Technical content is a commodity. Technical Writers must think of themselves as Knowledge Brokers and communicate the value they provide which includes increased revenue and improved customer retention. This presentation will show you the right mindset to build business cases that get your company to invest in Technical Communication/Publications as a revenue generator.
Presented by Bernard Aschwanden and Christopher Ward.
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Not all slides or topics are equal weight
Use what you can, discard the rest
Slides are a reference, so we may go
quickly
Questions? Ask as they come up!
If you are taking notes, note the slide
number (if online for a webinar track
the time stamp)
We’d love to claim that errors/typos are
intentional… they isn’t, weren’t ever,
and ain’t, but we’ll fix them as we can…
B
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
President of
Publishing Smarter
Content strategist,
publishing
technologies
expert, and author
Certified Technical Trainer
◦ DITA
◦ Content management
◦ Topic-based writing
Society for Technical
Communications
◦ Director
◦ STC Associate Fellow
Director of Sales
WebWorks
4 years of military
service in Army
Intelligence
◦ Taught to separate
procedure from strategy and
to look at both differently
3 years with Dell
Computers
◦ Applied analysis experience
to business world
BC
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
A company dedicated to helping the Technical
Communication community
Increase efficiency and collaboration with advanced
software solutions
Deliver content anywhere via outputs compatible in
any environment
Show the full value of documentation through
increased client loyalty and product value
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
In the interest of brevity some
blanket statements are made
to keep things simple
Not everything we say is 100%
the truth—we’ll stay close
though
◦ Remember one of us is a sales guy
◦ The other is a consultant!
Could get in trouble from
purists
◦ In some cases they are just wrong
◦ Of course, some points are valid
PRESENTED LIVE!!!
B
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Content creators have an opportunity to position content as
the most pivotal asset to a company’s continued success
Users want instant access to information
Evolve into Knowledge Brokers (KB) and align your
development process with your company’s business strategy
In this presentation we:
◦ Discuss the role KB content plays in business strategy
◦ Explore the correct workflow that is needed to generate revenue
through documentation
◦ Look at methods used to deliver content across multiple devices and
the method that is most effective and why
C
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
According to Clay Spinuzzi*
◦ Knowledge is now, and will be the basic economic resource
◦ Value is created via productivity and innovation
◦ Leading social groups will be knowledge workers
who know how to allocate knowledge to productive use
*Spinuzzi is a professor at University of Texas at Austin and an authority on rhetoric, technology, research, and where we’re headed next.
http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/search?q=knowledge+workers
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
The problem:
The solution:
“The economic challenge of the post-capitalist
society will therefore be the productivity of
knowledge work and the knowledge worker.”
“Technical Communicators will change their
mindset and evolve methods to broker knowledge
as the most pivotal asset for a company’s success.”
CB
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
What do I need to understand?
◦ ROI can be shown through spreadsheets and metrics, but you have
to know the concept of revenue first (Revenue is created when a
business sells a solution that answers an individual need)
◦ Part of a revenue mindset is to look and discover value, so ask:
How valuable is the information you work with?
Does your information extend beyond process?
How do you incorporate a business strategy into a work flow?
How do you execute this?
◦ It’s challenging. You have to move out of your comfort zone to make
it happen. The rewards can be great!
◦ It’s an evolution.
Technical Writers become Knowledge Brokers
C
13. Updating the way you think about
what you (hopefully) love to do
C
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Content factors that
positively impact a
company’s profitability
◦ Integrity of the content
◦ Accessibility of the content
◦ Findability of the content
◦ Usability of the content
Poor data quality negatively
impacts the bottom line by
an avg of $8.2 million/yr in:
◦ Operational inefficiencies
◦ Lost sales
◦ Unrealized new opportunities
(The Gartner Group)
12% of companies use
customer intelligence to
drive key business functions
and corporate strategy
88% are putting up with
waste, inefficiency, and lost
opportunity that dirty data
creates
Companies that commit to
data quality use their
knowledge of customers and
prospects to maximize top-
line and bottom-line results
(Forrester research)
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Your browser is not one of our officially supported varieties
and therefore the flow through certain areas of our site
may not be as robust as otherwise. To fully utilize all of our
great features, we recommend switching to one of the
following:
◦ Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher (download now)
◦ Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher (download now)
If you prefer not switching to one of our recommended
browsers at this time, you are still more than welcome to
visit our website, although you may not get to utilize all of
our features to their fullest extent,
If you have any questions, please call our Sales Super
Centre at 1-800-538-5696.
B
22. 13:11@PublishSmarter www.publishingsmarter.com
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Your browser is not one of our
officially supported varieties and
therefore the flow through certain
areas of our site may not be as robust
as otherwise. To fully utilize all of our
great features, we recommend
switching to one of the following:
◦ Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
(download now)
◦ Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher (download
now)
If you prefer not switching to one of
our recommended browsers at this
time, you are still more than welcome
to visit our website, although you may
not get to utilize all of our features to
their fullest extent,
If you have any questions, please call
our Sales Super Centre at 1-800-538-
5696.
Our site does not officially support your
browser. Feel free to explore with it,
but you may not be able to use all our
features.
You may want to update your browser.
Consider using one of the following:
◦ Microsoft Internet Explorer (download now)
◦ Mozilla Firefox (download now)
If you have questions or encounter
problems, please call our Sales Super
Centre at 1-800-538-5696.
From 114 words to 67 ~40% reduction!
Message is clean, easy to understand
Translation costs decrease
Message removes the feeling of blame
B
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
90% of the customer’s
experience with the product is
direct use
Cognitive Dissonance is the
inner tension a customer feels
when expectations are not fully
met
The best way to relieve this is
through strong communication
Documentation lives in this
stage and can be the most
effective tool a company has
to:
◦ relieve tension
◦ create product value
◦ promote customer loyalty
C
30. As you design your information solutions,
ensure that you align documentation
procedures with current business strategy
C
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
50% of a businesses customers are lost every 5 years
(average according to Harvard Business Review)
61% of consumers take their business to a competitor
when they end a business relationship
(new revenue you are handing a competitor)
73% of customers leave because they are dissatisfied
with customer service
◦ The company losing the customer thinks only 21% leave
because of customer service
(according to RightNow Technologies)
C
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
T2 Systems has a small
team that uses a CMS,
writing tools, and DITA
Amy and Kelsey are
responsible for all of the
user documentation T2
delivers with all software
and hardware solutions
Challenges
◦ Large legacy conversion
◦ Migrate to new software
◦ Develop templates
◦ Learn the system
Solution
◦ Convert content to DITA
◦ Implement a CMS
◦ Learn writing basics
◦ Custom training /support
Results
◦ Improved docs
◦ Legacy Word to DITA
◦ Well acclimated to the new
writing environment
◦ Structured authors
◦ Perform basic CMS
administration
◦ Publish in multiple formats
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
A few years into the
project they decided to
automate and publish via
stylesheets
They asked us to build this
for them
Again, they were happy
with the results
This year (FIVE years into
working together) they
came back again
We’d like to use of
conditional content!
When we first went live
back in early 2009, you
helped us set up ditavals
for some of our content. A
new project is a perfect
use case for conditionals,
and we’d like to try and
re-implement them. Could
we re-engage your
services and schedule a
call where you can show
us how the process works.
B
42. 13:12@PublishSmarter www.publishingsmarter.com
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Technical Documentation becomes pivotal to a
company’s success through supporting the overall
business strategy and retaining customers
You have to have the proper workflow to do this
The proper workflow allows for
◦ Analysis of information
◦ Continuous improvement
◦ Customer involvement
C
43. Come on, you KNOW they have to
be in any company presentation
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
SMART Goals
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria#Developing_SMART_goals
◦ S pecific
◦ M easurable
◦ A ttainable
◦ R elevant
◦ T ime-bound
Historical data wins it for the long haul, so keep records!
Quantify and Qualify
Brag, brag, brag and when you are done, brag some more
Measure yourself through feedback mechanisms
Example: Software Advice
C
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
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The Death of SEO: The Rise of Social, PR, and Real
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◦ www.forbes.com/sites/kenkrogue/2012/07/20/the-death-of-
seo-the-rise-of-social-pr-and-real-content
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50. What we have discussed and how to
follow up with the presenters
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Today, Content Creation is
the most pivotal asset for
a company’s success
Technical Documentation
can increase profitability
no matter what strategy
the company decides on,
with the proper workflow
and the mindset of a
Knowledge Broker
Measure your success
It’s your choice…
C
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@WebWorksChris www.webworks.com
Contact Bernard
◦ bernard@publishingsmarter.com
◦ Call 905 833 8448
◦ Twitter: @publishsmarter OR @aschwanden4stc
◦ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardaschwanden
Contact Christopher
◦ christopher@webworks.com
◦ Call 512 381 8895
◦ Twitter: @WebWorksChris
◦ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WebWorksChris
◦ Company Facebook: www.facebook.com/WebWorksePublisher
◦ My Blog: http://blogs.webworks.com/christopher
BC