Welcome back, translator in the trenches,

Last Thursday, during my live webclass, someone asked a series of sharp questions that cut right to the heart of what it means to be a translator in 2025.

The first one:
Is that 800–1,000 words per hour you advocate just a draft — or the final product?

My answer: Final product. Delivered. Done. No machine post-editing. No shortcuts.

I’m talking gold-standard work — achieved because the workflow has changed.

I’ve eliminated the traditional middle revision step. Why? Because the only typos left are mine. AI doesn’t make them. So I front-load the effort, and let QA tools catch anything that slips.

Then came the second big question:
How does that level of output change your pricing?

Here’s the truth: dropping your rates across the board is just giving money away. I’ve made that mistake.

What I do now is offer situational flexibility:

That way, you’re not cannibalizing your value, and you’re still meeting the market.

But the hardest question was this:
How do you deal with clients whose decision-makers are way above your contact — the ones who just default to DeepL for everything?

My answer: You don’t try to beat free. You look for what matters.
Ask for the documents they can’t afford to mess up. Offer to do a page or two for free — prove your work beats DeepL when it counts.
If they can’t assess quality? You’ll need a sympathetic ear. But that’s your wedge. That’s how you win trust. That’s how you get in.

Here’s the bottom line:
You can produce better work, faster. You can price it for profit. You can win in a market that looks wildly different than it did even a year ago.

But only if you’re willing to adapt — and think strategically.

These are the kinds of practical, hard-nosed discussions we’re having every Thursday in the webclass.

If you haven’t attended one yet, consider this your invitation.

Register for this Thursday’s session → https://cotranslatorai.com/webclass.

It’s live. It’s interactive. It’s not fluff.

Just real answers for working translators trying to stay sharp, stay competitive, and stay profitable in a changing market.

Hope to see you there,
–Steven

P.S. The webclass isn’t just a deep dive into strategy and workflow. It’s also the only way to enroll in AI Mastery for Translators… and Beyond — the most advanced, practical training available for translators looking to thrive in this new era.

If you want in, it starts by showing up.
https://cotranslatorai.com/webclass.