The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2023 - 33

RESOURCE REVIEW By Molly Yurick
Using Asana
to Track Your
Marketing
Efforts with Ease
ne of my biggest struggles as a
freelancer used to be tracking
my marketing efforts on a
messy Excel sheet that had around a
thousand columns and three million
rows. Due to my disorganization, I
would forget to follow up with potential
clients I had contacted, lose track of
which agencies I had registered with,
or fail to record the rates I had set in
their databases (and the list goes on).
Then I found Asana, a free online project
management tool.
Let me start by telling you why I
began using Asana. When the pandemic
hit, my tourism-based translation
business suffered. My clients consisted
mostly of hotel chains, airlines, and
destination wedding planners. So, I used
this unexpected excess of free time to
take a specialized subtitling course, lean
on my ATA Audiovisual Division mentor,
Mara Campbell, and start marketing as
if it were my full-time job. My messy,
homemade Excel tracking sheet wasn't
cutting it anymore. I needed to get
organized, and quick.
I was already using Asana to organize
volunteer projects in my role as
deputy chair of ATA's Public Relations
Committee and figured I could make
it work for organizing my marketing
efforts. I immediately started applying
to agencies specialized in subtitling.
My marketing plan included a rigorous
schedule of sending up to three followup
emails to each potential client I
contacted. I also had a goal of sending
5-10 marketing emails every day.
Marketing became my full-time job and
I tracked it all in Asana.
Marketing in Asana
Here's a step-by-step guide on how you
can use Asana to track and manage your
marketing efforts.
www.ata-chronicle.online
American Translators Association 33
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STEP 2 Set Up Your " Projects "
1
STEP 1 Create a Free Account on Asana
1
FIGURE 1 Creating a project in Asana
Go to the main Asana page and click " Get Started. "
In Asana, " Projects " are how you organize and plan all the tasks related to a
specific initiative, goal, or big piece of work. (See Figure 1.) In this case, your
marketing efforts. You can visualize projects using a " List, " " Board, " or " Calendar " view
and toggle between these views at any time. (I prefer list view.)
I recommend setting up a project for each of your specializations. That way you
can track and focus your marketing more clearly. In my Asana, I have three
ongoing marketing projects: subtitling, tourism translation, and official document
translation. (See Figure 2.)
2
FIGURE 2 Asana lets you visualize projects using a " List, " " Board, "
or " Calendar " view

https://asana.com/ http://asana.com/ http://www.ata-chronicle.online

The ATA Chronicle - March/April 2023

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