Re: Making myself marketable

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- AXIONET -dot- COM>]

One useful tactic is to change how companies think about technical
writing.

Many companies tend to lump documentation in with manufacturing.
However, I have argued successfully that
documentation provides not only information, but image,
especially in cases in which I do the layout as well as
write. Most customers will at least open a manual soon
after buying the product, so a large part of their
impression of the product and company will be based on
the usefulness and the look of the manual. For this
reason, documentation could easily be seen as part of
the marketing budget.

At the very least, this argument might free up more money
to pay you if you're working on contract.

Incidentally, I liked Alexia Prendergast's reply in this thread, showing
that someone working at a higher rate may actually be cheaper to hire in
the long run. It's the kind of counter-intuitive logic that I
appreciate.

--
Bruce Byfield (bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com)
Technical Writer / Job Bank Team, STC Canada West Coast Chapter
h: (604) 421-7189

"You're a cabbage in a pickle whose brain has sprung a leek,
So let us keep our distance, 'cuz I vomit when you speak.
I'll always do a runner, so I'm going where you've bean,
Just to see you chills my marrow, and turns my tomatoes green.
You're an 18-carrot cretin with a dandelion wine,
So stick to your herbaceous borders & I'll stick to mine,
And though this verse is corn-y, it's a-maizing but it's true,
That every time that I eat vegtables, it makes me think of you."
--Attila the Stockbroker

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