Most people think it’s difficult start a career as a business consultant. I used to think the same in my early 20s when I started in IT. In retrospect, I should have made more efforts to establish myself as a consultant earlier; the benefits certainly outweigh the downsides. As luck would have it, I was forced into a consultancy role when I lost my 9-5 job. Time to learn to hustling and bring in business.
Entries Tagged as 'Career'
12 Steps To Getting Started as a Business Consultant
January 26th, 2010 · View Comments · Business Model, Career, Strategy
Tags:Business·Career·Chris Brogan·Consultant·Harvard Business Review·Linkedin·management·Management consulting·Richard Branson·Strategy·Tom Peters
5 Ways to Differentiate Yourself & Generate New Income Streams
January 13th, 2010 · View Comments · Career, China, How To
Tom Peters says, “the value of services will continue to fall” and that the only way to survive is to differentiate yourself from the competition. Is this true? How do you as a technical writer make yourself stand out from the crowd? If you don’t, what impact could this have on your [...]
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10 Best Mistakes I Made in 2009
November 22nd, 2009 · Comments Off · Career, Technical Writing
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. If you don’t know your mistakes you’re going to repeat them. Here’s my best mistakes.
Tags:contracts·Facebook·GTD·India·Podcast·rates·Social network·Twitter
How do you measure technical documents? What metrics do you use?
November 21st, 2009 · View Comments · Career
One of our tech docs team was fired yesterday. Why? Technical documents provide no value.
This is how Management sees it.
Tags:Business·Career·Design·Human-Computer Interaction·Marketing·Productivity·user interface
Are technical documents a waste of time?
November 20th, 2009 · View Comments · Career, Technical Writing
“Don’t worry” she said. “No one reads this stuff anyway. Just get it done.” Sounds familiar?
Tags:Bank·Business·Employment·Information technology·management·Project management·Project manager·Resumes·Technical Documents
How Outsourcing Can Boost Your Tech Writing Career
November 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Career, Tips
Image by Ivan Walsh via Flickr
Most technical writers see outsourcing as a real threat. But, if you look at it from another angle, it’s one huge business opportunity.
Tags:Career·India·Outsourcing
How to Study Technical Writing Online & Get Certified
November 10th, 2009 · Comments Off · Career, How To, Technical Writing
The University of Limerick, Ireland offers an excellent online course for those who want to study technical writing at home.
This university has a pretty amazing campus, specializes in the Arts and provides a conveyor belt of freshly-minted technical writers to Microsoft, Google and IBM in Ireland. It’s one of the few universities in Europe with [...]
Tags:Business·Career·Degree·Distance education·Distance Learning·education·Electronic learning·google·Graduate School·ibm·microsoft·Online Courses·University·University of Limerick
How Tai Chi Can Make You a Better Technical Writer
November 8th, 2009 · View Comments · Career, How To, Productivity
Does technical writing give you a headache?
I spend 10 hours a day working on user guides, online help and other such delights. One of the hazards of working these long hours is migraine, back pain and literally a pain in the neck.
So, what’s this got to do with Tai Chi?
Tags:Alternative·Beijing·Chinese language·English language·health·Produc·Productivity·Qigong·Tai Chi·Tai chi chuan·Time-saver
5 Reasons Why Women Are Better Technical Writers Than Men?
November 7th, 2009 · Comments Off · Career, How To
Technical Writing attracts women. They’re very good at it and make great team leads.
Maybe I’ve been very lucky but I believe women are far better as technical writers than men.
Here are five areas where I think they have the edge of the guys.
1. Communication
When in entered technical writing, I assumed my days would be spent [...]
Tags:Adobe FrameMaker·Art·Business·Career·communication·Degree·education·English language·interview·Junior Technical Writer·management·Prod·Productivity·Team Building·technical writer·Writers Resources
Is this true? The goal of a project is to make the user successful!
November 6th, 2009 · View Comments · Career, How To, Productivity
Ben says: “The goal of a project is to make the user successful at what he wants to accomplish. Go ahead, read that previous sentence a few times. It’s one that would do well to sink in.”
Is this true?
Tags:Advertising·Business·Call centre·Customer Management·Goal·management·Product·Public relations·Technical support·Usability·Users
Is a Degree In Technical Writing Worth The Effort?
November 5th, 2009 · Comments Off · Career, Google, How To, India
Do you have a degree in technical writing or technical communications? Was it worth the money? If you had a second chance, would you have chosen this or opted for another career path?
One of my younger cousins has started her degree in university in Limerick, Ireland. Not the place most of us think of as [...]
Tags:Asia·Business·Career·Course·Degree·distance learning course·education·google·ibm·India·Ireland·Limerick·microsoft·Online Techical Writing Course·Technical Writing
What’s the Highest Daily Rate You Can Get as a Technical Writer?
November 5th, 2009 · Comments Off · Career
Knowledge is power. Knowing the daily rates of others in your industry helps you negotiate fees and get a better deal.
I’ve worked in the US, UK and now here in Asia and have seen a vast difference in the rates that writers work for.
Some of my friends in India work for $15 per hour, which [...]
Tags:Career·contract·Contracting·Daily Rates·Employment·Freelancing·India·Jobs·London·STC·Work
3 Ways to Turn Outsourcing to Your Advantage & Travel the World
October 26th, 2009 · Comments Off · Career, How To, India
Image Chris Pirillo
Outsourcing is not going to go away. Our recent Technical Writers survey showed that US companies are now outsourcing technical documentation projects big-time to India, Poland and Portugal. This is not going to change. It’s just a business decision.
Feeling bad/sad/mad about it won’t change it.
But what you can do is make it [...]
Tags:Business Proposals·File Conversion·google docs·India·Mentoring·Outsourcing·PageMaker·Skype·Technical Writers·Training
Why the STC offers Technical Writers Value for Money!
October 20th, 2009 · View Comments · Career
Image via Wikipedia
The STC recently increased its annual subscription rates to over $200 prompting howls of protest for technical writers.
In response to this, it has come out and defended its position by justifying the price increases. Here’s my take on the key points.
Stop Blogging! What happens if you start to make money?
October 20th, 2009 · Comments Off · Career, Google
Does writing a blog constitute work? Forbes reports that the New York State Department of Labor recently declared a laid-off attorney ineligible for unemployment benefits as she was bringing in $1.30 a day from blog ads.
Tags:Adsense·google·Google AdSense·Lawyer·New York·Searching·SEO·Unemployment benefits












