I often get emails from technical writers (and sometimes from product design practitioners) on how they can get started with content strategy. This post is a quick reference to get started with content strategy, if that interests you. Here is an example email. I have shared my experiences in the past in technical writers’ first brush with content strategy, and …
Read MoreSarah Cooper wrote a series of witty cheat sheets including the one as Cheat Sheet Software Engineer. I was pumped to write one for content strategists and technical communicators (cannot separate these two, not even on Sunday). We say = We mean “It depends.” = We need to discuss. “Write to me when you have fifteen minutes.” = We need to discuss. “Is it ‘Articles’? Or Insights? …
Read MoreWhen hired to work as an independent contractor, I do not work only as a technical writer or a content specialist. I need to bring together all my skills in UX design, UX writing, content strategy and a marketing perspective. I cannot really contribute to the product by merely writing procedures, instructions, or product copy. Here are a few examples. A …
Read MoreThis is a list of content publishing sources in content strategy, technical communication, information architecture, and in content marketing. For ContentHug, we curated content from around 200 sources. These include blogs by individuals, by product owners, and by small and big publishing agencies. Although we closed ContentHug earlier this year, I have listed these sources in this post. A List Apart AAP, …
Read MoreJohunnnnnn is a technical communicator. As the meeting room opened, he came out and picked “Single Sourcing: Building Modular Documentation” from the rack and settled in his chair. It was drizzling outside. There were doubts—for strategy, goals, and for tools. The whole work culture was passionate—to plan scalable and branded content that works towards the right customer experience goals. There …
Read MoreWhen I was preparing and promoting my presentation Content is playing. Game on. for STC India Annual Conference 2015, a reader wrote to me via email: “I would be very keen and interested to understand how the technical communications world handles/approaches Content Strategy. This is something we have been trying to create competency on.. but I have not been able …
Read MoreContentHug was planned with a vision. The first principle of the vision was to address my own pain points as I shared in our Makers Story. Unfortunately, we plan to discontinue the service for infinite time as we need to go back to the board for our goals and strategy. The Delight ContentHug succeeded in many ways as I got …
Read MoreMore often than not, we wear the same old hat in all conferences. Coffee, business cards, and handshakes. It is also true that we crave for meaningful experiences from a conference. Guts and Glory gives you a chance. It offered you a chance to present and to volunteer. It has given you a few chances via a stream of exciting …
Read MoreWhy A? Why not C? Who? What if? Where? Why again? This is how content strategists get started and the only goal is to bring value to the business. When I think how technical communicators generally work, there can be a lot of common ground. If you are about to start a new project as a technical communicator, do not …
Read MoreI completed my eBook project today, as a part of Smart Product Lab Challenge, by Gumroad. The eBook encourages startups to plan a product knowledge base before they launch it. You can get the eBook on Gumroad. In this post, I share 51 reasons of why a knowledge base really helps startups. Self Service Reduced Support Calls Customers Love Google …
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