Before I started freelancing, I never truly appreciated that I was going to become a businesswoman in my own right.

It’s a strange affliction of our industry to be convinced that we serve businesses without actually running them ourselves – an obvious untruth. This is why I’m such a strong advocate of reading non-translation blogs. It’s all very well and good to follow fellow freelancers in the industry, and, indeed, their blogs can be a treasure trove of information on how to run your business, but you need to be able to temper this with reading pure business blogs to gain a general insight into how successful businesses operate.
 

Despite being freelance linguists, we also belong to a far larger community with a far louder voice:

The global business community. Actively seeking to be part of this wider entrepreneurial community can help us to realise that many ‘translator problems’ are in fact problems for others too, thus serving as a source of moral support and even potential clients. In addition, by networking with our peers in other industries we can achieve a greater understanding of, and hopefully even resolve, some of these key issues – so why not take our rightful place among other entrepreneurs, reinforce our identification as business people, and acknowledge that we have just as much to learn and contribute as our supposedly ‘more professional’ colleagues?
 

Here are some of my favourite business/marketing blogs and magazines from non-linguists:

Business, finance and entrepreneurship

Forbes
Financial Times
The Business Show
Inc Magazine
Entrepreneur
Prospect Magazine
The Economist
Redhead Writing
Work Awesome
EnMast

Advice for startups

Startups.co.uk
Funders and Founders
My Donut
GOV.uk (formerly ‘Business Link’)
The Freelance Lifestyle Coach

Freelancing

Tuts+ (formerly ‘Freelance Switch’)
Freelancer Blog
Freelance Advisor
Freelance Folder
Freelancing Matters
The Freelancery
The Freelancer, by Contently
National Freelancers’ Day
Microlancer
Guerrilla Freelancing
UK Jelly
National Freelancers’ Day
Freelancers’ Union

Marketing and copywriting

Duct Tape Marketing
Jim’s Marketing Blog
Smart Insights
Copyblogger
The Copywriter’s Crucible
Copywrite Matters

This list is far from exhaustive, but contains some of my favourite blogs, magazines and resources from non-linguists. Not all of these will work for everyone; some will prefer super-formal Forbes, while others will prefer fun Microlancer, but everyone should commit to following more than just a couple.

You’ll notice that these are also all in English, but there are many, many more excellent resources out there in other languages! In particular, I’d urge you to check out the various embassies, consulates and chambers of commerce for your respective countries. Most of these can be followed on social media, so just choose the ones that suit you best and let the content come to you! Alternatively, you’ll find some great ideas on how to keep track of your favourite sites here.

 

That’s all for now, but if you think I’m missing a trick, please do leave a link to your favourite non-linguist business resources in the comments – I’ll update the above list with the good ones!

 

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