LetSpeak.com Translation Alert

LetSpeak.com Translation Alert

Communicate Without Limits!
November 2004

In This Issue:

3 Key Ways to Get More Out of Brochure Translation
Quotes of the Month
LetSpeak.com® News Wire

3 Key Ways to Get More Out of Brochure Translation

Some people approach translation of product or service brochures as a straight word-for-word project. Yet nothing could be farther from the truth. It's important to focus on the benefits your foreign- language audience wants to get from your products or services, before the descriptions are translated.

The benefits that your English-speaking audience wants from your business, may not be the same for your foreign-language customers. One way to find out: conduct a survey. Right before you translate your company brochure, consider doing a bit of market research into the benefits your foreign-language market is looking for from your products/services.

1. Start calling or e-mailing a select group of customers.

You'll want to choose people who you speak with on a regular basis and who are opinionated. They're not hard to find. These wonderful gems are on every businessperson's client list.

2. Ask questions on how they use your product/service.

After decades of only promoting one use for baking soda, the makers of Arm & Hammer baking soda started asking customers how they used the product and they discovered an array of new uses. Now it's commonplace to find baking soda toothpaste and special packaging for baking soda packets to freshen refrigerators, opening up a new streams of income for Arm & Hammer. Conducting this kind of research with your foreign- language audience could open up the same kinds of channels for your firm as well.

3. Draw out their emotions.

Once you have this information, look for the emotions behind the answers. Are they angry about new regulations? Loving a new kind of computer software? Use these emotions to guide your decisions on which benefits grab their attention the most.

After you have this information you can use it to update your brochure with the benefits your foreign- language audience craves. If your brochure already has the benefits they're looking for, consider working with your graphic designer to highlight the benefits they want the most. You can do that by using:

· Highlighted Boxes

· Bullet Points

· Bold and Underlined Typeface

You could also simply re-list the benefits of your products and services in order of importance to your foreign-language audience.

You may be tempted to skip these steps and just translate your existing brochure as is. Beware of that impulse. Because of the difference in culture and language some segments your audience may view your services in a much different way than others. Consider focusing on drawing out and playing to those differences. It will take your translation dollars much further than you ever anticipated.

Quote of the Month

"The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat." - Napoleon Hill.

LetSpeak.com® News Wire

September 21, 2004-- LetSpeak.com presented a cultural presentation to the 7th Graders of Canterbury School in Fort Myers on the culture and the people of Haiti.

September 18, 2004-- LetSpeak.com a vendor at the Southwest Florida 2004 Mambo King Latin Dance Business and Consumer Expo.

LetSpeak.com® Affiliations and Memberships

ATA

FLATA

NAJIT

REKA

Netcheck Commerce Bureau

Lee County Chamber of Commerce

Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce

Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

The European Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Florida