STC Marketing Communication SIG

2010 Marketing Communications Survey

The Marketing Communication Special Interest Group (SIG) is launching a concerted effort to add value for our members.

As technical communicators, the work you do may be very closely related to — or integral to — your organization’s ability to market and sell its products or message. The Marketing and Communications team would like your feedback to determine what initiatives you would like to draw upon to advance your career.

To gather these thoughts we are asking STC members to complete a short survey.

www.stc-marcom.org/survey.htm

Those who complete this short survey will be entered in a drawing to win one of three Visa gift cards, ($25.00, $15.00, or $10.00). In order to be eligible for the drawing please take the survey by July 16, 2010.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Thanks!

The Marketing Communications SIG Team

Louellen Coker
Deana Collins Morgan
Ruthmeri Gleason
Wendy Gordon
Paul Holland
Alex S Kelly
Cheryl Landes
Rebecca Taylor

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Can Social Media Get You Work?

Picture this. STC member John, a seasoned technical writer, is looking for a new job. His LinkedIn profile lists his past positions, accomplishments, what he’s currently doing, and even some praise from coworkers. He’s linked to friends, colleagues, and other STC members, and participates regularly in the STC discussion group as well as others.

Bob is also in the STC discussion group and notices John’s intelligent posts. His company is hiring a technical writer, and he thinks John might have the qualifications for the job. He visits John’s LinkedIn profile and, impressed with his qualifications, sends him a tweet with a link, encouraging him to apply for the job. John researches the company and finds that the hiring manager is a friend-of-a-friend on Facebook.

John sends in his resume and asks his colleague to put in a good word for him to the hiring manager, Mary. She reviews John’s resume, checks his thorough Facebook profile and LinkedIn pages, and (following a link) reads John’s tweets. All become background information telling Mary that John would be perfect for the job.

Sound far-fetched? Not anymore; not in today’s social-media world. But only if you put in the effort. Join Rich Maggiani for an STC webinar, “Promoting Your Career through Social Media,” on Wednesday 23 June from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT (GMT-4), to see how you can make social media work for you. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook all can be valuable social media tools to promote yourself and connect to an audience of prospects and employers. Let Rich Maggiani show you how.

Wednesday, 23 June
1:00-2:00 PM EDT (GMT-4)
Promoting Your Career through Social Media
Presented by Rich Maggiani
Members $79; Nonmembers $149; Student Member $29

Rich Maggiani, a communication consultant, is the president and founder of Solari Communication, a full-service corporate communication agency; an STC Fellow; and a director on STC’s Board. Rich views the world as metaphor. Through the solitude of mountaineering excursions, he gains the clarity that metaphors bring to an otherwise noisy world. Rich applies these insights to attain the simple, clear communication necessary to enlighten and bring people together toward a common goal. Read his related blog, Toward Humanity.

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PR pros need to write more like gasp copywriters! | Article | Homepage articles

“Swallow your pride, take a lesson from copywriters and create enticing headlines that will get your work read.”

PR pros need to write more like gasp copywriters! | Article | Homepage articles.

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The Slowest Loading Websites in the Fortune 500 [INFOGRAPHIC]

Interesting, if not as practical as could be desired, information.

The Slowest Loading Websites in the Fortune 500 [INFOGRAPHIC].

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The Freelancer’s Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need

Many of the tools we require are inaccessible, for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, often the simplest tasks take hours, or even go unaccomplished, because we don’t have the correct tool. This list provides an invaluable overview of resources we can use to increase our efficiency and effectiveness, without breaking the bank (no tool, however, for eliminating cliches).

The Freelancer’s Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need.

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Online Portfolio – The Lone Star Community, April Meeting

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The Value of STC: The Society for Technical Communication

Think of your life-changing moments. Rewarding, aren’t they? I had one in the spring of 1995 when two local technical writers asked me to join them and others to start the Vermont chapter of the Society for Technical Communication – STC. Sounds worthwhile. Sure, I join.

And with that simple decision, I embarked on an incredible journey that has enhanced both my personal and professional life far beyond any heights that I could have imagined. To that, I am indebted to STC and its members.

Renewing my membership. I gain so much as an STC member, learning and applying an abundance of skills over these past fifteen years. My career has been enhanced, and my clients have benefited. Membership has opened new venues for me, some that I couldn’t possibly have envisioned. I simply cannot imagine being a professional technical communicator and not belonging to the one organization that supports and promotes that profession – STC.

This is a simple decision for me. I simply rejoin. Read the rest of this entry »

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Who Is Our Target Audience

Years ago I learned a very valuable lesson while attending a writing seminar. At the time I was writing for a medium-sized newspaper and the first question the speaker asked us was “who is your target audience.” As he polled the class he received the typical answers. The magazine readers, newspaper readers, or more detailed as in women, men, tradesmen, and so on. At each answer the instructor shook his head and said nope. He said your audience is your editor. Your editors audience is all those other folks.

I found that my writing was much more fluent and I was more productive when, within the guidelines of good writing, I focused on what the editor wanted. Keep sentences active, don’t back into a sentence, keep the construction logical, draw effective word pictures, and the best advice of all, give the reader a break. Don’t make it a struggle to understand and get the point and if you don’t have a point, stop writing and go get one. Let the editor worry about the article’s reception.

This advice had two immediate benefits. Audience evaluation became much easier and it allowed me to focus on the individual who had the most direct impact on my employment, my editor.

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Now What Do I Do?

WOW did I make a mistake today. I am working for a company that publishes textbooks, posters, training materials, and other published items. The professional they hired to produce this material has no experience in publishing. Has access to the entire suite of Adobe products and is preferring to use Word and Powerpoint, even though these are being printed commercially. The products were sent to press without a press proof; “What’s a press proof she asks?”

Recent project, this person’s self-described best work, is a poster with umpteen different fonts, every box has a gradient, with a different color, no borders between text boxes. No style guide rules for grammer or design were followed. So, I tried to offer some suggestions. It was not received well, so I assembled a number of reference sites and sent them over. The strategy was that this would take the “personal” out of the dialogue.

It was like gas on the fire. I started a war, even though I did not actually throw my Chicago Manual of Style. The question is, how bad do we let something that is representing our company get before we speak up. I probably butted in where I did not belong since I am the web developer but holy-cow, we are charging for this stuff.

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What Great Mar-Com Blogs Should One Subscribe To?

A couple of weeks ago, Kevin Muldoon posted a list of 101 Great Blogs You Should Subscribe to over on Blogging Tips.

I’m not going to repost his link here, but this is what you’ll find:

• Eleven links to Designing & Coding blogs
• Three links to Productivity blogs
• Ten links to Writing & Freelancing blogs
• Eleven links to Social Media blogs
• Twelve links to Search Engine Optimization blogs
• Eight links to Marketing blogs
• Two links to Affiliate Marketing blogs
• Ten links to Entrepreneur blogs
• Five links to Domain Name blogs
• Eight links to WordPress blogs
• One link to Copyright blogs
• Nineteen links to Blogging blogs

Kevin compiled a great list and I’ve been delighted to explore the ones that I don’t already subscribe to.

What I found missing, however, were some of the great blogs of my fellow Mar-Commers and STCers. So, I’m asking you, dear Subscribers to help build a list of the top blogs by and for our group.

Yes, that’s right, I’m calling on you lurkers out there to step up and help us build a kick-a** list that will be a resource for both you and your colleagues. In your response please share the following:

• Blog title
• Blog url
• Blog Author
• STC member or non-member
• One sentence description of the blog’s focus

READY! SET! GO!!!!!

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