My approach for adapting (not translating) TechCrunch to the french audience

You may know if you read this blog that i am, in addition of being General Manager of Lgilab, a VC structure dedicated to internet seed funding, editing and managing French version of TechCrunch.

This blog was created less than 6 months ago and is probably one of the 20 largest blog in France (getting on 4000 feed subscribers). The question i am often asked is “ Is TechCrunch France a translation of Big US TechCrunch?”. And my answer is “No, it is an adaptation”. If it was only a translation i think this blog would not work.

What do i mean by adaptation and why is important?

Here is my “secret sauce” that i learned over this past half year.

• It is a translation that takes care about cultural specificities, nuances and local internet experience (something an automatic translator would never do). I often change the wording and Michael Arrington gave me editorial freedom to speak with my own personnal voice (specially useful to create impactful titles). I also take care to explane definitions and terms that are not familiar in France (the average US internet users is more experienced than the french one)
• I am filtering some original articles (only a few). I often choose not to adapt an article as i believe it is not relevant to the french speaking audience (eg a product only valid for US market)
• I try to keep the same “TechCrunch spirit” but i have a more direct tone and try to establish a closer proximity with audience in translation and also in comments. Something the french audience is very sensitive to (eg i use a lot of “vous” instead of “l’utilisateur”)
• Most of the times, i add to the original article my own contribution. A few sentences to complete the original analysis, to enrich or sometimes to mention i do not agree on the original profiling (this very very rarely happens and Mike’s analysis are very thourough insightful justified and right)
• I produce at least once a week orginal posts that are dedicated to french market or european startups. This is much appreciated and increases significantly interest for the blog as well as interaction
• I link as much as i can to french sources and try to identify benchmark in the French market when possible.
• I am very selective about what i talk about (in order not to overflow the audience with content) but i go deep in analysis in order to make in interesting . Many Startups wants to be covered in TechCrunch france and i would like to talk about all of them but i just can’t (not enough time) or just don’t want either because they present no interest
• I answer 99% of the emails i receive. Sometimes just to say “Thank you for contacting”. I read and answer all the comments as much as i can to show there is someone out there. People are often surprised to learn i do TechCrunch Fr from Tel Aviv and feel i live in France.
• I spend a lot of times on each post, always try the service thorougly (and their competitors to compare) and most of the times talk to the entrepreneurs to explore and understand before i write (those who have been or have not been covered can testify)
• I spend also a lot of times on screening and filtering request for coverage (mostly because i don t have so mcuh time to do it all). In order to do that, i nearly always ask questions to entrepreneurs that contact me to better understand their business, competition and background and in order to evaluate the interest of covering the subject or not.
• I try to get hot local informations on the French market. Before anyone or at least very early.
• What is also interesting (no one has the time to do it but i do) is comparing french comments and US comments on the same posts. A total different world and a lot to learn from (specially difference of mentality and approach). But this parameter is not in my hands.
• I have found interesting ways to distribute locally TechCrunch content (eg Yahoo.fr partnership) and more ways to come soon

I still have a lot to learn and that experience helped me understand a great deal about internet user experience, editorial parameters, content creation and blogs. I receive a lot of encouragements and congratulations (sometimes insults and threats too) and that is really rewarding. I realized that in my last trip to France how popular TechCrunch France became.

Needless to say that those advice above would serve no purpose without the GREAT material provided by TechCrunch US. Most of TechCrunch.fr success is first due to that.

There are other great blogs out there (BoingBoing, OMmalik, Mashable, …) that deserve to be brought to a foreign audience and i hope those points above will help/inspire those who are thinking about it.

PS: i would like to thank Guillaume Belfiore who s helping me on the adaptation of TechCrunch as the blog starts to get richer and popular.

 

 

Comments

[Elad]

Interesting post.
It would be great if you posted about your insights into the different mentality and approach between the American and French audiences of TechCrunch.