.