by Cindy on November 4, 2008
Cross-Cultural Glimpses Of Society
Another interesting coincidence happened recently.
- I wrote about how political correctness puts up barriers to effective cross-cultural communication.
- A reader was offended by my use of the word “foreign”… and she also derailed into a series of insults.
Politically Incorrect?
To this reader, it is politically incorrect to refer to people or groups of people, and anything that can be linked to them, as “foreign”. She finds the word “foreign” insulting.
Apparently “international” is the polite term.
Reasons Behind Offense
Now I have not heard this one before.
So I do not know whether:
- There is an English speaking community anywhere that systematically takes offense to the word “foreign”.
- There is a group of non-native English speakers anywhere that finds the English word “foreign” offensive.
- This was just an abused person venting her own frustrations.
After a little investigation it is apparent that this person is not English mother-tongue.
When Foreigners Take Offense
This raises an interesting issue. [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 3, 2008
International Web Marketing
Yesterday an American reader on Facebook asked me a series of questions about article marketing to develop Canadian and British markets.
Visibility Is Not Marketing
Sure, slapping a series of articles up on the web with the right keywords and keyword density might get you some online visibility. But there are two things you need to think about.
A Numbers Game
In many cases you will need more than a dozen articles.
In fact, you might even need a couple hundred articles on the same subject. Article marketing for online visibility is a numbers game.
If you have the highest number of articles online on a specific subject, you will get good search engine results for your keywords.
Marketing Strategy
The internet does provide an opportunity for international visibility. But it still astounds me how people try to have an international business without… well… any business activities.
The promises of the “get rich quick” style of online marketing are part of the reason why many “online businesses” do not realize you need more to develop an international clientele. You need marketing.
One Marketing Does Not Fit All
There are two assumptions I see experienced marketers make: [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 2, 2008
Uniquely Cindy - Week In Review
What have you been up to this week?
Yes, it’s been a week since our last review. This means even more thoughts, ideas, requests and articles here and on the Get International Clients business directory.
Here On Cindy King.biz
Home for my personal opinions, experiences and frustrations… on anything cross-cultural and on international business.
Here are this weeks links: [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 2, 2008
Uniquely Cindy - Sunday Book Reviews
All of the book and product reviews here are totally unsolicited… spontaneous …and without affiliate links. These are books I have on my bookshelf and share with close friends.
Opportunities for quiet reading seem to have vanished the last couple of months. But yesterday I took a couple of hours and read a book on SEO Copywriting.
Jon states that his book is:
- The complete SEO Copywriting Guide for Search Engine Rankings and Sales Conversion
What You Get Out Of This Book
At first, it was hard to situate this book. I already have some SEO copywriting skills. What else could this book offer?
As I flipped through it, a few of the chapter titles are similar to what you would expect for Search Engine Optimization:
- Keyword Research
- Optimizing Your Site Content
But most of the book is about writing content for good Search Engine Optimization. It is a copywriting book.
Jon caught my attention right from the beginning, my back straightened up. This book offers more than copywriting. [click to continue…]
by Cindy on November 1, 2008
International Marketing Review -
On Translations
Click here for a list of previous International Marketing Reviews
Here is a list of links to other interesting articles elsewhere on the web
Welcome to the 1 November 2008 edition of the International Marketing Review.
This week I seem to have targeted translations. These posts were not submitted, but posts that I have found interesting. If you have a post that you would like included in a future review, email me the link and I will try to include it.
Sarab presents How to determine the quality of a translation posted at Tursted Translations saying “Frequently, we are faced with the task of determining whether or not the translation we revise is good or bad. As professionals, our opinions should be well-grounded and not a result of our mood at that time or the friendship we have with the translator who delivered the product.”
A.M. Sall presents Machine Translation - A New Convert 
posted at Translator Power saying “Machine Translation, in particular in the form of free online translations, has been one of the favorite translators’ jokes for quite some time. But things are changing now, and after many years of ignorance, then scepticism of MT, I must confess I am now slowly but surely edging towards becoming an MT zealot.”
Igor Shevkoplyas presents Freelance vs In-house Translator posted at Russian Translation Blog.
Christof presents how translation theory informs the translation process posted at Lingo24 saying “Personally I like to describe translators as decision makers. There are plenty of decisions - which is the right terminological choice, the best sentence structure, or even if something can get lost in translation or not.”
Kelly McGuire presents Working as a Volunteer Translator posted at Kelly Translates saying “Translating documents or web pages on a pro bono basis is something that some professional translators enjoy doing and something that other translators feel can be detrimental to the profession. Charities, educational organizations and NGOs often recruit volunteer translators to help them reach a wider audience.” [click to continue…]
by Cindy on October 31, 2008
International Web Marketing
The need for marketing segmentation is all around us. Here are several examples of segmentation in marketing:
Web Marketing
To get the full value out of your web marketing you need to test and track your results.
A/B testing is simple enough to put in place. In fact, pay attention and you will notice that all of the most successful web marketers test their marketing results. This is how they learn how to sell to their markets online.
A testing strategy helps you learn more about your markets. It also shows you how to sell to your markets.
Just starting an international marketing campaign? Imagine starting your week with this question:
- What am I going to test this week?
And if you have more than one product to promote online, you can easily begin every day with:
- What am I going to test today?
The secret is learning more and adjusting your web marketing step-by-step. This is how small companies take the online advantage over big companies. [click to continue…]
by Cindy on October 30, 2008
Culturally Customized Content
A young French copywriter recently asked me if an international client should take the sales letter he wrote for them in French and translate it into English and a series of other languages. And this is for a direct mail piece, which means a fairly large investment for the mailer.
Translation or copywriting?
Now this is something an experienced copywriter and marketer would immediately understand.
A Unique Audience
A copywriter always writes a sales letter for one specific audience. And in addition to the demographic specifics of each audience, the copywriter also writes for a specific market maturity and environment.
This is what increases the results of your sales letter.
Now…
Different Culture = Different Sale
If you change the language you change the culture. This means you change the audience.
In fact, you are probably also addressing a different market. This market has a different environment. There will be cultural differences. And possibly other differences in market environment.
This different audience might even be at a different stage of market maturity for the product you are selling. [click to continue…]
by Cindy on October 29, 2008
Culturally Customized Content
Copywriting is any type of writing that offers products or services for sale.
Writing For A Call To Action
Copywriting skills are needed whenever you have a call to action, even if this is not a sale. Calls to action can be:
- Press this button… for any reason
- Sign up here… for anything
- Give me your support
- Call me
- Read more
- Come see me
- Ask for a free trial, report or anything else
- Buy my product
As you can see, a call to action can take many different forms. Most of these calls to action are part of a lead generation or sales strategy.
Writing For Sales
Beginners are often confused about what is involved in copywriting. This is because there are different types of writing for sales: [click to continue…]
by Cindy on October 28, 2008
International Business Development
It surprises new international businesses just how much their success depends on mindset. And on the mindset of the people in their company and the mindset portrayed by the company as a whole.
French Hurdle To An International Business Mindset
What I encounter here in France is the opposite. Almost every time I venture down the street I meet a business owner who’s own mindset is stopping his own company from even venturing abroad. Now there might be a slight exaggeration there. But not much. Honestly. This is a very common occurrence.
There is a French cultural aversion to saying it is good to make money.
This cultural aversion has some funny quirks. You see, when there is a cultural difficulty to speak openly about something, sit back and watch.
Two things usually happen:
- People will not be able to find the solutions easily. Simply because they cannot ask the best questions to find the best solutions.
- Or they find different solutions. And this is where you usually realize just how differently your thought processes are.
Here in France, I have met many a business owner who was almost physically unable to say that he wanted to make money.
Instead the business owner usually diverts conversation back to how it is good to provide jobs for others. And if I dare prod and ask how much money he would like to make, no matter how gently, there is usually an immediate anti-American or anti-capitalist response. Veiled or unveiled. [click to continue…]
by Cindy on October 27, 2008
International Sales
A reader recently asked what the difference is between an International Business Development Executive and an International Sales Executive.
The answer can seem simple to many readers. For many companies they are one and the same. Some companies feel that the job title International Business Development Executive is more palatable than a job title with “Sales” in it.
The Job Scope
Some people can argue that an International Business Development Executive spends his time to:
- Create strategic alliances on a broad level
- Initiate strategic relationships with third parties
- Look for new business opportunities
While the International Sales Executive:
- Looks for more immediate sales opportunities
- Follows up sales leads
And in large companies there are usually two distinct job functions. Small companies, however, usually have one person to cover the global sales function.
You see, both job functions are sales functions. They are revenue generating job functions. [click to continue…]
