Meet Paulo Sousa, Web Developer and Publisher

Paulo Sousa moved from Brazil to America in 1995. He has always been passionate about computers and technology, and around the same time that he came to the US, he began researching the workings of the internet. Soon he discovered the secret to ranking at the top of search engine results. This discovery made him one of the pioneers on SEO field, when this word still did not exist.

Over time, he became interested in e-commerce and attended Boston University to study web development. In 2010 he started a self-publishing website, www.e-selfpress.com. Since late 2015, he has been revamping and updating this site to provide more resources for customers. Learn more by following e-selfpress on Facebook. You can also learn more about Paulo and his work on http://www.askpaulo.com/.

1. How was SEO changed since you first began learning about it and using it?

When we look back 20 years ago, we did not have the idea of how SEO would change the way to do business online. SEO in those old days was a very simple thing to do, since the search engines then did not have enough technology to evaluate all aspects of the site. Today, the engines acts like a very smart human being, looking at every aspect of the site in order to deliver the best results for the searchers. Today, we have many more areas to work on each site to achieve a good recognition on the engines.

The engines are getting smarter and smarter, acting like a human. But 20 years ago, if you just created a good title for your site, it would be enough. Today, titles still remain as important as before, but they're just a fraction of the game. The engine needs to read your site, and follow the links from and towards to the site in order to understand what is the site is about. It's very easy for a person who does not know SEO but understands HTML to make a web site and fail to please the search engines with information in the source code of the page.

To succeed today, you have to start with a domain where you have keywords on it, instead of choosing a URL that does not tell anything to the search engine. We always have a solution when we talk to our clients. Of course you can always work on names that do not have keywords in them. If you sell, for instance, mattresses, the ideal URL should have mattress in it. This factor increases your relevance to the engines, and a website with this behavior gets some consideration of the engine doing that.

In short, each business website is evaluated differently, but the evolution has been huge.

2. What interests you most about doing web development work?

First of all, I love to see the happiness of my clients at the delivery of the work. The second beauty of this work is to perform a search and see your results in the top results of search engines. This is a priceless reward.

3. Would you tell us a little more about how you and your wife got into writing and publishing e-books and how you found success in that project?

Before I had even thought about starting my self-publishing website www.e-selfpress.com, I wrote a book about Secrets of the iPad, since Apple did not sell the iPad with a manual. This book became a bestselling book in Brazil. After that success, I decided to create my own publishing platform to help people in Brazil.

With my knowledge on SEO, I received over 70K "likes" on my Facebook page ( www.fb.com/eselfpress) in just one year, and then I knew I was on the right path.

Last December (2015), I decided to invest $96K to rebuild the platform which will be done at the end of September (2016) when I will re-launch the platform with a wide advertising campaign on the internet.

The success came because people were looking for such services in Brazil. I had an entrepreneur here in USA and also in Brazil who came after me offering an investment in my eSelfPress project. I did not accept by that time, since I could handle financially the initial expenses of the project. So I declined, but now, after the new version been made available, I can talk with potential investors about it.

4. Why did you decide to start e-SelfPress, and what are the services you provide?

The decision to start e-SelfPress came after the success of my book "Segredos e Atalhos do iPad" when I discovered that the world was changing the way to buy, sell, write, and read books.

We provide a friendly environment where people can easily understand the concept of how to use our platform. We offer services such as cover design, proof writing, and a free ISBN for those who also buy our services for wide distribution on stores such as Barnes & Noble, Apple Store and more.

The list of services is available in Brazilian currency at http://e-selfpress.com/services.

5. As someone who provides services to people in many different countries, what would you like people all over the world to know about you and your business?

We are very serious about business, and our goal is always make people happy by giving then the best option to write and sell their books. I know that writing a book is only part of the process: writers need to learn how to market their book.

We have a blog that we will teach writers how to succeed like I did with my book Segredos e Atalhos do iPad. That is going to be a big difference between e-SelfPress and the other guys. We are also going to help people who want to write a book and do not have an idea. We will help them to create content.

Please feel free to contact me at paulo@askpaulo.com. Thanks, Paulo!

Meet Costa Vasili, CEO of Sydney Translations

Costa Vasili is the CEO of Sydney Translations, a premium translation agency in Australia providing NAATI accredited and certified professional translation services in over 150 languages. The people at Sydney Translations believe that communication is at the very core of a well-functioning society and because of this, they work with the private and public sector to ensure communication can occur across linguistic barriers.

1. As a translation service based in Australia, what languages are you most commonly asked to translate?

At Sydney Translations, the languages that we get the most requests to complete translation projects in are largely influenced by the migrant populations that have moved to Australia over many decades. Our top ten languages that we work in are Malay, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Croatian, Thai, and Portuguese. These languages are in keeping with large migrant populations that have moved to Australia.

2. How do you find the best translators to work for your company?

The best translators that we work with are ordinarily found through our industry contacts and through recommendations. The best translators conduct themselves in a professional manner, meet their deadlines, and check for accuracy before submitting translation deliverables. Building a strong relationship with your translation team helps to build trust and mutual respect, leading to a long and successful partnership. For example, an Arabic translator in Sydney that we work with has never missed a deadline in over 100 assignments and has always received positive feedback from our clients.

3. What are some factors that keep your services so affordable?

Utilizing the latest in technology to drive process improvement and efficiency is absolutely essential to ensuring that we can provide an extremely affordable translation service. At Sydney Translations we operate an extremely lean delivery model to ensure that there are no unnecessary overheads being added to our clients' invoices.

4. When it comes to effective translations, what helps translators achieve speed in their work while also maintaining a high degree of accuracy?

There are a number of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools that translators can use to improve translation accuracy and speed up work. CAT tools help to predict translations, remove repetition, and utilize glossaries to improve translation accuracy.

5. For people seeking translation services, what would your advice be in terms of how to find the best translators for their specific job?

To find the best translation service for your needs, ensure that you work exclusively with translation professionals (not bilingual friends or colleagues). Just because someone can speak two languages doesn't mean that they can effectively translate for you, particularly when it comes to technical subject matter. Seek out translation agencies that work with accredited translators and that are able to explain to you how their unique translation delivery model can help you maintain translation accuracy whilst meeting deadlines and working within your budget.

Thanks, Costa!

Document Translation: Finding the Right Words

The following is a guest post, courtesy of LanguageLine Solutions, a company which offers a range of translating and interpreting services.

With so much international communication these days, it is often necessary to use a document translation service. If you find yourself in this position, before clicking on the first online company you see, think about what your specific needs are. Choosing a company unsuited to your particular job can be both unsatisfactory and expensive, and in worst case scenarios can lead to serious misunderstandings with legal, health, or business consequences. It may be necessary to provide technical drawings or photographs along with the text so that the translator can fully understand the meaning of the words in context.

The first thing you should ask yourself is how long you can wait for the translation. Speed comes at a premium, so choosing a company that offers fast online document translation may cost you more. The other factor with regard to price is word count. This is generally based on your original document, whichever language it is written in. However, you might want to compare how different companies calculate the job: some simply charge for the overall number of words, while others discount not only repetitions of the same word but also common words and phrases which the translator knows by heart, rather than needs to spend time working out. This could be a big advantage.

What kind of document do you want translated? It is obviously a more straightforward task to translate documents in everyday English, for instance, rather than one which contains many technical terms, such as medical or legal. These generally require specialist translators and may cost more, unless the document is identical to one they have previously dealt with.

Most online document translation companies will offer a quote if you send them a copy of your document. You still need to ensure that they are trustworthy, however. A company that is used by many multinational corporations is likely to come well recommended. Other companies may state that their work is recognized by official bodies, such as the Foreign Office or other government department of the country to which you wish to send the translation. It is well worth doing a bit of research at this stage to ensure that you are choosing the best possible document translation service for your purpose. If you are dealing with foreign property, for instance, or have business abroad, you are sure to need an accurate translation of such official documents as wills, house deeds, licenses, and contracts.

After finding a fast online document translation service that seems to fit your needs, don't forget to read the small print. This outlines how soon they want to be paid, what they guarantee to do, and how they would recompense you if they either fail to deliver on time or do an inadequate job. Some companies offer to redo all, or part, of a translation if it is not to your satisfaction. Do not expect the translation to be different from the original, though. They will not turn your factual copy into a sales pitch, or love letter into a Valentine's Day poem!