Translation in International Markets – Our Interview with Global Speak Translations

RedShift Writers specializes extensively in the art of written communication. We work hard to craft the perfect content for your business, pinpointing messaging with precision to target your audience, the whole audience and nothing but your audience better than any other company in our industry.

Yet one service we don’t offer directly is to do just that in other languages. We’re masterful at English and even brag about our US credentials, but we certainly don’t craft website content in Spanish. It’s not what we do.

It is however, in the wheelhouse of one of our clients Global Speak Translations (GST). GST is the only company to focus exclusively on translation and interpreter services for the energy industry. Given our strong dedication to using language to positively affect the business of energy companies, we can relate to the tremendous gifts GST brings to the table.

We took some time to talk to them a little earlier this week and interview them about those gifts, as well as the impact translation can make on content and brand marketing efforts in energy and beyond.

Here is our interview with GST Founder Flor Dimassi.

RSW: It’s a pleasure to speak to you linguist to linguist. This is really an honor to have a chance to talk about language with our client.

Tell us a little about your personal experience with language.

Ms. Dimassi: I worked as a project manager in oil and gas 18 years ago and I spoke Spanish and French. I was at an energy firm at the time. Because I was trilingual, they continually gave me translation projects. They were stacked high in this chair, nothing but translation. So eventually I said, “I can help you do this, but I want to do it independently.”

RSW: That’s a great entrepreneurial story. Who have you worked with?

Ms. Dimassi: We have served some pretty well-known companies: Schlumberger, Halliburton, Shell and more.

RSW: Let’s move to language in marketing for a moment. At RedShift Writers, we focus on crafting the perfect message for companies. Tell us about some of the subtleties that come up in crafting that message for your clients.

Ms. Dimassi: As you all know from working with clients, the more precise your language is, the better. You want to hit the exact words so you can capture the tone, culture and purpose of the statements you want to make and express the exact message you seek to execute. It’s a little different from standard marketing because our job is not to be overly creative with your language. We have to be creative enough to solve dialect differences and find words that bridge the gap, especially in the context of culture, but our job is to preserve meaning from original language to final interpretation from the listener.

RSW: Interesting. What direct impact can this have on companies? What happens if they fail to translate effectively?

Ms. Dimassi: The easy answer is that the marketing becomes ineffective. But more specifically, important prospects in other countries just won’t consider you in the first place. If you email a Brazilian company in English, they may very well just delete your email. At tradeshows, keeping an interpreter on hand may be essential to holding a hot conversation on the spot. Otherwise, you are merely letting prospects pass you by in favor of other companies.

Someone- more than one company- at the show will speak the language of the locals. You should be one of those companies or your business is at risk.

RSW: What about marketing materials such as brochures and handouts?

Ms. Dimassi: All of it should be translated and proofed carefully, to the point that the translator carries liability if something happens that is related to the translation. A slogan can make your company sound silly if it is mistranslated. “Houston, we have a problem,” translated directly into Urdu makes you sound like you are uneducated. “Finger-licking good”, the old KFC slogan, in Chinese means “Eat your own fingers off”. The company’s campaign there failed, which is to say that even some of the world’s most well-known companies can have major problems with mistranslation in their marketing.

RSW: I would imagine this same precision can affect negotiations.

Ms. Dimassi: It most certainly can. There is a story we told the Houston Chronicle in our interview with them about translating for a mostly Latin American group. The majority of the room was not from Mexico but some were, so an interpreter used neutral Spanish and the word ‘shaft’ came up. ‘Eje’ is the proper translation, but the largest man in the room – he’s from Mexico – stood up and insisted it’s ‘flecha.’ That means arrow, but in Mexican Spanish, it also means shaft. He’s saying ‘flecha,’ and the Colombians are saying ‘eje.’ We had to remain focused and work through it with everyone. It was important to just keep everyone calm and explain everything carefully so we are all on the same page. That’s why you want a professional translator who can really get the job done in that situation.

RSW: Let’s move to industry trends. In the content writing industry, the move toward the expansion of content to meet the needs of companies pursuing content marketing and SEO campaigns has really changed what we do. What affects energy translation? What trends do you watch for?

Ms. Dimassi: Whenever regulatory frameworks are passed down by governments, we keep a close eye out for what is happening. The wording is so important because it tells you exactly what the legislation means. Right now, Mexican Energy Reform Policy is by far the biggest news in our industry. The regulation has opened the door to private competition in Mexico. Companies looking to get a foothold there are moving now and they all need Spanish materials to get it to work.

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Daniel J. CohenTranslation in International Markets – Our Interview with Global Speak Translations

Three Steps to Take if You Post Something Fake on Social Media

One of the great negative impacts of Media 2.0 has been the ease with which a person can post a meme or other message that is misguided. Satirical links are often taken as real news only to be discounted in Facebook comments under the original post. Hooray for group moderation, right?

The issue is that even if the comments section offers corrections, the initial post with a status taking it seriously remains in the feed. Worse, the more that people interact with the post, the more it circulates.

Think this is rare? Less rare than you’d like to believe. Worse, there is no exact protocol for this kind of situation. While companies have a policy for dealing with mistakes online, personal responsibility in this form in the digital atmosphere is far less developed.

Naturally, the best move is to avoid doing this in the first place by carefully vetting your sources. On the other hand, for those who may run into this, here’s the three-step method for overcoming posting something false on social media.

#1: Announce a retraction to everyone in the comment pool.
When you misinform a friend or colleague, apologize. It’s only right! Besides, others will understand that you did the right thing. Announce to the comment pool that you were off and that you should have been more on your game.

#2: Change the heading of your comment starting with “Update”.
This is what news pieces do to print headline retractions. “Update” at the top of the post indicates that something has changed. Something has changed in your post, so this is appropriate.

Note: If you mess up badly enough and the headline of the post inspires fear or otherwise harms others, take the post down altogether. Examples would include posting the name of an innocent person as an alleged criminal (as was the case on Twitter with the Boston bomber suspect) or saying a disease has spread through somewhere where it does not exist.

#3: Pin it to the top of your wall for a while
You can pin a post to the top of your newsfeed in Facebook. Do so. This indicates you are serious and gives those most likely to have seen it a quick view of your retraction. This transparency means a lot to your reputation and those around you. More people should do this.

Remember: Printing hoaxes can lead to really nasty results. The burden to determine what is true and what is satire is on the reader. There is always a way to determine if a story is true or false with a little bit of research. We wanted Web 2.0, with citizen journalists and high-flying content. Well guess what? We got it. Now, everyone is a newsroom; everyone has a megaphone. And the more you say you are in media, the more others will expect you to speak properly and act responsibly.

Be part of the solution. Confirm your information by Googling it. Be a part of the free flow of information rather than the slowing snow of misinformation.

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Daniel J. CohenThree Steps to Take if You Post Something Fake on Social Media

EXAMINER – RedShift Client Undergoes Brand Overhaul

“The specialized quality permeating [Global Speak Translations’] process brings oil and gas companies excellence they can rely on in even the most high stakes translation scenarios.”

RedShift client Global Speak Translations (GST) is undergoing a brand evolution with the help of our roommate company BrightBox Brand Marketing and is ready to roll out its new image.

Key points of the rebrand include:

“Our capabilities, our qualities and our performance, when it matters most, are the keys to the levels of translations that [GST] bring to the table at every step of the business process, from sales to marketing to technical procedures.”

The takeaway? GST is poised on the brink of an entirely new look and feel, all while offering clients the same great services.

Read the full release here to find out how GST is setting itself apart from its competitors.

 

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Daniel J. CohenEXAMINER – RedShift Client Undergoes Brand Overhaul

Free Online Content- Market Speak

Content writers know how to spot what works and what doesn’t in your market speak. We’re on the front lines of your marketing war every day, making things happen for our clients and combating our opponents. Content writers who do what they are supposed to do create incredible value for your company. Content writers who don’t are eaten alive in the open market by the content writers who deliver that value.

As successful content writers, we expect to be paid. But we also realize that giving information away for free is one of the best ways to win the marketing war.

Sound counter-intuitive? Welcome to marketing (and one aspect of market speak).

When you offer information for free, you

  • FLEX your knowledge muscles to potential customers
  • Subconsciously suggest stronger value by delivering the unexpected
  • And create a stir of conversation now so fast due to the onset of digital technologies that it can almost carry your entire business

Free content is the fastest way to becoming your own media source or blog. It’s also the fastest to use sales copy as a traveling online salesman for your product. It’s the best route to strong SEO. It’s one important element of PR.

Free online content may seem like it’s free. But as Andy Crestodina stated earlier this week on #BBSRadio, “Content writers are being paid with the reader’s attention.”

The more your target audience pays attention to you, the better off you’ll be.

Find out how our content writers and content strategists can help leverage content to make you cash. Meet all of your message development needs better, faster, and at a more reasonable rate with RedShift Writers.

Or read more free online content:

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Daniel J. CohenFree Online Content- Market Speak