The end of the year is upon us, a page is turning. It is the best time to reflect on what you’ve achieved, how well you’ve done throughout the year (without showing off, of course). It certainly is a good starting point to plan and make lists of what you’d like to try and accomplish for the coming year. Here is my take on it!
2013
2013 was a milestone on its own for the simple reason that I officially founded and launched In Touch Translations in September. I will not be speaking about the whole year, but these 4 months have been busy enough to allow me to speak about it in details. In 4 months, I’ve been able to:
Work
* Acquire some faithful clients that I love collaborating with (you know who you are!)
* Handle two big projects, which I am very proud of.
* Work on projects that made me feel like I wasn’t even working.
Social media, Blogging & Publications
* Tame the Twitter beast. Believe me, I was not convinced at first – what could I possibly say that could fit in this 140-character box? But then, here I am, tweeting everyday and actually loving it. I’ve already written about how to have a good Twitter presence for a small business and I am convinced that it is the perfect tool for isolated entrepreneurs like us. I do not regret my decision at all!
* Spread to other social media: Facebook, Vizify, About.me, Pinterest,Google+ and Instagram.
* Start this blog and a series about branding.
* Get featured in The Rosetta Foundation’s newsletter in November.
* Take part in the 20 Questions (or So) About How I Work series by Lingua Greca.
* Publish my review of Nicole Y. Adam’s Diversification in the Language Industry in the ITI Bulletin.
Personal projects & Networking:
* Run the International Translation Day 2013 project. An initiative that aimed to rise awareness about the importance of translation in this more and more globalized world. Many translators were kind enough to take the time to talk about their beloved job (and their love really shows through, don’t you think?).
* Launch the BxlTweetUps along with the lovely Sara Colombo. If anyone lives in the Brussels area, or in Belgium (come on, we’re not that big of a country!), and would like to meet fellow translators and have a nice chat and cup of tea, this is your chance!
CPD:
* Attend SEO webinars by the great Alessandra Martelli and an Introduction to Marketing coursera class.
* Start learning Finnish (which I plan on documenting next year).
2014
Work
* Actually sit down and take the time time to identify new prospects.
* Become a member of the ITI.
Social media & Blogging
* Engage more on Facebook. A new schedule has been designed, so stay tuned for more details. It will be a lot of fun, I promise!
* Write more regularly on this blog and find a schedule that works.
* Continue the series about branding and launch a new one which I have been thinking about for a while now. Probably around mid-2014.
CPD
* Get to intermediary level in Finnish and document my progress every month.
* Follow more classes about marketing and branding theory.
* Read more books about translation and keeping up with my topics of specialization.
