How to have an effective international business card

The Globalization-Group published an interesting article. It helps business owners and their employees to understand why their business cards might not be effective in some countries.

Although business cards may seem small and uncomplicated, there are some issues when it comes to using them in foreign markets (and languages). The article provides some excellent tips to help business go smoothly when working with international clients.

Size, non-translation of certain elements, and even the way a business card is presented differ depending on the country and situation. Before traveling, the business card must be translated quickly, smoothly, and without incident. Various preferences and reference materials must be provided to the translation supplier in order to have the business card translation process run smoothly.

Standard Business Card Dimensions by Country
Standard business card dimensions differ from country to country, and the business card must have the correct size. If the corporate headquarters are in the U.S., but the business card is printed in multiple languages, U.S. standard dimensions can be used. However, if business cards are printed for someone based in one of the international offices, then the designer (or the translator) and the printer will want to use the standard dimensions for that country.

• United States, Canada: 88.9 × 50.8 cm / 3.5 × 2 inches;
• United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland: 85 × 55 cm / 3.346 × 2.165 inches;
• Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Sweden: 90 × 55cm / 3.54 × 2.165 inches
  Japan 91 × 55cm(or 90 x 55 cm) / 3.582 × 2.165 inches;
• China, Hong Kong: 90 × 54 cm / 3.543 × 2.125 inches;
• Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, & Multiple Latin American Countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and more): 90 × 50 cm /3.543 × 1.968 inches.

Culturally Appropriate Business Card Etiquette
Business cards hold differing importance in some countries. Know the appropriate way to give and receive business cards in each country. The most notable example is Japan. The book Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands includes the following recommendations for culturally appropriate exchange of business cards in Japanese business:

• Cards are presented after the bow or handshake. The card must be presented with the Japanese side facing the business partner, so that it can be read immediately.
• Read the card presented and memorize all the information. Ask for help in pronunciation and in comprehension of the title and make a relevant comment.
• Handle cards very carefully. Do not put them in a pocket or in wallet, and never write on a person’s business card in his/her presence).
• In Japanese culture, business cards are usually given and received using both hands, and Japanese business cards often contain additional details to emphasize qualifications.

Preferences for Business Card Translation
Indicate the following preferences where appropriate to ensure that the business card translation supplier provides what you need the first time:

• Preferred terminology used on other company cards (i.e. preferred job titles, department names, taglines, or product names).
• Existing name translations or whether to include names in both languages.
• Exclusion of address from translation.
• Preferred international contact information (i.e. non-toll-free phone number with country code that can be accessed outside the U.S.

Reference Materials for Business Card Translation
Provide the following optional reference materials to ensure that the business card translation supplier has everything needed for appropriate translation:

• Existing company style guide, especially if related to translation and/or business cards.
• Existing company glossary, especially if related to translation and/or business cards.
• Existing translation history.
• Example of an employee's business card that has been translated or created in the target language.
• Other reference material including existing translations for logos, slogans, names of products, names of people, etc.

How to Market on YouTube

YouTube has been used by companies to market themselves. These “viral videos” include videos like Miss Teen South Carolina , Smirnoff’s Tea Partay music video, the Sony Bravia ads , Soulja Boy . These videos have traveled all around the internet and been posted on YouTube, MySpace, Google Video, Facebook, Digg, blogs, etc. They have been viewed millions and millions of times.

Marketing campaigns can harness promotional videos and become truly viral. To get at least 100,000 people to watch a company’s “viral” video, keep the following in mind.

Not all viral videos are what they seem.
There are tens of thousands of videos uploaded to YouTube each day. A company needs to get at least 100,000 views to be considered successful; hopefully reaching 1.5 million views. In short, not all videos go viral organically – professional PR help might be needed.

Content is King (sort of)
If a company wants a truly viral video that will get millions of people to watch and share it, then content is king. But good content is not the only condition to get 100,000 views. A video must have a decent concept, an should not be forced to fit a brand. Rather, a brand should be fit into a great concept. Here are some guidelines:

• Make it short: 15-30 seconds is ideal; break down long stories into bite-sized clips.
• Don’t make an outright ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing, such as Smirnoff’s Tea Partay.
• Make it inviting: make sure to give a viewer a call to action, such as the Geico commercials.

Core Strategy: Getting onto the “Most Viewed” page
The core concept of video marketing on YouTube is to harness the power of the site’s traffic. The goal is to get a video on that Videos page, which lists the Daily Most Viewed videos. When being one of the twenty videos on the Most Viewed page, it means that it grabs 1/20th of the clicks on that page. The higher up on the page the video is, the more views it will get.

To ensure the first 50,000 views onto the Most Viewed list:

• Blogs: reaching out to individuals who run relevant blogs and actually entice them to post the embedded video or the relating URL.
• Forums: embed the link to the video in a post as part of a relevant threat. Although a bit tedious and time-consuming, it can have a tremendous effect when done properly.
• MySpace: Plenty of users allow people to embed YouTube videos right in the comments section of their MySpace pages.
• Facebook: Sharing a video with friends lists can have a real impact. Another option is to create an event that announces the video launch and invite friends, writing notes and tagging friends, or posting the video on Facebook Video with a link back to the original YouTube video.
• Email lists: sending the video to email lists, including employees. Announce the launch of the video and tell recipients that they can forward the link. This can be a very effective strategy, leveraging the viral effect.

Each video has a shelf life of 48 hours before it’s moved from the Daily Most Viewed list to the Weekly Most Viewed list, so it’s important that this happens quickly. Once a video is on the Most Viewed page, the number of views must be maximized. People see hundreds of videos on YouTube, and the title and thumbnail are an easy way for video publishers to actively persuade someone to click on a video.

Titles can be changed a limitless number of times. For starters, the title can include phrases such as “exclusive” or “behind the scenes,” or “funny video.” Later on, the title can change to something more relevant to the brand.

If a video is sitting on the Most Viewed page with nineteen other videos, a compelling video thumbnail is the single best strategy to maximize the number of clicks the video gets. YouTube provides three choices for a video’s thumbnail, one of which is grabbed from the exact middle of the video. The frame at the very middle must therefore be interesting. The thumbnail should be high res and ideally it should have a face or at least a person/animal in it.

Strategic Tagging
YouTube allows for tagging videos with keywords that make the videos show up in relevant searches. Tags can also be used to control the videos that show up in the Related Videos box. Ideally, the tags are unique, and are not used by any other YouTube videos. Done correctly, this will for full control over the videos that show up as “Related Videos.
Once views start trailing off after a few days to a week, it’s time to add some more generic tags, tags that draw out the long tail of a video as it starts to appear in search results on YouTube and Google.

Metrics/Tracking: measuring effectiveness
Tweak the links on YouTube (whether in a YouTube channel or in a video description) by adding “?video=1” to the end of each URL. This makes it much easier to track inbound links using Google Analytics or another metrics tool. TubeMogul and VidMetrix also track views/comments/ratings on each individual video and generate graphs for review. These tools also follow the viral spread of a video outside of YouTube and throughout other social media sites and blogs.

Facebook’s Catch-22

Facebook is making another change to its website. Rather than asking people to "become a fan" of a company such as Starbucks or a celebrity, Facebook will instead let users click that they “like” the company, product or person.

Facebook already lets people show what they like by posting comments or pictures on the Facebook website. According to Facebook, its users click the term “like” almost twice as much as they click "become a fan."

Facebook announced that it will change the button in order for users to be more comfortable with linking up with a brand. It will also streamline the website.

Businesses use Facebook pages, which are free to create, to connect with their customers and promote their brands. Facebook makes money from the advertisements these companies often use to draw users to their Facebook fan pages. The average user becomes a fan of four pages each month, according to Facebook.

"The idea of liking a brand is a much more natural action than (becoming a fan) of a brand," said Michael Lazerow, who is an expert in establishing corporate brands and advertise on social networks such as Facebook. "In many ways it's a lower threshold."

But while it might seem to be less of a commitment to declare that someone "likes" Coca-Cola than to announce being a fan of it, the meaning would essentially remain the same.

Facebook friends would see that their friend clicked that he or she "likes" a company’s webpage, and such pages would still be listed on a fan’s Facebook profile for anyone to see.

The world's largest online social network is known for constantly tweaking the way users experience the site. It did not always inform its audience, which resulted in harsh criticisms. Now that Facebook did announce its latest tweak, bloggers reacted by saying that it was just a PR trick to get exposure. It seems that Facebook is caught in a classic Catch-22 situation.

Facebook continues however to draw millions of new fans and more than half of its 400 million users log in every day. This is especially amazing considering the (many) security problems Facebook encountered.

A month ago, hundreds of Facebook users received personal emails that were not intended for them. Facebook reacted by saying: “during our regular code push yesterday evening, a bug caused some misrouting to a small number of users for a short period of time. Our engineers diagnosed the problem moments after it began and are working to get everything back in its rightful place. While they fix the issue, affected users will not be able to access the site.” The company said it was still investigating the problem and could not immediately respond to specific questions about the glitch.

Yesterday, private e-mail addresses that many Facebook users wanted to keep hidden were revealed publicly last night on a multitude of Facebook profiles, as reported by Gawker . The glitch lasted about 30 minutes before Facebook sealed the gap.

An anonymous tipster alerted Gawker of the breach in an expletive-riddled message: "6:46PM: I cannot [bleeping] believe it. Everybody's email has been turned on to the public for at least the past 30 min. I tried going into my account to remove my email b/c I have an issue with a crazed stalker. But I wasn't able to. God I [bleeping] hate FB!! When will they ever learn?!"

It is a question of time before Facebook users get fed up and close their accounts; especially if there will be strong competitor in the social media arena. Moreover, Facebook should shape up before being hit by a massive lawsuit.