Setting the industry standard in customer satisfaction
McElroy’s Mission Statement McElroy Translation provides translation and localization services in all languages to business and government clientele enhancing their ability to compete in global markets.
“Good business leaders create destiny by defining and sharing a vision. To know it, to feel it, and to live it is to achieve success.”
Translation kits range from the very simple to the very complex. In either case, translation kits provide your vendor with vital information about every project you award them. The purpose of a translation kit is to provide us with your expectations: the subject matter and target audience, files and format to be translated, delivery expectations, special considerations and any other relevant information all in one place. The benefits of a translation kit are many-fold: fewer calls from us requesting clarification, fewer issues that arise during translation, less rework and fewer surprises at the end of the project (i.e. unmet expectations).
The time to provide a translation kit is at the quoting stage. This enables us to provide you with an accurate view of cost and turnaround time and resolve any problems BEFORE the project starts.
Web Whereabouts is a challenging game where countries identified only by their shape and their country code top-level domain (TLD) need to be correctly positioned on a map of Europe. The game is kind enough to give you hints when you are lost but don’t get too excited – it may prove difficult to place one centimeter wide green patch in the right position even if you know it is called “Bosnia-Herzegovina”.
Created with the purpose of offering a pleasant pastime to any internet user, Web Whereabouts is certain to help you improve your knowledge of geography. And who knows, maybe after playing it five times you may be able to place Lichtenstein on the map with your eyes closed.
During one of my recent International Business classes for adult learners, we had the opportunity to discuss the concept of political risk for businesses developing operations overseas. In that context, we were reviewing a list published by Foreign Policy magazine which ranks countries by political risks and other threats. Not surprisingly, Sudan and Iraq topped the most recent list. Then I heard a student ask why the state of Georgia was included on a list of countries! Quite frankly, I did not know how to respond. Add to that the fact that one of my close friends mentioned a son’s classmate (granted, it was 4th grade) asked if you had to have a passport to go to California. It started me thinking. Are we doing enough to educate our up and coming generation and future business leaders about our global world today?
Are elementary school students taking and understanding world geography? Do we offer adequate foreign language training at an early age in all our school systems? Are we encouraging university students to spend a semester abroad? (In fact, according to Allan Goodman, president and CEO of the Institute of International Education, states that despite the doubling of study-abroad enrollments in the past decade, only 1% of college students study abroad each year). Are we fostering a global mentality in our workforce today? Are we offering cross-cultural communications training to executives traveling overseas?
Today’s business leaders need to push for all of these things in order to ensure the future success of American business. Let’s “go global” today to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
We invite you to enter two case study related contests.
#1: Best Published Case Study by an E-Buzz Reader
Submit your organization’s published case study. McElroy’s Marketing Manager and PR Agency will select the “Best story” award winner. The winner will be announced in next month’s E-Buzz publication garnering acclaim for their marketing savvy and $500 toward their next translation. Submit entries to
.
#2 Best Potential Story for a McElroy Case Study
Click here to enter information. All participants will receive a $10 Amazon gift card and the winner will receive $500 toward their next translation.
Case studies explore relationships and describe how organizations mutually solve problems. These narratives help brands connect empathically with buyers. Ultimately, we like them and we rely on them because appreciation for a good story crosses all cultural, geographic and demographic boundaries.
Who is not familiar with the Business Case Study? At first mention the topic sounds less than riveting, and you may even be reminded of a mandatory and grueling undergraduate business class devoted to the topic. I do. So why is this the subject to which I was drawn when writing an article for this month’s E-Buzz publication?
Today’s case study has moved well beyond the business text book and into the arena of marketing and brand creation. In parallel to the ad slogan “This is NOT your father’s Mustang,” a new age has dawned in which the relevance of the case study scintillates at an entirely new level. Case study creation is storytelling, and in today’s marketing scheme it is one of the most powerful tools available for presenting truths about your service, product, or brand. We all love a good story!
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 suit or shorts and sandals may click a favorite URL, and each villager speaks a unique language. Marshall McLuhan, a communication visionary, says “Our new environment compels commitment and participation.” That new environment includes the Internet.
MediaBuyerPlanner offers a look at the future of the European E-Commerce market. It's interesting to note that:
Germany, however, has the most online buyers, with 27.2 million, but produces less than half the online sales volume of the UK. France, in turn, produces less than half Germany's e-commerce sales volume and has 14.5 million online buyers. On average, German and French buyers are spending considerably less online per person than their UK
Why do you suppose Germany has so many buyers online, but they aren't actually spending money when compared to the UK? Is it a cultural cause, i.e., Germans prefer to actually make purchases via other channels? Or, is it a language-related cause: that English, being the most widespread language used on the Internet, gives native English speakers a certain comfort level when they actually go to make the purchase? Anyone selling to European audiences online should also note:
The third wave will follow early in the next decade, as Eastern European states - Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic - begin to embrace e-commerce, it said.
Search Engine watch recently conducted an interview with one of the experts in Brazilian Internet usage. There is some really great information about the current state of the Internet in Brazil, and the impact of the way Brazilians do business on how you market to them.
SEW: What advice would you give for US businesses who are looking to market to Brazilians, but do not have a physical business location in Brazil?
1. Use search engines to reach the customers. 2. Localize (not only translate) your ads into Portuguese. 3. Develop a good landing page strategy: create a Portuguese version before considering have all your website translated. 4. Forget PayPal, and provide multiple payment systems including credit cards, and boleto (a local bank invoicing system). 5. If you are planning to sell goods, sending the purchases by mail; then watch out for high taxes and duties.
The NY Times ran an article on its website recently proclaiming that interpreting is one of the hottest new careers going.
While everybody else is talking about booming international markets for information technology, banking, jetliners and fast-food restaurants, who are the mechanics who keep the machinery of world trade humming? The people who enable speakers of English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and every other language from Arabic to Zulu to understand one another, that’s who. As a result, a cottage industry of small and medium-size language-services companies is quietly flourishing in this country.
While ad revenue increase in the U.S. is expected to hover around 3% over the next two years, global ad revenue is expected to increase by over twice as much. In so-called New Europe, ad revenue increase is even more impressive at 20%, and will push 40% in Asia Pacific.
There are countless articles about doing business overseas that detail the importance of knowing the audience when you are marketing to them online, or when you are having a face-to-face meeting or presentation. But, what about that important area of tradeshow exhibiting, that most businesses participate in to some degree in the U.S.--is it worth your while to exhibit overseas, and if so, what should you keep in mind to prepare for it?
This article goes into a good amount of depth to detail everything you should consider before taking your tradeshow booth overseas.
Make sure that your top executives are available. Overseas shows, particularly in European and Asian countries, are serious business as they focus on sales. Top-level management attend these shows expecting to place orders. They expect, and want, to deal with their counterparts in your company.
