We’ve always recommended that a company’s Spanish language website always be a mirror image of their English language site, or at least not look and feel like an afterthought.

No doubt, a majority of U.S. Hispanics online are bilingual, yet many feel more comfortable with Spanish, especially when considering complex purchases.

In the end the purchase decision is all about emotion.  So, having a twin Spanish site is not really about language, but creating an environment where consumers feel more at ease when making the decision to spend their money.

Best Buy launched it’s Spanish language e-commerce site in August and noted some benefits straightaway:

—  …Best Buy translated most of its site into Spanish, 12,000 SKUs, but not more easily understood products such as movies and music. One anecdotal indication of how Spanish speakers use the new site is that Best Buy employees are reporting customers coming into stores with printouts of product information from the Spanish-language site, Grace says. 

—  “Customers are spending roughly double the amount of time on the Spanish site as English-language customers,” says Ana Grace, the retailer’s Spanish site manager. “We’re wondering, is that because they haven’t had this level of detail before and are really digging in? We’re not sure.”

— Best Buy, No. 12 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, is not reporting sales figures for its Spanish-language site, but Grace says traffic is growing and many Spanish-speaking customers have commented favorably on the Spanish content. In addition, she says, the Spanish site gets higher marks on such survey questions as “would you refer to a friend?” and “would you return?” than the English site.

Besides creating a more comfortable purchase environment Best Buy also benefits from digital word of mouth, Hispanic consumers will now more readily refer a friend.

Source: Internet Retailer

After posting video of Girl Talk doing a quick mashup I realized many people might need a quick rundown on Web 2.0, Social Media, Social Networking, may not be sure about what a mashup is exactly or what RSS means and how it works.

So, here is a quick glossary that explains the various aspects of Social Media and Social Networking.

Mashups:  A mashup brings together multiple sources of data and creates a single application, often created as a Web service. Awards are in fact given for the best mashups. Snag films is a great example of a  new “mashup” on the scene.

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Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 20, 2008 — International Marketing Agency Arambula Philips Communications (www.arambulaphillips.com) has joined forces with Southwestern cuisine pioneer John Sedlar’s new Museum Tamal in Los Angeles. APCOMM was chosen to brand and market this groundbreaking museum dedicated to the study of Latin culture through cuisine. This is an historic excursion into the heart of South America, Mexico, Spain and the Southwestern United States, via the taste buds - presenting art good enough to eat.

Arambula Philips Communications is the brainchild of Carlos Arambula and Richard Phillips. Combining Arambulas’ knack for developing brands across cultural, language and geographical boundaries with Phillips’ unique mix of traditional marketing and digital know how, they have over 35 years of proven results in the domestic, US, Hispanic and international markets. Arambula Phillips were chosen to maintain the authentic brand integrity of this culinary museum while translating the experience to a global audience.

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From Portfolio.com’s Scorched Earth Files:

Andrew Lahde, manager of a small California hedge fund, Lahde Capital, burst into the spotlight last year after his one-year-old fund returned 866 percent betting against the subprime collapse.

Last month, he did the unthinkable — he shut things down, claiming dealing with his bank counterparties had become too risky. Today, Lahde passed along his “goodbye” letter, a rollicking missive on everything from greed to economic philosophy. Enjoy.

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