Skip links

Performancing

Main navigation

Blog

Icanlocalize Now Offering Localization for Drupal Powered Sites

Reaching across language barriers is one way of increasing your blog or website’s traffic and reach. We have tried this with the Blog Herald before, focusing on human translation into various languages. While it was a worthwhile activity, I must say that the difficulty was in finding able translators who could do the job in a timely manner. Translating current content is easy, but working on archives can be really cumbersome, not to mention confusing, particularly in terms of accounting (since translation is often paid on a per-wordcount basis).

And then there’s the extra workload of having to post translated articles. It can be the translator who does this (at extra cost), or you (at extra confusion, because you mostly don’t understand what the heck the translated article says).

One of our partners in the business, Icanlocalize, has actually been doing WordPress-based localization using a plugin, and this has made localization easier for me, and now they’re doing localization for Drupal powered sites.

It’s quite simple, really. In a project of mine that requires translation, I just uploaded the plugin, keyed in a few details (actually it was Icanlocalize developers that entered my API key and other details), and it’s been smooth sailing from that point on. Translators never have to touch WordPress, but rather they upload the translated posts on their own Icanlocalize interface, and these are automatically uploaded to the WordPress blog whenever ready.

What’s even better is that Icanlocalize does the hiring and management of professional translators for publishers. And rates vary according to expertise, so you can pay top dollar if you want top-notch translation, or you can settle for more casual translations if you’re a bit stingy.

Now Icanlocalize is offering localization for Drupal-powered sites, which allows publishers to run a multilingual Drupal site without spending any time maintaining translations.

The system identifies new and updated contents and these are then translated by professional translators, so that authors can concentrate on writing content in their language. The system is mostly automated–the Icanlocalize module gets contents and all meta information (such as menu text and taxonomy) for translation. Then, when the translation is complete the Drupal page is created automatically.

From my experience with WordPress, the process maintains the page structure, links, formatting and any embedded objects. Only the text is edited by the translators. I’ve been told this goes the same for Drupal, too.

And so while we’re doing a move from Drupal to WP here at Perf, I thought folks who use Drupal might be interested. My kudos goes to Icanlocalize for doing a great job in localization!

What’s Your Most Productive Writing Day?

There are seven days in a week, and each of these has a corresponding value, in terms of productivity. That’s if you believe HR experts, and their studies and surveys on when workers are at their best. Granted, those of us who are into writing or blogging usually have different habits and preferences. But perhaps there are certain times of the day or days in the week when you feel the creative juices just flowing out, waiting to be captured in bits and bytes.

I generally feel most productive with writing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It probably has something to do with the proximity to the weekends. Mondays can be either slow or hectic days. Some may have weekend hangovers (from whatever you’re hung over about, whether it’s alcohol, a vacation or a general sense of relaxedness). And yet others might be catching up on meetings, messages, calls or missed work. Fridays are, of course, when people generally feel more relaxed, looking forward to doing those after-hours activities, like sports, night-outs with the friends, a trip to the pub, a weekend getaway with the family, or such.

But then to someone like me who writes about a wide array of topics, there’s also an altogether different dimension to productivity. There are those times I can be productive with one thing, but not with another. In particular, during the middle of the week, I feel best writing about news, doing reviews, attempting to bait links. Nearing weekends, I feel more comfortable writing editorials and sometimes even fiction. I guess it has something to do about mood, and what I’ve experienced during the week so far (or in the case of Mondays, what I look forward to in the coming week).

In blogging, you also have to consider your readership. Some bloggers shy away from posting in the weekends, because that’s often when readership takes a dip. Same goes with holidays. But yet others take this opportunity to recap and take stock of the best stuff you’ve written or read throughout the week.

What’s your best writing or blogging day? And if you have one (or few) in particular, why is that so?

Great List Of Applications For Online Businesses

Freelancefolder.com has put together a great list of fifteen different applications that they believe no Online Business can live without. Ringing in the top spot at number one is WordPress!

Every online business should have a blog and WordPress is, by far, the most powerful blogging tool on the web today.

Other applications include:

  • Google Analytics
  • Basecamp
  • Freshbooks
  • Twitter

If you are a freelancer or someone operating an online business, make sure to check out this list as most of the applications are free to use. When you’re operating a business on a strapped budget, FREE is perhaps the best four letter word in your vocabulary.

Based On A True Story: My Foray Into Podcasting

In early 2007, I happened to come across a website called Talkshoe.com. This site makes it easy as one, two, three to put together your own podcast, recorded live in front of an audience that if they choose, can interact with you live through chat or by calling in, sort of like AM Talk radio. I’m a talk radio junkie so when I discovered that I could just as easily have my own talk radio show broadcast online without the need of licensing or FCC approval, I was stoked.

Even though the technical aspects of putting a show together were at a minimum on Talkshoe, my biggest barrier to entry was myself. I’ve never been a fan of speaking in front of an audience. I have proof of this considering I failed Speech class in high school! However, I did manage to do a few things to help ease me into having my own show.

Listen To Many Shows – One thing I did was listen to a wide variety of shows on Talkshoe.com. I was interested in knowing if everyone who produced a podcast on the site did so in a professional manner. I was quick to find out that this was not the case. While some shows did feature a host who apparently had some sort of radio experience, most Talkshoe hosts were made up of your average joe who thought it was fun to have a voice of their own online.

Establish Friendships – While listening to a wide variety of shows, I happen to come across a few that I really enjoyed. Each time they began recording, I hung out in their chat room participating in their conversation. Eventually, chat simply wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to chime in with my voice. Thanks to the kindness of the show hosts, they walked me through the various ways in which I could connect to the show and participate. They also showed me the ins and outs of the Talkshoe service.

Listen To Yourself – This is one of the tougher things for an individual to do. Just like some actors who hate watching themselves perform on the big screen, many people don’t like listening to themselves on a recording. I am one of those people. The first time I listened to a recorded show that I participated in, I cringed at the sound of my voice and how I presented myself. However, doing this has allowed me to tap into the perspective that my audience has and I have since improved my ability to present information as well as clarify my speech. Once you learn to relax and get over hearing yourself speak, take that opportunity to improve upon your spoken word.

Those three steps really helped me to start podcasting on my own. However, there is one last major hurdle that I had to leap over before I hit the record button and that is, my fear of speaking in front of an audience. Now even though I would be speaking from my room, not exactly in front of an audience, the feeling of fear and nervousness usually beat out my ambitions to do a show of my own. However, after dialing into a few shows and talking with other hosts and in front of other people, this really helped to put my fears aside and to just jump right in. With the help of a few friends and some words of encouragement, I eventually started my own podcast on Talkshoe and I’m still going strong.

Conclusion

Podcasting has enabled me to talk to my audience on a personal level while establishing connections with a greater reach. While blog commenting, sending emails back and forth, and tweeting 140 character messages are all fine and dandy, nothing beats communicating in real time through the spoken word. If you’ve been sitting on the fence trying to decide whether you should have a podcast of your own, I recommend going for it. This is a new age where you don’t have to be a professional in order to succeed. Also considering the barrier to entry is minimal, what do you have to lose?

Do you have a podcast that is either separate or part of your site? Link it to me in the comments.

Have You Mentioned Skittles Enough Lately?

Skittles is running a crazy marketing campaign right now, and it involves Twitter. Do click the Skittles link, and you won’t be led to a regular candy-colored website (although you’ll get a few candy-colored floating objects). Instead, you’ll see a Twitter search results page on just about any post that mentions Skittles, refreshing every few seconds.

Your Twitter profile can get its 15 seconds of fame if you mention Skittles now. Oh, did I mention you have to put in the keyword Skittles in the body of your tweet?

Twitter seems to be abuzz with Skittles talk right now. But is there any sense to their newfound popularity among the social media crowd? The mere mention of a keyword–not to mention a brand–might be enough to dilute the brand, particularly if it becomes overused. On the other hand, having it mentioned in a lot of places by a lot of people would surely be a big boost to popularity.

And now here I am finding myself craving for something sweet (and possibly a bit sour and colorful, too). Sadly, I couldn’t find a pack of Skittles inside my cupboard, or anywhere around the house, for that matter. I settle for some other piece of candy.

If you can get the attention of the likes of @Scobleizer and @ChrisGarrett to Tweet about you, then I would agree this is one way to go if you want your brand to stick in people’s minds–or between their teeth, or the roofs of their mouths.

People will *definitely* be linking to #skittles I guarantee it – absolutely works as media bait AND link bait, wait and see 🙂 – @ChrisGarrett

But more importantly, if your Tweetbait is strong enough to lead the likes of myself to grab on to the nearest candy bar, mint or gumdrop, then you may have just artificially propped up demand, not just for Skittles, but for all things sweet, sour, or candylicious.

That probably beats any economic stimulus package. It’s inexpensive. It’s worldwide. And it’s sweet.

Blog Marketing Idea: Hire a Rockstar Blogger (Or At Least Get One to Guest Post for You)

I came across a 2007 interview on TIME about the film Lions for Lambs. The movie starred Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, who were all part of the interview. The interviewer noted that 2007 was perhaps a year of franchise films, which were mostly not star-driven, and asked if this marked the first non-star era of Hollywood. I found Tom’s quick response quite profound and interesting, and particularly relevant to the business that I’m in today.

I don’t agree with that, because it’s the stars who are promoting those pictures, that get people interested to see those pictures. You’re neglecting the value of that talent.

I would agree that the value of actors and actresses is not just in the on-screen presence, but is also evident in their marketing pull. Sure, you can find a lot of actors out there who are more of actors rather than stars. These guys could probably provide even more depth of experience and passion in acting than many of the superstars we know. But to the mind of a moviegoer, star value still matters, or at least it helps win a potential viewer’s initial impression of a movie.

Perhaps it’s the same with blogs.

If a rockstar blogger were to announce that he’s launching a new blog, then his reputation would be one big factor in helping tip the scales toward some success in terms of traffic and readership (and even money, if that is the goal). Or if a rockstar blogger were to guest post on a relatively unknown blog, then he might be able to pull up readership there, both for the duration of guest-posting and in the longer run.

I would even go further to say this also applies in other aspects of blogging. How about design? Rockstar designers do have their own following, and people would not miss the chance to download the latest, greatest, themes from their favorite designers, even if it involved paying money for subscription or purchase. How about blog software and plugins? Rockstar developers do have their own following, and people would gladly download new software releases, as if these little pieces of code were sent from heaven.

I’m not much for the rockstar mentaliy. A bit conservative, I usually go for a more modest approach, talking to people, building relationships, and trying to find value in the ordinary.

This probably makes me a movie director who only films for oneself. Or an indie producer who doesn’t care what the world says–or the box office for that matter–just as long as he or she cuts that masterpiece fit only for the eyes of a worthy few. But hey, maybe one day I’ll get to win that coveted golden statuette.

Mr. Cruise, if you’re reading this, how’d you like to guest post on Performancing?

What To Expect With WordPress 2.8

Development for WordPress 2.8 is well under way. With a tentative date scheduled for March 9th (I highly believe a release won’t happen on this day) let’s take a look at what we can expect in this new version.

  • Improved Widget Interface
  • Improved Performance
  • New Theme Browser/Installer
  • One Click Theme Upgrades
  • Use Of Simple Pie Instead Of MagPie RSS To Parse Feeds In The Dashboard
  • Allow the dashboard widgets to be arranged in up to four columns as set via the Screen Options tab
  • Press This Bookmarklet Improvements
  • Fix tags suggest for post quick edit and bulk edit
  • Add Sticky to list of post states
  • Add CodePress syntax highlighting to Theme and Plugin editors

You can check out the entire slate of features lined up for the next version of WordPress here. Anything you’ve seen that your excited for?