Heidi takes on mentor role in ITI Peer Support Group

As of today, Heidi Kerschl is one of the mentors on the Peer Support Group set up by the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI). I will be teaching the marketing module which is scheduled for May, and will guide the PSG participants through drawing up their marketing plans.

However, since marketing is not an isolated activity, and most effective if taken into consideration at all stages of setting up and running a business, one of my objectives will be to help the mentees develop and finetune their marketing skills. No activity, skill, objective works in isolation, as a freelance translator (or when running a small translation company) you are your own product and brand, you have to bear in mind that many things you do as a matter of course (reading, research on the internet, exchanging ideas and experiences with colleagues) can have a beneficial effect on your work, and as such are (or should be) part of your marketing plan.

In many ways, you can learn a lot about yourself as you draw up and further develop your marketing plan, and it is often a journey of discovery that can (and should) lead to a clearer picture of where you are, and where you would like to get to. I was most impressed by watching last years PSG mentee Rebecca Smith go through this process - she was unrelentlessly honest about her weaknesses, but also discovered a lot more about her strengths, and she ended up developing a realistic, feasible, and strong marketing plan.