Re: Two Professional Questions

[Roberta Hennessey <rahennessey -at- gmail -dot- com>]

On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 11:13 AM, Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>wrote:

> > 1. A friend has asked me to edit and rewrite a 200-page biography of a
> > family member. From the posts I have read so far, the recommendations are
> to
> > charge by the hour. I wonder what other members would feel is a fair
> rate.
> > This is a good friend and I want to charge a fair but modest rate. Does
> > anyone have any recommendations?
>
> Did the good friend indicate they wanted to pay you for this? For a
> good friend, I would ask them what they'd feel comfortable paying and
> go from there. But in general, for a good friend's need of something
> rather personal like this, I'd barter for favors. What skills do they
> have that you could make use of?
>
> > 2. I am on a contract job and using Word to document an application. My
> > manager has asked to outline the benefits of going with FrameMaker
> instead
> > of Word. I have a draft in Word and my idea is to show a mock up of a
> > FrameMaker document to visually display the quality difference.
> >
> > My question is, does anyone know of a website or blog that specifically
> > shows Frame's superiority? I have found a few but nothing with a strong
> > compare/contrast. I just thought someone might have found an informative
> > blog.
>
> There are power users out there for either tool, and they will stand
> by their choice. You're attacking the tank's shell from the side with
> a baseball bat. You need to take it out from the inside. Show the
> client's needs and your ability to satisfy them (or inability to)
> using both tools. Show them the money. Then when they open the hatch,
> jump in and start swinging. ;-)
>
> Yeah, bad analogy.
>
> But, questions:
>
> * Do they have staff writers or are you it?
>

      No writer has been present for over 5 years. Service company switching
to
      user functionality. what was expected to one guide has grown into two
levels of users,
      and a potential 3rd in the future. Frame's ability to create different
books and correctly
      update TOCs/Indexes, etc. would make life much easier.



> * Who works on the docs if/when your contract engagement ends, and
> what are their abilities with the tools?
>
> If contract is not extended, there will not be a writer until the next set
> of functionality is complete.
> Engineers would like to see content management system in place in the
> future. My thinking is
> Frame would be a better foundation to migrate from.
>
> * What else, aside from the content development, might be impacted by
> your tool switch? Do you author Help? Do others leverage your content
> for their needs (training, marketing, support, other)?
>
> There is no help authoring at present but would be desired in future. Frame
> 7.0
> came with WebWorks which would have been sufficient. GUI planned but
> development
> impacted by slow software cycles. No leverage of other departments at
> present. Training
> might be used in the future.


    Thanks Bill

>
>
> --
> Bill Swallow
>
> Twitter: @techcommdood
> Blog: http://techcommdood.com
> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/techcommdood
>



-- 
Roberta Hennessey
Technical Writer
(978) 835-4282
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