3D marketing – the importance of physically meeting potential clients

 

[conversation between three businesspeople*]

In the age of digital tools, Covid and high transportation costs, not to mention some wars in certain parts of the world, the norm, at least in business circles, has become to search and meet potential customers online. It is clearly more convenient in terms of time and personal exposure. Despite these advantages, in terms of making a lasting impression, physical contact remains more effective in creating business contacts. Admittedly, it does require some personal effort and time investment, which are the precise reasons for its impact. Not only is this type of contact effective, it is not difficult to find opportunities to meet both potential customers and colleagues both near and far.

The strength of personal physical contact, as compared to online venues, is that people can size each other up and create a strong impression of each other. While Internet interactions require less time and involve less personal risk , they are also far more forgettable. It difficult to obtain and retain an impression of a person on the basis of text or spoken conversation only. Personal meetings add the vital element of body language and face recognition. The name, face, body, personality and professional aspects of a person combine and form a strong image. That person may not need your service today but will likely remember the person with whom they had a conversation at a marketing event. Human beings still prefer to hire professionals that they have a basis to trust, however intuitive that trust may be.

It is true that to create such contacts, it is necessary to commit time and energy to leaving the comfort of one’s office. Business meetings can easily take up half of a day or take from precious evening time at home. Furthermore, unlike online communication, real conversation requires putting energy into a conversation, searching for positive questions and comments and putting effort to create a positive impression. For many freelancers, this task is quite intimidating. However, it is important to remember that social interaction can include not only conversation leadership but also asking questions and suggesting solutions, which are easier roles for quieter folk. Both potential customers and colleagues admire the skill of listening well and asking relevant questions. It makes the speaker feel important, an important part of creating a positive impression. Thus, even the less social skilled can successfully make business contacts in person.

The main focus of marketing activities of all kinds should be meeting potential customers. Most towns of even small size have various business groups of the BNI/Rotary Club type or other more focused forums. By participating in them, entrepreneurs gains contacts with numerous business customers they would not otherwise meet. On a regional basis, many banks and digital organizations, such as Easy in Israel, have periodical gatherings of participating business. It is worthwhile investing several hours in meeting other business owners, who have no problem with direct marketing as they are doing the same. The participant often receives a free meal for the small price of having to listen to some marketing speech. Another ideal venue are group meetings, notably conventions buisness fairs, whose partipants are our target audience, whether providers of a specific services, such as financial or service services, or share a common background, such as immigrants from certain countries and users of a certain service. A time investment in meeting these groups can produce great fruits. The best advice that I did not take when I started as a translator was “go to your customers”. It is still relevant.

Do not neglect your colleagues. While occasionally they are competitors, they are far more often sources of knowledge and jobs. No entrepreneur or even company knows and does everything. Thus, it is quite possible that these entities may need the service you provide at some time or another. Make the effort to make an impression before they require such a service. You will be first in their minds. Ideal venues include professional events such as conferences and lectures. One extremely effective way of making connections is to host a small get-together of similar professions. It is surprising how much knowledge and business can be attained over a cake and coffee. As the song goes, I get by with a little help of a friend. It is important to go out and make one from among your colleagues.

Digital marketing is here to stay.  At the same time, maybe because of the decline in use, personal marketing is not only more effective in creating positive impression but also far more efficient in creating business. It mainly requires investment of time and energy. To quote Oscar Wilde, the only thing worst then being talked about is not being talked about. Go out and try it.

P.S. I am practicing what I preach. I recently attended an event hosted by my bank for its business customers and made at least three meaningful contacts. I am also giving in-person lectures at the KTLC and ATA translation conferences in September and October, respectively.

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On substance, form and proper translation

 

[Two diamond structures*]

The most important issue for purchasers of translation should be product quality. While price impacts budget allocation, the effectiveness of the translation affects the practical use of the text. The challenge, especially when dealing with an unfamiliar language, is assessing that quality. I suggest posting two questions on any translation product, specifically on content and form. The correct answer on both questions provides a strong indication of high quality.

To clarify the meaning of content and form, all documents contain a message consisting of larger ideas and specific details. The translation must accurately reflect those elements both in terms of the concept and the relative importance of the details. If the word choice misleads or confuses the reader, the translation is not effective. However, the form of the document and sentence syntax needs to reflect that message as it is understood by the reader of the target language. For example, the rate of usage of passive or short sentences varies from language to language and creates different impressions. While short, direct sentences is generally considered acceptable communitive language in English, especially in marketing and technical texts, such sentences are considered choppy and lower register in Arabic or French. Thus, in most cases, the syntax of the translation may and even should differ from that of the original text. This difference is acceptable as long as the content and style are in line with each other.

Adding to the challenge of accurate translation is the natural difference in vocabulary among languages. Concepts do not have a 1:1 ratio in terms of translation. In some cases, while one language may have on word, another language has two or more or even none. A prime example is the concept to wear for which English has the single verb while Hebrew has more than seven different words, depending on the item to be worn. In some cases, words may be more or less inclusive. An example in the Hebrew-English combination is the Hebrew word יעיל [ya’il] can be translated into effective or efficient in English. Thus, the translator may have to add words to transmit the same idea or may be able to eliminate them without harming the content.

Of course, depending on the type of translation, the freedom of expression granted to the translator varies. For court transcripts and some medical documents, precision is of the highest priority with even the smallest differences in meaning and form having significance in some cases. By contrast, in many literary translations, the linguist has the privilege and duty of finding a natural way to transmit the writer’s intention. Two examples are changing poetry to prose if it is impossible to recreate both the meaning and rhythm of the original and localizing content, such as the change in the order of the diseases  in 3 Men in a boat to keep the list in alphabetical order. In most cases, the translator not only has the option but often the obligation to adjust the form to the content.

Thus, when receiving the final translation in an unknown and foreign language, it is vital to receive an assessment of its effectiveness. To do so, the first step is to ask one or more native speakers of the target language what the document is trying to say, with emphasis on the main points. If the message is essentially identical to that of the source document, the next step is to ask if the form, i.e., language and structure, interferes with that message because it is somehow incongruous, including due to overly literal translation or faithfulness to the original sentence structure. If the answer is negative, it means that translator professionally transmitted the message. Any dissonance indicates that the translation can be improved and may be ineffective. In this manner, the concept of a “good” translation is specified and qualified.

It is clear that paying for an ineffective translation is a poor choice, regardless of the budget. The customer can and should assess the quality of translated document by asking two questions, one about the message and the other about the form, from potential members of the target audience or native speaker of that language. A clearly positive result should inspire confidence in the document and the translator.

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The freelance dilemma – rising and raising prices

 

[Crossroads*]

It is probable that many countries will experience meaningful inflation in the short-term future.  For example, the US Labor Department announced an increase in prices of 0.9% in October of 2021, this previous month. For freelancers lacking both a CFO to analyze the risk as well as significant market strength, this inflation poses a serious challenge, even danger, as it affects our ability to make a living. As I see it, the self-employed have four options to cope with the return of inflation if it occurs, each with its benefits and risks.

To clarify why inflation is likely to become a significant factor in the short term, in simplistic terms, inflation is too much money seeking too few goods. In the last three years, governments around the world have pumped in unprecedented cash to their economies while their economies were not growing or even shrinking at the same time. Therefore, neither production nor productivity compensated for the inflow of money. Furthermore, given the current high cost of living in many countries and high level of government aid, many workers do not wish or cannot afford to return to their previous jobs, minimum wage and higher, creating a labor shortage in many industries and, consequently, pressure to increase wages. Adding the masses of people that have chosen to leave salaried positions to start their one business, employers will have to pay more to attract employees, a cost that will eventually be passed on to consumers. Thus, prices are likely to increase until a balance is reestablished.

Inaction is always an option. It is emotionally easier both for the self-employed and their customers to ignore inflation. Whether out of ignorance, the lack of belief that anything can be done, as with exchange rates, or the conviction that the market will not bear higher rates, passive freelancers hope that inflation will not be significant enough to affect their standard of living. In the worst case, the relative attractiveness of their rates will lead an increase in volume, compensating for the loss in purchase power. The advantage is that it is possible to continue with “business as usual” and ignore actual conditions. The risk is regular loss of potential income and lower actual revenue

One active response to wait for official inflation figures in order to justify rate increases to customers. In theory, freelancers can inform their customers that their rates are increasing X% to reflect the official figures for the previous six to twelve months. For the freelancer, such an approach helps reinforce the courage required to raise prices and should increase the chance that this request or notice is accepted without protest. On the other hand, this strategy recognizes a write off of indexing differences, the gap between the nominal and adjusted income. Furthermore, as freelance rates are not automatically linked to any income, there is a limit on the frequency that this unilateral increase can be made, generally around once a year. While this reaction-based approach may be simple, it also simply creates lost income due to its delayed effect even in the best circumstances.

Of course, the self-employed can take a proactive approach and inform their customers that as of a certain date, their rates are increasing. For example, a translator can announce that as of January 1,2022, their rates will be .105 EUR per word instead of .10 EUR per word to reflect increased prices and taxes. The advantage of the approach is that it reduces the impact of inflation. The danger is that not all customers will continue to provide work at the same level or at all. As a result, entrepreneurs must invest time and effort in finding customers that will pay their desired rates, a positive result in itself. Admittedly, there is no certainty that the proposed increase will fully compensate for the actual inflation but there is no certainty in business in any matter. While being proactive may create some tension with existing customers and involve increasing marketing efforts, it does provide some protection from inflation.

Another approach, at least for translators and editors, is to switch to project-based pricing. As there are no “units” in this form of proposal, the rate can be adjusted flexibly, taking into account specific circumstances such as the individual customer, the state of the relevant economy and translation markets and the actual supply and demand of the freelancer at the time. As there is no need to justify increases to the customer, they are much easier to attain in real time. Of course, it requires educating customers that you do not have any per-word or per-hour rates but, in my experience, they not only get used to it but find project proposals much simpler. While many customers, including large agencies, may not prefer this approach, end clients find it much easier to understand and budget for. Furthermore, it does allow for immediate adjustment of prices. Project-based pricing requires changing the nature of the customer-freelancer relationship but provides the most effective protection from inflation in my opinion.

If inflation does begin to significantly affect buying power, freelancers should actively consider their strategy to cope with it. Each approach suggested above has its advantages and risks. However, clearly the problem of rising prices and raising rates poses a dilemma to self-employed but the power to act is our hands.

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All employees great and small

I failed to post last week due to circumstances beyond my control. My father fell down, broke his hip and had a stroke.  I flew to the United States to help my parents.  Fortunately, the danger is over.  He is currently at a rehab center starting the long process of getting back on his feet.

During this difficult week, I had the wonderful experience of interacting with great front-line employees in many enterprises. Their dedication was expressed in a variety of ways that all shared one feature, caring. For example, the manager at the Tarzana Inn arranged for me to have my regular room even though I gave him only 24 hours’ notice. The barista at Peet’s Coffee in Tarzana learned my name and favorite drink by the third day (dark chocolate orange mocha, to be specific). The nurse at the rehab center volunteered the Wi-Fi code without being asked. All these acts, among others, were not sales in a formal sense but much better than any sales pitch could ever be because they were from the heart, not a formal sales pitch whose purpose was to make money.

I am aware that the CEO's of many companies work long hours, successfully foresee future developments, understand developing technology and create successful corporate cultures. They are well compensated too.  Yet, in the vast majority of cases, customers neither know their name nor directly feel their presence. People notice and remember if the sales clerk or waitress was pleasant and made every possible effort to help, even if such effort was not part of their jobs. They notice that that they no longer had to explain how weak they wanted their coffee or how wide the shoe had to be. In short, customers appreciate being treated like individuals, not numbers, and reward enterprises that do so.

That lesson is valuable for all freelancers and small enterprises that cannot compete on price with larger companies. Customers will pay more if they are treated as special.  This competitive advantage includes the ability to pick up the phone and reach a person immediately instead of a going through a labyrinth of phone options, have a meaningful discussion of payment terms, receive an immediate solution to an issue and not have to start at the beginning with a new service representative each time. The scale of a freelance or small business becomes a strength and an advantage as compared to its large corporate companies.

Of course, this strength has to be structured, marketed and applied in order to be effective. The failure to invest time in understanding your customers, express this advantage or treat each customer as special will nullify it. This means that successful entrepreneurs must know the essentials of each of their clients, ensure that both existing and potential clients know that they will receive special service and conscientiously provide it.

Since freelancers wear all hats by definition, they only have to persuade themselves that special service is worth the extra effort, a much easier task than creating a corporate culture and hiring the right employees that will do so.  You are all employees, great and small.