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7 Web Careers For Single Moms

Ivan — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:11:00 +0000

Two of our family friends are single moms with kids. They asked me to give them some ideas of how they can get started and develop income by working over the web. One has a degree in software development, while the other is a real go-getter and can learn things very quickly. Here are some of the ways you can make money using your PC and working from home.

7 Web Careers For Single Moms

In no order of priority, here are the different ways you can get started and make money from home:

Product Reviews – setup a blog reviewing expensive technical products, such as digital cameras. Write reviews that are over 700 words and possibly over 1000 words. These will be picked up very quickly by the search engines. If you do this right, you’ll be asked to write (and get paid) by others sites.
Screen-casting – with the explosion of video technology, you can help software and educational companies with their training materials by developing screens casts. You can also branch out and develop services that help others to do this. You’ll need Camtasia or other Screencasting software to do this.
Software Testing – not every company has dedicated software testers but need people who can test software at all stages of the development process. If you have skills with computers, the ability to write reports, and analyze software, then this can work very well. You can promote your services with a niche site that talks about software testing and the benefits of outsourcing this task.
Virtual Assistant – I use oDesk all the time for project work that my Virtual Assistants can do faster than me. I’ve found two that are very reliable and use them most every week. So far, I’ve spent over $2,000 dollars this year on Virtual Assistants. If you can provide a high-quality reliable service, then register with oDesk and develop your profile. Link it to your blog and get as many endorsements as you can. Focus on one area, such as bookkeeping, design, finance, coding, typing and nail this.
Market Researcher – if you have good writing skills and like to gather information, then Market Research is for you. Who do you target? Any company that develops products, especially mid-size ones that may not have dedicated Market Researchers. You can work with the Sales team and use Social Media, Google and other tools to gather data on trends, brands and customer expectations.
iPhone app developer – this is a very lucrative area if you have software skills or know how to develop new products. For example, you can learn how the process of developing iPhone apps works and then offer to do this for other companies. Most businesses want to be on the iPhone but don’t know how to start. If you can solve that problem, and have the development team lined up, then you’re in business. Your development team is out there on oDesk
Translator – one of the big surprises when I lived in China was the number of US and European students coming there to learn Chinese. Some of these were charging 50 USD per hour to do translation and interpreting work, which isn’t bad for a 20 year old. I got to know two of these and they made very good incomes teaching other English over Skype and doing translation work. If you have language skills, then target the business sector and you’re setup.

Conclusion

One of our friends is half Spanish and now works with clients translating documents over Skype. There are almost no setup costs. She gets paid very well as these are business documents, such as Request For Proposals.

The other helps small companies setup Facebook pages. She’s used Facebook for years now and has it inside out. Why not monetize what she knows? She charges $299 to setup a new Facebook account with pages and links it into their Twitter account. She works when the kids are off in bed and restarts before they begin their work day.

What other careers can you do online?

How To Negotiate Daily Rates When Starting as a Freelancer

Ivan — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 00:07:00 +0000

If you decide to start contracting, one of the hardest things to work out is what daily rate to charge. Many of the readers on this site are looking at ways to escape the 9-5 and moving into contracting is one way to start this process.

How much should I really charge?

I’ve heard people use different approaches to determine what to charge. Some make sense, others are a bit flaky.

For example:

Divide your annual salary by 52 weeks and then add on 20 percent. If you’re on 52k, and divide by 52 weeks, you’d get 1k per week.

Add 20 percent and you’re up to 1200 per week.

Divide this by 5 days and you get 240 per day.

I’m not so sure about this. It doesn’t take into consideration the real world, so to speak, or at least why your peers are charging for their work.

How to Work Out Daily Rates

Here’s an approach that I’d take:

Look at the recruitment websites and find the type of job you want. Make a list of the daily rates across several sites. The ideal is to get an average daily rate and not rely just on one site. If you’re a total beginner to the field, say just out of college, your rates will be more towards the lower end.
Contact the local Recruitment companies, explain the type of positions that you’re after. Ask them what daily rates you can expect to get based on your experience. Let’s say they believe you can get 200 per day. Now, as a rule of thumb, Recruiters add 20 percent to the rates they charge clients. In other words, if they offer you 200 per day, they’ll probably charge the client 240 per day. The extra 40 per day (i.e. 20 percent) is their fee.
Once you know the average daily rates, you can go directly to a company and offer your services from 200 – 240 per day. If you charge 220 per day, then they stand to save 20 per day, 100 per week, and 400 per month. Try to highlight this when talking to them. Otherwise, they may assume that you’re rates are the same as the recruiters.
Contact the HR Dept of the IT companies. Ask if they hire ‘direct’ rather than through recruitment companies. Some companies, especially large multi-nationals, have a policy of using recruitment firms only. It’s mostly for legal reasons and no reflection on your abilities. Smaller companies tend to be more flexible.

Tip: if you’re new to contracting, target local companies with less than 50 employees. These are usually more receptive to independent contractors and, even if they don’t have large 3+ month contracts, may have many smaller pieces of work. This can be a good way to build your portfolio while paying the bills.

Succeeding as a Freelance Contractor

Your success as a freelance contractor depends not only on your ability to do the job but to sell your services to prospective clients.

I can’t emphasize this enough.

Companies won’t come to you offering you work. You have to go to them. Before you do this, prepare everything in advance, from your sales pitch, writing samples, business cards, and of course the answer to their last question: how much do you charge?

Conclusion

If you have done your homework, you’ll feel confident when discussing the rates. If the person refuses you, at least you know its not because of your prices but something else.

Try to find out what that is before you hang up!

Let me know how you increase your daily rates.

Double Your Words and Double Your Salary

Ivan — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:28:45 +0000

Do you make money from writing? I mean any type of writing? Business writing, proposal writing, technical writing? If you do, you probably get paid by output. The more you produce, the more you earn, right? If you do, here are some ways I write more words per day. My aim isn’t to win the Nobel prize for literature. I make money writing words. That’s it. I type all day long. The more I type, the more money I make. Real simple.

1. Keep it short

Train yourself to write short, punchy sentences. Put your text on a diet. You’re not at university now. In the real world, you’re rewarded for brevity. A 300 page thesis is fine for your professor. For busy customers, thirty words is fine if it does the job!

Instead of writing:

Refer to the following documents for Process Improvement instructions relating to the Credit Card process narration and process flow diagrams.

Use the active voice and write

This document outline the Credit Card process with supporting process flow diagrams.

Instead of using seventeen words

The screenshots outline the steps required to execute the request for printing the invoice copy from Oracle.

Reduce it to eleven. The meaning is the same and the content is easier to understand.

The screenshots show how to print the invoice copy in Oracle.

Instead of taking two lines…

The user can choose to email the invoice to the Customer. Alternatively the invoice can be faxed using Webex within Lotus notes to send the copy invoice to the Customer.

Get to the point faster and write

You can email the invoice to the Customer or fax it by using Webex option in Lotus Notes.

2. Be consistent

Don’t chop and change. Choose one term and stick with it throughout your document.

I’ve seen these three words used in the same document.

Key in the invoice numbers
Enter in the invoice numbers
Type in the invoice numbers

Choose the correct word and stick with it. Don’t change words to make your document more ‘interesting’. Readers will often dip into a document at different pages; very few read the entire document, report or proposal.

3. Do you really need to add a Screenshot?

Do your documents really need screenshots? If not, don’t add them. Don’t add screenshots to fatten up a thin document or just to increase the page count. If you do need to add screenshots, decide if you need to capture:

The entire desktop/screen/web browser
One part of the desktop/screen/web browser
One part of the application, for example, a specific field, table, or button.

Tip: use ALT+PrntScrn to take the ‘floating’ screen only. Highlight the active field with a red box and label each screenshot.

4. Taking Web Screenshots

Turn off the Favorites menu. No one needs to see your favorite websites. Likewise, you may want to turn off or delete icons near the lower status bar. Remove the URL if the web address is private.

5. Write in the Present Tense

Instead of writing

The screen that you get would show the links to these invoices

Use the present tense

The results screen displays links to these invoices.

Likewise, avoid using the conditional (if) and other tenses. Remember, the reader is using the application right NOW!

6. Email v Mail

Choose one term and stick with it. Email or mail. To me, Mail implies ‘snail mail’ as in regular mail.

…files are sent by email. Log onto your Lotus Notes to access the mail

…files are sent by email. Log onto your Lotus Notes to access your email

7. In v Within

Within usually refers to a timeframe. The meeting will be held within the next three to five days.

In refers to a location. The folder is in Lotus Notes.

Don’t

Copy to a folder within Lotus Notes.

Copy to a folder in Lotus Notes.

PS: notice the Lotus and Notes are both uppercase.

8. You v User

No-one wants to be called a user! So, where possible, write the text as though the reader is sitting next to you.

Instead of

The user can print the invoice…

Suggestion

You can print the invoice…

9. Click v Select

Again, these are often confused. Buttons get clicked whereas you select options from a list.

Click a button

Select from a list of options.

Don’t

Select the Display Document button

Click the Display Document button

10. Active v Passive

We’ve all been guilty of this one. Active gives your writing more energy. It tells you, the reader, what’s going to happen next. Passive, in contrast, fudges the issue slightly.

Saying that, there are times when you should use the passive voice. Such as? When you want to avoid blaming the reader (for example, if the application creates an error when they enter data incorrectly) or if you want to tone down a sensitive issue.

Instead of

The invoice is printed by SAP

Be direct. Say who does what.

SAP prints the invoice.

Instead of

Select the transaction SAP Transaction code: XXX201

say

Select the XXX201 transaction code.

Instead of

Select the line items by double-clicking on the item which takes you into the screen shown below – Line Item 001

Write

Double-click on an item to open the Line Item 001 screen.

11. Lowercase is fine, sometimes!

Don’t user uppercase for emphasis. It’s a cliché that has crept into technical writing and needs to be monitored. Lowercase if fine and usually correct.

Instead of:

Line Item Drill down

Write

Line item drill-down

Note: drill-down is one word. Line item is not a noun.

Enter User ID and password

Enter the User and Password fields.

12. Hide the Header/Footer on the first page

I’ve added this, even though it’s not to do with writing per se. Most business and technical documents don’t require the page number on the first page. To hide the page number on the first page of your document:

Open Microsoft Word,
On the Insert menu, click Page Numbers.
Select or clear the Show number on first page check box.

Those are some ways I control the style and format of my business documents.

How about you? What do you do to get documents out the door that bit faster?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh is a left-handed business consultant who writes short business proposals for big clients. He also gives Business Tips for Smart People at Klariti.com

Are Daily Rates for Technical Writers Collapsing?

Ivan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:56:38 +0000

Daily rates for technical writers are down to $30 per hour in some places in the Bay Area. Recent articles on other technical writing sites suggests that daily rates for technical writers is collapsing in the US, in particular the west coast, as more writers struggle to find roles that match their previous salaries.

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TECHWR-L (tech-whirl), the oldest site that I know for technical writers, highlights the case of a technical writer who’s been in the industry for 10 years and been jog-hunting for six months.

When asked what he thought where the tech docs industry was heading, his reply was, “it’s a race to the bottom”.

12 months ago, he left a high-paying tech writing job to travel but returned six months later, and looked for work. So far, nothing.

Daily Rates for Technical Writing in California

His only job offer to date was for $30 an hour.

Some recruitment sites quote $40-$60 an hour as the industry standard.

I know that when I last worked in the states, late 90s, the rates were $40-$60 per hour, and that’s almost 10 years back. It’s hard to believe that now, ten years later, and factoring in inflation etc, daily rates are almost half of this.

Daily Rates for Technical Writing in Bangalore

According to a tech writer in Bangalore, the going rate in India is $10-15 an hour.

Link: http://www.techwr-l.com/node/1205

Tomorrow’s World

My concern for US writers is that they fail to grasp the momentum that counties like India have established and the high quality of university graduates they are now producing.

Also, the upturn in the recession has given a false sense of hope. Some that I’ve spoken to feel that the worse has passed and normal service (i.e. job stability) will be resumed.

As someone who works in Asia, and is seeing at first hand the juggernaut that is hurdling down the motorway, the race to the bottom has only started.

In the next 10-15 years, IT jobs which can be replicated offshore/offsite to lower costs will be embraced more aggressively. US companies have little choice but to do this.

The challenge for technical writers

The question for technical writers and others in this industry is how to approach this.

One suggestion would be to setup consultancy services in places like Bangalore, Vietnam, and Poland where the talent is there but the experience is lacking.
Experienced technical writers, who are willing to travel and embrace a new challenge, could do very well in these countries.

Staying at home may not be an option.

What do you think?

What type of skills do Technical Writers need?

Ivan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:55:17 +0000

Technical writers often have a degree in English, technical writing, the technical field for which they are writing, or a combination of these.

It is most important that they have enough expertise to understand their audience’s background and needs.

For example, writers who develop documentation for software APIs, microcontroller operation, and other technical subjects are often paid more than those who write guides for a nontechnical audience (for example, how to use email), because it is difficult to find good writers with advanced technical knowledge.

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After the documentation is written, it is normally reviewed for accuracy by one or more “subject matter experts” (SMEs).

Technical Writers Software

The most popular technical writing software includes:

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe FrameMaker
Adobe RoboHelp
AuthorIT
Chm2web
Corel Paint Shop Pro
DocBook
Interleaf
MadCap Software
Microsoft Visio
Adobe Photoshop
Microsoft PowerPoint
SnagIt
Microsoft Word
XML editor

What is Technical Communication?

Technical communication is the process of conveying information about technology to an intended audience. A technical communicator is a person whose job involves technical communication.

Roles in the Technical communication industry include the following job titles:

Technical writer
Technical editor
Information architect
Usability expert
User interface designer
Technical artist
Technical trainer

The technology can be of any kind, including the sciences, high technology including computers and software, consumer electronics, and so on.

Role of Technical Writing

Technical communications are created and distributed by most employees in service organizations today, especially by professional staff and management.

Effective communications require quality content, language, format, and more. The entire point of communications is to disseminate information; this is where written content comes in. To present the appropriate content, it is imperative to understand one s audience and writing purpose.

If a document does not communicate the information that the writer intends and what he or she wants the reader to understand, then the communication is meaningless.

The writer has an interest in making the extra effort: Looking credible is as important as being credible and getting results in business.

Respect and credibility of the writer/speaker are integral to effective communications. Readers will not trust the information from an author if they do not believe that author is a valuable source of information or the purveyor of worthwhile ideas.

How to Interview Technical Writers

Ivan — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:09:39 +0000

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.

1. How to test Writing Skills

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

Is 61k USD the Average Salary for Technical Writing Jobs?

Ivan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:33:21 +0000

Indeed.com highlights that “Technical Writer salaries for job postings nationwide are 5% higher than average salaries for all job postings nationwide.”

Here’s a quick breakdown of the salary for these tech writing roles.

Business Analyst $74,000
Documentation Specialist $59,000
Junior Technical Writer $46,000
Programmer Writer $76,000
Request For Proposal Writer $59,000
Senior Technical Writer $77,000
Technical Writer $61,000
Technical Writer Contract $68,000
Technical Writer Editor $60,000

What’s the going rate in your region?

These figures seem to change from city to city.

I have no info for tech writing salaries outside the US. If you have some, please drop me a line or add it to the comments box.

thanks,

Ivan

How much do freelance writers charge for writing posts?

Ivan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:20:48 +0000

Now that our little site is doing well, freelance writers are approaching us and offering their services. I thought I’d offer this to give you all an idea of the rates per post and per article we’re being quoted.

By the way, the writer who sent this was very professional, had a great portfolio and recommendations from satisfied clients.
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‘I offer a fixed $500 monthly and deliver 20 posts/articles a month (5 new posts each week) if the requirement is purely for content writing.”

Another approach was:
“for $500 a month I can write 16 posts/articles a month + bookmarking these on Digg, Stumbleupon, Mixx etc.”

The advantage of this is that it’s a combination of content and a basic amount of promoting the content through social bookmarking and posting them to some other sites you may like these posts promoted on.

How much do you charge for writing posts?

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GGS Open Shanghai Office as demand for Technical Writing increases in China

Ivan — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:03:27 +0000

GGS Technical Publication Services, a technical information services provider, has opened a new office in Shanghai, China.

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With more than 230 team members worldwide, GGS Technical Publication Services is headquartered in York, Pennsylvania, with offices in New York; Puerto Rico, and Chennai, India.

GGS offers a full array of technical writing and technical illustrating services, including the development of serial number parts-specific database management systems, and all work is certified to the internationally-recognized quality standards of ISO 9001:2000.

“The opening of our newest office follows our highly successful participation in the recent Bauma China trade exhibition, held 25 to 29 November in Shanghai, and the warm reception and interest shown in our services by many attendees at this large exhibition. We at GGS believe we can help OEMs add real value to the vast number of construction, transportation, agricultural, and aviation equipment products which are exported from China, each year.”

According to Joe Aliason, Managing Director-Asia, “GGS has an excellent business model, and we have found that, in China, many of the manufacturers in-country need exactly what we can offer. They want desperately to sell their products outside of China, but they require the strong technical information support at a global level which GGS can give them – at times utilizing both local and off-shore solutions – in best showcasing and supporting their goods,” he added.

Contact: GGS Technical Publication Services, Suite A403, Tomorrow Square, 399 West Nanjing Road, in Shanghai (postal code 200003).

The new GGS Shanghai Office can be reached at (86 21) 2308 1128.

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Tech Writers

Ivan — Sat, 02 May 2009 01:58:41 +0000

Those seeking a career in technical writing might be interested in these figures from the BLS.
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Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
46,740	1.8 %	$30.18	$62,780	0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$17.54	$22.44	$29.04	$36.85	$45.46
Annual Wage (2)	$36,490	$46,680	$60,390	$76,650	$94,550

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