From the daily archives: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Can Quick Grammar Guide & Checker solve our grammar writing problems once and for all? English writing is one of the most important forms of communication today, it is necessary to maintain it correct and professional. Let’s take a look and see how recent technological improvements can help us on improving our writing skills.
Quick introduction
What is Quick Grammar Guide & Checker all about? Well, it is one of these innovative solutions that technology keeps bringing in order to make our life easier – in our case it is about fixing our English writing. By simulating the human mind, this technology analyzes your writing by comparing it to a dynamic large database that contains proper variations of your text. Sophisticated language processing solutions usually offer the following: editing and proofreading, checking on spelling and typos, and most importantly – analyzing our grammar writing.
Important benefits
We can easily find several important advantages while using this technology:
* Significantly enhancing the capabilities of our existing text editors.
* Improving our self confidence with our writing.
* Improving the image we want to project through our writing.
Extra research on this solution would probably bring up additional benefits that aren’t mentioned here, as this important webmarketing technique keeps changing, bringing us fresh solutions that help us on improving our English writing and editing skills.
Quick summary
If we summarize the main benefit provided by this powerful Quick Grammar Guide & Checker – it is helping us on identifying possible writing errors before we deliver or publish our writing assignments. Everyone agrees that it cannot completely eliminate our writing problems; however, it can significantly help us on improving our writing skills. Undoubtedly we can expect this exciting technology to further develop itself, for one simple reason: writing is one of the most important tools that help us achieving many of our goals.
Author: Gil Lavitov
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: How Electric Pressure Cookers Work
Have an idea!
If you can’t think of an idea for a book or other product, get some help by asking contacts, colleagues or clients. Failing that, get some brainstorming software such as Mind Manager. If none of that helps – go for a long walk, forget everything and let your subconscious get to work.
Think
Once you have an idea, just let it mull over in your mind. Jot down associated ideas and thoughts. Produce a mind map, if that’s your thing, or a list of ideas and thoughts related to your original product concept. Always have a notebook with you so you can jot down ideas as they strike you. That means keeping the notepad by your bed so if you wake in the middle of the night you can record the idea and go back to sleep!
Set up an ideas bank
Get a folder or a concertina folder that is divided into sections. Label each section for one of the themes your book or product will cover. Put your notes into each appropriate section of the folder. As you read newspapers and magazines, tear out any useful information and bung it in the appropriate section. As you browse web sites and see useful pieces of information, print them out and store them in your folder in the relevant place. Don’t judge what you collect; if you think it may be valuable, just collect it and file it.
Talk to people
Don’t keep your book idea a secret. Talk to anyone who you know who could help provide you with useful information. Interview relevant experts and chat with colleagues and contacts to collect extra material.
Produce an outline
Having written some notes, collected some background material and chatted to people you should now be able to come up with an outline for your product. At first, start with a broad outline of the main themes you will cover. These will make up your chapters. Now, take each theme and subdivide it into the particular points you want to make or things you want to discuss.
Write
You don’t have to start at the beginning. Choose any of the small parts of any chapter and write as much as you can about it. Don’t worry about the grammar, the spelling or the niceties of your literary style at this stage. Just write whatever comes to mind about the specific subject you have chosen. Once you’ve done that, select another part of your detailed outline and write about that. Let’s say you have 10 chapters each with five sections. That’s 50 sections you need to write. For a 30,000 word paperback of around 120 pages, that means you need around 600 words per section. By taking it a section at a time it is more manageable. If you only did one section per day, you’d have a complete book in only seven weeks.
Edit
Once you have your sections written, you’ll need to pull them together. You will also need to write some connecting paragraphs and sentences to make things flow.
Get some help
Having produced your first draft, get someone else to read through it and suggest changes. Do not be precious about your work. You are seeking their changes; you want them to change things. Otherwise your material will not be from a reader’s perspective, making it less attractive. Once your reader has suggested changes – make them! Then tidy up your work.
Get some more help
Now get someone else to edit your work. They need to go through it with a fine toothcomb, looking for inconsistencies, poor argument and lack of detail or clarity and so on. There are plenty of freelances who will do this from the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (sfep.org.uk).
Check and re-check
You are on the home straight now! All you need to do is check the work of the proofreaders, make sure that your final text is correct. Stop thinking you could have written a different or better book. Just check this one is OK.
Author: Graham Jones
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable pressure cooker
If youve read any of my work before, you probably know that I’ve been in publishing since 1987, have been a freelancer since 1993 and ran an editorial staffing agency in New York City from 1996 through 2004.
Some lessons Ive learned from this crazy journey are as follows:
1. Staying abreast of technology is crucial: Back in 1998, I was pushed to get a website for my company because clients and candidates were asking questions like, Can I apply online? Can I download the contract from your site? Can I post a job to your website?
Well, as we didnt even have a website, I would embarrassingly say no. The loud silence, especially from clients, on the other end of the phone line got to be too much.
Going through the process of getting a website taught me the value of staying on top of technology. I learned that while I dont need to be a hard-nosed techie, to stay competitive, I had to know enough to be able to stay competitive. This meant not only getting a site, but learning how to update it myself.
One of the wonderful things about technology is that new tools are constantly being developed for those of us who are NOT tech-savvy, eg, FrontPage software for building websites, autoresponder software, listserv software for building mailing lists, etc.
2. Writing is a skill: Obviously, you mutter. However, many writers dont treat their craft like it. I single out writers because, in my experience, proofreaders, copy editors, indexers, editors, graphic designers, illustrators, etc. all seem to see intrinsic value and take pride in their work.
Many writers take their craft for granted. Maybe its because society views writing as just words on paper. After all, once you know your ABCs, you can write, right? Well, editorial professionals know better than anyone that this is not so.
One thing I advise all professional writers to do to combat this lackadaisical attitude is to treat their writing like a business skill. Just like being a professional coder, artist or web designer when you put yourself out there, market and treat your skill like the highly valued commodity it is.
Let it be reflected in your perfectly prepared marketing materials eg, your website, brochure, postcard, etc. Also, when you speak with potential clients, be sure to use a professional tone. No one is going to believe that you write professionally if you dont talk like it as well.
3. Freelancing full-time is not hard: Its not easy, to be sure. But, building a successful, full-time freelance career is not terribly difficult, if:
a. You have experience within your discipline. Most successful freelancers Ive encountered have worked full-time within their discipline at some point.
b. You are willing to work fulltime and freelance on the side for a period of time. Many freelancers leave their jobs once they got too burned out doing both, or secure a big project that allows them to make the leap.
c. You plan for it. Some freelancers (the most successful ones I might add) are more calculating about their careers.
What I mean by this is that they plan a year or two out knowing that they are going to leave their jobs. So, they save 6 months or a years expenses, pay off credit card bills, buy equipment while working full-time, etc.; then, they make the leap.
The ones I know who followed this path are, not surprisingly, the most successful meaning, they have gone on to hire employees. A few even opened offices and became official businesses because their client load demanded it.
Can you build a freelance business if you dont have these three things? Absolutely! However, it is even more critical that you devise a plan of how youre going to go about it. Having experience and industry contacts makes it easier, but the web makes it easier than ever today to start a freelance business.
4. Marketing is a skill that must be developed: When most freelancers start out, they may have two or three clients who keep them pretty busy. BUT, the day comes when the projects dry up (it always happens) and you have to scrounge for business.
Its at this point that many panic and start looking for a full-time job again. When I was recruiting, I received more than a few panicked calls, eg, I have to find something — quick!
Invariably, I was unable to help them (see Point #5 below). It usually was a moot point though because within a month or so, some project would come along and they would no longer be interested or available for a full-time job.
It was during this time that I got interested in the whole topic of freelancing as a business. Most freelancers focus on their craft and not the business of freelancing. However, as I preach ad nauseam on InkwellEditorial.com, to be successful as a freelancer, you must, must, must learn how to market if you want a full-time, sustainable career as a freelancer.
5. Employers dont like to hire freelancers for full-time jobs: It was my experience when I was recruiting that if you freelanced full-time for a year or more, employers were very hesitant to hire you as a full-time employee. Why?
Because most think that you are only seeking full-time work because you have hit a rough patch financially. Logically, it just makes sense. I mean, who gives up a successful freelance career to go back to the 9-5 grindstone? Most employers figured that as soon as the next big project came along, their new hire would be out the door.
I have seen it happen on many occasions so much so that when I was recruiting, I would screen out those with a significant freelance history because the chances that they would leave was just too great.
I once lost a $6,000 placement fee because the employee quit 10 days before the 90-day guarantee. [Most recruiting firms give employers a 60 or 90-day guarantee that the employee will stay put for at least this amount of time, or they dont have to pay.]
6. You cant change your rates every year: Charge enough that you dont have to change your rate for three years. I know some make take umbrage with this, but Ive found editorial (eg, writing, copy editing, proofreading, indexing, editing, etc.) to be a very static industry. It is not one where you can raise rates yearly.
Some of the companies I freelanced for back in 1993 still pay the same rates today Im not kidding! So, I advise all freelancers who are just starting out to start out charging enough so that they dont have to change their rates for three years.
Its been my experience that after this period, you can increase rates without worrying about losing even one of your clients. Putting forth the argument of, we havent raised rates in three years somehow seems to make it fair for them.
Working on this time schedule, I dont ever remember losing a client. I think its a combination of clients being comfortable with your work and them thinking, after three years, an increase is only fair.
7. You must develop a niche: Ive known a few freelancers who did several things successfully (eg, designed websites and wrote the copy for them), but this was the exception, not the norm.
Most successful freelancers niche it. What I mean is, they develop a niche and stick to it. In my opinion, it is far easier to become successful like this than being a generalist.
Trust me, those sites where you see freelancers touting that they do everything from writing to web design to illustration are not making that much money, or they are farming the work out to other freelancers.
Most clients like to know that they are getting a knowledgeable professional who has a history and body of work within the discipline they are being hired for. If it is a pharmaceutical company, they want a writer who has done this type of writing before.
So, develop a niche and market the hell out of it!
8. Patience is a virtue: Even after all of my years in the industry, Im amazed by how difficult it can be to be patient while I grow my business. I have lists and lists of ideas that I want to implement and there just never seems to be enough time.
This is easily a career where you can work nonstop all the time. An idea for an article pops in your head and instead of jotting down the idea, you find yourself writing the whole article; you go online to do some research, and before you know it you have spent two hours surfing the net on an unrelated matter; you log on to check email, and in an instant, you find yourself redesigning a section of your website; the list is endless.
This is an issue I still struggle with; although, I have gotten better about stopping. So, instead of browsing for 2 hours, it might be 30 minutes before I literally make myself stop and go back to my original task.
The best advice I can give to stop this kind of behavior is to think of your long-range goals and ask yourself if what youre doing this very minute is getting you closer to them. If not, stop and get back on track.
9. Retirement is not planned for: I can count the number of times on one hand that Ive had conversations with freelancers about retirement. Most small business owners (and thats what freelancing is, small business ownership) have an exit strategy, or a day where they envision doing something else.
For some reason, editorial and creative freelancers dont think this way. Well, while you may be able to write or design websites from anywhere at any age, whos to say youre going to want to when youre 70?
In my quest to get freelancers to think of themselves as businesses, one of the things I wish more would do is plan for retirement. This includes looking into 401K plans, buying investment real estate, building a sellable business, etc.
Again, just because you might be capable of churning out material long past retirement age does not mean that you are going to want to. So, plan for the day when you wont have to.
10. Longevity pays: The longer you freelance, the easier it gets. My business mentor said to me once, when you first start out, you are just greasing the pipes. After two or three years, clients will not be quite so hard to come by.
Its just like search engine positioning — the longer your site is on the web, the more frequently it is spidered by search engine bots, the more results it shows up in, the more popular it is, more people find it and voila! you have a popular site.
If you are constantly marketing and networking, eventually, it will seem effortless and referrals will flow in. Thats because you build traction just by being around. Many freelancers dont hang in there long enough to get this type of seamless recognition.
In conclusion, freelancing is a wonderful career — if, like anything other venture you enter, you take it seriously enough to work it like a business.
Author: Yuwanda Black
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Smart cooker
The biggest mistake authors make when trying to get free publicity is pitching either themselves or their books.
Don’t pitch authors! Pitch issues. Don’t pitch books! Pitch entire shows.
Example: If you wrote a book about how children of divorced parents suffer long-term effects well into adulthood, don’t try to entice TV producers with the book. Entice them with an entire show around the topic of “Children of divorced parents: Do they ever recover?” Then suggest two or three other guests who tie into your topic and could be interviewed, preferably someone who is on the other side of the issue. If you can do that, you’ve just given producers an idea for an entire show, and they’re more likely to bite because you’ve done their work for them.
Here are 6 more book publicity tips:
–Be sure you have a good quality professional photo of yourself. I’m amazed at the number of authors I write stories about who don’t have photos I can use.
–Use a “tip sheet” in your media kit that ties into your topic. Example: You write a book about how to discipline children. Your tip sheet might be something like “9 Tips for Calming Your Child’s Temper Tantrum.” Each tip should be no longer than one or two short sentences. The media love these tips because they can reprint them as a sidebar to a longer story. See Special Report #16: How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media’s Attention
–If you have a website, place the author’s photo and updated contact information at the site. Sometimes when trying to contact an author, I go to their website and then search in desperation for contact info.
–Don’t be afraid of controversy when it comes to book promotion. The more controversial you are willing to be, the greater your chances of coverage by the media, particularly broadcast. Radio shows in particular don’t want only light. They want heat.
–The author should write an opinion column taking a strong stand on one side of a controversial issue that ties into the topic of the book. Then target the column to the publication that is read by people who you want to buy your book.
–If you want to get into a particular publication, call the advertising department and ask for a copy of their free Editorial Calendar. This is a listing of all special sections and topics planned for the year. Review the calendar and find a specific issue where your topic would be a good fit. Then call the publication, ask for the name of the person who edits that section, and write or e-mail them with your story idea. Do this several months before the publication is printed.
Most importantly, unless you are contacting the book reviewer, most media people don’t care what’s inbetween the covers of your book. They DO care about what’s inside your head, your expertise, and how you can help them. Remember that, and you’re well on your way to lots of free publicity.
Author: Joan Stewart
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Pressure cooker
Writing newspaper articles is relatively easy as there is only one format that every journalist should follow. News articles must be written using inverted pyramid technique, formal tone, and they must contain straight facts.
Here’s a format that you can easily follow when writing newspaper articles:
1. Headlines. Start your news articles by creating a catchy headline that will grab your audience by the throat. It’s important that you keep it short as your publishers are most likely to want to save some precious space. Using as little as 5-10 words, you must be able to tell your audience what’s your news is all about and why they should go ahead and read it.
2. First or lead paragraph. As I said earlier, you need to write your articles using the inverted pyramid technique. This is to make sure that you’ll keep your readers interested and make sure that they’ll get informed even if they’re pressed for time and do not have the time to finish reading your news article in its entirety. Your first or lead paragraph must contain all the information that your readers would like to know about. In here, you must tell them as briefly as possible the gist of your content and the people involve in your story.
3. Article body. Use the remaining paragraphs for your supporting details and for the quotes of those people who have something to do with the story that you’re covering. Remember, you must stick with facts and you must present them as they are. You’re not supposed to interpret them even if your main goal is to influence public opinion.
Author: Sean R Mize
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: WordPress plugin Guest Blogger
Writing newspaper articles is relatively easy as there is only one format that every journalist should follow. News articles must be written using inverted pyramid technique, formal tone, and they must contain straight facts.
Here’s a format that you can easily follow when writing newspaper articles:
1. Headlines. Start your news articles by creating a catchy headline that will grab your audience by the throat. It’s important that you keep it short as your publishers are most likely to want to save some precious space. Using as little as 5-10 words, you must be able to tell your audience what’s your news is all about and why they should go ahead and read it.
2. First or lead paragraph. As I said earlier, you need to write your articles using the inverted pyramid technique. This is to make sure that you’ll keep your readers interested and make sure that they’ll get informed even if they’re pressed for time and do not have the time to finish reading your news article in its entirety. Your first or lead paragraph must contain all the information that your readers would like to know about. In here, you must tell them as briefly as possible the gist of your content and the people involve in your story.
3. Article body. Use the remaining paragraphs for your supporting details and for the quotes of those people who have something to do with the story that you’re covering. Remember, you must stick with facts and you must present them as they are. You’re not supposed to interpret them even if your main goal is to influence public opinion.
Author: Sean R Mize
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger
Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon courtesy and politeness between business personnel. Etiquette, and especially business etiquette, is a means of maximising your potential by presenting yourself positively.
Writing a business letter is not simply a matter of expressing your ideas clearly. The way you write a letter and the etiquette you employ may have a significant impact on your success or failure in business.
Failure to observe correct business letter etiquette can result in you adopting an inappropriate tone, causing offense or misunderstandings, lack of clarity or purpose and hostility or soured relations.
The foundation of good business letter etiquette is Think before you write. You should be considering who the letter is addressed to, how and why? This will then influence style, content and structure.
Here we cover some of the main issues relating to good business letter etiquette:
Addressing the Letter
Always make sure you have spelt the recipients name correctly. It may sound simple, but you would be surprised at how many people fail to do so. The recipients name should include titles, honours or qualifications if deemed necessary.
Many people use the Dear Sir/Yours Faithfully formula when addressing the receiver. Although this is acceptable for routine matters it is impersonal and should not be used when dealing with those you know, queries or complaints. With these the Dear Mr./Yours Sincerely formula should be adopted.
Once a certain level of familiarity is reached it is not considered bad etiquette to use phrases such as Kind Regards or All the best at the end of the letter.
Confidentiality
If the content of the letter is sensitive, personal or confidential it must be marked appropriately. Marking the letter confidential will suffice in highlighting this fact. If you only want the letter read by the receiver without the interception of a secretary or PA, mark it as Private, Personal or Strictly Confidential. If you have received such a business letter it is good etiquette to reciprocate and ensure that all future correspondence is kept at that level of confidentiality.
Style
Proper business letter etiquette requires that a consistent and clear approach, combined with courtesy, be employed. As a rule of thumb, aim to keep all business letters formal in style. Even when the receiver is familiar to you, it is advisable maintain a certain level of business etiquette as the letter may be seen by others or referred to by a third party in the future.
However, this does not mean you should use long or uncommon words to express yourself. This merely looks odd and makes the letter unreadable. It is best to read a letter first and consider whether you would speak to that person face to face in the same way. If not, then re-write it.
Letters should be signed personally. It looks unprofessional, cold and somewhat lazy if a letter is left unsigned. However, having a secretary or PA sign on your behalf is not considered a breach of business etiquette.
Humour
Humour can be used in business letters but only when the writer is completely positive the recipient will understand the joke or pun. From a business etiquette perspective it may be wise to avoid humour. This is because firstly, the letter may be read during a crisis, after receiving bad news or on a sombre occasion. Any other time the humour may have been appreciated but under these circumstances it may dramatically backfire. Secondly, the written word is open to misinterpretation. Your sarcastic or ironic remark may be taken the wrong way. Thirdly, it is possible that the letter may be read by a third party who may deem the humour inappropriate and pursue a complaint of some sort.
Responding
Good business letter etiquette calls for letters to be responded to promptly or within certain guidelines. This may normally be considered as 5 working days. If this is not possible then some sort of acknowledgement should be sent either by letter, fax, phone or e-mail.
Always use reference numbers or clearly state the purpose of the letter at the top, for example, Re: Business Letter Etiquette Enquiry. This allows the receiver to trace correspondence and immediately set your letter within a context.
When replying to points or questions the proper etiquette is to respond in the same order as they were asked.
Managing Conflict
Letters are often an arena for conflicts or disputes. Even in these circumstances there are rules of business letter etiquette that should be adhered to.
If you initiate the dispute then, 1) Explain and set out your case simply and clearly to the most appropriate person, 2) Offer information that may be required by the other party to help answer questions, 3) Indicate a time scale by which you expect a reply or the matter to be resolved.
If you are receiving the dispute then 1) inform senior colleagues who may be affected or who may be able to offer assistance, 2) Submit all replies in draft form for a senior colleague to check, 3) Stick to the facts and the merits of the case and do not allow emotions to become involved, 4) Be polite, patient and courteous.
Using business etiquette in all matters and especially in business letters will ensure you communicate effectively, avoid misunderstandings and maximise your business potential.
Author: Neil Payne
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV
Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon courtesy and politeness between business personnel. Etiquette, and especially business etiquette, is a means of maximising your potential by presenting yourself positively.
Writing a business letter is not simply a matter of expressing your ideas clearly. The way you write a letter and the etiquette you employ may have a significant impact on your success or failure in business.
Failure to observe correct business letter etiquette can result in you adopting an inappropriate tone, causing offense or misunderstandings, lack of clarity or purpose and hostility or soured relations.
The foundation of good business letter etiquette is Think before you write. You should be considering who the letter is addressed to, how and why? This will then influence style, content and structure.
Here we cover some of the main issues relating to good business letter etiquette:
Addressing the Letter
Always make sure you have spelt the recipients name correctly. It may sound simple, but you would be surprised at how many people fail to do so. The recipients name should include titles, honours or qualifications if deemed necessary.
Many people use the Dear Sir/Yours Faithfully formula when addressing the receiver. Although this is acceptable for routine matters it is impersonal and should not be used when dealing with those you know, queries or complaints. With these the Dear Mr./Yours Sincerely formula should be adopted.
Once a certain level of familiarity is reached it is not considered bad etiquette to use phrases such as Kind Regards or All the best at the end of the letter.
Confidentiality
If the content of the letter is sensitive, personal or confidential it must be marked appropriately. Marking the letter confidential will suffice in highlighting this fact. If you only want the letter read by the receiver without the interception of a secretary or PA, mark it as Private, Personal or Strictly Confidential. If you have received such a business letter it is good etiquette to reciprocate and ensure that all future correspondence is kept at that level of confidentiality.
Style
Proper business letter etiquette requires that a consistent and clear approach, combined with courtesy, be employed. As a rule of thumb, aim to keep all business letters formal in style. Even when the receiver is familiar to you, it is advisable maintain a certain level of business etiquette as the letter may be seen by others or referred to by a third party in the future.
However, this does not mean you should use long or uncommon words to express yourself. This merely looks odd and makes the letter unreadable. It is best to read a letter first and consider whether you would speak to that person face to face in the same way. If not, then re-write it.
Letters should be signed personally. It looks unprofessional, cold and somewhat lazy if a letter is left unsigned. However, having a secretary or PA sign on your behalf is not considered a breach of business etiquette.
Humour
Humour can be used in business letters but only when the writer is completely positive the recipient will understand the joke or pun. From a business etiquette perspective it may be wise to avoid humour. This is because firstly, the letter may be read during a crisis, after receiving bad news or on a sombre occasion. Any other time the humour may have been appreciated but under these circumstances it may dramatically backfire. Secondly, the written word is open to misinterpretation. Your sarcastic or ironic remark may be taken the wrong way. Thirdly, it is possible that the letter may be read by a third party who may deem the humour inappropriate and pursue a complaint of some sort.
Responding
Good business letter etiquette calls for letters to be responded to promptly or within certain guidelines. This may normally be considered as 5 working days. If this is not possible then some sort of acknowledgement should be sent either by letter, fax, phone or e-mail.
Always use reference numbers or clearly state the purpose of the letter at the top, for example, Re: Business Letter Etiquette Enquiry. This allows the receiver to trace correspondence and immediately set your letter within a context.
When replying to points or questions the proper etiquette is to respond in the same order as they were asked.
Managing Conflict
Letters are often an arena for conflicts or disputes. Even in these circumstances there are rules of business letter etiquette that should be adhered to.
If you initiate the dispute then, 1) Explain and set out your case simply and clearly to the most appropriate person, 2) Offer information that may be required by the other party to help answer questions, 3) Indicate a time scale by which you expect a reply or the matter to be resolved.
If you are receiving the dispute then 1) inform senior colleagues who may be affected or who may be able to offer assistance, 2) Submit all replies in draft form for a senior colleague to check, 3) Stick to the facts and the merits of the case and do not allow emotions to become involved, 4) Be polite, patient and courteous.
Using business etiquette in all matters and especially in business letters will ensure you communicate effectively, avoid misunderstandings and maximise your business potential.
Author: Neil Payne
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Pressure Cooker
Procedural documentation and manuals are an integral part of industrial training. Similarly, when high-tech products are introduced in the market they have to be packaged along with user manuals that effectively communicate to the customers’ optimum usage of the product as also details of trouble shooting. New business systems need to be supported by user assistance manuals and structured training manuals. All these requirements need the services of a good technical writer. The focus of technical writing is to
analyze and assess audience needs
design the documents with appropriate words and images
Test and measure the effectiveness of the information disseminated and make necessary modifications as needed to increase the effectiveness of the communication.
Professional technical writers possess expertise in understanding and analyzing technical information and presenting a quality document that can be easily understood. They are able to structure complex technical information in a user friendly manner. They also gauge what information is critical for the reader – the most important being how to use the product efficiently rather than details of how or why it works. Writers with engineering and technical backgrounds who can comfortably interact with engineers and technicians are ideally well suited to handle technical writing projects.
However the cost of employing full time in-house technical writers is substantial and includes not just the salary but also insurance and paid leave, apart from office space and supplies. The cost incurred on a full-time writer is often not justified given the varying work load. As an alternative, very often companies delegate the task of writing operating manuals to their in-house engineers who may not be comfortable with the written word and may not even be motivated as they prefer to be hands on engineers.
The Solution – Get a Team of Experts at Half the Cost
The ultimate aim of technical communication is to explain, train, and teach through well made documents. This means that the writers must have sound technical knowledge and strong language skills. In addition they also require two important attributes – discipline and consistency. These are skills and attributes that offshore professional technical writing firms thrive on. The end objective of any technical document be it an online help document, a printed manual or a downloadable PDF file, is effective communication to the end customer. Offshore technical writing teams are well equipped to design textual and visual content for concise and clean technical communication delivering exceptional results at extremely competitive rates.
Additional Benefits:
You retain Full Control
When technical writing services are outsourced, you are paying only for the end product. You also have more control over an outsourced technical writing team than in-house employees. Moreover these professional technical writing firms offer trial documentation before the actual offshore process is initiated. This ensures you have complete control over quality and time lines.
Your developers can focus on their core skills
Developers are not necessarily good writers. A trained technical writer is well qualified to extract essential knowledge and present it using the appropriate tone in a language that will be understood by the specific audience using the product.
The Net Value Addition
On off shoring your technical writing tasks to a dedicated, professional team with the necessary expertise and equipment, you will be able to get technical documentation done in a time-bound, cost-effective manner. As engineering and software firms work on tight schedules, outsourcing technical documentation tasks increases their overall productivity.
Author: Lipsa S
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff
Procedural documentation and manuals are an integral part of industrial training. Similarly, when high-tech products are introduced in the market they have to be packaged along with user manuals that effectively communicate to the customers’ optimum usage of the product as also details of trouble shooting. New business systems need to be supported by user assistance manuals and structured training manuals. All these requirements need the services of a good technical writer. The focus of technical writing is to
analyze and assess audience needs
design the documents with appropriate words and images
Test and measure the effectiveness of the information disseminated and make necessary modifications as needed to increase the effectiveness of the communication.
Professional technical writers possess expertise in understanding and analyzing technical information and presenting a quality document that can be easily understood. They are able to structure complex technical information in a user friendly manner. They also gauge what information is critical for the reader – the most important being how to use the product efficiently rather than details of how or why it works. Writers with engineering and technical backgrounds who can comfortably interact with engineers and technicians are ideally well suited to handle technical writing projects.
However the cost of employing full time in-house technical writers is substantial and includes not just the salary but also insurance and paid leave, apart from office space and supplies. The cost incurred on a full-time writer is often not justified given the varying work load. As an alternative, very often companies delegate the task of writing operating manuals to their in-house engineers who may not be comfortable with the written word and may not even be motivated as they prefer to be hands on engineers.
The Solution – Get a Team of Experts at Half the Cost
The ultimate aim of technical communication is to explain, train, and teach through well made documents. This means that the writers must have sound technical knowledge and strong language skills. In addition they also require two important attributes – discipline and consistency. These are skills and attributes that offshore professional technical writing firms thrive on. The end objective of any technical document be it an online help document, a printed manual or a downloadable PDF file, is effective communication to the end customer. Offshore technical writing teams are well equipped to design textual and visual content for concise and clean technical communication delivering exceptional results at extremely competitive rates.
Additional Benefits:
You retain Full Control
When technical writing services are outsourced, you are paying only for the end product. You also have more control over an outsourced technical writing team than in-house employees. Moreover these professional technical writing firms offer trial documentation before the actual offshore process is initiated. This ensures you have complete control over quality and time lines.
Your developers can focus on their core skills
Developers are not necessarily good writers. A trained technical writer is well qualified to extract essential knowledge and present it using the appropriate tone in a language that will be understood by the specific audience using the product.
The Net Value Addition
On off shoring your technical writing tasks to a dedicated, professional team with the necessary expertise and equipment, you will be able to get technical documentation done in a time-bound, cost-effective manner. As engineering and software firms work on tight schedules, outsourcing technical documentation tasks increases their overall productivity.
Author: Lipsa S
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Cool mobile gadgets
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