Intercultural Zone

What do writing and a wardrobe have in common?

by Patricia

It’s Saturday. I’ve just finished polishing an adaptive translation. I had promised myself that, this week-end, I would – finally! – sort through my closet to make some (much needed) space.

So what can writing and a wardrobe have in common?
Clutter.
Excess.
Useless elements.
Weightiness.
Disorganization.
Lack of style.
Incoherence.
Sloppiness.
Stains.
Redundancy.
And by the way, no this is not my closet .

You can apply techniques used to polish copy to sort out your wardrobe.

• Why use three words when one will do? (Just *how many* black pants do you own?)
• How can you avoid using the passive voice? (You bought that sweater in Amsterdam in 1981, it’s had a good life.)
  
• Are some sentences too long? Can they be cut? (You keep up this shoe fetish, we’ll start calling you Imelda.)
• Do your ideas flow in a coherent order? (No wonder it takes forever to find something, the spaghetti strap dresses are next to the ski pants.)
• Are you using punctuation wisely, enhancing readability? (Give it up: you’ve tried for 5 years, the stain on your favorite silk blouse is never going to come out.)
• Is there any jargon left you should dispense with? (Miniskirts are not coming back, or, when they do, you shouldn’t be caught dead in one. Pitch.)

Getting the idea?

P.S. Remember: you may no longer need or want these clothes, but they can help others. There are Freecycle groups all over the world and local non-profit groups you can contact.

L’autre côté de la tartine : fidéliser et garder ses clients

by Patricia

Un des thèmes qui revient fréquemment sur les sites de discussion de traducteurs (ou autres professionnels indépendants) traite des techniques pour trouver de nouveaux clients. Il existe également d’excellentes formations sur comment développer sa clientèle, dont celle proposée régulièrement par la SFT aux quatre coins de la France.

Tout bon chef d’entreprise reconnait le rôle incontournable du développement dans la pérennité de son entreprise, si ce n’est que pour se positionner sur un portefeuille de projets à court et moyen terme.

Bien plus rarement évoquées sont les questions de fidélisation de clients existants, ce qui est, somme toute, le nerf de la guerre.

Suivant les métiers, le coût d’acquisition d’un nouveau client peut représenter 3 à 4 fois (voire plus!) le montant de la première commande. Le calcul est vite fait : heures passées à réseauter, identifier la bonne entreprise et le bon interlocuteur dans cette entreprise, continuer à se former pour affiner son expertise ou être à la pointe de nouvelles technologies — l’investissement est conséquent.

Fidéliser un client existant n’est pas sans coût, mais il est minime et le retour sur investissement, le fameux ROI, est patent. Continue Reading…

Web 2.0, e-reputation and the changing role of the CCO

by Patricia

As Weber Shandwick underscores in Safeguarding Reputation: “Business success and sustainability [have] become increasingly dependent on reputation.”

Digimind’s 56-page study examines in detail how new media have changed the landscape.

Web 2.0 tools have generated a new paradigm that allows customers, consumers, patients, politicians, citizens, business companies, leaders, executives, employees and trades-unionists to express themselves freely on the net. They can unite into communities, talk amongst themselves, and exert pressure on other groups. All this sharing and working together happens in real time, independently from the daily publication of newspapers or the ritual of television newscasts.

A study published on the American blog 97th Floor showed that 29 of the Fortune 100 companies were the subject of “negative” content, as shown on the first page of results found on Google, when you enter their name as a query on the search engine.

(DIGIMIND-WP_ONLINE_REPUTATION.US.2008.pdf, p.20 and 7)

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How is the role of CCO changing and how are these new responsibilities triggering opportunities for language professionals to support their clients’ needs and objectives?

Corporate communications departments are adding new media and reputation management to their basket of responsibilities at a rapid pace.

Between September and December 2008, Weber Shandwick and SpencerStuart, with KRC Research, conducted their second annual survey on the Rising CCO, polling 159 senior corporate communications professionals (101 from North America, 46 from Europe, and 12 from Asia).

According to the results, for 38% of North American respondents and 46% of European ones, corporate reputation management is now the third most time-consuming part of a CCO’s responsibilities, after media relations and internal communications. One in five European CCOs added a Reputation Management function to their department in 2008 and European CCOs expected it to be their leading priority in 2009.

This shift leads to a reshuffling of the weight of various communications tools used in corporate communications. Media Relations remain the most relied upon resource for 84% and 74% of North American and European CCOs respectively in 2008. However, 18% of North American CCOs, but only 7% of European ones, responded social media/blogging were among the top three tools their department relied on most.

Looking forward, roughly 25% of global CCOs claim the blogosphere will be a significant challenge for their departments, with 30% and 26% of North American and European CCOs respectively expecting social media/blogging to grow most in importance in 2009. As a result, 41% of North American CCOs, but only 22% of European ones, added a social media/blogging function to their departments. It seems some corporate communications departments are going to have to play catch-up in 2010. Continue Reading…