Author: Pamela Swift

Categories
Operations

Tips to localize E-store in the Chinese markets

The objective of a successful E-store localization is to give international buyers an online experience that is indistinguishable from their local experience. This enables retailers to boost their international sales and to compete on a level playing field with foreign competitors.

E-store localization is on everyone’s mind. Why? Because it has proven as the most effective way to gain market share and increase sales globally.

All of the E-store owners with global ambitions must localize into the Chinese market. This language is the most important key to localizing into the most important and one of the biggest markets in the world.

Sounds too easy and too good to be true? Localize your E-store for the Chinese market and boost your sales. Sorry to tell you this but there’s a long road between your e-store and the Chinese market. Localization for the Chinese market is a difficult task. You need to adapt to a completely different user, who has little to nothing in common with the rest of the world.

Getting your e-store localized for the Chinese market is an essential. If done right you’ll hit the jackpot.

But what are the different aspects one must be aware of before one starts their localization process. Our linguistic team and Chinese e-store localization experts sat down together to note down a few important tips.

Localization (vs.) translation:

Many E-store owners think that in order for their store to be successful in China all they need to do is to translate their store to Chinese. However, they could not be more wrong. In China, translation is only the beginning step for the entire process of localization.

You have to bring out products into your E-store that will attract the foreign customers. This means a lot of data intensive research to know the demographics of the new location.

China has entirely different social media platforms (since platforms like Facebook and Twitter are banned) as compared to the rest of the world, store localizers will have to look for similar differences. In addition to this, because of the great firewall of China, it is also important for E-store owners to integrate their store into the cloud system based in China.

Choose your Chinese version:

There are mainly two forms of written Chinese. Simplified and traditional. As someone looking to localize their e-store it is extremely important to understand the difference between the two forms. Each of the forms differs from the other and has its own flavor. Chinese in each of the regions is so similar yet so different in many ways. In order to select the suitable resource for the locale and convey the correct meaning it is important to understand the differences.

Simplified Chinese is based on graphic and phonetic simplifications of the traditional form. It is officially used in Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia.

On the other hand, traditional Chinese is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas Chinese communities other than Malaysia and Singapore.

Chinese is not the same everywhere:

Even amongst traditional Chinese there is a lot of discrepancies. For example traditional Chinese used in Hong Kong is not the same as the traditional Chinese used in Taiwan. Apart from the basic difference of grammar and vocabulary. But there are more deeply rooted differences such as the tone and voice used. So an e-store translated for Hong Kong used in Taiwan will sound unprofessional and seem more like a gimmick. The main practice for this area is to translate for Taiwanese traditional Chinese. Mainly because Taiwan is the larger market and the vocabulary difference here is not so huge when it comes to technical terms.

Difference between vocal and written language:

In China people write in simplified Chinese but they speak in Mandarin. Similarly, although the people of Hong Kong write in traditional Chinese they speak in Cantonese. In common written localization projects we only use traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, as they are the languages used for localization and written material such as manuals, documents, texts, subtitles, etc. however, for more complex multimedia projects such as voiceovers and dubbing you will have to use either Cantonese or Mandarin.

Formal and informal addressing:

Unlike the English language the Chinese use two levels of addresses. Formal addressing and informal addressing. The differences of this lies mainly in the second person. For example nín is the formal “you” while ní is the informal “you”.

Chinese Glossary Order:

It is commonly seen that Chinese localization projects following the English way of ordering things. But the Chinese follow their own way of setting up a glossary. The major difference lies in the Chinese Pinyin elements, since they form a major part of the Chinese Dictionary.

Chinese use the following order for their indexation.

  1. Numbers (0-9)
  2. Symbols (e.g. $#*&^}{)(!)
  3. Simplified Chinese characters ordered by Chinese Pinyin.

Payment Options:

In China it is highly unlikely for customers to pay by credit card. In fact China still today is very much a cash based society. This means it is really hard for E-store owners to make adequate sales in China. However there is a way around this, by integrating local paying options. For example, Ali pay. Another way is payment through Chinese telecom companies which do allow in app payments. Though none of the telecom companies offer services in any language other than Chinese, then again it is crucial to hire a Chinese linguist who can better help you coordinate with the telecom company.

With more than a billion native Chinese speakers worldwide, Chinese is the second language to have the most number of readers on the internet. Getting it right is not an option it is an essential part of the localization process

Byline:
I blogs at https://www.ccjk.com/. A site that provides translation and localization services to a business men’s for run their business international in different foreign languages. Just like document translation, website translation, localization etc.

Categories
Sales & Marketing

How SEO Can Make Your New Business Prosper

Most everyone has a vague idea of what SEO is. But if you’re going to try to use it to succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to genuinely understand what the term means, how the concept works, and how you can leverage it in order to help your business prosper.

Defining SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it refers to practices designed to improve a site’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs). The goal of SEO is to improve the visibility and traffic of a site. In essence, this optimization is much like holding a search engine’s hand in order to help it understand a website. 

Black and White Hat SEO

Now, as you might suspect, this can lead to both good and bad SEO. Your SEO practices must be centered around improving your audience’s experience. If you focus solely on short-term gains in the SERPs, you’ll inevitably find yourself engaging in ethically questionable practices.

Bad or “black hat” SEO involves the owner of a website deliberately misleading search engines by stuffing their site’s content with SEO tactics, even if it doesn’t accurately reflect the content of the site itself. This satisfies the needs of the search engine but doesn’t actually provide quality content for the audience — in essence, “lying” in order to get traffic.

Good or “white hat” SEO, on the other hand, utilizes sustainable, honest techniques in order to optimize a site’s content while simultaneously making the content itself focused on the audience, not merely on gaming search engines.

Types of SEO

In addition to white and black hat techniques, there are two kinds of SEO that you want to use in order to fully optimize your site. 

The first is on-page SEO. This involves the content actually housed on your site. On-page SEO involves optimizing everything, from keywords and links within the content itself to meta tags and titles, image alt text, URLs, and even the code on the back end.

Off-page is the other kind of SEO you’ll want to consider. As the name suggests, this consists of any and all online SEO activities that you do off of your website. This can include things like guest posts, sharing infographics, working with influencers, and utilizing social media.

How to Use SEO to Build Your New Business

Now, if you’re starting to feel like a deer in the headlights, that’s understandable. SEO can feel very overwhelming at first. However, there’s no need to panic nor to throw in the towel. When broken down into manageable steps, optimizing your business’s online presence can actually be quite an achievable task, and it can yield tremendous benefits. Here are a few ways to go about using SEO in order to make your business shine and bring in traffic from across the web:

Create Genuine, Authoritative Content

First and foremost, always remember to put the customer first. One of the best on-page ways to increase your new business’s SEO is to create authoritative content that is aimed at the customer. In other words, if you start a company blog, make sure that you use it to write articles that provide real information and answer key questions for customers within your niche.

As you create content, start looking into keywords, including long-tail keyword phrases that are specific to your industry, expertise, and location. There are many different free keyword tools out there, like Google AdWords, Keyword Planner, or Keyword In. Look for one that you feel comfortable using, then search for keywords and phrases to include in your content. As you come up with a list of terms that people are searching for, add them to your content in natural places where they don’t disrupt the flow of information.

In addition, make sure to include links within your text that both point to other parts of your sites (known as internal linking) and outside quality sources (known as external linking). Governmental and educational sites are excellent quality external links. When you add a link to your text, also make sure that the words you hyperlink are applicable to the information being linked to!

Heading Off-Page

In addition to the on-site content, make sure to look for opportunities to share your business in other places. As previously mentioned, this can be done by using social media to personally connect with customers. It can also provide an avenue to promote your materials as well. Simply take the time to interact with customers as well as those interested in your niche and join in the conversation.

In addition, you can look for opportunities to connect with other authorities within your niche (known as influencers) who you can collaborate with. Providing quality guest posts for other blogs that include a link or two pointing back to your site can also help drive traffic.

Hiring a Professional

If want to use SEO but you can’t find the time to do so, you can always hire a professional to help. If you do that, though, make sure to set up a system of analytics in order to track their effectiveness. Remember, you’re not running a charity. If your business is new, chances are you don’t have a lot of capital to throw around. If that’s the case, you want to make sure that you’re investing your SEO dollars wisely. Make sure that you have a tool like Google Analytics tracking your data behind the scenes in order to see where your customers are coming from, how long they’re spending on your site, who is making purchases, and so on.

Using SEO to Succeed

In many ways, SEO is the lifeblood of the internet these days. While you always want your content to genuinely meet the needs of your customers, it’s good SEO that will ensure that the content reaches those customers in the first place. 

The beauty of good SEO, though, is it doesn’t require a massive budget or an extremely specialized skill set. While SEO experts can take the concept of optimization to very detailed levels, it’s certainly possible for startups and fledgling companies to also throw their “white hats” into the ring as well. If you focus on creating quality, on-page SEO content and leveraging your off-page SEO endeavors to the best of your ability, chances are you’ll notice your online momentum beginning to build in no time.

Categories
Social Marketing

How an SME can get the Best from Facebook

Social media, and Facebook in particular, ranks among the greatest marketing tools ever devised. More than two billion users are active on the site, including men and women, as well as just about every age and ethnic group. If you’re looking for an audience, in short, you’ll find it here. And Facebook has gone out of its way to make life easy for any business wishing to maintain a presence on the network.

Facebook’s Page Manager offers an impressive depth of customisation – so much depth, in fact, that many SMEs end up drowning in options. It’s worth putting aside an hour or so a week to explore what’s possible, but to begin with, most of us simply want to know where the most important features are, and how we can quickly get the best from them. Here, we’ll look at exactly that.

Make Sure your Page Looks Great

  • Set a Profile Picture
  • Set a Cover Picture
  • Include Contact Information

Your Facebook page is where the site’s users will come when they want to learn more about your business and what it has to offer. It’s critical, therefore, that it be as attractive and relevant as possible. If a user sees any of the placeholder graphics that your page comes with as standard, then the chances are strong that they’ll navigate away.

Your profile picture should be your business’s logo. Your cover photo, however, is what will take up most of the space on your page. It’s an opportunity to present your audience with more information, but too much text crowding the banner can look amateurish. Your online branding is a challenge which extends beyond Facebook; if you don’t have the right look, then consider bringing in a graphic designer who can take care of it for you.

Verifying your page will also lend your business a great deal more credibility. You can apply for verification via your business’s general settings tab.

Make the Right Posts

  • Post Consistently
  • Use Images
  • Make posts Actionable
  • Pin Important Posts
  • Use a Calendar

To be visible on Facebook, you’ll need to upload the sort of content that people will appreciate. This means images, and often moving images. Even if your message is one that can be conveyed exclusively through text, the addition of a relevant picture, GIF or video will help it to ‘pop’ from a Facebook feed in a way that plain text never could. This has a proven impact on user-engagement.

The content you provide should come in a steady stream. That means regularly-spaced posts that can be digested in a few minutes. This will ensure that you’re kept visible. You can intersperse these posts occasionally with a more high-effort offering. This will keep your audience coming back for more. Particularly important posts can be pinned to the top of your business’s Facebook page, ensuring that new visitors see it first.

The most effective posts are those which contain a Call to Action: that’s a written (or spoken) instruction to do something. This might be to visit your website, to like or share a post, or to comment. When Facebook users are constantly engaging with your content, their activity will show up on other people’s feeds, and thus content that encourages engagement will spread more easily.

Planning new content in advance can help you to keep ideas fresh, and ensure that what you come up with is relevant to the other things appearing in everyone’s feed. A content calendar is a useful planning tool that’ll allow you to keep track of those obscure online occasions like National Book Day, while making it easier to plan high-quality content when business is slow. That way, you won’t have to think about what you’re going to post when things in the office get hectic.

Measure your Success

  • Pay attention to the right metrics
  • Decide your goals in advance
  • Don’t be fooled by vanity metrics

Your approach to Facebook will evolve more or less constantly as you discover more about your customers and what they’re looking for. Changes in your approach to the site should be informed by reliable data – which Facebook provides in abundance.

Click-through-rate (or CTR) is among the more reliable measures of success. The average click-through rate will vary from industry to industry; retailers, for example, will have an easier time attracting clicks than education services.

Another important metric is specific to video, and that’s the number of people who watch more than 50%. This is more reliable than the related ‘three-second’ video view metric. A big difference between the two might mean that your video promised a great deal, but didn’t deliver on those promises.

‘Likes’ are at the other end of the scale. They don’t cost the user much effort to dish out, and therefore they’re not a very accurate reflection of what your customers are really looking for. Metrics of this sort are called ‘vanity’ metrics. It feels good when people ‘like’ your content, but it might not actually result in any substantial return for your business.

Boosting Posts

  • Pay a little for the right sort of clicks
  • Stipulate a Custom Audience
  • Use paid posts to field-test ads

For a price, Facebook will present your posts to a highly-engaged audience. You’ll pay per click-through, meaning that you’ll get a predictable return on the investment. For smaller businesses who don’t have much time to spend devising a marketing strategy, this approach might be a winning one.

Facebook’s Ad service allow the business to create a ‘Custom Audience’, either based on arbitrary characteristics, or visitor data from your site. Using this data, it’s possible to make a ‘Lookalike’ audience, of people who share traits with those who are already engaging with your business.

One use of Facebook ads is quickly field-testing different posts, to see which can draw the most clicks in the shortest amount of time. This information can be passed to the people who are actually composing the posts. In the long-run, this can help ensure that the posts you’re making will be engaged with.

Categories
Success Attitude

13 Skills You Need to Develop Your Career

With an increasingly competitive job market, it’s no surprise to learn that candidates are doing all that they can to stand out from the crowd, hoping to increase their chances of securing their dream role. No matter the industry you want to go into, companies want their employees to have a wealth of experience, qualifications, and skills behind them.

To help increase the chances of you landing your dream job, here are 13 skills you will need to develop.

Communication Skills

First and foremost, knowing how to communicate effectively is crucial. From the moment you walk into a job interview, potential employers will be able to spot whether you’re right for the job simply by your mannerisms and how you present yourself. How you carry yourself can be the make or break, so it’s important that you understand how to engage correctly with employers, especially as first impressions count. When it comes to written communication, make sure that you proofread what you have put down, and take your time to understand and listen to what they have asked from you.

Analytical and Research Skills

Even if you believe a question that has been presented to you is easy, it’s best not to give a rushed answer in the interview stages. Instead, take some time to analyze the situation, as well as having a think about all the different possible scenarios. To stand out from candidates, you need to have strong research skills. Employers want to know that you will do all that you can to find the right answer to their question, so being patient and knowing where to look is key. The last thing you want to do is give a wrong answer and ruin your chances of getting your dream job.

Flexibility

Another sought after skill from employers is being able to manage a range of assignments simultaneously, as well as being flexible enough to work well under pressure. In the world we live in, a job description can be very fluid, meaning it can change shape at any given time. Employees that are willing to work under a variety of changing circumstances are highly appreciated. Knowing how to adapt from one environment to another is a big advantage too. Not only does this demonstrate that you’re committed to the organization, but it will help you on your career path too.

Interpersonal Abilities

In order to get tasks and projects done, it’s likely that you’ll have to work alongside others. Whether that’s working in a team, or engaging with suppliers or clients, having interpersonal abilities is another key skill that employers are always on the lookout for. Building strong and healthy relationships with those around you can be a big help. Knowing how to motivate others around you is also important.

Problem Solving

No matter how much preparation and research you do in your job, there may come a time where you’re faced with a challenge. Instead of falling at the first hurdle and giving up, it’s crucial that you know how to problem solve. Working your way through an issue and coming out the other side will not only show that you can work well under pressure, but that you can take anything that’s thrown at you.

Planning and Organization Skills

Candidates who put time and effort into their planning and organization skills are already one step ahead when it comes to finding employment. Instead of rushing your work, it’s best to give yourself plenty of time to map out what is required of you, and what methods to take in order to complete your work on time.

Leadership Skills

If you plan to put yourself forward for a management role, you need to remember that you will be at the forefront of the company. Whether it’s potential candidates, current employees, or suppliers and clients, all eyes are on you, so knowing how to lead a team is crucial. If you can’t manage others, employees will lack direction and productivity will suffer. Being able to inspire individuals to work at their best potential and providing guidance and support along the way can allow you to keep track of their progress every step of the way.

Self-Confidence

Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, being self-confident will exude an aura that can convince others that you have everything in order. If you don’t believe in your abilities, you can’t expect anyone else to, so being passionate about your work and striving for success can help you on your career path. It can be a dog eat dog world in business, so rising above what’s presented to you and showing that you’re able to get through just about anything can help you stand out from other candidates.

Public Speaking

Once you believe in yourself, projecting your opinions and ideas to others should be like a walk in the park. In business, you may have to do public speaking in order to secure new clients to your brand, or to engage with new and existing customers. How you deliver information can be a make or break situation, so it’s important that you practice what you are going to say and analyze who your audience are. While public speaking will come naturally to some, it’s a skill that can definitely be acquired over time. Although it can feel daunting to go out there and have all eyes watching you, you will soon begin to feel more confident in yourself.

Creativity

Thinking outside the box and being creative are more key skills that can benefit you in the workplace. Whether it’s finding solutions to problems or using innovative ways to improve conditions in the workplace, getting your creative thinking hat on and looking at how you can benefit your business is key. Employers want to know that you can stand on your own two feet, so don’t be afraid to express your thoughts. However, it’s also important that you’re able to take other people’s points of view on board. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, so having listening skills is crucial too.

Strong Work Ethic

Being punctual, driven, and motivated are some of the main key traits that employers want their candidates to have. If you aren’t passionate about what you do, it’s likely that employers will pick someone else for the job. They need to be assured that you will do everything in your power to keep their business running afloat, so having a strong work ethic is what will set you apart from others. Arriving at work on time and showing that you’re willing to get stuck into whatever is in front of you can help you on your career journey. If you don’t show that you’re committed to their business, it’s likely you will be shown the door.

Sales and Marketing

Whether you plan to run your own company further down the line, or are hoping to move up the career ladder, sales and marketing is an important field in business. Knowing how to promote, present and sell a product is essential, regardless of what role you hold in a company. If you don’t feel confident in your marketing abilities, why not practice to a friend or acquaintance first? Having knowledge of some of the most basic marketing strategies will come in handy later on. If you have to attend networking events, you will be the face of your business, so understanding your products and how they can benefit others will help drum up sales.

Computer and Electronic Skills

With technology continually advancing, most jobs these days require you to have some basic knowledge of computers and electronics. As we tend to rely more and more on technology to aid us through our daily tasks, it’s crucial that you know how to use a computer to complete projects and tasks. Gone are the days of a pen and paper, so whether you’re sending emails to clients, or analyzing data, having strong knowledge of computers and electronics is important.

Gaining New Skills

With so many skills to acquire, it can be hard to know where to start. If you need a push in the right direction, you may want to consider gaining a qualification before you apply for your dream role. For example, if you would like to go into the healthcare industry, completing an MBA in hospital administration online can teach you a range of key skills and techniques that you can use to your advantage. Having the right credentials behind you can make employers take notice of you, and with online courses becoming increasingly popular, this means that you’re able to study at your own leisure.

Knowing how to lead a team, being able to problem solve, understanding the importance of sales and marketing, and working to a time frame are just a few key skills that you need to develop your career. Employers want to know you have passion, drive, and motivation, so taking all the skills listed on board can help you get your foot on the career ladder.

Categories
Finance & Capital

An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Multifamily Real Estate Investing

Entrepreneurs tend to be good fits for real estate investing. This has something to do with their creativity, ingenuity, and stomach for risk-taking. And if there’s one type of real estate investing that’s more appealing than the rest, it’s multifamily properties.

The Benefits of Multifamily Real Estate Investing

As the name suggests, a multifamily piece of real estate is housing where there are multiple units. These units are typically all owned by one person, but leased out to different tenants. Examples include large apartment buildings, duplexes, and triplexes. The benefits of investing in multifamily properties include:

  • Cash flow. More rent checks equal more cash flow. There’s also the added benefit of being able to stay above water, even in the midst of turnover and vacancies. 
  • Easier management. It’s much easier to manage three units that are all in the same building than it is to manage three properties spread out across town. 
  • Flexibility. With a multifamily property, you have the option to live in one unit and rent out the rest. This can essentially provide you with a free place to stay. Or, if you prefer, you can rent out all units and live somewhere else.
  • Easier financing. Generally speaking, lenders see multifamily properties as less risky than single-family rental properties. The risk is spread out, which lowers your chances of defaulting.

These are just some of the perks of investing in multifamily real estate. The more you learn about this type of investment, the more appealing it’ll become.

4 Tips and Principles

Whether you’re a first-time investor, or you have experience investing in other types of real estate, here are a few tips and principles to help you find success in the multi-family niche.

 

  • Finding Properties

The most important step in any real estate investment is the purchase. You make your money when you buy, not when you sell. This means if you overpay, the deal will never work out in your favor.

The biggest challenge with multifamily housing is that the inventory is lower than with single-family homes. There simply aren’t as many for sale. If you’re impatient, this can cause you to make a bad investment when something does eventually end up on the market. Practice patience and do your due diligence. Pressure never makes an investor smart.

 

  • Financing

Most of us aren’t cash investors. Assuming you won’t be buying a bunch of real estate in cash, you’ll need to get the money from somewhere. This also means you’ll need to meet certain lending criteria. 

In addition to satisfying a basic loan-to-value (LTV) ratio and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR), most lenders will also require a debt yield ratio (DYR) of at least 10 percent in order to make a deal viable.  Here’s a really simple debt yield guide that explains exactly how this ratio works within the context of real estate investing. 

 

  • Maintenance

When you have three units in an investment, as opposed to just one, you also have three-times the toilets, garbage disposals, AC units, etc. Naturally, this increases the burden of upkeep and maintenance. 

Rather than adopting a reactionary approach to maintenance, it’s wise to invest in preventative maintenance. Not only will this save you time – you can do all units on a schedule – but it’ll also save you money by preventing small issues from becoming major problems. 

 

  • Managing Tenants

Finding and screening tenants is only half the battle. You’ll need to make sure your investment is in a good location with little crime. I use a heat map software and color code the zip codes based on the crime rate. One of the most important aspects of successful multifamily real estate investing is retaining good tenants. Make sure you’re building relationships, holding them accountable (no late checks), and meeting their requests (within reason). It’s typically cheaper to keep a tenant at the current rent rate than to secure a new tenant at a higher rent. Turnover is rarely as easy as it seems on the surface.

Conclusion

Multifamily investing is just one type of real estate investing. You can invest in single-family homes, commercial properties, offices, retail space, warehouses, raw land, mobile home parks, etc. The key is to find the type of investment that fits your skills and offers the best possible return on investment for your money. For many, multifamily real estate is the answer. For others, it can be found in a different niche. Give it a try and see what you think.