RE: CONSULTANT / CONTRACTOR QUIZZ

[Geoff Purchase <Geoff -dot- Purchase -at- ReTechGlobal -dot- com>]

| -----Original Message-----
| From: Thomas Eagles [mailto:tekwriter -at- sympatico -dot- ca]


| 1)  Do you have a Web site to promote your tech writing
| consulting/contracting (or other) business?

Under Construction - coming soon!

| 2)  Do you have personal info (hobbies, family, etc) on your Web site?
| If not, is it because you think it is unprofessional to do so?

No.  I don't know that I'd call it unprofessional when it is presented
professionally, but for my site it doesn't jell with the image I'm
attempting to portray.

| 3)  Do you think it is unprofessional to offer advice to other tech
| writers on your site?

Not at all!  Show me a tech writer who claims to know everything there is to
know about the industry and I'll show you an idiot.  I'm always on the
lookout for those nuggets of information that make my job easier.  I'm not
too proud to say "I learnt this from Thomas Eagles' web site, it works
well!"

| 4)  Do you think it unprofessional/inadvisable to use frames?
| Javascript? Java? ActiveX?

No.  If you have a reason to use any of these technologies you should be
using them.  Is you target audience one that only uses Lynx?  My target
audience generally has IE5.x or higher, sometimes NN4.x or N6.x, and rarely
Opera 5.x.  All the technologies mentioned have a purpose and when used for
that purpose work (reasonably)well.

| 5)  Do you think it unprofessional to have a few cutesy, animated images
| on your site to lighten things up?

Borderline.  I've seen some animated images that were very effective, but
not many.

| 6)  Do you mention how much you charge for your services on your site?
| Give details about your fees? Disclaimers, legal or copyright notices?

Definitely no rates!  I charge different rates for different jobs so I don't
want to be backed into a corner when negotiating.  I have a copyright
statement.

| 7)  Do you have samples from your portfolio on your site?

Personally, my portfolio cannot be presented in this manner due to copyright
issues.  I intend to show my tool skills in the design and presentation of
the site, and my content skills with the content of the site.  I have
several different 'categories' of content, each requiring different writing
styles.

| 8)  Do you list references on your site? Quotes from the references?

Professional referees or references to information sources?  Referees -
no(are they giving permission for their details to be published in this
manner?)  References to information sources -
yes(http://msdn.microsoft.com/)

| 9)  How often do you update your site? Do you NEED to frequently change
| things on your site to keep it fresh?

Some parts of my site will require little maintenance.  Other parts are
designed to be used by me(or other writers) in producing documentation.  I
am considering an articles section with monthly additions.

| 10) Do you provide a lot of linking and menuing, or do you keep it short
| and sweet with most Web actions/behaviours available from the first
| page?

How long is a piece of string?  How big is your site?  I have some pages not
available from the home page, but most pages are linked from the home page.
However, if I add too much information not everything will be available from
the home page. I don't want my home page too cluttered.

Geoff


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