Re: Client woes: a question to ask yourself...
You can be a skilled writer or a knowledgeable "techie", but if you don't
have a good business sense, you'll constantly be skipping across
minefields.
Your comment brings up an interesting point: why do most technical writing programs almost entirely ignore the business aspects? Most people seem to learn the way that I did - by plunging in and making mistakes and trying to learn from them. That's an effective way to learn, but I can't help thinking that it's also a very wasteful one. A few hints could have saved me a lot of grief, and I'm sure that most contractors would agree.
Lastly, If you have business savvy/experience, but wind up gettingThat's often the case, but not always. No matter how aware you are of the need for caution in dealing with people, a certain amount of trust is necessary. To give an obvious example, every company in the world has to assume that a signed contract is honored - otherwise, doing business becomes impossible. However, it's not impossible to come across someone who calculates that they can break a contract and that you won't spend the time pursuing them. So, no matter how careful you are (and, personally, I've learned more than I ever cared to know in the last few years about other people's dishonesty and general lack of integrity), there's always a certain amount of vulnerability that's inescapable.
burned, you ignored a basic business principle somewhere along the line.
Figure out what it was, learn for it, and move on.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"I have lead a good life, quiet and artistic,
Now I shall have an old age, coarse and anarchistic."
- Utah Phillips
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Follow-Ups:
- Re: Client woes: a question to ask yourself..., Jean Weber
- Re: Client woes: a question to ask yourself..., Rebecca Stevenson
References:
Client woes: a question to ask yourself...: From: Charles E Vermette
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