I don't claim to be a fighter and am not seeking bouts. I'm also not seeking new clients. Especially clients who want to break my nose to prove they are better than me.

When you reach out to anyone, keep in mind that no one likes to be told they are inferior. It is not a good way to win friends and influence people. In fact, it's not a good way to do much of anything.

I think lesson here is that we all have egos. The better way to approach people is to put your ego under theirs.

In other words, be willing to lower your status. Don't flaunt your stuff. Instead, show your weakness and ask for help.

This nervy fighter might have done better by offering to teach me his new method, not offering to embarrass me with it.

This works in your marketing, too.

Rather than boast that you or your business is greatest, focus on how you or your business can make your customer or client greatest.

See difference?

This redirection of focus can trigger a true transformation in your sales.

Take heed.

See you in ring.

Dr. Joe Vitale is the author of way too many books to list here. His latest title is "The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else) From the Inside Out." Register for his monthly complimentary ezine at http://www.mrfire.com His Executive Mentoring Program is described at http://www.joe-vitale-executive-mentoring.com/info.html

If you need something more precise, try a forum where you can ask an expert. Translators Cafe is such a resource (www.translatorscafe.com ). As an example, you can click on to see my wife’s profile at Translators Cafe.

If you choose this option, you should be mindful that there is a limit to what Professional Translators will do for free on these forums. You might, judging from quality of responses you obtain, decide to hire one of freelance translators as an editor or proofreader to perform a quality check for you. As a rule, review profiles of potential translators, editors or proofreaders. Ask them questions and compare responses. In some cases, a simple check of their responses will give you some indication as to how good they really are. That is, if their response is careless or contains errors, you really need to cross them off your short list.

For translation, rate is sometimes hourly, but is usually by word. A typical Professional Translator will charge between $0.10-$0.15 US/word on average. The relative difficulty of source language will be a determining factor in per-word rate you will likely be offered. Typical editing rates average between $25 and $35/hour.

Of course, if company budget allows and you have absolutely no time, you are well advised to retain a top-notch translation service provider. Even in doing so, you should not assume that you can then close your eyes, receive translation and be done with it. In fact, with respect to English-Chinese translation for which I was responsible, I did hire an agency with a sterling reputation and they performed with excellence. However, because of my diligence in checking with my in-house experts and my foreign country representatives, I was able to obtain a much, much finer translation product. I managed to do so without upsetting translators or translation manager.

When you do actually begin your translation review/feedback process, be sure that you present your questions in an orderly manner, so as not to annoy person performing or coordinating work. Be mindful of their time. Try to minimize number of times you go back and forth over text.

Are you drawing a blank as to where you should start with respect to evaluating target language text or even evaluating service provider? You can see some of items we check for when editing a translation, at . Ask your potential translation service provider what they look for in providing a quality translation. If they seem clueless or give you a blankstare.com look, pass them by, as you deserve better.

As an executive, even though I did not know target languages of translations for which I was responsible, I was able to spot some potential problems and needed improvements that were addressed during review process. My diligence paid off and my on-site language expert played a critical role in winnowing out finest of details. The bottom line is that you need to assess and utilize all potential resources that you have available to you to ensure a well-done translation product.

With respect to other two vantage points from which I can speak, I will have to leave something to your imagination for now. I will write another article on these two subjects at another time. For next article, I will share significant ‘insider’ insights, gleaned from a professional translator. The title however, will be “Translation Matters - Insider Insights gleaned from a Professional Translator.” Copyright 2005 Thomas Mayhew