Business issues | Sharon Burton

Posted on Dec 4, 2012 | 2 comments

I?m?interested?in the business issues around creating content. I find those problems the most interesting to think about, to identify, and to solve. It?s an intersection between my background as a technical writer, a business owner, and my graduate anthropology work.

Towards that end, I?ve been thinking about how do we know it?s time to invest in a new tools/new processes? How do we know that?s coming and when will it happen? When does it make sense financially to start looking for new tools and processes? Is this predictable in some way? If it?s predictable in some way, how would it be?predictable? And what kind of tools would you need and how do you know?

Is the cost of creating content tied to the tools we use?

Is the set of tools we use for creating content tied to the overall cost of that content? I think it is. It?s not the only variable, certainly, but I think it?s an important one.

If you?re trying to write 300 pages manuals in Word and manage 4 localizations of that manual in Word, you have issues. If you?ve ever tried this, you know you have issues. Word was not designed for large manuals in any language and it?s fraught with instability. Having done this myself, I can tell you that at least 30% of your writer?s time will be spent holding Word?s hand and speaking calmly into its ear. This is not the right tool.

I?ve been thinking recently about the variables that determine the cost of content development and delivery. Everyone says their situation is special and so is their content. But I wonder. ?Are we all that special?

What if this could be know-able and?predictable?

I?m working with a programmer right now to develop an online tool that can show you the cost of what you are doing now and when it?s time to look at new tools.

We?re going for a release after the first of the year. It will be?available?here on its own page.

It won?t tell you which tool is the right one for you, but it will tell you if it?s time, based on the numbers you provide for today and a year from now. I do plan to suggest what kind of tool you should be looking at, depending on where you are.

Would this be helpful to you?

Source: http://www.sharonburton.com/business-issues/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=business-issues

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