Chinese New Year 2015

Chinese New Year

This important and longest Chinese celebration occurs at the turn of the Chinese calendar. It began on February 4^th and lasts until March 15^th.  February 19^th is the official New Year’s Day this year!  Roll Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fourth of July all into a 40 day celebration. Traditions are plentiful during this celebration. People wear red and give children “lucky money” in red envelopes. Red streamers with poems written on them are decorations. Red is the symbol for fire which drives out bad luck. Like our American holidays, there are family feasts everywhere.  Some favorite foods are steamed cakes, spring rolls and fish (Yu) which sounds like wish and abundance. If the fish is served whole with the head on and tail attached, your abundance will be ensured.

2015 The Year of the Goat:  Legend has it Buddha named the 12 years after animals and those born within that year carry some of the animal’s characteristics.  You can look up what year and sign you are under. The Goat is creative and artistic, gentle and persuasive.

 http://www.topmarks.co.uk/ChineseNewYear/ZodiacStory.aspx

Your Chinese New Year Dinner:

If you are inclined not to eat out but would like to brave the delicious world of Chinese cuisine, I recommend something simple. Noodles with beansprouts and onions represent a long life. NEVER chop your noodles or you will chop your life short! Perhaps try one the recipes from http://www.chinasichuanfood.com/15-free-chinese-new-year-recipe-ebook/ and order out the rest of your meal. Remember enjoying this meal with those that you love helps ensure a year of abundance. You may include fortune cookies but they are an American created tradition and did not originate in China.

Decorate with red paper streamers and Chinese lanterns. Make your own like the one pictured here. Pinterest has some great ideas for celebrations.

Ending your celebration with Fireworks is tradition and fun.  If you live near a Chinese community near your city, check out their celebration. Click on the link to see the migration of about 80 million holiday travelers in China using a heat map. http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/17/heat-map-captures-massive-chinese-new-year-migration/21143392/

Celebrations are great in any culture. Why don’t you create a family tradition including some of the traditions for Chinese New Year. It won’t hurt but will bring you fun, good time and maybe some luck!

新年快乐 / 新年快樂 (Xīnnián kuàilè)

'New Year happiness!'

·         In Mandarin: /sshin-nyen kwhy-ler/

·         In Cantonese: /sen-nin feye-lor/

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/special-report/chinese-new-year/happy-new-year-in-chinese.htm

I hope you enjoy Chinese New Year with your loved ones. Wishing you abundance and success this year!

Linda Richardson

linda@allcleartranslations.com

International Markets can be reached with Multilingual Websites

If They Can’t Read It, They Won’t Buy It

This is a short overview to help start your thinking process about new international markets.

Your company is looking for new opportunities to grow and build revenues, retain clients and increase exposure. Here are some statistics to help you determine if you should have a global strategy.

What new markets should you consider? Generally speaking of course, here are some areas to explore.

Canada and Mexico – ease of entry, close proximity, our 2 largest trade partners

China – even with their reduced growth, their GDP is still outperforming most countries. They are our 3^rd largest trade partner and have half a billion middle class consumers!

Africa and India – These regions are emerging markets that are building; hospitals, airports, highways and more. Their spend on infrastructure will be increasing and they welcome outside resources with better systems and technology. From 2000- 2014 Africans internet use grew +6000% and Asia’s grew +1000%!  World internet use from: www.internetworldstats.com  

 

Should you translate your website?

More than 70% of users speak languages other than English. Other languages are resourced more than English and growing presences on the web.

Over 95% of consumers are outside of the U.S. By eliminating the language barrier, you have created a multitude of opportunities.

75% of web users state they buy from sites in their native language.

This is the age of the internet, many business people (>50%) engage, shop and purchase on the internet. If you are not telling your story in the consumer’s language, you will lose that sale, connection and future sales.

Most clients state once they start translating their export sales increase comparatively to their U.S. sales each year.

Adding as little as 8 languages will increase your viewers to 80% of the world’s population.

 About the Author:

Linda Richardson is the President and owner of All Clear Translations, LLC.  Since 2010 the team of All Clear Translations had helped companies grow into areas like Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Russia and more. Their translations and localization transform websites, software, technical manuals and marketing materials into all languages helping to increase sales. Their unique process can include Plain English to help companies increase understanding and comprehension while reducing translation and production costs of manuals. Their audio voice-over technologies  and video translations enable spoken and written communication in many languages. Email Linda at linda@allcleartranslations and visit their website http://www.allcleartranslations.com

Why American companies should be focusing on the 

Chinese Market.

While in Detroit last week at the Discover Global Markets Forum, I came to understand the importance of eCommerce for international sales. The U.S. Commercial Service put together a great event filled with international representatives and much information to help companies build global sales. While in a break out session I learned some great facts about our third largest export market – China.

If you total the most 171 populous cities, they host 1 Billion people.  China now has one million millionaires (USD)!  Within these cities and smaller cities there is very little modernized retail. No large malls or department stores are in most of these cities. Ecommerce is utilized by many wealthy and middle income Chinese. In 2015 internet users in China should be around 800 million. These consumers love foreign brands especially American made products. They cited safe, quality, integrity and convenience as reasons why they love our brands.

Fakes or knock-offs are a big problem in China. Although the government is trying to crack down on fakes and fake retail fronts, there continues to be new illegal storefronts opening every month. Companies like Apple, Disney, Nike and Ikea have been duplicated as knock-off stores in China. I am sure you have heard about the fake Apple stores! http://www.tealeafnation.com/2013/06/chinas-copycat-phenomenon-fake-apple-stores-booming-in-southern-china/

The knock-off products have made eCommerce more attractive to consumers because they can do some due diligence to be sure to get the product they want. Many consumers must travel to get to a department store or mall. Storefronts are not seen as reliable or true brands and therefore make ecommerce even more attractive to savvy Chinese consumers. The feeling is they are getting a “real” item from the internet not a fake. Ecommerce sales are expected to continue to fuel the need for luxury and brand items from abroad.

Alibaba has been a catalyst of change for the Chinese consumer. Many have not shopped in department stores and rely on shopping with Alibaba online shopping sites like TMall. Disposable income has grown and the Chinese consumers in 3^rd and 4^th tiered cities are spending more of their disposable income on American products. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-11/alibaba-sites-drive-chinas-e-commerce-growth

How to grab your share of a multi-billion dollar market?

1.       Consult with your local U.S. Commercial Officer. They can help you with market analysis, connections to build, translators, feet on the street and more.

2.       Consult with your State’s Department of Economic Development. They also have resources to help you build your brand in other regions.

3.       Consult with your local Small Business Development Center. Their counselors will also help you understand your new market and help with sales growth.

4.       Cites like Alibaba, Amazon and EBAY offer assistance in getting online internationally. They do expect you to translate your information for the regions you are marketing to. But uploading translated information is easily accomplished.

These resources also offer training seminars to help educate you on commerce, compliance, and regional markets. Go online to www.trade.gov , http://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/osbdc , or your State’s Economic Development Center.

$$ Funding Available! $$

Have you been negatively impacted by imports? There is a matching grant to help you build your exports. Up to $150,000 matching grants are available to help you build an exporting process and plan. Contact us to find out more. We can help you determine if you qualify and help with the eligibility process.

About the Author

Linda Richardson founded All Clear Translations in 2010. Her focus is to enable American companies to grow and build their international markets.  Richardson is certified in Localization and Project Management for Localization, she has spoken on translation and localization to build sales at international and national conferences as well as regionally. In January, 2013, Richardson opened an office in Hermitage, PA at the eCenter at LindenPointe- a technology incubator. Please email her at Linda@allcleartranslations.com, visit her website, www.allcleartranslations.com, her blog – blog.allcleartranslations.com, twitter feed @allclearlinda or call her at 866-489-9109 for information on how translations can help you grow.