Speak the language of your e-customer

In this era of globalization it is natural for persons to argue that sites ought to be available in multiple languages. They are absolutely right when they state that if one's customers are non-English speaking that in today's e-commerce driven environment of business that one ought to cater to those who pay the bills.

However, for those entities that may not have the budget yet to perform the conversion professionally, there tools out there that can be used to get the job done.

One such tool by our favourite Internet company, Google, allows for instant translation of any website. One just needs to download their toolbar and away you go! This is certainly a hassle-free way of maneuvering sites of variant languages.

FreeTranslation.com and Google Translate, are perhaps a little more cumbersome since you have a bit of cutting and pasting to do in order for the translation to be carried out.

One of the areas that many folks tend to ignore is that the commercial sector for differently able persons is a multi-billion dollar segment and yet one scarcely hears arguments for making sites accessible to these persons. For those who are interested in making their sites fully accessible there is the Web Accessibility Initiative. To check to see if your site is accessible one can also plug one's URL in at the EvalAccess home page.

My point is this: yes website builders and administrators need to ensure that their sites cater to all of their publics effectively. However, in this Internet age, there is virtually nothing one cannot find in the form of a solution on the World Wide Web if we searched hard enough.

I'd be happy to hear your comments or you can email me at christalpm@gmail.com.

SO SOCIAL!

Imagine I was just posting on Facebook about how much my little one makes me laugh. At three years old he has an amazing vocabulary! Last night he told me he needed "one money for a poppy". I know he does these things all the time but they never cease to amaze and amuse me at how fast he is growing. I remember before he was born I wondered what his voice would sound like. Now I try to imagine how he will look as an adult. Scary, I know! They do grow up quickly.

What was interesting is that an old school mate messaged me shortly after to let me know she was starting a kids' store at home and that when I was ready to shop for my son I should swing by. Well how about that?! Through social media, I could broadcast my love for my son and this lady was careful to leverage the chance to promote her business selling children's attire. Traditional media is so dead!

This is the future people. No more buying all those expensive spots to speak to the entire country when your target audience is ripe for the picking. The thing about social media is that many companies still don't get it and I am afraid that many won't survive in the next few years.

Was I offended by her pitch you might be wondering. The answer is no. She and I have rapport dating back years! Of course I was happy to hear that she was pursuing entrepreneurship. I'm proud of her and will support her business when I can. On the contrary, traditional advertisers, don't take the time to know you sometimes but they walk up to you in the proverbial cocktail party and start spewing off about their benefits. Rapport is the new currency and those who get it will get the real cash as long as they stay persistent, tasteful and fun.