Tech/Marketing writing

[Barb Philbrick <barb -dot- philbrick -at- PCOHIO -dot- COM>]

R>Also, (this is just my opinion), I think a lot of user's manuals and
R>process descriptions should be looked at as a form of PR, when they
R>are written for consumer use.

It's my opinion, too. I always look at the manual as something a
customer will spend more time with than anything except the product
itself. If a company puts out a sloppy manual, I assume it's small
(often incorrectly, I know - I've worked for a small company that looked
big, and a large company that looked small based on their manual
production). I also wonder how much they really care about the customer
if they don't care enough to tell me how to use their product.

I also use the manual to recommend other company products through it
(things like - "accepts inputs from the XYZ Co. Blippity-Blop detector
and other +/-10V transducers"). This should help the customer (maybe a
salesman forget to tell them they could put a meter on the equipment),
and encourages them to buy additional parts from the company.

R>>Any comments from writers who have worked under both?

R>I like the info/pr/marketing writing.  It's usually where I can expend
R>some creative energy.

I like it, too, though I'm not particularly wonderful at it. It's also a
chance to make sure the pr and marketing writing is technically correct.
The engineers always appreciated a chance to proof the marketing
literature - I don't think anyone else ever asked them to.

Barb

barb -dot- philbrick -at- pcohio -dot- com
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