Great Zingword Translator Profiles to Use as Inspiration
Not in any particular order.
When we set out to write this article, the first thing we did was look at other blogs and look for ideas. Point being, what humans do is inspire ideas in each other. In Zingword, the best thing you can do is to look for inspiration among your fellow translators!
👉 For an in-depth look at writing strategies and prompts for your Zingword profile, head on over to How to Write About Your Translation Services.
👉 To copy/paste About Me templates, head on over to About Me templates.
👉 To copy/paste Subject Matters templates, head on over to Subject Matters templates.
👉 Check out Octorius the octopus’ profile for even more ideas.
Avoid the paragraph block of death
Lesson: Avoid the “paragraph block of death” and structure your content for quick readability by your customers.
Janus does a lot of things here, but what we like most is how he separates his content into headings, instead of killing the customer with a block of text. You get a quick overview of his background and what he does by reading the headings.
Feature the skills or attributes that make you special
Lesson: Structure your About Me text around the “features” you think are most important to your clients.
What Eleonora does here is really clever: she uses the headings on her profile to highlight the 4 things she thinks clients need to hear, and the heading “If you need more reasons why” is catchy. We’re sold!
Highlight your experience
Lesson: Hit them with experience, insider knowledge, and the “features” of your services right away.
Ana Sofia works in a regulated industry, and she wants you to know that she really really specializes in Medical & Pharma — it’s her only subject matter. This is perfect, because that’s exactly what her clients want to hear. After highlighting her experience, she hits them with the skills that make her services a cut above the rest.
Highlight past projects or clients
Lesson: Highlight clients you have worked for in the past.
What we like about Denver Haskins’ profile is that she includes some of the companies and journals she has translated for in the subject matter highlights. For Marketing & Advertising, even though she can’t mention their names, she still makes it clear what types of companies she has worked for.
Find creative ways to focus on your industry
Lesson: Focus on your industry, use jargon that only they will know, and tell people how many words you have translated.
Everything about Guido Di Carlo’s profile screams video games — because his focus is on video games. Right out the gate, his avatar is a pixelized version of himself with a space invader on the shirt. Then, he tells you how many words he has translated, right before reeling off a bunch of video game genres that only hardcore game translators would know. If Zing were a video game, Guido would be hired.
Use bold text
Lesson: Use bolded keywords related to your specialization to boost clients’ ability to find you.
Cristina Antonac uses bolded words in her profile to help the reader quickly get what she’s all about. You have to keep in mind that, unlike translators, most people do not really read all the words. Bolded words help people to quickly get your thing — in this case, Cristina lives in Istra, focuses on tourism there, and makes your stuff attractive to travelers. Good!
Help clients get to know you
Lesson: Personal branding! Help your profile stand out to prospects you want to attract the most by emphasizing your qualities.
Freek Lauwers does a very smart thing here. He doubles down on his translation and copywriting skill, and his general creativity, a crucial skill for a translator with his kind of specialization. He then uses markdown to create an eye-catching selling point for his prospect clients, emphasizing his qualities as a collaborator.
Target your preferred type of client
Lesson: Focus on your target persona! Write in a way that speaks to the type of clients you’d like to work with and offers them reasons to connect with you.
Noah Martinez knows exactly who he’s talking to: filmmakers and production companies looking for an international audience and recognition. By listing festivals his work was featured at, he also provides proof that he can deliver what they need. Additionally, his tone is friendly and speaks directly to his customers — a great approach for a creative client!
Exemplify solutions you can offer
Lesson: Give an example of a previous hurdle you were able to successfully tackle, and solutions you’ve provided to help the client achieve their goal.
Lulu Xu used the prompts in the About me highlights to show several specific examples of challenges her clients faced during their projects and how she contributed to their solution, showing not only her expertise but also her proactive approach. Great way of communicating value!
