If you can write clear, concise instructions, then you can be a technical writer. Learn, step-by-step, how to turn your creative writing talent into a highly lucrative career, where you get paid big money consistently to use your writing skills.
Forget the complicated instructions and baffling techspeak found in other guides, The Quick-and-Easy Web Site gives you straightforward instruction on how to build a Web page that really delivers. It's simple. It's fast. And it's certain to take your small business to the next level. Written for the small-business owner on the go, this book gets your Web site up and running in just one day. It walks you through the five easy steps that will get your company the Internet attention it deserves. Learn how to: Purchase your domain name Write powerful Web content Design your page's layout Find a Web host Publish your site Once your new site goes active, you'll attract new customers in no time. This fast and effective guide puts you and your company where you belong-on the Web! Paula Peters is the owner of Peters Writing Services, Inc., a firm that specializes in writing and designing marketing materials, including Web sites. She has written marketing materials for a variety of Fortune 500 companies across the globe and has published more than 50 articles, essays, and stories. The author of The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit, Peters also has taught thousands of entrepreneurs, leaders, and managers over the past 12 years.
The first edition of Krista Van Laan's popular The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing has guided a generation of technical writers who are either starting out or seeking to take their skills to the next level. This classic has now been updated for the technical writer of today. Today's tech writers truly are technical communicators, as they build information to be distributed in many forms. Technical communication requires multiple skills, including an understanding of technology, writing ability, and great people skills. Wherever you are in your journey as a technical communicator, The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing can help you be successful and build a satisfying career.
In a world of rapid technological development, people are constantly falling behind and becoming technological illiterates. Technology companies are constantly struggling to find effective ways to help customers or potential customers understand the advantages or the operation of their new products. Technical writing is a specialized, structured way of writing, where information is presented in a format and manner that best suits the cognitive and psychological needs of the readers, so they can respond to a document. Thus, it is writing formatted and shaped to make reading as simple, poignant, unequivocal, and enjoyable as possible. It so happens that most technical writing positions are still primarily offered to those who can write effective end-user manuals, system design documents, Web sites, and the like for engineering and IT firms. This book aims to teach students the skill of technical writing. It is unique in that it gets to the point, uses practical outlines throughout, and actually shows students how to produce the most common technical documents step-by-step. It employs a laid-back approach that is focused on providing real-world information in a straightforward and easy-to-understand manner.
Every complex product needs to be explained to its users, and technical writers, also known as technical communicators, are the ones who do that job. A growing field, technical writing requires multiple skills, including an understanding of technology, writing ability, and great people skills. Whether you're thinking of becoming a technical writer, just starting out, or you've been working for a while and feel the need to take your skills to the next level, The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing can help you be a successful technical writer and build a satisfying career. Inside the Book Is This Job for Me? What does it take to be a technical writer? Building the Foundation: What skills and tools do you need to get started? The Best Laid Plans: How do you create a schedule that won’t make you go crazy? How do you manage different development processes, including Agile methodologies? On the Job: What does it take to walk into a job and be productive right away? The Tech Writer Toolkit: How do you create style guides, indexes, templates and layouts? How do you manage localization and translation and all the other non-writing parts of the job? I Love My Job: How do you handle the ups and downs of being a technical writer? Appendixes: References to websites, books, and other resources to keep you learning. Index
Judging by all the hoopla surrounding business plans, you'd think the only things standing between would-be entrepreneurs and spectacular success are glossy five-color charts, bundles of meticulous-looking spreadsheets, and decades of month-by-month financial projections. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, often the more elaborately crafted a business plan, the more likely the venture is to flop. Why? Most plans waste too much ink on numbers and devote too little to information that really matters to investors. The result? Investors discount them. In How to Write a Great Business Plan, William A. Sahlman shows how to avoid this all-too-common mistake by ensuring that your plan assesses the factors critical to every new venture: The people—the individuals launching and leading the venture and outside parties providing key services or important resources The opportunity—what the business will sell and to whom, and whether the venture can grow and how fast The context—the regulatory environment, interest rates, demographic trends, and other forces shaping the venture's fate Risk and reward—what can go wrong and right, and how the entrepreneurial team will respond Timely in this age of innovation, How to Write a Great Business Plan helps you give your new venture the best possible chances for success.
Learn from the authors' combined 35 years of field experience along with real-world examples and stories to advance your career in the highly coveted field of sales engineering Key Features Fully comprehend the responsibilities and core skills needed to become a successful sales engineer Gain deeper knowledge of sales and see how sales engineering plays a vital role in an organization’s success Start or grow your sales engineering career, avoiding pitfalls and focusing on strengths Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book Description Sales engineers often need to balance their technical expertise with the soft skills needed to close deals and build lasting client relationships. This book provides a framework for both senior engineers seeking professional growth and individuals just starting their sales engineering careers. This book draws from the authors’ extensive experience in this industry and as leaders in top high-tech companies, offering real-world insights and life lessons applicable to this specialized and in-demand industry. You’ll pick up the core disciplines a successful sales engineer should exemplify, along with mastering practical, day-to-day operational aspects. Within these chapters, you will learn the roles and responsibilities of a sales engineer, as well as adjacent roles within a sales team. You’ll also develop the skills needed to navigate complex sales cycles and exceed traditional expectations. This book covers various key aspects of sales engineering, including mastering communication techniques, navigating complex meetings, managing customer expectations, understanding legal matters, and handling administrative tasks. By the end of this book, you’ll have acquired advanced knowledge to excel as a world-class sales engineer and become a valuable member of your organization’s broader team. What you will learn Familiarize yourself with the different types of organizations employing sales engineers Gain insights into the crucial soft skills necessary for effective client interaction Discover best practices in working technical demonstrations and proof of concepts from start to finish Navigate important decisions related to the role and your work-life balance Understand ancillary topics that affect sales engineers, often not discussed openly or directly Who this book is for This book is for sales engineers. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your career, it will help you fully understand the dynamics of your role and become a world-class SE sought after by top employers or move into management positions. Use this book as a manual, referring to it whenever you encounter the situations described within.
"Great teams are comprised of ordinary people that are empowered and inspired. They are empowered to solve hard problems in ways their customers love yet work for their business. They are inspired with ideas and techniques for quickly evaluating those ideas to discover solutions that work: they are valuable, usable, feasible and viable. This book is about the idea and reality of "achieving extraordinary results from ordinary people". Empowered is the companion to Inspired. It addresses the other half of the problem of building tech products?how to get the absolute best work from your product teams. However, the book's message applies much more broadly than just to product teams. Inspired was aimed at product managers. Empowered is aimed at all levels of technology-powered organizations: founders and CEO's, leaders of product, technology and design, and the countless product managers, product designers and engineers that comprise the teams. This book will not just inspire companies to empower their employees but will teach them how. This book will help readers achieve the benefits of truly empowered teams"--
Technology is changing the way we do business, the way we communicate with each other, and the way we learn. This new edition is intended to help technical writers, graphic artists, engineers, and others who are charged with producing product documentation in the rapidly changing technological world. While preserving the basic guidelines for developing manuals and warnings presented in the previous edition, this new edition offers new material as well, including a much-expanded section on hazard analysis. Features Provides more explicit guidance on conducting a hazard analysis, including methods and documentation Offers in-depth discussion of digital platforms, including video, animations, and even virtual reality, to provide users with operating instructions and safety information Incorporates current research into effective cross-cultural communication—essential in today’s global economy Explains new US and international standards for warning labels and product instructions Presents expanded material on user analysis, including addressing generational differences in experience and preferred learning styles Writing and Designing Manuals and Warnings, Fifth Edition explores how emerging technologies are changing the world of product documentation from videos to virtual reality and all points in between.
Proven techniques that maximize media exposure for your business A seasoned PR pro shows you how to get people talking When it comes to public relations, nothing beats good word of mouth. Want to get customers talking? This friendly guide combines the best practical tools with insight and flair to provide guidance on every aspect of PR, so you can launch a full-throttle campaign that'll generate buzz -- and build your bottom line. Discover how to * Map a winning PR strategy * Grab attention with press releases, interviews, and events * Cultivate good media relations * Get print, TV, radio, and Internet coverage * Manage a PR crisis