Getting motivated

So I'm trying very hard to contact at least 5-6 translation agencies a day. Sometimes this number is less  but my daily goal is at least 5 total.  I have a sort of cover letter (in both French and English) that I have prepared and send out via email. For some reason, however, I find that this task is easier said than done.  This is not a difficult or challenging thing to do, I copy and paste the letter into the body of my email and send my CV in an attachment (usually PDF), it only takes a total of 3 minutes for each contact I make.  A total of 15 minutes a day if I want to get all 5 done.  Amazingly, these 15 minutes are hard to find for me!  I don't know why.  I have a tendancy to put it off until later.  Why?  Maybe because this is the part of the business I like least....maybe because I usually only hear back from one or two agencies and start feeling like it's all usless...or maybe I'm just lazy sometimes. 

Making these contacts is such a necessary and important part of the translation business.  Keep a record of who you did contact and if they responded to you.  You might be surprised by how many responses you do get back and how much work can come from it.  You never know.  That agency that you contacted a year ago might finally have a great project that fits into your specializations and they give it to you!! 

For me getting motivated is one of the hardest things to do, especially when things are slower than usual.  The slower times are the best times to do some contacting since you have a little more time on your hands.  During the slow periods maybe strive for 7 contacts a day.  There is definately enough translation work to go around but no one will know of your services if you don't promote them.