You find a blog you really like. You want to learn more. You’re thinking of buying from them. What do you do? Click About Us, right? Most people do. Now, pretend you’ve never visited your own site. Remember, you know nothing about you. Nothing. Look at your About Us page? Be honest, what’s the one thing that’s wrong with it?

Why Your About Us Page is the Second Most Important Page on Your Blog?

Video made at The Temple of Heaven, China during soccer practice …

Your About Page should NOT be:

• An Afterthought – something to fill with text, just to get it done. Written after the site is launched when you’ve nothing else to do on a slow Friday afternoon.
• In the third person — it’s your blog! Talk to me. Introduce who you are. Don’t talk down. Talk about your team, mention their names, show their faces, add pic and videos. Why not?
• Flat — read the first paragraph. Does it excite you? Does it make ‘you’ (i.e. the prospect) want to contact you, download your brochure, make an effort to connect?
• Same As— as every other About Us page. C’mon, you can do better. Pics, videos and mp3s. it’s so easy, try it.
• Stale — update it every 3 months. Every month you do something worth sharing. Put it here.

Your About Page should be:

• Kinda Intimate – share something that cannot be found anywhere else on the site. Photos, videos, examples of your portfolio, places you’ve been, events, conferences — anything that paints a picture.
• But Warm – make me feel ‘warm and fuzzy’ inside. You don’t need to go over-board, but share a little. Show why you’re more interesting that the rest.
• With 7 Compelling Reasons — give them 7 reasons (if you can’t think of seven, at least five) to cross the threshold and connect. For example, what do you stand for? What are your values? Who have you helped? What charity do you support? What makes you different (really different!) than the rest.
• For them to Knock on the Door – remember, it’s this page where people decide ‘will I, won’t I?’ So, it better be good. You want them to come in, right?

How To Sharpen Your About Us page

Your About Us page must have the following:

• Story – not your CV, but the story of YOU.
• Why did you decide to do this?
• How did you get here?
• What mistakes did you make?
• What you hope to achieve?
• Why the reader is important to you?
• Share links to your Social Media sites
• Contact form & email & tel number —make it easy for them. Put your contact details on every page.

Videos and Personal Branding

I use videos to help bridge that gap. You see me at work, at soccer practice, with junior, my pet crickets, and even when I’m struggling. Each of these helps close the gap between you and me. Maybe you don’t care for everything on the site, but your impression of me (and your memories of this site) are that much stronger.

Here’s a question for you?

Think of all the sites you visited this week. How many do you remember? Now, look at the video above. In a year’s time, you will still remember this video (for better or worse!) but all the blogs you read this week will be forgotten.

Why do you think that is?

PS – Rewriting your About Us page could result in a higher Google page rank and higher conversion rates for those who find it.

Cold calls! No! I can’t do it. Yes, you can. They’re only human and won’t bite.

Here’s how I make cold calls and it works

When I started out I hated this. I’d do anything to avoid it. In the end I cut a deal with myself. I would call between 10-11 every morning for 1 hour and 1 hour only. Somehow this worked. I’d make the calls and get it over with. In time it got easier and making cold calls became more enjoyable. Yes, imagine that. Cold calls that you enjoy!

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Before you make your first cold call

Before you make the call, look at their site, download their brochures and see what type of documents they might need. For example, software development companies may need user guides, release notes, and installation manuals.

Web companies will need online text, technical support material and help pages. After a while you’ll get a feel for what these companies want and you can tailor your cold calls accordingly.

Don’t be shy about calling. Expect to get turned down 9 out of 10 times at first. It’s nothing personal. And don’t be hard on yourself. Starting up is the hardest part. Once you land your first contract, the next will be much easier.

1. Start with small companies that don’t have dedicated in-house tech writers.

2. Don’t contact the HR Manager. Their job is to screen you out. They won’t be interested.

3. Contact the IT Manager or the Training Manager. These people may actually need your skills. Drop them an email and ask if you can send over a brochure. No hard selling. Gently does it

4. Offer your services on a contract basis

5. If asked, give them estimates of your daily rates – but keep it general.

6. Avoid getting locked into low rates before you have met the client.

Tip: This is a numbers game. The more you call, the more interviews you’ll get. It’s not rocket science. Just persevere.

Remember the words of Churchill: “Never, Never, Never give up.”

Here are some tips for interviewing technical writers, for example, if your company needs to hire a contractor to write some documentation for your next release.

I’ve worked on both sides on the fence, (i.e. went to lots of interviews and also interviewed applicants for roles our Publications Dept) and picked up a few things in the process.

Hopefully, these will be of some help.

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A Technical Writer is someone how writes technical documentation for a piece of software, for example, a User Guide or a System Administration Manual.

They are responsible for writing text that is accurate, readable, accessible, and helpful to its intended audience.

Most companies use assessment tests to determine the skill level of potential employees.

Download Technical Writer Assessment Tests here:

http://www.klariti.com/Technical-Writing-Tests/index.shtml

How much time should be allotted to complete an assessment test?

I’d suggest 1 hour at most. 45 min should be enough.

More experienced writers will race through it, while others might deliberate over those tricky questions until absolutely sure.

Nonetheless, 1 hour should be sufficient time for most to complete the test.

Also, by allocating this amount of time to the test, you are also emphasizing its relative importance. If it were a simple 10-minute quiz, it wouldn’t carry the same weight.

Here’s a suggested approach for administering the test:

When advertising the vacancy, highlight that an evaluation test is part of the assessment process. By saying this upfront, you weed out under-qualified writers who know that they would not pass the test.

When scheduling the interview, remind applicants of the assessment test and to ensure that they arrive on time.

1. Explain to them what is involved, for example, that there is X number of questions on grammar, procurement, technology etc. This demonstrates your company’s professionalism as you are helping the applicants to prepare for the interview. In turn, it would be unprofessional to spring the test on applicants when they turn up and catch them by surprise.

2. Completing the test take about 90 minutes and some of your applicants may have other arrangements to consider, such as day-care, commuting etc.

3. When they arrive, interview them first and then do the test. If they are unsuitable for the position, you can cancel the test and say that it’s not necessary at this point.

In the interview ask them about:

• Technical Writing software they have use and which products they prefer to use.
• Note if they have a preference/bias towards a specific platform
• Ask why they prefer one Technical Writing tool over another, for example, why do they prefer Adobe RoboHelp over MadCap Flare?
• Ask for examples of how they solved problems. This helps get a handle on how they interact with other members of the Technical Publication Dept.

About.com has some sample questions for holding interviews:

http://humanresources.about.com

Different Types of Questions

Use different types of questions when interviewing prospective employees.

• Behaviors – about what the person has done or is doing
• Opinions – about what they think about a topic, for example, the rise in video as a tool for technical communications
• Knowledge – ask specific questions to get facts, for example, what version of Adobe FrameMaker do you use?
• Background/demographics – ask standard background questions, such as education, training to develop a profile of the applicant and also to cross-check their resume

Sequence of Questions

• Ask questions about some facts. This approach encourages respondents to relax and engage in the interview.
• Ask questions about the present first.
• Then discuss the past or future. It’s easier to talk about the present and then work into the past or future.
• Close by allowing respondents to provide other information they prefer to add and also give their impressions of the interview. More assertive types will have suggestions/opinions and express themselves more confidently.

Wording of Questions

• Use open-ended questions.
• Avoid Yes/No questions. Let the applicants choose their own terms when answering questions.
• Stay neutral. Avoid wording questions that might influence their answers, e.g. showing a prejudice towards a specific platform or development environment.
• Ask questions one at a time.
• Be careful asking “why” questions as this may make the person to feel defensive, e.g., have to justify their response/feelings.

Conducting the Interview

• Ask one question at a time.
• Remain as neutral as possible. Avoid showing strong emotional reactions to their responses.
• Encourage responses with occasional nods of the head, “uh huh”s, etc.
• Be careful when taking notes. For example, if you start to write feverishly, it may appear as if you’re shocked with the answer, which is likely to influence the following answers. Likewise, if you stop taking notes it implies that you’ve lost interest.
• Move from topics to topic, e.g., “ok, we’ve been talking about Adobe FrameMaker and now I’d like to move on to Structured Authoring.”
• Remain in control of the interview. Stop respondents from straying to other topics, rambling, or turning the tables on the interviewer.

Starting the Written Assessment

For those you want to assess, do the following:

• Give them a pen and paper (always helps). Some people like to sketch or keep notes when writing.
• Glass of water or coffee.
• Find a quiet room with a PC or laptop.
• Give them a printout of the test. Hardcopies are often easier to read than words on the screen.
• Walk through the test so that they understand what is required.
• Encourage them to ask any questions so there are no misunderstandings.
• Tip: Remind them when the test will finish.
• Once they are ready, leave the room and let them do the test.
• After 20 minutes, drop in to see how they are doing. The point here is not to monitor them, but to see if they genuinely need any assistance.
• After 60 minutes return, stop the test, and print it out.

At this point, I d suggest that they have a break so that you can score the test or let them know that you will call them tomorrow with the result.

This may be the most practical approach if you plan to hold a second interview.

If you want to do it the same day, then get the printout and go over the scores. As everyone likes to know how they performed in a test, walk through the results and discuss them with the applicant.

For example, if they scored low in one section, ask them how this area could be improved.

Finally, thank them for taking the time to do the tests and hope that they have gained from it.

Download Technical Writer Assessment Tests

Full URL: www.klariti.com/Technical-Writing-Tests/index.shtml