Gerry McGovern provides this week’s guest article. You build a brand on the Web one click at a time. You destroy your brand by wasting your customers’ time. I am a customer of a number of banks. I judge these banks, at least partly, by the experience I have with them online. I used to [...]
Entries from February 26th, 2010
How To Build & Destroy Your Brand On The Web
February 26th, 2010 · Comments Off · Books I Like, Communications, Social Media, Tips, strategy
Tags: Advertising·Bank of Ireland·brand·Business·Chris Brogan·Consultant·Harvard Business Review·Marketing·Richard Branson·strategy·Tom Peters·User interface design
12 Steps To Getting Started as a Consultant
February 24th, 2010 · View Comments · Books I Like, Career, Communications, How To, Linkedin
Most people think it’s difficult start a career as a business consultant. I used to think the same in my early 20s when I started in IT. In retrospect, I should have made more efforts to establish myself as a consultant earlier; the benefits certainly outweigh the downsides. As luck would have it, I was [...]
Tags: Chris Brogan·Consultant·Harvard Business Review·Linkedin·management·Management consulting·Richard Branson·strategy·Tips·Tom Peters
Subscribe to any Posterous Blog via Email
February 24th, 2010 · Comments Off · Social Media
You can now subscribe to any blog on Posterous by email. They’ve updated its autopost tool so that your friends on Facebook and Twitter can stay updated with your blog as well as friends that are not on these networks but want to stay connected. FYI: You can also publish blog posts to Posterous by [...]
Tags: blogging·Communications·email·Facebook·Posterous·social media·subscriptions·Twitter
Writing Technical Documentation for Chinese and Japanese Readers
February 24th, 2010 · View Comments · Technical Writing
Carsten Mende explains how loan words are used in China and Japan. These are English words that are commonly used in everyday Chinese, (i.e. loaned) but may not translate correctly if taken literally. He looks at how the ‘Chinese and Japanese languages incorporate English terms and how they are used’ and gives suggestions on what to avoid when translating documentation into these languages.
Tags: Chinese·Internationalism. Localization·Japanese·Jargon·Jobs·Slang. Editors·Translation·user guide·words
2010 MadCap Software Roadshow – European Dates
February 22nd, 2010 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
MadCap Software will travel across the US, Canada and Europe in 2010, providing one-day technical writing seminar. Designed by Mike Hamilton, VP of Product Management, the seminars will discuss how to get the most out of your technical writing & publishing tools. The US and Europe dates are as follows.
Tags: Add new tag·Canada·content authoring·europe·madcap events·madcap roadshow·MadCap Software·mike hamilton·seminar·Software Development·techincal writing·technical communication·Technical Writing·Training·US
Gina Blednyh Interview: How Social Media Will Make You A Better Technical Writer
February 22nd, 2010 · View Comments · Technical Writing
Gina Blednyh launched the Technical Communication 2.0 group in Facebook in 2009. It explores the interplay between Web 2.0 and technical communication. It’s a terrific place to exchange ideas about collaborative technologies and new approaches to delivering information. In this interview, I ask her how Technical Writers can use Social Media and the types of [...]
Tags: Documentation·Facebook·Help·Leadership·social media·Technical Authoring Tools·technical communication·Technical Writing·Video Blogging
How to Run Structured Interviews & Improve Task Analysis
February 20th, 2010 · View Comments · Technical Writing
It’s not the questions you ask that matters, it’s the way you ask them. Technical writers, business analysts, and developers all ask questions. They want answers. And some are better than others. Some ask many times to get the definitive answers. Others think they have the answer but, on closer inspection, have overlooked some vital [...]
Tags: Consultant·interview·Outsourcing·Procedures·Process Design·Questionnaire·Questions·SME. Workshop·strategy
US Dates for 2010 MadCap Software Roadshow – San Diego, Chicago to Atlanta
February 17th, 2010 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
MadCap Software will travel across the US, Canada and Europe in 2010, providing one-day technical writing seminar. Designed by Mike Hamilton, VP of Product Management, the seminars will discuss how to get the most out of your technical writing & publishing tools. The US and Europe dates are as follows.
Tags: Blaze·content authoring·Dita·europe·Events·Help Authoring·MadCap·MadCap Flare·MadCap Software·mike hamilton·Roadshow·seminar·techincal writing·Training
Using Google’s Wonder Wheel for Mind Mapping & Generating New Ideas
February 15th, 2010 · Comments Off · Books I Like, Business Process, Communications, Google, Tools, strategy
Google’s Wonder Wheel is Search and Mind Mapping combined together. The Wonder Wheel was introduced in May 2009 and is one of Google’s best kept secrets. This search/mindmapper tool shows search results in a Wheel with different Spokes for each associated search result. Fantastic tool for brainstorming, studying trends, and idea generation.
Tags: Add new tag·Google·Innovation·Mind Mapping·Problogger·Research·strategy·Wonder Wheel·Writer’s Block
Do you Earn As Much As These Technical Writers? 2009 Salary Survey Results
February 12th, 2010 · View Comments · Career
The WritersUA User Assistance has published details of its 2009 Salary Survey results, which includes a breakdown of salaries for technical writers and others in the tech comms field.
Tags: Career·contract·Salary·technical writer
Don’t Feed The Trolls!
February 10th, 2010 · View Comments · Communications, Facebook, Google, How To, Linkedin
I have a troll. Do you? Trolls slither over the internet. They start as lurkers, then get brave, creep out and spit things at you. 10 out of 10 trolls feed on attention. Negative or positive – they don’t care. Attention is the oxygen that keeps them going. Here’s the story of how I found my troll and what we may do next?
[Interview] Svi Ben-Elya on Technical Writing & Professional Empowerment in Israel
February 9th, 2010 · View Comments · Technical Writing
After moving to Israel in the early 1980s, Mr. Ben-Elya became one of Israel’s first technical writers. He developed a reputation for helping companies solve their documentation problems innovatively but painlessly, while within the technical writing community he became known for helping others. Mr. Ben-Elya’s reputation enabled him bring together all parts of Israel’s technical writing community (independent contractors, technical writing companies, and in-house writers) in Oct. 2003 to found Elephant. http://elephant.org.il.
Tags: Data sheets·Freelance·Independent contractor·israel·rate·Salary·STC·Technical documentation·Technical Editors·Technical Writers·Technical Writing·Tel Aviv·user guides·Workshop
Who Makes The Most Money – Technical Writers with Strong Language or Deep Technical Skills?
February 7th, 2010 · View Comments · Career
Kai raised an interesting point about which skill (writing/technical) takes longer to master. Knowing how to structure and present information to users? Or knowing how to use a product or application? That got me thinking. If you want to make money as a technical writer, which area should you focus on? Sharpen your writing skills or deepen your technical knowledge, for example, learning how to document an API?
Tags: API·Career·Contracting·language·Money·Skills·Technical·technical writer
