Watchout when writing technical articles!

Writing involves different styles and we all should be aware of it. Today I am focusing on Technical writing. What are these? need some examples? Press releases, newsletters, datasheets, whitepapers, case studies, articles for business magazines etc.

Before writing or planning, these are the four main things you need to focus.

Purpose - Why are you writing the article? What is the objective of the article.

Audience - to what extent they understand technical jargon, why are they reading this, the importance of the article to them.

Key info/ Level of details - What are the main points and how much to be explained. 

Organize - There should be a flow, and readers should not be trying hard to connect the points. We should connect for them.



In addition,

Don't use "he/she". Use plural form..

Eg:- It enables the user to transfer funds. He / She also can transfer via mobile phone. 
This sounds weird. Try this.
It enables the users to transfer funds. They also can transfer via mobile phone.



Do not give too much detail, give links to long stories/videos. (*Depends on the type of article)



Spell out Abbreviation when using for the first time.



Maintain a parallel structure.  This means, if you are using sentences keep on using sentences(with fullstops.) If you are using phrases, keep doing the same. Don't mix. Eg:-

• Innovative

• Easily implemented

• It gives faster access.

• Customers can save time.

The last two are sentences. The points don't have consistency. It's a must to do lot of research and read as much as possible to improve writing skills.


Quote for the Day - "Do What You Do Do Well!"

You think you know marketing?

What we know as marketing is having a marketing plan before launching a product, arranging marketing campaigns, looking for ways to reach customers. But, that is now old school. Do you know 60% of our customers' decisions are not influenced by us directly? For example, if you are going to buy a camera, would you go to the shop and decide or have you already decided what exactly to buy? Customer's decisions are influenced mostly by information presented on media, internet and recommendations.


Relationship marketing, where person A tells Person B, since we know each other for a long time, we can trust each other so you should get involved with my business.... this concept hardly works now. What works now is, Person A telling Person B "I know your industry, these are the good points and these are the weak points. You can add value by merging with my business since I know what to do to improve. " What matters now is what is on the table. Relationship marketing is still important when maintaining relationships.


What businesses should do is, make information available where customers or potential customers can reach when they are searching for the product or the company. Search Engine Optimization, social media, webinars, datasheets, blogs are some major ways on how to make yourself presented.   

Last moment

Hi everyone, yesterday, I listened to a presentation which made all of us emotional. I was blinking so hard to fight back the tears. She is a senior at our office, and yesterday she proved that she is also a loving friend, daughter and a mother. (I'm guessing a good wife too ;) ) Anyway, she related two stories about her last moments with her friend and her father. She sacrificed her time and work and went to see them, it happened to be the last moment she spent with them. This made us realize how our choices can have a significant impact on our life. If she hadn't gone for the last meal that she had with her dad, she will be regretting still. She didn't know it was the last dinner that she was ever gona have with her dad. This made me think when was the last meal I had with my dad? I can't remember. I regret to this date..., I could have spent more time with thaththi. Still I see him in my dreams, talking, sitting on the back seat of his motor bike, making fun of my mom, playing with our dog.. All these are memories and I wish I had more..




So we should all start to give time to our family and people who matter to us. She (The  senior business solutions engineer) also told how she spent time with her daughter playing scrabble and some games while having so much of work. She sacrificed and she gave priority to her daughter. That night the 5 year old daughter told, "Ammi I had a great time, Thank You"! These words must have meant sooo much to her because her voice started to crack and that made our eyes welled with tears. We work to make us and our family happy, but the time we share with them matters more. We should not make choices which will make us regret later.


Quote for the Day -  “It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime...”  ― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

 

Use social media effectively

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction , plus a social media overreaction!" :D
(- funny quotations)

The stats says that 69% of adults use social media. This is a vast subject. Today I would like to share what I've learnt about social media, and how to use it effectively.

Classify Social Media?
Well, there is no specific classification. But, in general we can classify into collaborative projects, blogs, content communities, social networking sites, business networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds.

Does it generate profit?
The truth is, sometimes not really. It will have an impact indirectly provided you maintain your presence. Social Media is a long term strategy, where you can build relationships. In order to generate profit there should be a strategy to be followed and chose the best social media sites for you.

Is it free?
No. It can be argued that it is very time consuming and multitasking can lead to poor quality of work. Human resource should be invested. So it is not free. Some companies pay an annual contract or spends on advertising.

How to use it effectively?
These are some points I've picked up.

1. Focus more on quality not quantity.

2. Listen - Observe and respond to other sites.

3. Chose carefully. Know your audience. - Don't try to dominate in every social media site. We should know the difference between fb, linkedin, twitter - the major giants.

4. Be genuine, because other participants will find out and the audience is smart!

5. E-mails are not dead. The next step after having your social presence is e-mail. So we still have to manage e-mails.

6. Access for all. Employees should be a part. They help to get the word around fast.

7. Be interesting. Avoid technical jargons and professional writing unless the article needs to.

8. We do not control social media. This is a major point because, we should understand, just having a good PR will not influence social media. So we should accept the risk.

9. Search engine optimization should be still focused. SEO and social media are two marketing strategies, SEO leads to social media.

10. Be active. It should be on-going to build and maintain relationships.


Its all about social media now, knowingly or unknowingly it has become a part of our lives. Its all about how we use it to add value to the company and individually. The "reputation" is now being controlled by social media.

Quote for the Day :-  "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens in fb, twitter... stays forever"