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Shifa Miyaji
- August 19, 2021
In the second episode of The Translate By Humans Podcast: For Humans, By Humans, our host Shifa Miyaji picks Senior Content Writer Aarohi Pathak’s brain on topics like content ideation, her preferred tools for structuring and organising her tasks and the importance of eCommerce localisation.
Hello everyone, welcome to Translate By Humans’ podcast where I talk to colleagues, linguists, and experts about their lives, cultural experiences, and professions. I am Shifa Miyaji – a content writer and social media enthusiast and I am going to take you on a journey through some amusing and inspiring personal stories.
We have Aarohi Pathak – Sr. Content Writer at Translate By Humans, with us today. In the last episode, Aarohi talked about her journey of becoming a writer, her experience as a remote worker, and more. If you missed the last episode, do check it out!
Today, Aarohi will be sharing tips of writing tools that must be in every writer’s techstack, and eCommerce localisation tips that can help brands reach the global consumer market.
So, let’s begin!
Hi Aarohi, welcome back! How are you doing this fine morning?
I’m great! So, the last time we talked, we got to know how you came to be a writer, and we got some snippets of your childhood and your college days too. Let’s move ahead and let’s talk specifically about writing – your work, the challenges you face while writing and how you find the right solutions.
Wow, that’s quite a diverse set of skills. Looks like you’re a jack of all trades!
I see. Which area is that?
That sounds interesting. Also, you mentioned challenges. What challenges have you been facing?
As a writer, the challenges I face usually circle around some questions:
How do I ideate and create fresh ideas and content?
What resources do I need to create this content?
How do I find the sweet spot between selling a product or service and what content people wish to consume?
How much time do I need to create this content.
And finally, how do I amplify this content’s reach?
This is the entire life cycle of a piece of content.
Okay. So give us a glimpse into what processes you follow for generating fresh ideas?
Sure. Well, most writers know that good ideas don’t usually have a great timing. One day you’re brimming with ideas, and another day you come up empty.
It’s quite hilarious actually. Since you’re a writer, people expect you to come up with ideas at the drop of a hat! That’s when your Hall Of Ideas helps you. Writers sometimes get ideas randomly. The ideas might be not-so-useful or irrelevant then, but I store them in my notes or pen them down. You never know when these ideas might come in handy.
Do you also use some tools for brainstorming?
Yes, I do. To name some - I used SEMrush for brainstorming. Their content marketing tools let you run a keyword search and show you content ideas in the form of maps, popular blogs written including the keyword, and related keywords. Buzzsumo is quite helpful too. It gives you a list of all the hot topics so you know what people are talking about online. Honestly, most of the tools you need for ideating are available to you for free - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Quora.
I agree. I too use these platforms to learn about the topics that are trending. Are there any specific tips you’d like to share?
According to you, how important is it to reach out to experts when creating content?
Right. That’s an awesome tip. Now let’s talk about something that happens to be every writer’s agony – deadlines!
People like creativity, but only when it comes with deadlines. How do you feel about this?
So, how do YOU organize all your content tasks?
Well, as you know we use Zoho Sprints to organise all our tasks. Using Sprints may seem like an unconventional choice. However, it helps us maintain an agile system – we get a clear vision of which tasks are blocked and the time we need to finish the current tasks.
I’ve also used Asana in the past. It’s got a good UI – helps writers categorise all their tasks neatly and see them all in one calendar view. Recently, I started using Notion. It provides a great scope for customisation – you can create different parameters and invite your entire team to collaborate.
Yes, I, myself have created social media calendars in Notion. It is quite efficient. So let’s circle back to a very important question that you posed earlier – about the sweet spot between selling a product or service and what content people wish to consume. Can you elaborate on that?
I agree. It’s best to do a little bit of trial and error to see which kind of content is received well by your audience.
I’d like to tell our listeners that Aarohi has been researching and writing about eCommerce localisation for Translate By Humans. Over the last two years, she’s acquired a good understanding of the topic.
So Aarohi, for our readers who don’t know much about eCommerce localisation, how would you define it and what are its benefits?
And why is it so important for eCommerce brands to localise their listings and websites?
The only thing restricting eCommerce businesses from reaching out to everyone is language. 65% of consumers prefer content in their language and 40% say they will not buy from websites in other languages.
The numbers are quite a revelation. So can you give us an example of how it would play out in a real life situation?
I see. So, what happens when an eCommerce listing or website isn’t localised properly?
It makes for a terrible customer experience. With so many options available online, businesses end up losing potential customers.
I agree with you here. But many businesses think it’s quite a huge investment of time and money.
If a business is trying to do this in-house, it might seem like that. It’s wise to hire agencies or eCommerce translators who not only localise your listings and website but also ensure that it’s SEO-friendly. Having a good SEO means that your product page is likely to appear at first instance when a person searches for the product on a search engine.
Right, their expertise and team of linguists helps cut down turnaround time thereby reducing costs – as opposed to hiring in-house employees.
Very true. Now we know the integral role localisation plays in international markets.
So, before we end this episode Aarohi, would you like to share some tips or advice for all the budding writers listening to our conversation right now?
One, I would advise you to try your hand at all kinds of writing - don't restrict yourself to one kind of writing early in your career. Two, like I said earlier, the best tools at your disposal are absolutely free. Having said that, if you think a certain tool can be of great help, do pitch it to your superiors. Three, never stop learning! Our profession is very dynamic. We can't stick to old rules and strategies. Keep updating your skills and keep moving upwards and onwards!
That’s great advice Aarohi! It was great having this insightful conversation with you. We definitely learnt a lot.
Dear listeners, if you have any questions about writing and eCommerce localisation, do comment below and Aarohi will respond to all your questions. Also, do check out all the informative blogs that Aarohi has authored for our website at www.translatebyhumans.com.
Stay tuned for our next episode where we’ll bring you another interesting story of one of our team members. Do subscribe to our podcast so you know when we release our next episode.
See you soon.
About The Translate By Humans Podcast
Made by humans, for humans. The Translate By Humans podcast takes you through some inspiring personal stories and cultural experiences of people working in the language industry.
