administrative staff, accountants, secretaries, project managers, hardware, software etc. is understandably hard to put to productive and efficient work. They do lots of different things, they try to be all things to all people. (I know what I am talking about because I have worked with quite a few of them!)

Inspite of all this, some big translation agencies do a good job of it and I'd heartily recommend them to anyone if I was not convinced that small-sized translation businesses deliver a better service, are more flexible, more "user-friendly" and far

If you haven't yet thought of going global and having your data translated into other languages, now is the time to jump right in, as a matter of urgency, because there has never been such a huge amount of opportunities in the history of Humankind.

This is also the fastest and most cost-effective way to boost your income, build global networks, and/or construct alliances and collaborations.

This will propel you way ahead of all your monolingual competitors.

And it works for all types of businesses, even SMALL businesses - no need to be Microsoft or Coca Cola to start expanding abroad!

It is now possible to find excellent translators on the Internet and then expand and globalize without having a single representative in a foreign country.

All you have to do is have your website translated and localized, then make arrangements to have email support for your foreign customers or clients translated on an ongoing basis.

For human rights organizations, peace movements, charities, etc. translations can also help you with fundraising or promotional work, lobbying with donors, diplomatic missions, and the press, which will no doubt give extraordinary momentum to your campaigns.

But maybe you have been wondering how to go about it.

Yes, trying to find the right translation service, or to choose between different offers can be an extremely frustrating exercise.

If you are not careful in how you select your translation service provider, you may well find yourself in the following situation: you receive a poorly translated document, long after the deadline you set has expired, and you are expected to pay for this disaster "with an arm and a leg", truly a typical case of "adding insult to injury" - or "losing three times in a row"!

First, are you going to choose a Translation Agency or a Freelance Translator? There is no obvious answer to this question.

Now, here is a fact for you: gigantic translation agencies (some have thousands of translators and work in hundreds of languages) carry huge overheads, which must necessarily be passed on to you. You can easily understand why their rates may seem exorbitant.

Besides, such a vast, unwieldy mass of translators, interpreters, languages, administrative staff, accountants, secretaries, project managers, hardware, software etc. is understandably hard to put to productive and efficient work. They do lots of different things, they try to be all things to all people. (I know what I am talking about because I have worked with quite a few of them!)

Inspite of all this, some big translation agencies do a good job of it and I'd heartily recommend them to anyone if I was not convinced that small-sized translation businesses deliver a better service, are more flexible, more "user-friendly" and far

or Coca Cola to start expanding abroad!

It is now possible to find excellent translators on the Internet and then expand and globalize without having a single representative in a foreign country.

All you have to do is have your website translated and localized, then make arrangements to have email support for your foreign customers or clients translated on an ongoing basis.

For human rights organizations, peace movements, charities, etc. translations can also help you with fundraising or promotional work, lobbying with donors, diplomatic missions, and the press, which will no doubt give extraordinary momentum to your campaigns.

But maybe you have been wondering how to go about it.

Yes, trying to find the right translation service, or to choose between different offers can be an extremely frustrating exercise.

If you are not careful in how you select your translation service provider, you may well find yourself in the following situation: you receive a poorly translated document, long after the deadline you set has expired, and you are expected to pay for this disaster "with an arm and a leg", truly a typical case of "adding insult to injury" - or "losing three times in a row"!

First, are you going to choose a Translation Agency or a Freelance Translator? There is no obvious answer to this question.

Now, here is a fact for you: gigantic translation agencies (some have thousands of translators and work in hundreds of languages) carry huge overheads, which must necessarily be passed on to you. You can easily understand why their rates may seem exorbitant.

Besides, such a vast, unwieldy mass of translators, interpreters, languages, administrative staff, accountants, secretaries, project managers, hardware, software etc. is understandably hard to put to productive and efficient work. They do lots of different things, they try to be all things to all people. (I know what I am talking about because I have worked with quite a few of them!)

Inspite of all this, some big translation agencies do a good job of it and I'd heartily recommend them to anyone if I was not convinced that small-sized translation businesses deliver a better service, are more flexible, more "user-friendly" and far

and the press, which will no doubt give extraordinary momentum to your campaigns.

But maybe you have been wondering how to go about it.

Yes, trying to find the right translation service, or to choose between different offers can be an extremely frustrating exercise.

If you are not careful in how you select your translation service provider, you may well find yourself in the following situation: you receive a poorly translated document, long after the deadline you set has expired, and you are expected to pay for this disaster "with an arm and a leg", truly a typical case of "adding insult to injury" - or "losing three times in a row"!

First, are you going to choose a Translation Agency or a Freelance Translator? There is no obvious answer to this question.

Now, here is a fact for you: gigantic translation agencies (some have thousands of translators and work in hundreds of languages) carry huge overheads, which must necessarily be passed on to you. You can easily understand why their rates may seem exorbitant.

Besides, such a vast, unwieldy mass of translators, interpreters, languages, administrative staff, accountants, secretaries, project managers, hardware, software etc. is understandably hard to put to productive and efficient work. They do lots of different things, they try to be all things to all people. (I know what I am talking about because I have worked with quite a few of them!)

Inspite of all this, some big translation agencies do a good job of it and I'd heartily recommend them to anyone if I was not convinced that small-sized translation businesses deliver a better service, are more flexible, more "user-friendly" and far

g", truly a typical case of "adding insult to injury" - or "losing three times in a row"!

First, are you going to choose a Translation Agency or a Freelance Translator? There is no obvious answer to this question.

Now, here is a fact for you: gigantic translation agencies (some have thousands of translators and work in hundreds of languages) carry huge overheads, which must necessarily be passed on to you. You can easily understand why their rates may seem exorbitant.

Besides, such a vast, unwieldy mass of translators, interpreters, languages, administrative staff, accountants, secretaries, project managers, hardware, software etc. is understandably hard to put to productive and efficient work. They do lots of different things, they try to be all things to all people. (I know what I am talking about because I have worked with quite a few of them!)

Inspite of all this, some big translation agencies do a good job of it and I'd heartily recommend them to anyone if I was not convinced that small-sized translation businesses deliver a better service, are more flexible, more "user-friendly" and far

administrative staff, accountants, secretaries, project managers, hardware, software etc. is understandably hard to put to productive and efficient work. They do lots of different things, they try to be all things to all people. (I know what I am talking about because I have worked with quite a few of them!)

Inspite of all this, some big translation agencies do a good job of it and I'd heartily recommend them to anyone if I was not convinced that small-sized translation businesses deliver a better service, are more flexible, more "user-friendly" and far easier to deal with, if only because they must "do a good job or close".

There are quite a few of them who can produce seamless translations at a reasonable rate, while scrupulously complying with your deadlines - all this in a friendly, humane atmosphere of one-to-one partnership. Here we can really say "small is beautiful"

Now that you know the advantages of resorting to the services of a translator, and a good one, our advice is: choose wisely before it's too late!

A.M.Sall - author, translator, marketing and globalization consultant