Any suggestions on how could I get more clients for this service I'm trying to offer?

[DanWhite]

Hello! so basically, I'm trying to make some money by offering localization translation services for indie games (english to spanish) but it is hard to do this, because, I am not an establishes comany, nor have any certificates or whatever to show nor previous experience that I could show proof of to make possible clients interested. The way I've been doing it until now is, browsing through indie games on Steam and trying to contact the devs of any that do not seem to support the language spanish currently.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated on how do you think I could better go about this, etc. That's it, thank you in advance.

[jones177]

At one point in my career as a 3D artist I decided I wanted to do 3D for gaming. 

 

Like you I needed to be recognized so I decided to mod games.

It did not take long before an indie group asked me to join and the revenue from games became part of my income.

 

That was way back in 2000.

It would be a lot easer now with YouTube and a more advanced social media. All I had was gaming forums.

 

I dropped gaming content in 2005 since my 3D design work took off and I no longer had the time for it. 

It was fun. 

[DanWhite]

34 minutes ago, jones177 said:

At one point in my career as a 3D artist I decided I wanted to do 3D for gaming. 

 

Like you I needed to be recognized so I decided to mod games.

It did not take long before an indie group asked me to join and the revenue from games became part of my income.

 

That was way back in 2000.

It would be a lot easer now with YouTube and a more advanced social media. All I had was gaming forums.

 

I dropped gaming content in 2005 since my 3D design work took off and I no longer had the time for it. 

It was fun. 

Ok, thats an interesting story buut, how do you think it could help my case?

[jones177]

1 minute ago, DanWhite said:

Ok, thats an interesting story buut, how do you think it could help my case?

Simple.

You have to self promote.

An already popular gaming clip would be a good place to start since it already has an audience.

Do your stuff and then send the link to any gaming company you think could be interested.  

 

YouTube channels are free so it will only cost you your time.

[DanWhite]

1 hour ago, jones177 said:

Simple.

You have to self promote.

An already popular gaming clip would be a good place to start since it already has an audience.

Do your stuff and then send the link to any gaming company you think could be interested.  

 

YouTube channels are free so it will only cost you your time.

Self promote what? stuff that I haven't done in the past that I'm trying to do now? I don't know what a gaming clip is man. Ah yes 'youtube channels are free' yeah 'cost you your time' its not like it would take years to even get anywhere with a youtube channel. Come on man 'just do this or that' does not help, it even more doesn't help when you don't even explain what you're talking about, and when you say things like 'Yeah just self promote man, it is that easy, just do it'

[jones177]

3 minutes ago, DanWhite said:

Self promote what?

Your product. 

3 minutes ago, DanWhite said:

stuff that I haven't done in the past that I'm trying to do now? I don't know what a gaming clip is man.

If you want to get into the business you will have to learn.

3 minutes ago, DanWhite said:

Ah yes 'youtube channels are free' yeah 'cost you your time' its not like it would take years to even get anywhere with a youtube channel.

You use the channel to show possible clients what you can do. You send the link to them.

3 minutes ago, DanWhite said:

Come on man 'just do this or that' does not help, it even more doesn't help when you don't even explain what you're talking about, and when you say things like 'Yeah just self promote man, it is that easy, just do it'

I am sorry I can not help you.

 

[DanWhite]

29 minutes ago, jones177 said:

Your product. 

If you want to get into the business you will have to learn.

You use the channel to show possible clients what you can do. You send the link to them.

I am sorry I can not help you.

 

If I want to get into the business I will have to learn?? excuse me??

 

'Show your possible clients what you can do'?? like that? did you read my post??

 

'Self promote your product' my product?? what product?? my product doesn't exist until someone hires me wtf. Comment reported for trolling / pointless content.

[LogicalDrm]

4 hours ago, jones177 said:

Simple.

You have to self promote.

An already popular gaming clip would be a good place to start since it already has an audience.

Do your stuff and then send the link to any gaming company you think could be interested.  

 

YouTube channels are free so it will only cost you your time.

You don't have any idea what translations are and how that business operates, do you? I get what you are trying to say, but you can't use your own experience blindly to another, completely different field of work.

 

Your example of making, I guess subtitles, and uploading them on their own would be enough for content ID claim. Its way different to make new content for something that already exists and doesn't exactly compete with the original product (as in one still needs to buy original game to use mods) and offering original product without permission for free or even using ad sense to gain revenue.

 

2 hours ago, DanWhite said:

If I want to get into the business I will have to learn?? excuse me??

 

'Show your possible clients what you can do'?? like that? did you read my post??

 

'Self promote your product' my product?? what product?? my product doesn't exist until someone hires me wtf. Comment reported for trolling / pointless content.

Your problem is indeed lack of work experience and/or certificate/education that would show you know what you are doing. Just being able to speak and write in two languages isn't enough in business where there's university level education for it. Not even for "indie" developers which I think you misunderstand to mean that they don't have much money available. Indie just means they don't have distributor (EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft etc.).

 

@jones177 is correct that you need first to get some experience and testimonials of the quality of your work to be paid for it. So first step is to get that experience. Thats is, if getting license/education or whatever the equivalent in your country is isn't possible for you. And to get experience, you need to work for free. By being free labor, they will acknowledge that your quality doesn't necessarily fill some set standard, but its better than nothing. If they get good feedback from quality, you can ask written testimonial and permission to refer to your work in their game (or another product).

 

Another thing to remember is that you rarely get that dream job immediately. Most of us will have to do things that are close, but not quite what we want to do. So you could do proof reading or translations to other things as gig worker. Get experience, testimonials and stuff you can show your potential customers.

[12345678]

tldr

I don't think that the problem is the lack of a certification or school diploma

 

translation is a job that can be done by literally anyone, being bilingual nowdays is not a skill that valuable 

companies prefer to give the job to other companies who can source slaves cheap labour without having to hire themselves 

 

unless in the state were you're at it's a job that's consider skilled thanks to thousands of useless laws that do kill competition

otherwise networking could also do the job 

[jones177]

1 minute ago, LogicalDrm said:

You don't have any idea what translations are and how that business operates, do you? I get what you are trying to say, but you can't use your own experience blindly to another, completely different field of work.

Yes I do. 

 

You mite of noticed that I am based in South Florida and was in the media industry for decades. Just about everything is in English and Spanish here. 

I have even created web pages that gave the choice to view in English or in Spanish.

If it was about any other language I would not have posted.

 

The people I knew that did it for a living worked through agencies since they did all aspects.  So text, radio, video/TV and real time translations.  

It is big part of the industry here.

 

1 minute ago, LogicalDrm said:

Your example of making, I guess subtitles, and uploading them on their own would be enough for content ID claim. Its way different to make new content for something that already exists and doesn't exactly compete with the original product (as in one still needs to buy original game to use mods) and offering original product without permission for free or even using ad sense to gain revenue.

It would be fair use since subtitles are a form of narration.

A video also could show use in a web page or any other media. 

It also does not have to be public.

 

I was pre YouTube so I created a webpage as my portfolio. 

 

[LogicalDrm]

6 minutes ago, jones177 said:

Yes I do. 

 

You mite of noticed that I am based in South Florida and was in the media industry for decades. Just about everything is in English and Spanish here. 

I have even created web pages that gave the choice to view in English or in Spanish.

If it was about any other language I would not have posted.

You don't have location listed. So no.

 

6 minutes ago, jones177 said:

It would be fair use since subtitles are a form of narration.

A video also could show use in a web page or any other media. 

It also does not have to be public.

It wouldn't though. Fair use means using snippets of original work in combination with new, original work. Or referencing source material. What reaction channels, for example do, rides the lines of fair use.

 

You are correct on having it unlisted. That would work. That said, that didn't come very clearly out of what you wrote. Your posts do indeed ride on the line of not being very helpful, to the point of being rather condescending and rude. I mean, I get what you were trying to say. But talking like you are talking about whole different thing and ending it with "figure it out" isn't very constructive.

[jones177]

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

You don't have location listed. So no.

It is in my bio.  

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

It wouldn't though. Fair use means using snippets of original work in combination with new, original work. Or referencing source material. What reaction channels, for example do, rides the lines of fair use.

There has been court cases that say different. 

Carl Benjamin vs Akilah Hughes is one.

I try to keep up with that sort of thing just in case I am pulled out of retirement. 

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

You are correct on having it unlisted. That would work. That said, that didn't come very clearly out of what you wrote. Your posts do indeed ride on the line of not being very helpful, to the point of being rather

and rude. I mean, I get what you were trying to say.

Were was I rude?

Did I tell anybody they did not know what they are talking about or say someone was not helpful? 

I would never do that.

 

Condescending reminders me of the robot in Star Wars: The Old Republic, HK-47. Have not heard it in a while. 

1 hour ago, LogicalDrm said:

But talking like you are talking about whole different thing and ending it with "figure it out" isn't very constructive.

Where did I say "figure it out"? 

Can't seem to find that one.

 

I think I was talking about a whole different thing as well.

To me it is about getting noticed. That is how it is in a mainly visual industry. 

Even if you are a student you have to have a body of work even to become an Intern.

Unless you know someone.  

[LogicalDrm]

3 hours ago, jones177 said:

Where did I say "figure it out"? 

Can't seem to find that one.

You know what I mean... But I think you are also already doing better with your communication skills.

[jones177]

21 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

You know what I mean... But I think you are also already doing better with your communication skills.

I showed my Son the post since he is a vocational education teacher.

He says my advise is dated and no longer relevant. 

He was very convincing. 

 

I will be sticking with things that I am currant on like GPUs and CPUs and leave the career advice to others.

 

Thanks for replaying.

[DanWhite]

On 9/12/2022 at 2:58 PM, LogicalDrm said:

You don't have any idea what translations are and how that business operates, do you? I get what you are trying to say, but you can't use your own experience blindly to another, completely different field of work.

 

Your example of making, I guess subtitles, and uploading them on their own would be enough for content ID claim. Its way different to make new content for something that already exists and doesn't exactly compete with the original product (as in one still needs to buy original game to use mods) and offering original product without permission for free or even using ad sense to gain revenue.

 

Your problem is indeed lack of work experience and/or certificate/education that would show you know what you are doing. Just being able to speak and write in two languages isn't enough in business where there's university level education for it. Not even for "indie" developers which I think you misunderstand to mean that they don't have much money available. Indie just means they don't have distributor (EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft etc.).

 

@jones177 is correct that you need first to get some experience and testimonials of the quality of your work to be paid for it. So first step is to get that experience. Thats is, if getting license/education or whatever the equivalent in your country is isn't possible for you. And to get experience, you need to work for free. By being free labor, they will acknowledge that your quality doesn't necessarily fill some set standard, but its better than nothing. If they get good feedback from quality, you can ask written testimonial and permission to refer to your work in their game (or another product).

 

Another thing to remember is that you rarely get that dream job immediately. Most of us will have to do things that are close, but not quite what we want to do. So you could do proof reading or translations to other things as gig worker. Get experience, testimonials and stuff you can show your potential customers.

Excuse me for the delayed response. Just want to make a few things clear, I did not think that indie devs have  no money, I reach out to them because they might some times be in the process of getting their games localized, etc, so there I enter, basically. I've taken part in the localization of 3 indie games at the moment, 2 of them for free. ' If they get good feedback from quality' thing is they don't have any way to test it if they don't speak spanish so I don't know what to say about that point, besides that in the case of working with a dev/devs localizing their game I give a bunch of feedback on what I'm doing, why X thing is written this and that way, etc.

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, DanWhite said:

Excuse me for the delayed response. Just want to make a few things clear, I did not think that indie devs have  no money, I reach out to them because they might some times be in the process of getting their games localized, etc, so there I enter, basically. I've taken part in the localization of 3 indie games at the moment, 2 of them for free. ' If they get good feedback from quality' thing is they don't have any way to test it if they don't speak spanish so I don't know what to say about that point, besides that in the case of working with a dev/devs localizing their game I give a bunch of feedback on what I'm doing, why X thing is written this and that way, etc.

If you've already done 3 localization jobs, that's your portfolio right there. Reach out to the 3 devs you previously worked with and ask for permission to use your localization works in your portfolio (might not be legally required, but certainly a polite thing to do).

 

Take screenshots and record video clips of various examples of your localizations (eg: the main menu. Dialogue subtitles. translated buttons, etc). You may need to host these screenshots and videos yourself, on your own website (You have a website, right?) or via unlisted YouTube videos.

[LogicalDrm]

3 hours ago, DanWhite said:

. ' If they get good feedback from quality' thing is they don't have any way to test it if they don't speak spanish so I don't know what to say about that point, besides that in the case of working with a dev/devs localizing their game I give a bunch of feedback on what I'm doing, why X thing is written this and that way, etc.

Feedback would come from players commenting on the quality.

[dalekphalm]

5 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

Feedback would come from players commenting on the quality.

Yep - for example, go find a forum or subreddit where the game is popular, and ask for Spanish speaking players to give feedback. Were the translations accurate? Did they make sense, especially within context? etc.