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Subject:RE: TechComm & MarCom From:Dan Lewis <danlew -at- delphi -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Tue, 26 Oct 1999 08:52:57 -0400
Meyers, Patrick wrote:
>Do Tech writing and Marketing/Sales writing ever merge in the writing world,
>in in specific jobs or companies?
If the company is small enough. In the small, narrow-market software
company that employs me, I am pretty much it for writing and producing both
user documentation and marketing materials. Although most of the time it
is clear to me which hat I am wearing in a given instance, there is some
overlap. (And some days I get a stiff neck and a headache from changing
hats so many times.) Some of it is beneficial and some of it is not.
Because it all comes from the same pot, the marketing pieces have ready
access to technical information. The marketing people who will use these
materials are not always happy about it, but because I generally know the
limitations of the software, I have a tendency to avoid overinflated
claims. Similarly, being closer to the marketing stratgegies is helpful in
defining the audience for the user manuals. However I do have to work at
maintaining boundaries. I do occasionaly find myself trying to sell a user
a product which, given that she is reading the manual, she already owns.
