Writing Remotely

Now that the four day week is becoming more popular, so is remote writing. Investing in a laptop can make remote writing much easier. A laptop with an internal network card can provide Internet access for online publishing at any remote location with wireless access.

 

For certain types of writing the writer may need to be on location. But after the meetings, product reviews and engineering changes have been completed, writing can begin at any time or location.

 

Some of our writers attend all engineering meetings via conference call. After hanging up the phone the writing begins and the team begins to collaborate on the content of the documents. Writers go on-site one to five times a year depending on the need of the client. In some cases, the writer meets the client once, and writes for that client on an open-ended contract.

 

Just think of the money saved by the client and the writer at a time when gas prices may soar higher than we have ever imagined.

 

The clients and writers can focus on their business instead of worrying about what the price of gas will be tomorrow.

 

Email

Website

Concerning Corporate Keyword Phrases

Layoffs are at an all time high. How do you know if your job is in jeopardy? It is difficult to tell for sure, but we have collected a few phrases from employees and freelancers that may be of interest to you.

 

Here are a few phrases you really don’t want to hear.

 

• Your department should be immune to the layoffs
• We want you to bring Sayeed up to speed
• You got a minute?
• We are concerned….
• Stop by my office before you leave today and make sure you bring your coat
• There is nothing to worry about; you will not be affected by the buyout
• Salary reviews will be postponed this year
• Bonuses have been rescinded
• Furlough
• There’s no truth to the CFO being indicted
• Please report to HR ASAP

If you have a phrase you would like to share with us, please do.

 

Email

Website

Insourcing and Jobs in America

The big news on July 3, 2008 was 62,000 jobs lost. This has sparked several discussions on-line and we would like to add our two cents.

 

We will deal with this issue using the alternate definition of the word insourcing, since in theory, everything is possible. Since we are currently in America, this term will refer to transferring jobs to local contractors and facilities that are physically located in the United States of America.

 

This is an election year, and there is talk from both candidates about putting America back to work. Each candidate states their commitment to this but maybe small businesses can lead the charge for their respective industries. With supportive government policies, that are enforced, the number of jobs located in America just might increase.

 

For example, since free trade isn’t always fair trade, how about having product documentation targeted at the American consumer, written in America? Our company has rewritten product guides that were originally written in a country where English was not the first language. It turned out that outsourcing wasn’t appropriate in this case. In short, they had to pay to have the same work done twice. Where is the savings here? We don’t see any and neither do our clients.

 

Supporting policies and infrastructure may assist in avoiding issues like this and promote a win-win for both the corporate bottom line and the American worker. But this is just a theory, and in theory, everything is possible!

 

Email

Website

Are you making the most of Single Sourcing?

Take your online help documentation and your user manuals to the next level!

 

Save time and money doing it the right way. Using Microsoft and Adobe software for documentation development and implementing effective technical communicator standards wasted time and money can be eliminated from documentation projects.

 

Why keep spending the extra money, when you don’t have to?

 

We have remote technical writers available to make this one time transition for you, so you can start saving money, today!

 

Email

Website

Freelance Web Design

Technical communication and writing includes a variety of skills. The basic approach of most technical writers is to add to their skills in a manner that is suitable to their career development.

 

Our technical writers have a liberal arts education (art and photography) as well as application and web programming experience. Therefore, it has been easy for them to add web skills to their training curriculum.

 

JavaScript, Dreamweaver, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop, Fireworks, InDesign, Microsoft Office, VISIO, and more.

 

To date, we have been contacted for freelance web design as well as writing a variety of business manuals (on-line help and print) for the company website and personnel. This has been a very interesting experience since old documents and sketches become on-line help or PDF down-loadable documents from their website. The business analysis skills used for technical system and application development are useful for analyzing and organizing the new documents our clients are developing.

 

The old and the new are coming together to build a tomorrow, on the Internet, for many companies.

Writing for Business

Analysis related to business writing has evolved through many phases. When looking for freelancers capable of this kind of analysis don’t forget that SDLC (Systems Development Life Cycle) is very similar to UML (Unified Modeling Language) and RUP (Rational Unified Process).

 

If the writer you have chosen has written for SDLC projects they may be worth considering for your business writing projects that require business analysis.

 

Remember, there are also similarities between business writing, technical writing and copywriting so don’t reduce your chances of finding an economical business writer by limiting your choices too much.

Fifth Phase of the Project – Punishment of the Innocent

The guilty have been identified. Management has taken the appropriate action to address employees or vendors that contributed to the demise of this project.

 

The deadline is approaching and management is feverishly meeting with the remaining project team to see what can be done by the deadline date.

 

As long as management continues to take action regarding any issues that impede the project deadline, the better it is for management. No one can mention the mistake that lead to this demise out of fear of being identified as one of the guilty.

 

In addition, management begins to solicit advice and information from people outside of the project team. The objective is to tap every resource available as the deadline approaches. The project is far from perfect but something is always better than nothing.

The Fourth Phase of the Project

Search for the Guilty!

It has become evident that the project is now in jeopardy. Everyone is beginning to see why the project was projected to be six months instead of four weeks. Management is aware that they must now take action to address the issues that will arise from missing the deadline date.

 

The witch hunt begins and the managers spin the bottle.

 

Round, and round, and round it goes, where it will stop, nobody knows.

 

Will the bottle point to you or maybe you over there?  We must identify the guilty parties. Those chosen by management will take the blame, somebody has to.

The Second Phase of the Project – Disillusion

That’s right; the kick-off meetings are done. The funding for the new project has been distributed to the appropriate departments, but the illusion of how easy this project will be starts to diminish.

 

The management committee appropriated the funds based on a 4 week project instead of a six month project in order to ensure project approval. If the project is completed in 4 weeks it will increase corporate profits and market share. This market assessment is accurate but completing this project in 4 weeks to produce the desired result is not realistic.

 

Hmmm, this sounds like a project that will require daily status reports, milestones, and critical paths. Management prepares to start work immediately.

 

Fast forward to tomorrow, the third phase of the project.

 

The First Phase of a Project

 

Today we will begin with the first phase of the project.

 

Wild Enthusiasm

 

In this phase, senior management has approved and budgeted the project and every one is enthusiastic about the benefits of project completion. Managers and Directors start the kick-off meetings to get staff and the necessary departments on board. The analysis begins and the appropriate industry experts are hired and excited about getting started and contributing to the company’s success.

 

What could go wrong? Good people, industry experts, what more could we need?

 

Join us tomorrow for the second phase of the project.