Google-eyed translator search – Shocked and uh-ed translation buyers

 

Freelancer marketing has never been a simple task just as finding any proper professional for the first time has always been a bit of a gamble. As an exercise, I “posed” as a translation buyer in my area of specialty – Hebrew-to-English official documents, a marriage certificate in this case – and searched for a service provider using both ChatGPT and Google. While the former provided a reasonable response, the options raised by Google illustrated the irrelevance of the search for translation purchasers and the need to focus marketing for translation providers.

In terms of methodology, I used free ChatGPT and posted the following prompt: “I am looking for a certified Hebrew-English translator to translate a marriage certificate for immigration purposes.” I then added, “I am looking for three freelancers”. Aside from some fairly accurate but somewhat vague background information, which is understandable since my prompt did not include all the relevant information, the AI engine initially provided three agencies and then, following the second prompt, three freelancers. The referred translation agencies and independent translators were all experienced professionals. Thus, GPT did provide an adequate starting point for a search for a translation professional.

By contrast, Google’s output to the same initial question was highly biased. The first page was almost entirely AI-based translation companies. I understand that people pay for top billing but I am not familiar with any government agency that will accept a certified translation of an official document produced by AI. The first human agencies were a few large, low-cost agencies. I am aware that some customers have a limited budget but it seems penny- wise and pound-foolish to skimp on the translation of a document that may make or break an important opportunity. Among the early entries (page 2) was a site for freelancers. It was shocking to see their average prices. Almost all of the more than 20 freelancers on the first two pages posted a rate of 5 USD a page, without defining what a page is. At that price, I would not trust the result as the rate is too good to be true. Thus, faced with a choice of AI, budget agencies and prostituting freelancers, the search was a non-starter.

It would seem that first-time translation buyers seeking a professional translator should take a much more directed approach. The best option may be national association search engines (such as the ATA in the US and ITA in Israel), which allow a full comparison of credentials and demonstrate some measure of professional approach. Service provider recommendation lists may also be relevant, albeit with a grain or two of salt. Of course, traditional personal recommendations are always relevant. Notices in relevant Facebook groups will provide several options. Finally, ChatGPT with more specifics is an ever more relevant path. Clearly, finding an appropriate translation will require some thinking and effort.

This situation should determine how translators market themselves. As AI seeks specifics that make one option more relevant than the others, translators need to include relevant details in as many locations as possible. These factors include languages, qualifications, experience, types of documents and skills. A website is an important but not the sole place to post such information. Furthermore, appearing on reputable translator lists, e.g., national associations and government bodies, enhances the probability that a search will produce one’s name. Of course, additional activities, including lectures, blogs and volunteer work, further enhance one’s presence. Ultimately, word-of-mouth, whether through customers or peers, is the best source of reference, requiring translators to produce quality results regardless of the rate. It is not enough for translators to prove and improve themselves. They need to market those attributes in multiple ways.

God helps those who help themselves. I am not sure that Google is a god even if it does seem to be omniscient and omnipresent. AI is far too naive to be a god but people increasingly treat it as one. Translation providers need to help purchasers find an appropriate option. Keeping on the astral plane, the devil is in the details. Purchasers need to make intelligent decisions while freelancers must provide the information they need to make those decisions. The result can be awe-inspiring, far superior to the uhs produced by simple Google searches and even ChatGPT.

Crossing the ty's – The ESN speed-marketing event

 

Last week, I attended a speed marketing event in Jerusalem organized by Helena Baker as part of her English Speaking Networking activities. It was the first time I had experienced such a format and found it quite promising. The full day involved a series of 4-minute discussions with rotating partners as well as two roundtable discussions with relevant business people, each of 40 minutes. The main marketing activity consisted of short introductions and question asking in order to learn more about the other person. Of course, there was more than enough time before the sessions, during lunch and after the formal program to have more in-depth discussions. It was an intense day but three elements stand out as I look back: the marketing opportunity, the wide diversity and the importance of brevity.

The event was an ideal way to physically meet potential customers, direct and referrals, from all occupations and locations. The best marketing involves a personal element, selling oneself if you will. The challenge is to overcome the difficulty of finding relevant and interested businesses, the issue of geographical distance and the significant amount of time involved in developing those contacts, which may or may turn out to be relevant. In this speed marketing format, business people from all over the country choose to gather for a few hours, listen and learn. An entrepreneur can make a strong impression on many relevant customers in a short period of time. For freelancers, the opportunity to attain direct customers and, even more significantly, future referrals is priceless while the financial cost is quite minor. Speed marketing is a viable and valuable marketing tool.

One of the most striking impressions of the attendees, over 150 of them, was the sheer diversity. Women represented a slight majority, which reflects the actual distribution in many of the freelance niches, notably translation and interpretation. The people were of all ages, from students in their twenties to people past standard retirement ages. The occupations covered a wide spectrum of services from standard ones such as accounting, law, real estate and finance to more personal ones such as business coaches of all kinds and media experts as well as some unique ones. I was the only translator there, which is good. As this was in Jerusalem, many religious businesspeople also attended, also reflecting Israeli reality. The common goal, to market oneself, unified a very diverse audience.

In terms of actual marketing, every attendee introduced himself/herself multiple times, which, in effect, helped the participants understand and fine-tune their marketing, not sales, message. During a short lecture and workshop on presenting oneself, the importance of short and clear messages, including what makes a person or business special, was highlighted. As the day progressed, each participant began dropping the generalized description of the occupation and went directly to the distinguishing element and how that has helped their customers in the past. For example, one financial advisor briefly explained how his company had helped a client arrange the current and future financial needs of his children while an interior director explained how she had renovated a house to allow full access to a recently handicapped person. This method has the double advantage of clearly expressing the competitive advantage of that individual while avoiding “sales talk shutoff” since the person is telling an interesting story, not trying to persuade you to buy something. It was amazing how deep and effective a one-minute message could be.

Thus, speed marketing is an effective method, helping both the speaker and listener. Its financial payback derives not only from direct sales but from referrals from the attendees. Participants listen, learn and gain an impression of a large number of potential contacts within a short period of time. In many cases, the freelancers would have find these contacts using standard marketing methods, especially if they live far away. It is a great opportunity to meet a great diversity of potential contacts and learn the power of brevity. In short, the ESN event crossed all the T’s, notably opportunity, diversity and brevity, even while dotting all the I’s.

Intuition in freelancing – Practical examples of listening to the inner voice

 

A vital but unquantifiable part of business success, whether small or large, is the use of intuition. It tells us to fight or flee, engage or avoid or seize or ignore. To be clear, intuition may sometimes feel similar to fear or enthusiasm. However, it transcends those temporary reactions and guides business people in deciding whether to work with a certain customer, take on a given project or invest time and money in a specific marketing initiative. While listening to intuition may not guarantee success, ignoring it can lead to disaster.

To define the term, intuition is the feeling that an individual experiences upon exposure to a new person, idea or proposal even before knowing any or all of the facts. The opportunity seems clearly “right” or “not right” without a person being able to put a finger on the reasons. Further analysis can confirm or cancel the feeling or merely confuse the issue but the initial intuition, like a first impression of a person, is generally correct. One of the difficulties in trusting intuition is its similarity to more fleeting sensations, notably fear and enthusiasm. In other words, people may be in an emotional state in which they want an idea to work even if all the indications are contrary or, by contrast, they refuse to believe in the success despite all the positive signs. Intuition is a deeper feeling and remains constant. In fact, one of the tests of intuition is to delay the decision for a short time and test whether the previous willingness or reluctance remains. It is amazing how often, in hindsight, we knew what to do from the start.

One of the major business decisions where intuition is vital is the choice to take on a given new customer. Even with due diligence, many entrepreneurs generally lack all the facts to objectively assess the benefits/risks of working with a given person or company. While the benefits of a new customer are evident, i.e., short-term and long-term revenue, the hidden risks can sometimes outweigh them. For example, some customers could be reluctant payers while others work in such an inefficient manner that it greatly increases the work required. As they say about friends, with customers like these, who needs rivals? In practice, the tone and content of the emails and spoken conversation often provide a window into the inner workings of the potential customer. Granted, if they are working in a foreign language or come from a different culture, an unpleasant tone or approach may merely indicate lack of fluency or cultural variance. However, in most cases, if a red light goes off in the brain when negotiating with a new customer, the freelancer needs to think twice. In many cases, avoiding the person or company is a good idea regardless of the lack of objective proof to the contrary.

Freelancers work by projects but must apply intuition in choosing which project to take on. There is a concept in economics called “opportunity cost”. It means that one price of taking project A is the inability to take on project B. Moreover, customers never forget an improperly executed job even if they sometimes forgive it. The significance is that a freelancer or company should not take on a project that “feels” beyond its ability or below its interest. In the first case, the result cannot be ideal because it involves learning at the customer’s expense, never a great idea. Similarly, the lack of interest in a project generally negatively affects the level of execution. Poor work is one of the primary reasons businesses lose customers. Curiously, freelancers generally “know” whether or not to take on a given project. However, illusions of grandeur or desperation lead people to roll the dice. Just as the vast majority of gamblers lose in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, “wrong” projects too often go awry. By contrast, calculated risks taken with open eyes are often the keys to opening up doors of opportunity. Wisdom is hearing and following intuition.

Finally, intuition also plays a role in marketing decisions. Freelancers sometimes receive invitations to join various sites, conferences and events both in their industry and outside it. These opportunities require an investment of time and/or money. It is hard, if not impossible, to know which of these will pan out. A postponed decision too often becomes an unmade decision as other urgent matters arrive on the desk. Thus, it is worthwhile investing two minutes to investigate the opportunity in order to ascertain whether it has potential or not. Intuition is a key element in the decision as it is difficult to access all of the factors. Of course, mental fatigue and work pressure tend to make it easier to pass on them. However, this laziness may result in a lost opportunity. If a marketing lead feels relevant, it is often worthwhile to sign up immediately or, at least, put on an active “to do” list for further investigation. As Fleetwood Mac sang, nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.

Clearly, intuition is neither infallible nor clear. People find it difficult to distinguish it from their internal want or fear list or simply do not trust it. However, freelancers, without dedicated marketing and financial departments to conduct a full investigation, have to depend on it. Faced with the limitations of time and energy, a quick but careful decision in line with intuition leads to far greater success than one in opposition to it. Of course, it is always advisable to check the facts to look for traps. Yet, in a world where partial knowledge is the best we have, intuition is an important tool for every business person. Ignore your inner voice at your own peril.

Simple marketing methods for reluctant freelancers

 

Most freelancers enjoy their craft but are less enthusiastic about what they need to do to make a living from it. One of these necessary evils is marketing. As in most chores, nobody argues the necessity of doing it in theory but everybody hopes that it will get done without their intervention. The reality is that it is impossible to have a successful freelance business without some type of marketing. Here are five simple marketing techniques that involve little effort, time and personal exposure. In other words, it is possible to mark a check on this item in the to-do list without great personal investment and see some results.

1.       Let your friends and, more importantly, the service people you use know what your profession is and the type of projects you do. Your accountant, insurance agent and hairdresser/barber, to name just a few, are your best marketing partners. They are constantly meeting people and provide great referrals.

2.      Set up a website or a LinkedIn profile. The first may require a small investment of time and money but the latter is simple and free and takes minutes. Make it easy for potential customers to glean more information about you and find your contact information. Most people are not willing to make any great effort to find you. Don’t lose business by playing hard to get.

3.      Set up a business page on Facebook or other media. You can and should keep your personal life out of it. Instead, showcase your business in terms of skill and achievement. Enlist your children to help you if they are the appropriate age. It is a great bonding exercise.

4.      Sign up for any relevant list or application for selling your services or goods. Define a relevant geographical range and join. If participation involves some payment, it is often worth it for a year as they tend not to remove your name after you stop paying.

5.      Whenever possible, participate in discussions involving issues within your expertise, written or oral, whichever you are more comfortable with. You don’t have to and often should not “sell” your business. Instead, publicize your expertise by suggesting practical solutions. You are branding yourself.

None of these actions requires standing up in front of people and talking about how wonderful you are. Aside from a website, none of them involves serious costs, if any. They don’t have to be perfect in the beginning as it is simple to change the content and language. There is no need to consult a tech expert. As the advert for the Lake Wobegon’s celebrated Powder Milk Biscuits said, keeping it simple can “give shy persons the strength to get up and do what needs to be done.”

The ITA 2025 Conference – a multi-perspective view of the translator/interpreter client challenge

 

Last week, the Israel Translators Association (ITA) held its 2025 conference in Tel Aviv with the theme being the customer challenge, or more specifically how find and retain customers in a changing market. The two-day event was packed with lectures, each offering a different point of view and series of suggestion on how to create and maintain a successful language provider business. The speakers ranged from experienced translators and interpreters in Israel and abroad to professional marketers. Of course, some, but far from all, of the presenters discussed the application of AI with an emphasis on using it for administrative and creative tasks. Overall, it was an enriching and enjoyable experience.

Over the two days, many experienced linguists shared their wisdom on how to seek new customers in a market in which some niches are shrinking. One important theme was the necessity for active steps to remain relevant. Hadassah Levy noted in her presentation “Marketing Your Translation Business in 10 Minutes a Day” that creating content and then automating their publication renders digital marketing much more time-efficient in the long term and creates a vital effective online presence. Helen Baker discussed a weekly time investment in business networking groups as a means of building productive business connections. Finally, Tess Whitty discussed the attaining additional skills, in her case SEO, to add value to her services and income to her business. Other relevant lectures include Chiara Vecchi on her effective reaction to reduced business volume, Miriam Blum on the importance of the ITA “Recognized Translation” and Mikhal Heffer on working with agencies. I contributed a presentation on how to prepare a professional presentation to clients and colleagues. Overall, the lectures provided a bounty of ideas.

The conference also featured presentations by professional marketers. Dotan Grably provided a strong theoretical and practical approach to the general principle of how to attract customers. He focused on two concepts and explained how to apply them in practice. Yarden Lerer went into great detail on content creation and its effect use for marketing. Both of these presenters provided great food for thought.

Of course, as in any professional conference today, AI was on the agenda. Aliza Berger showed and compared translation of a short legal title using various AI engines as well as human translation. Uriel Shuraki discussed the characteristics of several AI applications. Beyond the use of AI as a translation tool, Alfonso González Bartolessis and Dominique Bohbot related AI to business management and its benefits in increasing efficiency.  These and other lectures helped reduce the “flight or fight” reaction to AI in many of the attendees.

To those presenters whose name I failed to mention or whose content I did not do justice, I apologize and remark that both space on this post and in my brain’s memory is limited. The two days were truly packed with information and ideas, the recipe for an ideal conference. Chapeau to the organizers, who organised the event. I strongly recommend any translator or interpreter that is feeling nervous about the market to attend such events. The meeting of minds and people opens up great opportunities because it provides a multi-perspective view of what is and what can be. I am looking forward to further events on the same subject as well as the conference next year.

On static sites and empty boroughs – the importance of updating

 

[dilapidated hallway]

Recently, I, Dmitry Betschetny and Ben Karl gave a joint webinar through the ATA on how to create a website. We also mentioned a few times the importance of updating it. One of the reasons is that a site creates expectorations, just as a tourist brochure does. Customer satisfaction to a certain degree reflects the intersection of those expectations and the actual experience. It is vital to update one’s site to actually present the current situation whether by subtracting and/or adding available services. The result will be that you can deliver what you promise, the recipe for success.

As a demonstration of the issue, to celebrate our wedding anniversary, my and wife booked several days a spa hotel in the southern Golan heights. The site was impressive, showing impressive rooms and tempting services. Unfortunately, tourism and the supporting facilities in northern Israel have yet to return what they were before the war. That will take time. When trying to book several tempting massages and other services, I discovered that they were not available. The hotel also had not fully maintained the room, albeit creating only minor issues. All together, we enjoyed our stay very much, found the service excellent and would return not only due to the attractive price but also the genuinely pleasurable experience. Yet, the difference between the site promises and the reality bothered and bothers me.

Therefore, if you have a site either for goods or services, it is extremely important to update it as circumstances change. It may be due to changes in availability or personnel. It may due to an active marketing choice. If a company cannot provide the services, it is better to remove references from the site or write “temporarily unavailable” than to disappoint the customer. For example, if a translator stops working in a given language combination or providing a certain service, such as editing, the site should no longer state the readiness to provide those services. Nobody likes having their time wasted.

On the other hand, many freelancers are actively searching for new niches and learning new skills, including AI. Once a person can provide a service, it only makes sense to make it known on the relevant website. Not only will it improve the SEO in terms of change, it will alert potential customers. A little effort updating the site can make a big difference.

Through the 19^th century, English democracy suffered from having election districts in which very few voters still lived but were the equal of constituencies with far more inhabitants. They were called dead boroughs. A search of the Internet will bring up quite a few of the Internet equivalent of them, i.e., sites where some or most of the services or goods offered are no longer relevant. It is vital to take some time to update your site.

AI writing – fancy or highfalutin?

 

[rainbow over my parents' house]

I had the peculiar experience of seeing my parents’ house advertised for sale after my mother died. I have to admit that I found it difficult match the description of the property to the actual house. It read:

“Nestled within the Encino Hills, near Mulholland Dr, in the acclaimed Lanai Road Elementary school district, sits this charming mid-century 4 bedroom, 2 bath 2,202 sq. foot home ready for its new owner. Don't miss the chance to reimagine this nearly 16k lot surrounded by flourishing foliage and citrus. Enter through double doors into a foyer which connects to a spacious vaulted ceiling formal living room with a fireplace and adjoining dining area….”

In reality, it was an expanded but simple aging wooden house but clearly the AI-created description makes it seem far more attractive to buyers.

This personal example highlights the strength as well as the dangerous temptation of AI writing. On the one hand, it is an expert-system, creating a text that only highly experienced and talented copywriters can write. On the other hand, in many cases, the resulting text is not actually effective in communicating the message as many English speakers consider overly fancy language either exaggerated or intended to deceive.

To be clear, AI produces text according to the prompts that the writer enters. The parameters include, among other, level of vocabulary, purpose of the document and educational level of the reader. Thus, in theory, AI should be able to produce a text that is tailored for the intended goal. Accoridingly, the skill of the programmer has a dominant influence on the relevance of the text.

One of the major problems is that a significant percentage of those using AI to write their texts are not fully fluent in the language and often unaware of the nuances of communicative language. Thus, based the concept that more the better or, as in the case of writing, the higher, the better, users tends to aim to write highly sophisticated texts. The resulting copy thus chooses the elegant and indirect route instead of the simple and direct approach. For example, compare “visitors have the possibility of observing a myriad of animal species at the local zoological center” and “visitors can view a wide variety of animals at the zoo.” Clearly, the first shows a far richer level of vocabulary but many adults, even some native speakers, not to mention children, would struggle to understand the meaning or find it off-putting.

The cultural background affecting this reaction to high-level language partly stems from a preference in English for content over style. For many English speakers, using sophisticated language in terms of vocabulary and structure is viewed as an attempt to prove personal superiority or hide the truth. In simple terms, English speakers often expect to a person to say something directly and not decorate it. Americans in particular expect their leaders to “tell it like it is” and value that type of communication even if the form is rather simplistic, even crude. For example, many voters truly respect Trump because of his manner of answering questions but he is not the first president to be overly direct. Even modern legal language strives to be simple and direct and drop its pretensions as many modern scholars consider the use of legalese as an elitest and dangerous practice.  See my previous post.

This insistence on clarity at the price of elegance is contrast to the situation in many other countries and cultures. In France, for example, listeners are often quite willing to forgive a complete lack of content if the language is elegant enough. Almost all French politicians and even masters of ceremonies sound almost royal in their speech. It is hard to name one French president that was not an elegant speaker. Thus, AI creates more benefit in some languages than in others.

Thus, an AI user without the knowledge of when high-level language is appropriate can unintentionally create an artificial and/or ineffective text. People seeing a marketing text with such language know that it is not written by a human as almost no one can or wants to write in that style. Thus, the alien text only highlights the fact that they cannot write. Even worse, if the purpose of the copy was to sell or persuade, the AI-generated copy will tend to create distrust, the exact opposite.

To give a concert example of power of short direct speech, note that most Americans know by heart at least a part of Abrahams’ Lincoln’s Gettysburg address  (1863), which totals 272 words, while nobody remembers a single word from the preceding two-hour speech by Edward Everett. English speakers prefer, to paraphrase Lincoln, English “of the people, by the people, for the people.” It does not mean that that there is no place of AI texts. My parents’ house sold quite fast in fact. However, direct plain English, edited until it is clear and smooth, often produces better results. Simply put, highfalutin AI English is often not an appropriate manner of expression.

Focus – how large business do and entrepreneurs can stand out above the crowd

 

[pencil]

Businesses large and small struggle to distinguish their products and services As a rule, a multitude of enterprises strive to sell similar products and services, making it difficult for customers to identify and remember the best option. Larger corporations, having the budget to hire branding experts, are often proficient in creating an identity for a product, generic or not. The result is successful advertising campaigns. By contrast, entrepreneurs, often working alone with little knowledge of the market and marketing, generally create muddled messages. Regardless of actual work experience, it is advisable for freelancers and small businesses to hone their message as the larger corporations do in order attract more customers.

It is fascinating to observe how certain companies brand their products in highly competitive markets. Proctor & Gamble, the owner of head and shoulders shampoo brand, does not emphasize esoteric chemicals or exotic ingredients but instead hammers the message that the product eliminates dandruff, employing an attractive actor in various action segments whose only line is “I don’t” in response to the statement “I didn’t know you have dandruff”. In this manner, the brand is identified with elimination of dandruff. Likewise, Mark Jacobs reinforces the name of the perfume “Daisy” with advertisements filled with models surrounded by daisies, creating an impression of the scent, true or not. In the UK, McCain advertises its frozen French fries (chips in UK English) as the old friend of the family, a part of past and current memories. In practice, they probably taste the same as their competitors but the TV adverts emphasize how one can depend on this brand for a familiar taste. Instead of trying to be all things to all people, these companies focus on one aspect that supposedly sets their products apart from their competition.

Translators, as do many other freelancers, tend to aim wide and, consequently, miss their mark. Many translators have a long statement on how many languages they work to and from, sometimes as many as five languages, with several areas of specialization. Even colleagues ultimately do not remember the exact combinations, not even one sometimes, in the presence of so many details. Potential customers, those that may one day need their services, will almost certainly not recall the message. Almost all translators (mea culpa) tend to list all their combinations and skills on their marketing sites, including their CV’s and websites, on the hope that they will attract more customers. In practice, most translators earn most of their income from one language combination with the other options barely impacting their business. Thus, the wide net approach actually is counterproductive.

Instead, based on the successful campaigns of large companies, freelancer translators  should identify their main service and emphasize it in every manner possible. They can mention other combinations and services but in a form that does not distract from the main message. The goal is identification between the service provider and the service, e.g. Jane Doe, certified Spanish to English medical translator.

Thus, focus is the key for product and service branding. I personally intend to apply this approach on my next website (whenever that is) as well as on any other current or future marketing efforts. In practice, I am a recognized Hebrew to English legal translator, period and want my potential customers to remember it. If the message is clear, the next time potential customers need such a service, they may remember the name. To stand out, being the sharpest pencil in the box is the key.

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.

* Picture captions help the blind fully access the Internet.

Picture credit

Why translate marketing materials – one language does not rule them all

 

[ring*]

It seems so straightforward. Prepare top notch marketing material in English. Given that English is spoken at one level or another by some 1.5 billion people worldwide and is effectively the lingua franca of the world at this time, it should be cost-effective.  In practice, that approach is as relevant as “one size fits all”. While it is true that much of the world can somehow express themselves orally in English, far fewer can read effectively in English. Many non-native readers even avoid reading complicated materials in their second language as they find themselves spending more time and energy with less effective results when trying to decipher them. Visual elements, such as different letters and direction, significantly increase that difficulty. Thus, if a person or company wishes to reach a target audience, it is significantly more effective to prepare marketing material in the native language of their customers.

Ranking languages by native language readers leads to rather different result than that for speaking, native or non-native. The most dominant languages, at least in terms of numbers, are limited to a few countries. For example, Russian and Chinese are almost entirely spoken and read in the Russian Federation and China, respectively, while English as a native language is limited to a handful of countries, primarily the UK, the United States, South Africa, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Even in those countries, a meaningful part of the country does not read English fluently whether because they are immigrants, children of immigrants or live in areas where another language is dominant. This phenomenon is not limited to the English-speaking countries as immigrants have reached every country on the globe, including Scandinavia and Germany, or multiple local languages coexist, as in many parts of Africa and India. Even the same language can have significant different local versions, as it the case of Spanish and Arabic. Therefore, the number of native language readers in English or any other language is significantly less than speakers, first or second language.

This distinction is meaningful to businesses because non-native readers are much less effective in grasping written text. First, they read slower to one degree or another as even fluent speakers of foreign languages have experienced. Second, scanning in a second language requires much more effort with less success. Of great importance is the fact that Internet users scan much more quickly in their native language than in their second language regardless of their familiarity with the latter. A difference in letters and/or direction(Hebrew/Arabic vs English/Spanish) further encumbers the scanning process. Furthermore, non-native speakers often miss direct or indirect messages due to a lack of familiarity with the nuances and cultural references. Psychologically, it is often so much effort to read a (relatively) long text in a foreign language that even high-level  foreign speakers prefer to avoid such texts. That second-language learners may be able to read that language does not necessarily mean that they can efficiently and effectively understand it or even choose to.

As a personal example, my native language is English but I am quite fluent in both French and Hebrew. During my recent trip to France, I found plowing through the French sites slower and “heavier” than if they had been English. As for Hebrew, a language that I live in and use every day, including translate from, I am quite slow in skimming websites,  not to mention longer texts, and dread receiving long emails in Hebrew as I know that I will have truly concentrate. For that reason, I don’t read Hebrew books for the pleasure before I go to bed, preferring English or French. In practice, notwithstanding my oral ability, my reading in my second languages is less effective and requires more effort.

For a business or individual desiring to reach a certain customer, it is important for the written material to be in the most transparent form, one in which the language of choice does not interfere with the message. If the readers are expending significant energy on trying to decipher the language, it is at the expense of considering the product or service. Yes, their English may be sufficient to basically understand the content but they are probably not going to act on it as there is little mental energy left for the effort even if they read to the end. Thus, translation is not “extra” expense but an essential marketing tool.

Today, it is quite tempting to use machine translation, whether a “Google Translate” tool of some kind or a ChatGPT result, to save money and achieve a seemingly acceptable result. Some 20 years of machine translation have left behind a long trail of failed and even embarrassing marketing efforts, even by large companies, that tried to save money and made themselves into a laughing stock, not the desired result. It is far more cost-effective to pay a human being a proper amount to a proper job. The increased sales almost always surpass the expense and create a positive company image, the purposes of marketing. As my father said, anything worth doing is worth doing well.

In summary, when conducting a marketing campaign, identity the native reading language of your customer and have a human professional translate the written texts. When it comes to making your written marketing material effective, no language, not even English, comes close to ruling them all.

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Interview with Uri Bruck

 

The following is an interview with Uri Bruck, who just stepped down as the chair of the Israel Translation Association. His perspective is different and may be relevant to all translators, especially in regards to technology and translators.

 

[cup of tea on books&]

First, thanks for inviting me to do this interview. Having mulled over these questions a bit, I made myself a nice, fresh, hot cup of tea and sat down to answer them

 

1.       You have a wide variety of skills not limited to translation. What is your background?

 

There is some background information, and a few links here: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7

 

I can expand on that a bit. I was born in Haifa, Israel. I spend some of my formative years in English speaking countries. After my military service I went to study in the Technion in the applied math faculty and eventually earned a BSc. That discipline also included some comp sci courses. That was also the time I started translating, at that time mostly for other students. After graduating, I got my first job at Actcom, the first commercial ISP in Israel. I bean inn tech support, advanced to a programmer and eventually became head of software dept. At Actcom, I also took on some documentation roles, both internal and external. This documentation included installation instructions, solving common problems and the company’s support site.

Actcom supported the open-source community in Israel and open-source tools.

During that same period, I continued doing small translation job and also participated in some of the online translator communities. At that time, it was mostly mailing lists. Then Dr. Hannah Amit-Kochavi came across one of my translations about an art exhibition and suggested that I might enjoy studying translation. I enrolled in the Beit Berl translation program. My then employers at Actcom were very supportive and accommodating.

Translation studies marked for me the difference between being someone who translated and being a translator.

I continued developing in both translation and programming. I became a freelancer, both as a translator and as programmer, and continued developing my skills in both. I added more tech skills and roles over time.  I worked in a few startups along the way. Including as  dev lead, or CTO, which turns out this doesn’t stand for Chess and Tea Overlord. I’m rather fond of both.

After graduating the Beit Berl translation program, I joined the ITA or rather stormed into it. That was back in 2002.

I suppose both translation and the various tech jobs were natural paths for me. 

Of course, it’s not all work. Among my hobbies are photography and has been ever since my grandfather, who was also a translator, let me use his camera on holiday. I’m an amateur musician (I always add “amateur” because my sister is a professional musician who teachers, performs, and has produced and organized concerts and international festivals). A few years ago, I studied electro-acoustics, which combines technology and music. More recently I took up painting and drawing.

I’m also into board games, especially chess variants, both playing and designing.  I like learning something new every few years.

 

 

2.      In your 5 years as the head of Israel Translators Association (ITA), what do you consider to be your successes? What major challenges does the new chairperson face?

 

One of the issues many organizations have – any type of organizations  - is lack of communication between administrators and technology. Some organizations have technical communicators – people who learn to speak to both administrators and tech people. I leveraged my knowledge and experience of web technology to answer a question, one that is very significant to our on-going recruitment efforts. The question being “Why join the ITA?”. There are quite a few answers on the ITA site. One answer I gave was: because you’ll have the best bloody professional online profile, which can serve as a digital business card and as part of your overall web presence, all that at a fraction of the price if you were to do it yourself. Of course, there are lots of other reasons to join, including networking, conferences and CPD. But networking is somewhat abstract for lots of people. Good online visibility is something I can point at and say: “You’re getting this!”

 

Another thing I’m happy with is events and conferences. I promoted diversifying the kind of events and the type of content in conferences. I also ended up organizing conferences and managed to fill them up with good professional content. This was not something I originally planned on doing. In fact, if someone had told me five years ago that I’d be organizing conferences, I would have probably told them  that he is crazy, but it needed to be done. So, I went ahead and did it. The first second one I organized was just before the Covid lockdowns. Then we all had to adapt. We had to take the lectures and conferences online. One of the perks of organizing lectures and conferences is I get to pick the celebrity speakers. Actually, it’s the only perk. Moreover, following some of these events, we have been invited, as an organization, to participate in other translator organizations online/hybrid events and, more recently, in FIT projects.

 

I think I worked both on improving both technological and administrative infrastructure.

 

As for the challenges the new Chair will face – one big challenge is getting more translators to join the ITA, i.e., finding creative ways to get to more translators to join the ITA. We need to get more translators to see the ITA as the professional organization they want to be a part of. Also fostering cooperation with more organizations, both in Israel and abroad is important.

3.      What is your impression of the future of freelance translation?

It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. On the one hand, we’re living in a time where there seem lots of changes in both in the tools we use for translating and in the tools we use for communicating about ourselves. On the other hand, I still hear translators wary of CAT tools, which have been around for a long time, saying things such that’s only for technical stuff, with lots of repetitions.

On my very infrequent blog, I wrote about this https://bruck.translation.org.il/word-processor-not-a-translators-tool/  

 

One of the issues I have with translators and technology is that even the many translators that embrace technology don’t drive the technology advances but at best accept them. That’s still better than being dragged kicking and screaming. That’s really an issue I have not just with translation tech, but also with a lot of technology. Operating systems and application, including lots of online applications are still built more for the convenience of engineers than for the convenience of users. Users need to learn a lot of things that make no sense just to write simple documents. The systems we use are based on concepts that have been part of commercial systems for at least three decades. There have a lot of good ideas in HCI research but users are just content with nicer looking and faster implementations of half-baked ideas.

Following up on the above linked blog post, the next stage of CAT tools is domain specific CAT tools. e.g. - CAT tools specific for literary translators, or tools specifically for technical translators. If anyone is already on that, kudos to them. Still, the people  that should pushing for that, what specifically they need, are the translators specializing in those domains – the practitioners. They should be working with the developers. There might even be some overlap there.

           

 

I don’t have any insights about marketing, except for re-iterating that it’s all about communications  However, it’s possible to do everything right and still not get the results you want. While some translators will manage to get repeat business from direct clients, most will get all or most their work through agencies. So freelance translation will depend a lot on finding the good agencies, as well as  maintaining good working relationships with them. That also requires solid interpersonal and communications skills. AI tools have the potential to enhance our work and our CAT tools. That’s the proper way to use them, not as competition, but as better tools. Unfortunately, one of the current trends is to marginalize the translators and get them to do lots of MTPE. Those are not the better agencies. One of the next steps for AI in translation is likely to be measuring translation quality. Some QA is already automated. Some translators are not happy with agency reviewers today. For translators working mostly with agencies, the next challenge might be dealing with AI reviewers. AI reviewers might also be used to attempt to detect machine translation.

4.      In your view, what are the roles of translator associations in promoting the profession?

The most brilliant marketing person I ever met told me: There is no such thing as marketing – it’s all communications.
Promoting something is done by showing, not telling. For translators associations that means creating increasing visibility of both the associations and its members by showing that these are clever, skilled, interesting people. And they have interesting things to say about what they do. The more one hears people say something interesting about this profession and why they do it, the more one sees them as people and less as stereotypes. Consequently, you benefit them and their profession. Some of what translators do is very useful and often essential to other people. This can be done through media, such as blogs, podcasts, videos and social media posts. Show, don’t tell.

 

Furthermore, organization can promote their own members as presenters outside translator conferences and thus reach a larger audience. This reflects well both on the individual members and the organization. Highlight the everyday benefits of translation and interpretation.

5.      What did you personally gain from your experience as head of the ITA?

 

It’s a position that gets exposure. I’m not very good at networking. That’s one of the reasons I started lecturing at conferences. When you’re the one presenting, then people come to you to talk to you. They already sort of know a bit about you. You receive the benefits of networking, but you don’t need to initiate as much. Of course, you can take it from there. As the ITA Chair, I got a lot more exposure. To organize a successful conference, and cooperation I did need to initiate a lot more contacts, but it’s easier when there’s a title to go with it. With exposure, one gains new contacts.

 

I have significant project management experience and some middle management experience. I’m also told that I’m pretty good at organizing a vacation. However, as I wrote in my reply to (2), organizing conferences was new to me - at least it was five years ago. I think I managed to leverage my organizational skills and  put together several conferences with quality content while keeping the costs relatively low even for the pre-Covid in-person conferences and the more recent hybrid events. The conferences, even when drawing initially on what I’ve seen previously as a participant and later on my own growing experience, were all different. Constraints encouraged us to be creative. Keeping costs was one constraint. Then Covid came and brought a whole new set of constraints and some interesting opportunities as well. Now everyone is doing hybrid conferences and online events. I also learned that one really shouldn’t be both the organizer and the tech support for an event, let alone an entire conference.

My work on the ITA site, the accompanying mobile app and other extensions of the ITA’s online presence were based in part on my experience in project management. I also described it above as partly a technical communicator job, but, since I was one of the administrators to communicate with, in practice I also filled the role of Product Manager. While this was not my job description in any previous job, I believe I did well. So, I learned that I can do that as well. Another line for the resume.

I learned a lot about the inner workings of a non-profit organization in Israel. It expanded my knowledge that I didn’t need previously as a freelancer but might some in useful in the future in some other job or role.

 

PS

I ended up writing this in two sessions, each with a cup of tea. The tea for the first season was the mix inspired by Sir Patrick Stewart – half Earl Grey, half English Breakfast. It sounded odd when I first heard of it, but once I’ve tried it, it became one of my favored choices. For the second session, I made the classic Wissotzky. It’s often perceived as more common, but I think it’s underrated. It’s a comfortable choice.

Thank you for the questions. It was certainly interesting to dive into them. I hope you find this useful or, at least, interesting.

 

 

 

 

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