el marketing, das marketing, le marketingWritten by A. Raymond Randall, Jr.
While reviewing site stats, I noticed 18 foreign countries as domain origins. This prompts my curiosity. Should I hone my marketing efforts to serve these visitors effectively in their native tongue? My college age daughter studies French, German, and Spanish simultaneously. The Word "marketing" is an "American" word she informs me; distinguished in Spanish, German, and French with slight nuance. Although my daughter learns conversations in Spanish, German, and French, much more talk is in Chinese. Despite this fact, Kenji Kitao, a professor of English at Doshisha University in Japan, points out, "English is major language of news and information...business and government...maritime communication and international air traffic control...." English headlines and text appear on more than half of newspapers published in world. Three thousand magazines publish in English for Indian readers, according to Kitao. 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 suite 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 Internet. So, what questions does this idea present? Perhaps just one: should a webmaster consider multiple languages for a website? If no, stop reading here, but first consider fact that Yahoo provides local (or village) site translations for 24 countries and ethnic groups. Further, Yahoo provides state specific sites for every state in U.S. Local marketing matters. Just take a look at Yahoo's home page. In fact, a study by IDC informs us that only 45% of online surfers speak English, yet 85% of Web pages appear in English. Most webmasters work solo, or with a very small staff, and our budgets are smaller yet. We don't have a Yahoo staff of international writers. So, what do we do if this concept matters? Here are 7 rudimentary steps you may consider. 1. Check with your site design company. Many web designers provide provide foreign language support. Here is an example of one designers commitment, "Our templates support following languages: English, Danish, Dutch, Faroese, French, German, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish. We are planning to translate our site in several languages in future as well. We have already started doing translation into Spanish."
| | 20-Point Checklist EVERY Sales Letter Must Pass!Written by Grady Smith
Sales letter not pulling like you want? Need a quick "fill in blanks" formula for marketing your next product? Here are 20 essential components of hard-selling sales letter: 1) Does your headline speak directly to your potential customer and give them a strong, specific benefit of your product or service? 2) Did you start with strongest benefit of your product or service, then work your way down to include least important benefits for your potential customer? 3) Do you explain how your product or service is better or different compared to your competitors? 4) Does your sales letter speak directly to your prospect? In other words, instead of saying, "people that like horses will love this book" you say, "If you love horses you'll love this book." 5) Do you use "you" twice as often as "I" in your sales letter? 6) Is your sales letter easy to read using short sentences and paragraphs? 7) Do you use power words and write with goal of keeping your reader's interest? 8) Do you show your potential customer their problem; agitate it by telling them how troublesome it is, then offer your product or service as solution? 9) Is your copy clear, easy to understand, and follows a flow from one paragraph to next? 10) Are your strong words and phrases highlighted or bolded to draw attention and keep reader focused? 11) Is your sales letter written in a friendly, active, conversational, "me to you", tone of voice?
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