Last week, a designer named Micael, whom I met at VougaPark for a workshop a few months ago, asked me a question on LinkedIn that I’ve heard a hundred times: “Should I post in Portuguese or English on social media?”
I could almost imagine the questions and doubts jumping up and down in his brain, because I had gone through those same loops years ago. He’s a talented designer stuck between wanting international clients and not wanting to look like a pretentious git to his Portuguese mates.
I know that anxiety well.
Twelve years ago, when I launched my first digital marketing agency, I made a decision that got me mocked by friends, questioned by family, and even had some Portuguese people commenting on my posts: “Só não entendo esta mania de agora escreverem em inglês se a rede e quem comenta nestes posts são portugueses.”
Translation: “I don’t understand this obsession with writing in English when your network and everyone commenting is Portuguese.”
They had a point. At the time, almost everyone in my network was Portuguese. But here’s what they didn’t see: that was exactly the problem I was trying to solve. 🤷♂️
I now run three businesses: sendXmail (email marketing and AI automation), ZOPPLY (digital presence for SMEs), and HOT Leads (B2B performance marketing). More than 98% of my revenue comes from outside Portugal. My average project values are 3-5x higher than Portuguese market rates. Most of my clients are in the US, UK, UAE, Singapore, and Australia.
But getting here meant accepting that my Portuguese network would think I’d lost my mind.
The Agency Owner Who Abandoned his Language
When I launched my businesses, I made a conscious choice to write everything in English after a few attempts to keep my websites in several languages and localisations. My blog posts, social media, company websites, and educational content. Everything. In English.
People thought I was trying to be more than I was. Some called me a buffoon outright.
The criticism was subtle but persistent: why are you abandoning your own language?
Who are you trying to impress?
You’re Portuguese, running Portuguese companies, why this obsession with English?
I get where they were coming from. Portugal’s a small country.
We’re protective of our language and culture.
When someone switches to English, especially someone who teaches at Lusofona University and runs workshops across Portuguese cities, it can feel like a betrayal. Like I was saying, Portuguese wasn’t good enough.
But here’s what I was actually saying: my ideal clients aren’t in Portugal.
That’s not arrogance. It’s simple market economics that I learned the hard way through my agencies.
The Three-Year Decision that Changed Everything
I once had a Portuguese major retailer take three years to make a decision on a proposal.
Three. Years. 🤦♂️
Annual meetings to discuss the same marketing automation project until they finally said yes. By year three, the technology had changed, my team had changed, and I’d nearly forgotten what we were even proposing.
Compare that to my international clients now. Most decisions happen in 2-4 weeks. 🙌
A US mid-market company will review your proposal, schedule a call, ask pointed questions, and commit.
Clear contracts. Reliable payment systems through Stripe or wire transfer. No endless relationship-building over coffee before discussing actual business.
The money’s different too. Not a little different. A lot different.
A comprehensive email marketing and AI automation implementation through sendXmail runs €6,000-€30,000+ depending on complexity.
In Portugal, agencies charge €1,500-€8,000 for similar work, but don’t provide nearly as good work as we do. Sorry about that, but it’s the truth.😅
ZOPPLY’s website and digital presence packages range €314/month to €104,725 for enterprise implementations.
Portuguese agencies? €150-€500/month for basic maintenance, rarely breaking €5,000 for even complex sites.
The real gap shows in retainer work.
My international clients pay €3,000-€15,000/month for ongoing optimisation and AI-driven campaign management. Portuguese companies balk at €800-€1,500/month retainers and want to renegotiate every quarter.
Do the maths: a single international client paying €8,000/month equals 10 Portuguese clients at €800/month.
But those 10 Portuguese clients require 10x the relationship management, 10x the meetings, 10x the cultural expectations around availability and personal connection.
Geographic arbitrage makes it even better.
I’m earning in dollars and pounds while living in Lisbon, where my expenses for work costs €600-€1,200/month versus $3,000-€5,000 in comparable US cities. Same for team contractor fees, even though we have people working from around the world, including the US, infrastructure, and everything.
It’s not about being better than Portuguese businesses. It’s about serving clients whose business culture and budget realities match how I want to work.
But First, You’ll Disappear
Here’s what nobody tells you about switching to English: your reach will crater. Immediately.
LinkedIn’s algorithm looks at your post, sees it’s in English, checks your network (70% Portuguese), and goes: “This doesn’t match.” Within the first hour, your Portuguese connections scroll past your English content. They understand it perfectly, but something stops them from engaging. Maybe it takes slightly more effort to comment thoughtfully in a second language. Maybe they’re just used to Portuguese content.
The algorithm interprets their silence as irrelevance. Your reach drops by 50-85%. Your post dies.
I watched this happen in real-time when I made the switch. Posts that used to get 50-100 engagements suddenly got 8. Comments dried up. My carefully crafted content disappeared into the void.
For about six months, it felt like I was shouting into an empty room.
But here’s the thing: I wasn’t building an audience in Portugal anymore. I was building an audience everywhere else. And that takes time. A lot of it.
The Brutal Timeline Nobody Warns You About
Most professionals quit after three months of posting in English because they don’t see results.
I nearly did too.
The actual timeline for building an international agency presence looks like this:
Months 1-6: You’re invisible. Your Portuguese network ignores your English posts about AI automation and email marketing strategy. International prospects are unaware of your existence yet.
Your carefully crafted LinkedIn articles about Microsoft 365 integration get 12 views instead of the 200 you used to get in Portuguese. This phase sucks.
You’ll question everything.
Your accountant will ask why revenue is flat.
Your team will wonder if you’ve lost the plot.
Months 6-12: Signs of life.
A few random international prospects start engaging.
A US SaaS company likes your post about deliverability.
A UK e-commerce brand comments on your AI implementation case study.
Not many.
Maybe one enquiry every few weeks.
You’re still mostly invisible, but there are signs the algorithm is starting to understand who you’re trying to reach.
Months 12-18: The algorithm figures it out.
You’ve posted consistently in English long enough that LinkedIn starts showing your content to English-speaking marketing directors and CTOs. Growth accelerates. You’re getting 2-3 qualified international enquiries monthly. Your first few international projects close. The income gap starts becoming real, not theoretical.
Months 18-24: Business impact. International clients become the majority of your pipeline.
You’re turning down Portuguese projects because international work pays better and aligns more closely with your process. People stop asking why everything’s in English.
The criticism from your Portuguese network has mostly stopped because you’re too busy working with clients in 6 countries to care.
I’m 12 years into this journey now.
More than 98% of my business is international.
My average project value is €15,000-€45,000 versus the €3,000-€8,000 I charged Portuguese clients early on. But it took years of feeling like an idiot posting about email marketing automation to an empty room.
Most agency owners won’t wait that long. I don’t blame them.
Portuguese revenue is real. It pays the bills today.
International revenue is theoretical until it isn’t.
The Hybrid Myth Everyone Believes
“Just post in both languages!” seems like the obvious solution, right?
Best of both worlds?
Wrong.
Here’s what actually happens:
You post in English on Monday. Your Portuguese network ignores it.
You post in Portuguese on Wednesday. Your emerging international audience is confused.
The algorithm can’t figure out what you’re about or who to show your content to.
You end up with two small, confused audiences instead of one engaged one.
I tried running three-language websites for my businesses: Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
The maintenance was hell. 👿 Every blog post needed three versions.
Every update, three times. Every keyword strategy, researched separately in three markets.
The return? Almost nothing from the Portuguese and Spanish versions.
About 95% of my business came through the English site anyway. 🤷♂️
So I killed the other versions. English only.
The clarity was immediate. I knew exactly who I was talking to and what I was offering them.
The 98/2 rule that actually works
Here’s my current strategy, after 12 years of trial and error:
I post 98% in English. Everything. LinkedIn, my blog, newsletters, websites, and video content. English.
The 2% Portuguese?
That’s for when I’m invited to speak at a Portuguese event or appear on a Portuguese podcast.
Then I’ll post about it in Portuguese because the content is local and the audience is Portuguese.
That’s it. No complicated hybrid strategies. No trying to serve two masters.
The pattern I see from successful international professionals is similar: 98% English, 2% native language for truly local content. Not 70/30. Not 50/50. The occasional native language post when it genuinely makes sense.
Your Portuguese friends who question this?
They’ll mostly stop after a year.
Some will quietly unfollow you.
A few will understand and respect the choice. But the criticism fades because you’re too busy working with international clients to care much anymore.
Sounds harsh, but it’s the truth.
What I’m Telling Micael (and you in the process)
So here’s what I’m sharing with Micael, and here’s what I’d tell any Portuguese professional facing this question:
Figure out where you want to be in three years. Not where you are now. Where you want to be.
If your answer is “working with Portuguese clients, deeply embedded in the local market, building personal relationships over coffee,” then post in Portuguese. Lean into it. Own the local market.
Build trust through your native language and cultural understanding.
Accept that your project values will be €500-€3,000 instead of $5,000-$15,000. Accept that decision cycles will be 3-12 months instead of 2-4 weeks. That’s a valid choice if the local community matters more than income maximisation.
If your answer is “competing for international projects at international rates, working remotely with clients I’ve never met in person,” then commit to English now.
Yes, you’ll feel invisible for six months.
Yes, some people will criticise you.
Yes, the algorithm will punish you initially.
But those are the entry fees for a market that’s 70x larger and pays 3-5x more.
There’s no hack around this. No clever hybrid strategy that gives you both audiences without the downsides. You’re choosing which algorithmic penalty to accept and which market’s constraints you’re willing to work within.
For Micael specifically, I ask you: “Do you want to design websites for Portuguese restaurants, local shops or regional industries, or do you want to design for SaaS companies and international brands?”
The skill level is similar. The work can be equally fulfilling. But the markets operate on completely different economics and cultural expectations.
It’s his own decision. That’s fair. It’s not an easy choice when you’re looking at your existing Portuguese network and imagining it disappearing.
The Practical Bits Nobody Explains
If you decide to go English-primary (whether you’re a designer, consultant, agency owner, or any B2B professional), here’s what actually needs to happen:
Month 0: Technical Setup
- Switch your LinkedIn profile to English (not just translation… rewrite it for an international audience, even though you can then translate it to other languages)
- Set up Google Search Console for your personal/business website to track English keyword rankings.
- Update your website to English or create English service/portfolio pages.
- Install hreflang tags if you’re keeping any Portuguese content. (tells Google which language serves which audience)
- Update your portfolio pieces with English descriptions and case study details.
Months 1-6: Build the Habit
- Post 2x per week minimum in English. Consistency beats frequency every time. I have been posting every working day for more than 12 years. Non-stop.
- Write naturally, not like you’re translating from Portuguese in your head. (get a native speaker to review if needed)
- Engage with English-language posts in your industry, leave thoughtful comments.
- Join English-speaking communities, Discord servers, LinkedIn groups in your field.
- Accept that your reach will be terrible. This is normal. Everyone goes through it.
Months 6-12: Find your People
- Start conversations with international professionals you admire in your field.
- Share your work-in-progress, ask for feedback in English.
- Your reach will still be small, but you’ll start seeing international names engaging.
- Write case studies in English about your best work, even if the client was Portuguese.
- Aim for 1-2 substantive English posts weekly rather than daily shallow content.
Months 12-18: Actually useful content
- Document your process in English. Show, don’t just tell.
- Case studies work better than advice posts. (people want to see proof, not theory)
- Video content gets more reach, but only if your English is comfortable enough.
- Start pitching to international publications, podcasts, or communities in your industry.
- Respond to every international enquiry within 24 hours, even if it’s just acknowledging receipt. If you want to cater to international clients, you need to work in a manner that meets their expectations.
Months 18+: Business results
- International enquiries start appearing in DMs and email regularly.
- Your portfolio speaks for itself now, language is less of a barrier.
- Rates/prices increase naturally because you’re quoting in dollars/pounds/euros for international markets.
- You stop worrying about what your Portuguese network thinks.
- Most importantly, you have data on whether this strategy actually worked for your specific situation.
The Uncomfortable Truth about Southern Europe
One thing the data shows clearly: this decision is harder for Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and French professionals than for Northern Europeans.
Portugal has 41% English proficiency. Spain 38%. Italy 33%. France 40%. That means posting only in English excludes 60% of your local market who genuinely struggle with it.
Compare that to Malta (86% proficiency) or Scandinavian countries (60-80%+).
A Swedish professional going English-first faces much less cultural friction because most of their local network can engage with English content comfortably.
Southern European cultures are more protective of their languages.
It’s tied to identity and national pride in a way that Northern Europe doesn’t experience as intensely.
When you switch to English in Portugal, you’re making more than a business decision. You’re making a cultural statement.
Some people will see that statement as rejection. As elitism. As forgetting where you came from.
You can’t control how they interpret it. You can only control whether you’re willing to accept that interpretation as the price of accessing larger markets.
My Actual Results After 12 Years
Here’s what English-first content has meant for my three businesses:
The wins:
- 98% of revenue comes from outside Portugal across sendXmail, ZOPPLY, and HOT Leads.
- Clients in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE, Singapore, and the Netherlands.
- Average project values €15,000-€45,000 versus €3,000-€8,000 for Portuguese projects.
- Decision cycles 2-4 weeks instead of 6-18 months.
- Zero language barriers in contracts, scope discussions, or technical implementations.
- Monthly retainers €3,000-€15,000 versus €800-€1,500 for Portuguese clients.
- Geographic arbitrage: earning in dollars/pounds, living in Portugal, team costs 40-60% lower.
- Speaking opportunities at international colleges and conferences. (Barcelona, Bangkok, Dubai)
- Teaching positions and workshop invitations based on international credibility.
The costs:
- Some Portuguese connections quietly unfollowed me over the years.
- I get fewer invitations to local networking events. (though I’m usually too busy anyway)
- My Portuguese business writing has gotten rusty.
- I’m sometimes seen as “too international” in local business contexts.
- The first two years were genuinely lonely and discouraging.
- I missed out on some local opportunities because I wasn’t “visible” in Portuguese circles.
- Had to rebuild my entire professional network from scratch.
The unexpected benefits:
- International clients are less price-sensitive and more focused on results.
- English documentation and processes mean easier team scaling. (hire anywhere)
- No cultural expectation of constant availability or immediate WhatsApp responses.
- Clients judge me on portfolio and results, not personal relationships or who I know.
- Access to international tools, communities, and knowledge that don’t exist in Portuguese.
- My language proficiency is improving each day.
Was it worth it?
For my business goals and lifestyle preferences, absolutely.
For someone who values deep local community integration and face-to-face Portuguese business relationships, probably not.
The key insight after 12 years: this wasn’t about English being “better” than Portuguese.
It was about choosing which market’s rules I wanted to play by. I chose the market that matched how I wanted to work, even though it meant sacrificing connection to the market I was born into.
The Question You Should Really be Asking
Micael asked me “Portuguese or English?” But the real question is: “Am I willing to invest 12-18 months building an international audience from scratch while watching my local reach disappear, with no guarantee it’ll work?”
Because that’s what this choice actually means.
The Portuguese market is real. It’s there. You can make a living serving it.
Micael could build a successful design career working with Portuguese businesses. But the market is small (10 million people), decision cycles are long (3-12 months typical), and rates are capped by local purchasing power (€20-40/hour for good designers).
The English-speaking market is vast.
Rates are higher ($65-150/hour for equivalent work). Decision cycles are faster (2-4 weeks are common). But you’re competing globally, the algorithm will punish you initially, and you’ll spend 6-12 months feeling like you’ve made a terrible mistake.
Neither choice is wrong. They’re just optimising for different outcomes.
My advice to Micael, and to you:
Pick one. Commit fully. Don’t try to serve both audiences equally because you’ll just confuse everyone, especially yourself.
If you choose English, steel yourself for the long game. It’s not three months. It’s not six months. It’s 12-18 months minimum before you see meaningful traction, and probably 24+ months before significant business impact.
I’ve watched hundreds of Portuguese professionals start this journey. Most quit after 4-6 months when they don’t see results. The ones who succeed are simply the ones who kept posting through the invisibility phase.
If you choose Portuguese, lean into it completely. Own the local market. Build deep relationships.
Become the go-to person in your Portuguese niche. Accept the constraints that come with serving 10 million people instead of hundreds of millions. There’s honour and profit in that choice, too.
What you can’t do is hedge your bets and expect neither downside. The algorithm doesn’t work that way.
Markets don’t work that way. Culture doesn’t work that way.
The real question for Micael:
Do you want to design for Portuguese businesses at Portuguese rates with Portuguese decision timelines, or do you want to design for international businesses at international rates with international efficiency?
The skill level is the same. The work can be equally fulfilling. But the markets operate on completely different economics and cultural expectations. And accessing one means accepting that you’ll be less visible in the other.
So Micael, if you’re reading this: which penalty are you willing to accept?
That’s the only question that matters.
I’ve been running sendXmail, ZOPPLY, and HOT Leads for 12+ years, teaching digital law at Lusofona University, and conducting AI automation workshops across Europe and Asia. 98% of my business comes from international clients because I made the English-first choice in 2013. It wasn’t easy, but it matched where I wanted my businesses to go.
If you’re facing this same decision, there’s no universal right answer.
Just the answer that’s right for your specific goals, risk tolerance, and timeline.
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