Archive for Content strategy

Content developers vs writers

February 22, 2012 Sharon Burton Content strategy

Regardless of what you exactly do in the field of creating or producing information, you spend time developing content. For most of us, that means writing but some of you do screen videos, or make illustrations.

I’ve come to realize in the last 2 or so years, we need to stop calling this writing, or drawing, or what ever and refer to this process as “developing content”.  And I have some good reasons.

Developing content

There is the thought out in the business world that “anyone can write – we were all taught in school how to do it.” And that’s a silly idea. In school, we were given the tools and shown how to use them.

  • We got a hammer and learned to pound on things.
  • We got a screwdriver and learned to turn things.
  • We got a wrench and learned how to wrench things.

But very few of us left school knowing how to build things. So why does the business world think we all did? For some reason, the business world thinks that all you needed was an introduction to the tools and you’ve got the skill.

They don’t think that about managing their financial books. We all can basically manage a household budget but probably none of us are suited to be a CFO.

Writing is a skill and a gift

Most of us professional writers started with a gift and spent a long time learning our craft. We improve and improve to the end of our lives.

Much like a carpenter (to continue my metaphor) who starts with a gift and learns more and more over the course of his or her life. The work of a master craftsperson is breath-taking in its beauty.

So, if the business world thinks that what we do is essentially unskilled apprentice labor and that anyone can do it, we need to reframe the discussion.

Developers make stuff

My reasoning for content development is that developers make stuff. Perhaps in your company, they develop code.

We make stuff, too. And our stuff is as important and needed as the code is. After all, if you can’t use the product, what good is it?

Therefore, we’re content developers. We develop content, regardless of writing, illustrating, or anything else we’re creating to support people in what they are doing.

Try it out

Try it out in your workplace. Start quietly calling what you do “developing content”. Don’t make a company announcement or anything. Just start using the phrase. I bet in 6 months, it’ll come back to you from someone else.

Modified from the original found here.

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How your content is a business asset

January 17, 2012 Sharon Burton Best Practices, Business issues, Content strategy

For most companies, the content they create is critical to the running of the business. Consider for a moment:

  • Policies and procedures – state how the business is to be run, who does what and how. In industries with oversight, such as finance or medical, the business also must show auditors how the company has been running since the last audit. Failure to show this content can result in heavy fines or other bad things.
  • Internal product documents – describe how products should work, the thought processes, the solutions, and so on for developing the products sold. Without these documents, a business has no idea how it builds what it builds. It also don’t know why decisions were made to do X rather than Y.
  • External product documents – explain how to use the products to the people who purchase the products. If the external documents are not helpful, the business (at best) incurs an unreasonable support cost or (at worst) has a high return rate. Both impact available capital in the business. If the business functions in a regulated industry, it must keep the history of the external documents to show potential auditors how the product was described to work or potentially face large fines.
  • Customer support documents – help internal support teams and external customers find a solution to their problems. For expensive internal support teams, quickly finding and understanding how to help a customer gets the customer off the phone and able to move forward. External customers who find a solution on the support site and never call is the ideal, as it costs the company less than pennies per customer.
  • Training materials – few staff arrive knowing how the company works, what safety information they need to know, or how the products work. Training is how a company shares it’s tribal knowledge with the new tribe members. Many companies save a great deal of money on their insurance by making sure all new employees are trained in the required safety protocols. If the business needs to train customers on how the products work, the training center is a profit center.
  • Marketing collateral – positions the products to the appropriate sales market. Few companies have a product so needed that no advertising is needed to sell the product. Failure to attract customers to the products negatively impacts the business.

Content as a business asset

The groupings above just touch on the broad types of content a business needs to manage. Even a small mom-and-pop store has some of the types of content listed above. For large international companies, the sheer amount of content assets, just as with hardware assets, for example, can be overwhelming.

Best of Breed companies know their business content is an asset that needs to be managed, just like the other assets in the company. Most companies track the computers and cell phones they use, for example. Annually, all the equipment is inventoried to make sure they have what they think they have.

Many companies never think about the business content as a business asset. The content that’s critical to the business is in Word or PowerPoint files or who knows, saved everywhere: on people’s local computers, somewhere on the network, maybe on a Sharepoint site. No one has any idea how much content they have, much less where it all is or what the most recent version might be.

Modified from the original found here.

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Mindtouch announces the 400 top

January 14, 2012 Sharon Burton Best Practices, Content strategy, Events, Social media

influential tech comm/content strategists and I placed at 18 out of 400!

I’m excited and honored by the recognition. The list is impressive. Many of the people I watch and listen to (and sometimes know!) are also on the list. I’m delighted to be in this company at any level.

To find out more and follow the list, go here.

Most Influential Techcomm

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If you don’t have a social media plan, it’s 1994 all over for you

January 11, 2012 Sharon Burton Business issues, Content strategy, Social media

I read once that when TV first showed up as a technology, it was viewed as a way for rooms of people to watch an event as a group. People could perhaps go to a theater and all watch a TV together. And TV shows were thought of as radio shows, but showing people too.

Looks like a radio, looks like a TV

When a new technology shows up, this way of thinking is normal. We map what we know from existing stuff to the new technology and extend what we currently do onto the new thing. It can take years for a new technology to be used in a really new way.

New technology allows new stuff, or not

I was thinking about this as I was looking at how some companies are using social media.

I’m seeing companies using social media to:

  • Send 140 character press releases
  • Ignore what their users are saying
  • Isolate themselves from community
  • and so much more

It’s public relations as social media in 1994. Throw your message over the wall and hope it resonates with someone somewhere. Maybe.

Maybe someone will find our message. Let's hope.

Hope is not a plan.

Social media is, well, new

Social media is a way to:

  • listen to and talk with your users
  • understand what they want
  • build community and understanding
  • position your brand as the place to go
  • And so much more

Social media is a way to understand who your users are and what they need. You can actually talk to them and they can talk back. You can position your brand(s) and company so it has relevance to your users.

This is like a dream, really.

Because hope is not a plan

You need a plan to use social media effectively and get the results you want. You can’t just hand over the social media to each sales person and hope they are communicating what you want.

I recently saw a tweet with vile language creating a disturbing image from someone who identified his employer in his Twitter bio! I have no problems with people using what ever language they wish in their personal accounts. It is a personal account.

But now I know who he works for because he put that information in his bio. That language, the image, and his tweet are now in my head with his employers name. The company brand is tied to the vile profanity and disturbing image.

Not cool, man. Not cool at all. And I doubt that was the plan.

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Powerful and useful user documentation

January 10, 2012 Sharon Burton Best Practices, Best Practices, Classes, Content strategy, Events, Training

If you need to create user documentation for any products, this is the class for you. There is still time to sign up.

6 weeks of learning how to deliver what your users need, on time and in budget. And, as an added benefit, good user assistance reduces customer support costs and product returns. You really can’t afford to not take this class.

To learn more and sign up, go here.

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