The skill that will get you to new clients
Breathe the air of your local market
From the bottom of my heart mind
Fresh stories from a Spanish Copywriter.
Last Monday, I had a meeting with a potential new client (is looking promising).
They were, of course, interested in my experience as a localization copywriter, my skills, my porfolio and all that… but there was something else.
Something less specific, something that doesn’t have a name.
If you are in the marketing world, you know how people LOVE to make up names for everything, so is always interesting when you find something without a dedicated word for it.
What they valued more was my cultural knowledge. To be IN Spain, be able to see, listen and touch the product, be up-to-date with the local and hyper local trends and follow all the pop culture in the market.
To know people from Catalonia, Madrid or Andalusia, to know what is going on in the country, to observe in first person how people interact with the brand in the local context.
To get insights (if you don’t know what this is, you can check the last issue of this newsletter).
For me this are GREAT NEWS for the localization industry. Over the past months, I’ve rejected different opportunities because it implied I had to move out of Spain. One of my core selling points is the fact I live in Spain, watching Spanish TV shows, listening Spanish podcasts, following Spanish reels.
And while you can do certain things living abroad for a period of time, on the long run I believe living in the country you are localizing for is worth it.
This isn’t taking for granted: is not enough to live in the country. You have to
Be in touch with the locals: talk with real people, know what people is watching on TV (if they watch TV), the latest movies, artists, celebrities, etc.
Read the local news: know what is going on in the country, including economics, politics, sports and the main events.
Use all this knowledge to get insights: ideas that just can come from someone who is doing all the above.
If you work in localization and live in the specific country, strength this in front of your clients and use it in your daily work.
Outside the desk
Where the magic really happens.
✊ Last Friday I went to a live music concert from Los Chikos del Maiz, a hip hop band that is taking a break for the next years.
🎄 And since I’ll be away for Christmas, we did a Family pre-Christmas dinner last night. It was fun to celebrate before anyone else.
📚 On Monday I finished Elantris from Brandon Sanderson and will rest from fantasy literature for some weeks. Any recommendation?
Make it global, baby
If you want to work with me, this is the way.
🚀 Want to take your brand to the next Spanish level? Hit the “reply” bottom and let’s talk.
📬 Want to appear in one of the next issues? Let’s see how we can work it out.
Thanks for reading today’s newsletter. If you enjoyed the content, feel free to share it with your workmates, friends, family and pets so we can grow together.
You can also reply to this email and let me know what you think about it. We are in this together, compa.
All the best for the rest of your week,
💙 Ricky from Textonality.com 💙