There are lots of ways to earn a living in the world today. Sometimes we only seem to think that doctors, lawyers, or rocket scientists are the only ones who can make any money. However, if you're bilingual in Spanish and another language, you can be a Spanish translator and earn a good income.

What it takes to be a Spanish Translator

A lot of people think that anybody that speaks two languages can be a translator. This is not the case. A Spanish translator must be able to understand not only English and Spanish, but also has to know the culture of the people that speak the languages, and be able to write well. Also, in order to be a freelance Spanish translator, you need to have drive and determination to make your new business work.

Becoming a translator will not make you rich over night. In fact, I know very few translators that would classify themselves as rich. However, that doesn't mean that there isn't money in translation. You just have to know how to make some of it yours.

Using Spanish to Make Money

Once you decide that you'd like to be a translator, you have to realize that as with any other business you might start, people need to know about it in order for you to have any business. If you just say to yourself one day, "Great, I'm going to be a translator starting today," and then do nothing else, you won't be anywhere nearer your goal of making money as a Spanish translator.

You have to market yourself.

This is probably the most important step you have to take in order to become a successful translator. Some translators will probably scoff at me for saying this, but there are translators that aren't very good but get a lot of business because they are good marketers. On the other hand, there are very good translators that don't get any business because they are very bad marketers.

Marketing Your Translation Business

There are a lot of ways to market your newly formed translation business, and I'm not going to outline them all here right now. However, as I've talked to translators over the years, I've come to the conclusion that the hardest period for translators is right at the beginning of their careers. It's when they're just starting out that they have the most trouble finding work.

The way to beat that is simple: Tell everyone you know and meet that you are a Spanish translator and that you are open for business. Give everybody a couple of business cards and tell them to pass one on to someone else. This might seem intimidating at first, but you should be proud that you are bilingual and able to translate. There are a lot of people in the world that wish they had what you have.

By telling everyone you know that you are looking for translation work, they can keep their eyes and ears open for you. And once you get clients, it's a lot easier to have them keep coming back to you for all their needs than to go out and find another client.

There are a lot of Spanish translators in the world today, but if you take yourself seriously and start marketing yourself as outlined above, you'll be able to make a niche for yourself in the translation industry and make money as a Spanish translator.

Clint Tustison loves languages and has been translating for the past 10 years. Lately he's begun imparting his knowledge of the translation industry to help all those interested in becoming translators. These tips and suggestions can be found at http://www.spanish-translation-help.com.