Article 10 ways to collaborate with other translators in 2024

As freelancers, we’re generally one-person shows. We’re our own sales, marketing, finance, customer service and everything-else department. And sometimes that can start to feel a little lonely, or like there’s too much weight on your shoulders to carry by yourself.

The good news is, there really is no need to isolate yourself or handle absolutely everything on your lonesome. There are so many ways you can collaborate with other freelancers that could give your business a huge boost, whilst also making you feel like you’re part of a team.

Collaboration over competition

We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: other freelancers aren’t your competition, and seeing them that way will only impact you negatively.

Any form of collaboration, even just recommending or referring fellow freelancers, will help expand your support network of people who really get what you’re going through and will understand the ups and downs of freelance life.

So, now we’re all agreed on that, let’s have a look at some of the ways you might collaborate with other translators, in 2024 and in years to come.

1. Join a translators’ association

Let’s start off with perhaps the most obvious ways to join forces and forge links with fellow linguists: joining one of the many translators’ associations created for this very purpose.

Many of you will already be members of an association, but if you aren’t, we can’t recommend it enough.

On top of all the other reasons to join, the events these associations put on are great ways to connect with other translators, and you never know what collaborations might come out of them.

There are associations of all shapes and sizes, local, national and international, and those focused on particular branches of translation like literary or audiovisual.

Joining them can get expensive, though, and you probably only have a limited amount of time to get through the CPD they offer, so don’t get too association-happy! Think carefully about which ones are the right choice for you.

2. Get involved with said association

Being a member can do a lot for you, but if you’re up for a bigger commitment, why not step it up a level and volunteer with the association you’re part of?

This is a fantastic way to work alongside your fellow freelancers, do positive things for the translation community and boost your reputation in the industry.

3. Work on a passion project together

Perhaps you’ve been flirting with the idea of a side hustle or developing a passive income stream for a while now, but you’re finding it hard to get off the starting blocks, or it just all seems too much like hard work.

The solution might be to make it a collaboration.

Is there someone else in your network who has a similar or complementary set of skills to you? Do you have similar ways of working?

Remember, just because you like someone, doesn’t mean they’re going to be a good person to team up with, as we all have different approaches and priorities.

But even if you’re not sure if it’ll all go smoothly or not, you’ve got nothing to lose by giving it a go. Take the leap and ask them if they’d be interested.

After all, with another person (or multiple people) on board, you get more than just more brain power and ideas. You’ll also be boosting the potential audience for your course, ebook, podcast, video series, webinar or whatever it is you’re cooking up.

4. Start a translation collective

In recent years, translation collectives have become increasingly popular, and for good reason.

Translation collectives are when a small group of translators come together to offer their services to clients collectively (the clue is in the name) under a joint brand.

They might all offer the same services, and have the same language pair, meaning they can divide up large-scale jobs between them, translating and proofreading large volumes far more quickly than an independent translator could.

Or they might offer complementary services. For example, all translating from English but one offering French, one German and one Dutch. Clients could then approach them for one, two or all three of said languages.

Translation collectives can be really appealing to clients, as they maintain direct contact with the people doing the actual translation, unlike with a big agency, but they don’t have to manage relationships with multiple freelancers.

Translation collectives are also usually fairly straightforward to set up, as each translator remains an independent legal entity and continues to work with their own clients outside of the collective.

On the other hand, for a collective to succeed it needs to be marketed effectively, which calls for lots of time and energy, so you all have to be really committed to it if you want it to take off.

5. Contact specific clients as a team

There’s also another option which is kind of one step down from a translation collective and involves less commitment but can be a great way of teaming up.

If there’s a specific client you think could benefit from both your services, perhaps if you offer translation into two different languages from their native language, you could consider sending them a joint proposal email. If you live in a similar area, local clients could be excellent candidates for this.

This could help reel in some great direct clients, and who knows? If it goes well, a translation collective could be the next step.

6. Work with a proofreader

A classic way of collaborating when working with a direct client is adding the services of a proofreader into your quote.

This can be super appealing to clients, who’ll have extra reassurance their translated content will be flawless and ready for action. It’ll also help you feel more confident about delivering your work if you struggle with imposter syndrome.

7. Split big jobs with another translator

Been approached by a client about a big translation with a tight deadline?

Rather than turning it down, you could outsource a part of the job to a trusted colleague, splitting it between you so you can meet the deadline.

8. Translation exchange

There are more ways to collaborate that can be super beneficial to both you and your fellow translators, and don’t involve client work.

One is to do a translation exchange of some kind. For example, you could agree to translate each other’s website (with a similar word count), or X number of words of LinkedIn posts.

Keep your business expenses down and strengthen ties with a fellow translator whilst you’re at it.

9. Language exchange

You might not think this qualifies as a collaboration, but it’s a fantastic way to support and be supported by a fellow translator who’s a native speaker of your source language.

Get together once a week, fortnight or even month to have a chat, half in one language and half in the other, and hopefully build a lovely friendship whilst you polish those rusty spoken language skills.

10. Revision clubs

And last but not least, is another concept that’s become super popular in recent years.

Revision clubs are when a handful of translators with the same target language (and often similar specialisms) get together regularly, translating a selected text and then reviewing each other’s efforts, offering feedback and constructive criticism. They’re a great opportunity to reflect on the craft of translation, in a way we often don’t have time for when doing client work.

Getting together regularly will also add structure to your freelance diary, which can be a nice anchor when workflow can be so unpredictable.

The idea of outsourcing translations or proofreading can feel a bit daunting, we know!

That’s why LSP.expert is designed to make managing projects as easy as anything. So you can collaborate with other freelancers in the way that suits you best with zero faff and no headaches.