Sales teams across the nation face challenges dealing with selling advanced technology. Many times sales reps are placed into technology sales without a proper understanding of the technology they sell. They are trained to solve pains, not necessarily trained to explain advanced technical concepts.
Sales teams could benefit with a technical writer on staff. Many times during the sales process, customers need documentation. Obviously sales proposals and hardware and software requirements are a given. They often fail to reinforce the solution to the client’s pain.
Sales reps can give generic information in the form of brochures or CD ROMs with basic video presentations, but they fall short of addressing the pains and explaining the details of the intricate solution. A technical writer can bridge the gap between technology sales rep and technology consumer.
Sales reps are paid to close deals. They need to be on the phone finding leads, finding needs, developing opportunities, and closing deals. If they spend time developing customized technical documentation for the potential client, they are losing time developing new business.
A technical writer provides a sense of consultation to the deal. Technical writers can develop materials that will reinforce how the pain will removed for the client by explaining in writing with images why the specifics of how the product will work in a client’s business. Think of it as a personalized addition to the sales reps presentation.
It’s a simple process really. A technical sales rep gets past the demo stage and writes up the proposal. As the proposal is written, they provide basic details of the sales scenario to the tech writer. The technical writing then creates a custom report that’s personalized featuring the technical solution an layman’s terms. The entire solution is explained by solving the pain in the report while describing the implementation processes so they are at ease with the decision to complete the deal.
A technical writer can be a valuable tool for any sales force.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Bad Typing Habits: Two Errors for Every 300 Keystrokes
As a writer, especially a technical writer, I am aware about my bad typing habits. I am not a bad typist, the problem is I am a fast typist who thinks ahead of what I am typing. When I edit my material, I often find I leave out words, which confuses the meaning of what I type. I know I it’s a problem that many writers face when they type out their work.
Obviously, there is no cure for the bad habits with the exception of slowing down. Slow down your typing, and slow down thinking ahead of yourself. That’s hard to do, especially when you have an amazing thought that you want to express in your writing. The fear of losing the thought for accuracy scares most writers, especially those who are perfectionist with their thoughts.
The only solution is good editing. If you are like me, you are constantly writing during the day. When you add the additional blogging activities to your day, where does one find time to edit? I know my blogs often suffer from my lack of time and desire to get the information on the net so it can be read. I guess many of us compromise on some work and pay attention to the more important jobs all so we can fit everything in and meet deadlines. It’s really an unacceptable compromise.
I was reading a report at work that we are using for a new product. It claims that for every 300 keystrokes the average typist makes, there are two errors made. When you are typing a 1500 word article, that could easily mean there are 25 errors in the work. Ouch!
I don’t have to tell you, for many of us with English degrees on the wall, that’s just not acceptable; although, it’s really not a direct reflection on how well you use the English language. Typing is hard. It’s hard because we acquire bad habits. I have been typing now for 23 years. Imagine how hard that can be to fix after being conditioning those habits for years. Therefore, technical writers need to enforce their editing skills. You must find time to edit. If you don’t, you will embarrass yourself.
I recommend electronic editing through a software program called StyleWriter. It runs a quick pass through of your document and asks you to look at problem areas. Then print out your documents, get a pencil out, and manually edit your document. My editing instructor from college would be proud of me for making this suggestion. You will be surprised what you find. Remember that’s two errors for every 300 keystrokes.
Obviously, there is no cure for the bad habits with the exception of slowing down. Slow down your typing, and slow down thinking ahead of yourself. That’s hard to do, especially when you have an amazing thought that you want to express in your writing. The fear of losing the thought for accuracy scares most writers, especially those who are perfectionist with their thoughts.
The only solution is good editing. If you are like me, you are constantly writing during the day. When you add the additional blogging activities to your day, where does one find time to edit? I know my blogs often suffer from my lack of time and desire to get the information on the net so it can be read. I guess many of us compromise on some work and pay attention to the more important jobs all so we can fit everything in and meet deadlines. It’s really an unacceptable compromise.
I was reading a report at work that we are using for a new product. It claims that for every 300 keystrokes the average typist makes, there are two errors made. When you are typing a 1500 word article, that could easily mean there are 25 errors in the work. Ouch!
I don’t have to tell you, for many of us with English degrees on the wall, that’s just not acceptable; although, it’s really not a direct reflection on how well you use the English language. Typing is hard. It’s hard because we acquire bad habits. I have been typing now for 23 years. Imagine how hard that can be to fix after being conditioning those habits for years. Therefore, technical writers need to enforce their editing skills. You must find time to edit. If you don’t, you will embarrass yourself.
I recommend electronic editing through a software program called StyleWriter. It runs a quick pass through of your document and asks you to look at problem areas. Then print out your documents, get a pencil out, and manually edit your document. My editing instructor from college would be proud of me for making this suggestion. You will be surprised what you find. Remember that’s two errors for every 300 keystrokes.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Beware the Cubicle Idiot
As a fresh writer coming into a new job, you have to be aware of the ego trap. Ego trap you ask? The ego trap is the most annoying employee in the company that thinks they are the company. Without them the company would fall apart. It is important to figure out who this person is in case the day comes they ever ask you what you think of their writing.
In my first job after graduating from college with my technical writing degree, that first ego was named Dan. I started the job in the cold days of a Chicago January. The earth has been frozen for a number of months when you live that far north, and there’s little to talk about, especially if the Bears miss the playoffs.
Dan sat in the cubicle next to mine. Nearly every minute of every day of every workday, I had to listen to Dan greet potential clients. When they asked him how he was doing, I had to hear the same one-liners about Chicago’s frozen tundra. I would have hung up had I been on the other line.
One morning between frozen tundra phone calls, his beady eyes popped over my cubicle like a scene out of the office. He spoke.
“I just wrote this marketing letter to my doctors for the latest software special. I was wondering if you would take a look at it and make sure it’s okay.”
I just took the bait to enter the ego trap.
He handed me three pages of a sales letter. I sat in my cubicle listening to the frozen tundra bit reading his long-winded, large worded letter. I shook my head knowing this was going to hit the trashcan.
I asked him to send me the Word document version. I ran it through Style Writer. Style Writer gave it one of the lowest scores I have seen to date. Geez!
For the next hour, I sat editing the letter. It shrunk from three pages to just less than a total page. I sent it back to Dan proud of my work.
Within minutes, his beady eyes popped over the cubicle wall. “What’s wrong? You didn’t like my letter?”
I explained to him that I transferred it from passive voice to active voice while trying to fit it on one page. He began to explain that his wife worked in marketing and his letter was text book. I left it at well, throw out my changes.
A week later I bought my first new PT Cruiser. I did my best to arrive after Dan so I didn’t have to park next to his rusted out, multi-colored Dodge Neon that was a collection of junk yard parts on what used to be a purple car. One day I arrived before Dan as I sat talking to my girlfriend on the phone.
Dan pulled the Dodge Neon as close to my new car as possible. He flung his door open. It hit my car violently shaking it. He looked for my attention, and when my eyes met his, he flung his cigarette into the black snow.
Over the next few weeks, I began to discover more nicks and scratches on my car. Deep down inside I knew. I began parking my car behind a parallel building down the street and began walking to work.
Even that wasn’t enough to stop Dan. I always took my lunch later in the day. I hated where I worked, and a combination of things kept making it worse—including the boss’s Chinese girlfriend began working and we had an instant language barrier and a difference of opinion on design. My designs that once impressed quickly fell on their face when she came along. Officially, she wasn’t his girlfriend, but I saw them walking in the park holding hands the same day I met his wife. Since time always passed faster before I took lunch, I always put it off.
One morning, I was running late, so I parked in the parking lot. As I left to grab lunch, I noticed Dan was in the parking lot watching me leave. I thought little of it. I pulled into Wendy’s a few blocks away and went inside to have lunch for 30 fast minutes.
As I stood in line, the site of a purple junk Dodge Neon doing a u-turn caught the corner of my eye. I watched Dan drive into the Wendy’s parking lot the wrong way, and he was steering his junk car towards the bumper of my new PT Cruiser. He was looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching him. My eyes met his, and he steered out and away from my car. I finally went to my manager and reported him.
From that moment on, Dan stopped messing with my car to my knowledge. Of course, I put in my two-weeks’ notice at this time, and the owner had asked me to stay on and work from home. I agreed to knowing it would be easier to look for a new job. I started working from home in April.
A few weeks later, a corporate e-mail was sent letting employees Dan would no longer be working there. It turns out he went into the owners office and presented him with a list of OSHA regulations he felt the company violated. He told the owner he would return to work once they fixed the infractions.
I learned a valuable lesson about the ego trap. Sometimes it’s better to tell someone their writing is simply amazing knowing they will fail rather than try to help out. I was in sales for over ten years by the way, so what I gave him was good advice. He didn’t want good advice. He wanted to be told he was the best employee in the history of best employees.
In my first job after graduating from college with my technical writing degree, that first ego was named Dan. I started the job in the cold days of a Chicago January. The earth has been frozen for a number of months when you live that far north, and there’s little to talk about, especially if the Bears miss the playoffs.
Dan sat in the cubicle next to mine. Nearly every minute of every day of every workday, I had to listen to Dan greet potential clients. When they asked him how he was doing, I had to hear the same one-liners about Chicago’s frozen tundra. I would have hung up had I been on the other line.
One morning between frozen tundra phone calls, his beady eyes popped over my cubicle like a scene out of the office. He spoke.
“I just wrote this marketing letter to my doctors for the latest software special. I was wondering if you would take a look at it and make sure it’s okay.”
I just took the bait to enter the ego trap.
He handed me three pages of a sales letter. I sat in my cubicle listening to the frozen tundra bit reading his long-winded, large worded letter. I shook my head knowing this was going to hit the trashcan.
I asked him to send me the Word document version. I ran it through Style Writer. Style Writer gave it one of the lowest scores I have seen to date. Geez!
For the next hour, I sat editing the letter. It shrunk from three pages to just less than a total page. I sent it back to Dan proud of my work.
Within minutes, his beady eyes popped over the cubicle wall. “What’s wrong? You didn’t like my letter?”
I explained to him that I transferred it from passive voice to active voice while trying to fit it on one page. He began to explain that his wife worked in marketing and his letter was text book. I left it at well, throw out my changes.
A week later I bought my first new PT Cruiser. I did my best to arrive after Dan so I didn’t have to park next to his rusted out, multi-colored Dodge Neon that was a collection of junk yard parts on what used to be a purple car. One day I arrived before Dan as I sat talking to my girlfriend on the phone.
Dan pulled the Dodge Neon as close to my new car as possible. He flung his door open. It hit my car violently shaking it. He looked for my attention, and when my eyes met his, he flung his cigarette into the black snow.
Over the next few weeks, I began to discover more nicks and scratches on my car. Deep down inside I knew. I began parking my car behind a parallel building down the street and began walking to work.
Even that wasn’t enough to stop Dan. I always took my lunch later in the day. I hated where I worked, and a combination of things kept making it worse—including the boss’s Chinese girlfriend began working and we had an instant language barrier and a difference of opinion on design. My designs that once impressed quickly fell on their face when she came along. Officially, she wasn’t his girlfriend, but I saw them walking in the park holding hands the same day I met his wife. Since time always passed faster before I took lunch, I always put it off.
One morning, I was running late, so I parked in the parking lot. As I left to grab lunch, I noticed Dan was in the parking lot watching me leave. I thought little of it. I pulled into Wendy’s a few blocks away and went inside to have lunch for 30 fast minutes.
As I stood in line, the site of a purple junk Dodge Neon doing a u-turn caught the corner of my eye. I watched Dan drive into the Wendy’s parking lot the wrong way, and he was steering his junk car towards the bumper of my new PT Cruiser. He was looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching him. My eyes met his, and he steered out and away from my car. I finally went to my manager and reported him.
From that moment on, Dan stopped messing with my car to my knowledge. Of course, I put in my two-weeks’ notice at this time, and the owner had asked me to stay on and work from home. I agreed to knowing it would be easier to look for a new job. I started working from home in April.
A few weeks later, a corporate e-mail was sent letting employees Dan would no longer be working there. It turns out he went into the owners office and presented him with a list of OSHA regulations he felt the company violated. He told the owner he would return to work once they fixed the infractions.
I learned a valuable lesson about the ego trap. Sometimes it’s better to tell someone their writing is simply amazing knowing they will fail rather than try to help out. I was in sales for over ten years by the way, so what I gave him was good advice. He didn’t want good advice. He wanted to be told he was the best employee in the history of best employees.
Is this a Joke?: Tehcnical Writing Getting Very Technical
I found this blog entry on the Internet a few months ago. I hope it's a joke, because this person shouldn't be considered a technical writer otherwise. (Click on image to enlarge if you can't read it from this page.)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Using Copy Fill in Microsoft Word to Create Random Text
As a designer, I often create the layout before writing the text. At one time, I just typed random letters while hitting the space bar every so often to fill an area with text. This is a waste of time.
Microsoft Word has a convenient feature to create random text call ‘copy fill.’ Copy fill allows you to generate text so you can see what your page layout looks like with text.
To generate copy fill:
1. Open up Microsoft Word
2. Type the following code in the new Word document: =rand(x,x)
Simply cut or copy the copy fill and paste it into your layout.
Microsoft Word has a convenient feature to create random text call ‘copy fill.’ Copy fill allows you to generate text so you can see what your page layout looks like with text.
To generate copy fill:
1. Open up Microsoft Word
2. Type the following code in the new Word document: =rand(x,x)
a. Substitute the first x with the number of paragraphs you want to generate3. Hit Enter
b. Substitute the second x with the number sentences you want in each paragraph
Simply cut or copy the copy fill and paste it into your layout.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Frustrated By RoboHelp's Lack of Modernization and Compatibility
I am a frustrated technical writer. I have been given a huge assignment to develop documentation for another company that we are working with. I am creating the documentation in RoboHelp. For all practical purposes, I use RoboHelp for electronic help guide documentation. Our client wants it printed out.
RoboHelp has an option to print documentation through Microsoft Word, but it's not compatible with the latest version of Word -- you know the Word with the strange ribbon you either really love or really hate? So now I am in a jam unless I come up with a Microsoft Word 2003 version, which is compatible with my version of RoboHelp.
I love Adobe products, but I feel their acquisition of RoboHelp has hurt the product.The only thing they have done that makes any sense with the product is bundle it in a package called the Technical Communications Suite. I think I am going to start looking for and learning another help authoring tool. I find that to be a shame because a company like Adobe has the resources to take a good product and make it great.They have not done that with RoboHelp.
I know it's not the sexiest product on the market -- after all, a software's help guide usually goes ignored. Many of us still have to spend hours behind a monitor using it, so it would be nice to see some modernization occur with RoboHelp and increased compatibility.
RoboHelp has an option to print documentation through Microsoft Word, but it's not compatible with the latest version of Word -- you know the Word with the strange ribbon you either really love or really hate? So now I am in a jam unless I come up with a Microsoft Word 2003 version, which is compatible with my version of RoboHelp.
I love Adobe products, but I feel their acquisition of RoboHelp has hurt the product.The only thing they have done that makes any sense with the product is bundle it in a package called the Technical Communications Suite. I think I am going to start looking for and learning another help authoring tool. I find that to be a shame because a company like Adobe has the resources to take a good product and make it great.They have not done that with RoboHelp.
I know it's not the sexiest product on the market -- after all, a software's help guide usually goes ignored. Many of us still have to spend hours behind a monitor using it, so it would be nice to see some modernization occur with RoboHelp and increased compatibility.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Strategies for Social Media and Web Copy
Strategies for Social Media and Web Copy
For Web copy to be successful, it has to lead a reader through the content with a goal. The goal is simply what do we want the reader to do once they have read the copy. If you spend time to share valuable information but fail to lead them to the next step, you are losing a potential customer. In other words like a salesman, you have to close. You will measure the success of your copy by the number of conversions.
This is a collection of successful strategies that should be applied to Web pages, blogs, Facebook fan pages, and other social media content to help improve your conversion rates. These rules have been taken from successful multi-million dollar marketers like Joe Sugarman and Maria Veloso.
For Web copy to be successful, it has to lead a reader through the content with a goal. The goal is simply what do we want the reader to do once they have read the copy. If you spend time to share valuable information but fail to lead them to the next step, you are losing a potential customer. In other words like a salesman, you have to close. You will measure the success of your copy by the number of conversions.
This is a collection of successful strategies that should be applied to Web pages, blogs, Facebook fan pages, and other social media content to help improve your conversion rates. These rules have been taken from successful multi-million dollar marketers like Joe Sugarman and Maria Veloso.
Keep it simple
People who visit Web sites don’t read—they scan. In most cases, you have 15 to 30 seconds to gain their interest and provide a reason why they should stay at your site and turn their scanning into a comprehensive read.
· Keep sentence structure simple.
· Don’t be wordy.
· Get to point—provide a pain and a solution (multiple pains and confusions can cause confusion).
· Don’t waste time placing information that can be left out without changing the meaning of the copy.
· Write at a seventh grade level knowing that everyone who visits your site doesn’t have a degree in English literature. (Microsoft Word’s spell checker has a tool which you can turn on that grades the reading level of your document. Shoot for a Flesch grade level score of 7.0 to 8.0.)
-Write conversationally.
-Don’t be afraid to throw out some grammar rules, but not so many that you appear incompetent.
-Use contractions, they are less formal and tend to relax language.
-Write like you talk.
Headlines
The headline may be the most important part of your copy. It must capture the attention of people who search for answers in search engines like Google. It can be fun, but it also needs to ensure the reader that if they read on, they are going to be introduced to a solution.
· Headlines should be short.
· Should draw reader to the subheadline.
· A headline should help define the content.
· Write out a list of possible headlines and then choose the best.
· Use an editorial approach to create your headline.
-Sales approaches come across as pushy and you want it to be conversational, not pushy.
· Does the headline work with the subheadline, paragraph headings, and content to get the viewer past the five second test and convinces them to read on?
Subheadlines
The subheadline is almost as important as the headline, but it has a different job.
· It provides the opportunity to expand the headline.
· Gives more information about the content.
Photo or drawing
One of the types of learners uses visual cues like pictures to acquire knowledge. Pictures are an important part of social media. Always include a caption with your picture, as it is nearly always read.
Copy rules
The idea of copy is to keep on a slippery slope. It’s important to maintain the readers’ interest and lead them to the end of the copy. The end of the copy should instruct the reader what they should do next, so think of copy as writing a sales process. You must interest the reader and in the end you must close the reader.
Therefore an important discussion must take place prior to writing the copy. What is the goal of the copy? What must the reader to do to measure success?
The first sentence
The appearance of text on the page can make the difference of a potential customer reading on or leaving. Once again simple is better. Paragraph block should be smaller because they are less intimidating. Large blocks of text represent time and complication.
Sugarman recommends writing a short sentence to start the actual copy. The sentence should be a point and immediately generate interest to get the reader to proceed to the second sentence. The second sentence builds to the third sentence and so on from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph.
Paragraph headings
Like I mentioned earlier, Web users don’t read, they scan. Give your visitors visual cues in which they can quickly find the information they need on the page. Headings also break copy into chunks so the copy looks less intimidating.
Bullets
Earlier, I looked at why you should have an image and a caption included with your copy. There are people who learn visually. Bullets are another tool that reach out to different learning types. They quickly bring out the main points and summarize content.
Pain, solution, action
In keeping content consistent with the Sandler sales technique, pain must be addressed. Pains are the first part of the slippery slope needed to be successful with Web copy. It’s important to focus mainly on one pain to avoid confusion and information overload. Remember if someone found your content via the Web, they were probably looking for a solution to a single pain. Focus on that pain and let the pain lead the reader to the solution.
The solution should create enough interest without giving up entirely what your product does. Remember, the idea with any product is not to give up all the pizzazz up in one paragraph because there will be other products who solve the same pains. When final negotiations begin, you will need some pleasant surprises which sell your product through additional pains which may arise. This pizzazz can be presented later and should depend on the goal of the original copy.
Finally there is the action. What do you want the reader to do once they are finished reading the copy? This is what is called the close in the sales world. Copy needs to close as well. It may be as simple as leaving a comment in a comment form for feedback. If you have a product or idea to sell, you will ask them leave information about themselves so they can be contacted by a sales rep. You might ask them to order online. Regardless of what it is, the reader must be instructed what to do at the end of the content.
There are many different response devices for use on the Web—coupon, toll-free numbers, opt in, offer, ordering information, information request forms, or release of a publication or information in exchange of lead information. It may be to contact someone and express support or feedback.
Remember, we are all sales people in life. When you write, you want people to buy into what you write by considering the points you make. Take advantage of what you know about the sales process and place it in your copy while relaxing the tone to be conversational—not pushy.
Keywords
Finally, there has to be a good distribution of keywords in your content. Keywords should be conservatively used in the headline, subheadlines, and content so the pages get indexed for searches. Don’t overuse keywords as they will complicate the writing and violate search engine algorithms, which could hurt your search chances. Keywords should be used sparingly, but don’t forget to use them. They are key to attracting people to your copy.
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