How to Communicate with Prospects All Over the Wor

How to Communicate with Prospects All Over the World Who Speak a Different Language

by: Jeff Mills

I discovered a free service online, that allows me to communicate with people and watched my international sales begin to go through the roof.

Did you know that over 50% of all Internet traffic is from nonEnglish speaking countries? Companies like Adobe, Baxter Healthcare, EDS, GE, Microsoft, NetGear, PepsiCo, Socratic Technologies, US Government, XE.com are relying on this type of service already to get more done, with no language barriers.

As the Internet grows in popularity, more users will want to access websites in their native languages. According to a report by the World Intellectual Property Organization, twothirds of all Internet users by 2004 will be nonEnglish speakers.

Website translation demands total accuracy, specialist cultural knowledge and a high level of organization.

www.freetranslation.com is my best tool for bridging the language gap, making friends and customers around the world, and it also helps increase my international business profits too!

Here is what I do when I get an email from someone in Spanish.

I take the Spanish content, from the email, and I copy it.

Then I go to www.freetranslation.com and in their entry box, I paste the content, and I select which language I want to translate from. For example they offer doing the following languages:

English to French : French to English

English to Italian : Italian to English

English to German : German to English

English to Spanish : Spanish to English

English to Portuguese : Portuguese to English

English to Dutch : Dutch to English

English to Norwegian

Once I select the languages, I press a button and instantly, I receive a new translation in the language of my choice.

Now, one thing you must know, this is not a perfect translation word for word, but it does get the point across so you know what your international customers are asking. You will really get a good idea of what the most important questions are.

Now, you can type your response in English, and then hit the ขtranslateข button and turn it into Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, etc. Take the new content, past it into your email as a reply and then send! You just typed in a foreign language you did not even know how to pronounce it or even spell it!

Freetranslation.com offers other premium services too, that are for really small fees. For example, their Platinum service only costs about $8.00 a year, and with it, you get access to a human translator, can customize the ขfeelข in business language, standard language, or tech speak. Wow!

They also offer a desktop translator, or a chat interface translator which will translate your chat messages right out of Outlook, with a toolbar translator.

Take your business international, and reach 50% more people than you could before by using this great free translation service.

Copyright 2005 Jeff Mills

About The Author

Jeff Mills is a former Youth Pastor of 9 years, who is now a full time internet information entrepreneur, author, speaker, sales coach, and also an avid traveler. Jeff has passionately pursued seeking the best discount travel clubs and has discovered Coastal Vacations Travel Club to be the top of the heap. Discover more about it immediately at http://www.CoastalCallCenter.com.

This article was posted on August 20

by Jeff Mills

El Marketing, Das Marketing, Le Marketing

El Marketing, Das Marketing, Le Marketing

by: A. Raymond Randall, Jr.

While reviewing site stats, I noticed 18 foreign countries as domain origins. This prompts my curiosity. Should I hone my marketing efforts to serve these visitors effectively in their native tongue? My college age daughter studies French, German, and Spanish simultaneously. The Word กmarketingก is an กAmericanก word she informs me; distinguished in Spanish, German, and French with slight nuance. Although my daughter learns conversations in Spanish, German, and French, much more talk is in Chinese.

Despite this fact, Kenji Kitao, a professor of English at Doshisha University in Japan, points out, กEnglish is the major language of news and information…business and government…maritime communication and international air traffic control….ก English headlines and text appear on more than half of the newspapers published in the world. Three thousand magazines publish in English for Indian readers, according to Kitao. If so many read so much English, what reason would a webmaster have for providing multiple language translations for web sites?

Well, web marketing seeks global participation by its nature. Every villager, whether dressed in a Brooks Brothers suite or shorts and sandals may click a favorite URl, and each villager speaks a unique language. Marshall McLuhan, a communication visionary, says กOur new environment compels commitment and participation.ก That new environment includes the Internet.

So, what questions does this idea present? Perhaps just one: should a webmaster consider multiple languages for a website? If no, stop reading here, but first consider the fact that Yahoo provides local (or village) site translations for 24 countries and ethnic groups. Further, Yahoo provides state specific sites for every state in the U.S. Local marketing matters. Just take a look at Yahooกs home page. In fact, a study by IDC informs us that only 45% of online surfers speak English, yet 85% of Web pages appear in English.

Most webmasters work solo, or with a very small staff, and our budgets are smaller yet. We don’t have a Yahoo staff of international writers. So, what do we do if this concept matters? Here are 7 rudimentary steps you may consider.

1. Check with your site design company. Many web designers provide provide foreign language support. Here is an example of one designers commitment, กOur templates support the following languages: English, Danish, Dutch, Faroese, French, German, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. We are planning to translate our site in several languages in the future as well. We have already started doing translation into Spanish.ก

2. Really small budget? See if a language department of a college anywhere in the world would consider using your site as a class project. Inquire about college foreign language interns. Find a student with a passion for language and a commitment to accuracy with a professor looking over their shoulder.

3. Don’t use on line translators. As one writer points out, the Swedes will laugh while the French excoriate you for your aloof effort. On line translators work for a phrase or a word, but not a sentence or paragraph. Nuance is the essence of meaning, and all words have various shades of meaning. You don’t want to be standing under a palm tree when you should be under an oak. However, if you must, the University of Maryland recommends two sites: Systran and Transparent Language

4. Be very aware of graphics that please in one culture and offend in another. If fact, less is best when it comes to graphics; itกs all about content. Local and effective communication matters the most, not fancy graphics. Additionally, most people around the world access the Internet using dial up.

5. If your site offers multiple language pages, be prepared to respond to inquiries in that language.

6. Research and manage all currency exchange and local tax issues when marketing offshore.

7. Be certain that your product or service provides a relevant resource to your prospective foreign customer or client.

English may not remain the leading language of commerce, but even if it does, we have an obligation to consider the importance of global marketing in a local way. In the long term, success may mean el marketing, das marketing, and le marketing, and the results may be grande, Großartig, or grandioso! Just something to think about.

About The Author

Ray Randall serves clients as a registered investment advisor with his firm, Ethos Advisory Services, Essex, Massachusetts http://www.ethosadvisory.com . He has wide experience within the financial services industry, writes a weekly newsletter for Ethos Advisory Services, and coordinates the developments at Echievements . Ray holds a Masters Degree from GordonConwell Theological Seminary, Hamilton, MA. You may email him or call (8778953756).

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 04, 2004

by A. Raymond Randall, Jr.