Mailing lists - Good or Bad?? Thread poster: Nick Brisland, BA (Hons)
|
|---|
I think I know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway.
I recently came across a website claiming to be able to give me a mailing list of 5000 contacts, whom the website would email on my behalf sending a cover letter and CV. The contacts include: "translation agency owners and managers, HR managers and vendor coordinators, translation managers, insiders who hide themselves behind their agency names, freelancers who offer assignments in other languages, translation PMs from industri... See more I think I know the answer to this, but I'll ask anyway.
I recently came across a website claiming to be able to give me a mailing list of 5000 contacts, whom the website would email on my behalf sending a cover letter and CV. The contacts include: "translation agency owners and managers, HR managers and vendor coordinators, translation managers, insiders who hide themselves behind their agency names, freelancers who offer assignments in other languages, translation PMs from industrial companies"
The website was recommended to me by someone who claimed to have made a lot of money from this site recently. That person could have been genuine, but I don't know. Unsurprisingly, you have to pay to get the mailing list.
As to whether this is a scam or not I don't know, but am I right in thinking that even if it were a legit site, this kind of tactic (as a way of getting clients directly), is frowned upon and considered scamming? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | We discussed this recently | Sep 5, 2013 |
but I can't find the thread.
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 00:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| This one is interesting... | Sep 5, 2013 |
Nick Brisland wrote:
The contacts include: "translation agency owners and managers, HR managers and vendor coordinators, translation managers, insiders who hide themselves behind their agency names, freelancers who offer assignments in other languages, translation PMs from industrial companies"
Well, that makes it googleable.
So, if I understand correctly, here's how it works. You don't have to register to use the service, or pay anything upfront. You simply submit your sales pitch plus your CV by sending it to a special, dedicated e-mail address, and that will automatically forward your mail to everyone on their list.
You pay $3 per positive reply. You pay nothing for negative replies or no replies. And positive replies are tracked with an honour system (i.e. you confess and you pay, if you want to).
The basic principle that this is spamming doesn't change. What changes is that the owner of the list has an interest in keeping his list healthy, because he only gets paid for positive replies. And it is risk-free for the translator, because you don't have to pay unless you get positive replies.
Now, the big question is... who is behind all this? And how do we know that all of this is true?
| | | | Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 23:03
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
|
|
|
Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 00:03
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Nope, that's not it | Sep 5, 2013 |
No, that is about some other list that also works in an entirely different way. What applies to that list wouldn't apply to this list simply because both is a list.
Nick didn't mention the URL but he did mention a googleable line. But perhaps we should mention the URL so that we can talk about one thing and not something else that happens to share a four-letter word with it. The URL is... is... is...
https://sites.google.com/site/jobsforlinguists/
https://sites.google.com/site/translationcontactlist/
Samuel
| | | |
Nick, don't you think you are selling your CV (or rather giving it away for free) instead of buying any contacts? You are googleable, the 5,000 contacts are googleable, why would you need a dubious middleman to send out your CV.
You don't need 5,000 contacts. Define your target clients, Google them and approach them directly.
Nick Brisland wrote:
The website was recommended to me by someone who claimed to have made a lot of money from this site recently. That person could have been genuine, but I don't know. Unsurprisingly, you have to pay to get the mailing list.
So you actually don't know that person, do you? Would you trust a Nigerian spam and believe in millions of $ waiting for you in a godforsaken bank?
Ewa
| | | | | Jobs for linguists | Sep 6, 2013 |
Samuel Murray wrote: No, that is about some other list that also works in an entirely different way. What applies to that list wouldn't apply to this list simply because both is a list. Nick didn't mention the URL but he did mention a googleable line. But perhaps we should mention the URL so that we can talk about one thing and not something else that happens to share a four-letter word with it. The URL is... is... is... https://sites.google.com/site/jobsforlinguists/ https://sites.google.com/site/translationcontactlist/ Samuel
Yep, Jobs for Linguists was the one I was talking about. I wasn't sure what the rules were on putting a link to a third party website, so I thought I'd leave a nice googleable line in there!
| | | |
Evonymus (Ewa Kazmierczak) wrote: Nick, don't you think you are selling your CV (or rather giving it away for free) instead of buying any contacts? You are googleable, the 5,000 contacts are googleable, why would you need a dubious middleman to send out your CV. You don't need 5,000 contacts. Define your target clients, Google them and approach them directly. Nick Brisland wrote:
The website was recommended to me by someone who claimed to have made a lot of money from this site recently. That person could have been genuine, but I don't know. Unsurprisingly, you have to pay to get the mailing list.
So you actually don't know that person, do you? Would you trust a Nigerian spam and believe in millions of $ waiting for you in a godforsaken bank? Ewa
Don't worry - I haven't actually used this list and judging by the responses on here I won't be!
| | |
|
|
|
Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 00:03
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| The Rich help the Poor | Sep 6, 2013 |
Nick Brisland wrote:
The website was recommended to me by someone who claimed to have made a lot of money from this site recently. That person could have been genuine, but I don't know. Unsurprisingly, you have to pay to get the mailing list.
As to whether this is a scam or not I don't know, but am I right in thinking that even if it were a legit site, this kind of tactic (as a way of getting clients directly), is frowned upon and considered scamming?
Hi Nick,
Your sceptism is quite justified. Because in Cyber Space anybody can claim to be anything.
You see, if wanted to (which I would never do), I could offer you or any other colleague of ours a list of any given industry contacts, agencies & Co., and claim that it had turned me into a millionaire.
The point is, if that list was really serving its purpose well enough, then why would I, the alledged millionaire, waste my time sending it out to our colleagues? Unless, of course, it was selling that list which had made me rich.
I agree with Ewa. All you need in order to expand your business connections is right here on the Net. Do some research, contact the clients you would to work with, and then contact them directly. Best of all, this method would cost you only some time instead of several Dollars our Euros. And there is no guaranty that this list will really be useful for you to boost your business.
Best,
Thayenga
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Mailing lists - Good or Bad?? | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
