What I do: translating tech into marketing gold

Translating tech blog header

I love clever stuff.  Whether you’re an artist, a dressmaker, a scientist or an engineer, if you’ve come up with something ingenious I’m going to be interested.  The funny thing is, the people with the brains and/or talent don’t always think of their talent as being anything impressive.  It’s just what they do.  My admiration isn’t solely reserved for the people who make things, it extends to the people who make things happen as well.

I confess that I have a bit of a split personality.  I think it comes from growing up in a house with an artist and an engineer who approached almost everything from opposite ends of the spectrum but somehow always managed to end up in the same place.  I suppose that’s where my fascination with the ways that art and science can work together comes from.  It also means that whilst I’ll be open mouthed with admiration at what you’ve come up with (certainly figuratively, possibly literally) another part of my brain will also be looking at it thinking “that’s really clever, but why do we need it?”

Why I love tech

My Dad was an engineer who loved coming up with a solution to any problem.  He worked in a few different industries but by the time I came along he was a textiles engineer, back in the days when Leicestershire was the heartland for such industries.  I loved his work because it created something tangible, both beautiful and useful.  Otherwise, I would have been far less impressed with his ability to create steam.

Similarly, my husband works in software creation.  Whenever he works at home I look at the lines of code and realise that it’s a foreign language I will probably never understand, even though I’m gradually getting to grips with WordPress.  The thing I love about his work is that he can take that content and use it to make TV programmes play out when they’re supposed to, with the right graphics and subtitles in place.  It makes watching linear broadcasting rather interesting.  If the screen goes blank he immediately comments on whether it’s one of their channels and who’s going to get in trouble if it is.

How I can help your business

So, how does all this help you, I hear you ask?  It means that if we work together, I will sit down with you and talk about your work in as much geeky glory as you can muster.  I’ll get as excited as you do about your brilliant new strategy or the fantastic widget that makes your product do all manner of new things.  At the same time, my brain will be whirring, working out which bit of all of this will pique your customers’ interest.  I’ll be thinking about how to tell them about you in a way that they will a) understand and b) care about enough to seek you out.

I used to deal with personal injury claims for manufacturers and construction companies whose employees had been in accidents.  I’d listen to technical descriptions of how pieces of kit were supposed to work, how a task should have been done and looked at photographs of bits of machinery whilst trying to understand the component names and what everything did.  Once I understood it I then had to work out how to translate that for an insurance claims handler and, potentially, a judge.  None of it phases me; the only difference is that these days I’d rather be using the knowledge to help clever people get more customers, to bridge the gap between technical language and the words that are going to bring the right attention to your business.

If you’d like me to help you make your technical details shine and bring the right customers to your door, get in touch or sign up here for all the latest news, updates and special offers.

For a really creative approach to getting technical information across take a look at this from the lovely people at Twist and Shout Media.