An Interview with TextMaster
Textmaster: Crowdsourcing your Translation, Copywriting, and Proofreading Needs
Today’s interview is with the US Business Development manager of Textmaster, Kristi Poldsam. Textmaster is a crowdsourcing platform that provides translation, copywriting, and proofreading by professionals.
Can you tell me a bit about your background as it relates to startups?
I am originally from Estonia, which has become a startup hub for Europe. I moved to the US in 2004 to attend Harvard University. While I did spend a few years in the corporate world doing investment banking, I found myself drawn back to startups and entrepreneurship. My first position was at a startup called Aksel Group, an ecommerce platform. This was a great experience and created a natural transition for me to join TextMaster. I am the US Business Development Manager at Textmaster. We’re an online professional crowdsouring platform for content creation, proofreading and translation.
How did the idea for your startup come about?
TextMaster was founded in 2011, headquartered in Brussels and with offices in Paris and in New York. One of the four original co-founders, Thibaud Elziere, had found success from a previous startup, Fotolia, one of the leading photo marketplaces in the world. After receiving his partial exit, he decided to start (and fund) not one new startup, but five! Textmaster is one of these. The idea for Textmaster stemmed from seeing a real need in the market for better language interpretations and content production.
Describe the value that your startup brings to the market?
The problem that Textmaster solves is around translations, copywriting, and proofreading. These services are often slow and expensive processes. We have found that certified translators are scarce, often overcharge and underperform. In addition, finding a translator for rare languages is a difficult task.
To solve this problem, Textmaster created a global virtual workforce that is accessible 24/7 around the world and brings together individuals that offer writing, translation, and editing services. With one intuitive platform with over 70,000 authors, a user can choose from online content, proofreadings or translations in 10 different languages and in 100 different language pairs.
What has been your process for customer acquisition?
At first, our success grew mainly through word of mouth reviews. However, as we started to grow, we had the flexibility to be more strategic in our efforts. A large portion of what we do is digital, like blogging, social media, SEO, and online media relations. In addition, we launched our first API last year, which very quickly opened up a lot of doors for us in terms of strategic partnerships. Our services can now be accessed through platforms like Microsoft Office, WordPress, Wix, and Transifex. Of course, we do practice what we preach as we are a content creation company, and focus a great deal of our efforts on producing relevant content for our target audiences.
If you could give other startup entrepreneurs one piece of advice, what would you tell them?
Your website is the face of your product or service. Make sure to fill it with information that has real value to your prospective clients. Even with a limited budget, combining a little creativity with relevant content for your target audience can determine the success of your startup.
If you’re interested in being interviewed for the Magnetude Startup Spotlight or you would like to learn more about our marketing services for startups, please contact us today.
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