#19872
Contracts that Don’t Bite: Contracting for Technical Writing Services in the Real World 
The presenters examine all aspects of contracting from the viewpoint of both the contractor and the employer/client. The focus will be on the contract itself which provides a clear starting point for maneuvering through the critical issues, including what constitutes a legal contract and topics a contract should cover. The ensuing discussion will cover the different ways that writers work and are paid, managing the inevitable changes to a project, and a closer look at the pros and cons of working on an hourly or term contract compared to fixed price contracts, or contracts with an upset limit.
Forsyth, Diane and Duncan A. Kent. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Freelance>Consulting
#19120
Convincing Clients to Pay for Usability
Professionally run design agencies user test their designs to increase the value they deliver to their clients. The challenge is getting clients to understand the benefits of a solid development methodology.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Usability>Consulting
#20091
Managing relationships with a client is an important part of the business cycle, ensuring successful projects and setting the stage for additional business.
#19565
Creating the Right Image Doesn't End with the Signing of a Contract
Helpful hints on how writers can create a positive first impression with clients.
Holland, Anton. Writer's Block (1996). Careers>Consulting>Communication
#26264
Answering the questions on the worksheet will effectively build the skeleton for your creative brief. The information gathered in the discovery process (client survey, research, interviews) will provide you with the answers.
#22032
Dealing With Staffing and Consulting Firms
If you welcome and appreciate the freedom of a consulting or contract position be prepared to d the homework. You’ll need to have current information about the job market, rates, staffing firms, benefits, and all the thing that are a part of living that independent life. As you are working an assignment you’ll want to be preparing for the next one, monitor the jobs out there, basically look for the next assignment.
#13530
In the past, companies hired independent contractors to perform special projects. Now, while still used for these purposes, ICs are also used in strategic positions throughout many organizations. The use of ICs in strategic roles is especially beneficial to small and medium-sized businesses that cannot afford the cost of permanently employing individuals for specialized functions. For instance, an experienced technical communicator specializing in project management could be hired by a small business as an independent contractor to provide project management services.
Clements, Rhonda. Technical Communication Online (2002). Careers>Consulting
#18518
Designing Two Nonprofit Web Sites on Less Than $350 US Per Year Each
What do you need to design a World Wide Web site for a nonprofit organization? If you have less than $350 U.S. per year, you need knowledgeable, dedicated volunteers with HTML and design skills, and their own computers. Then you can weave the Web to fit both the readers' needs and the creators' skills. To create content and a workable organization, follow four key rules: 1) know the needs of your potential readers, 2) select a well-defined content area, 3) use available (or affordable) technology, and 4) set up a mechanism for approval, organization and change. Two Ottawa-based Web sites met these rules in different ways. Peaceweb, the World Wide Web page on Quaker peace and social concerns, set out rules for approval, organization and change first. PoloniaNet, the Polish-Canadian Web site, staked out a well-defined content area first. Each group had a strong sense of identity and a common vision. While each of the two groups had multitalented individuals, other nonprofits may need different persons to fill each of the four roles described by Joel Snyder [2]: architect, graphics designer, programmer, and content provider.
Stieren, Carl and Zbigniew 'Paul' Rachniowski. Simware (1997). Design>Web Design>Consulting>Volunteering
#20923
Dimensions of Usability: Defining the Conversation, Driving the Process
Have you ever wondered if your colleagues or clients really understand usability? Too often, standards or guidelines substitute for really engaging our business, technical and design colleagues in a discussion of what usability means. By looking at usability from five dimensions, we can create a consensus around usability goals and use that definition to provide the basis for planning user centered design activities.
Quesenbery, Whitney. WQusability (2003). Articles>Usability>Consulting>User Centered Design
#24989
Contracting for Fun and Profit
Because I am working at this job through a contract, rather than as a regular employee, there are some situations unique to my position. In the technical writing industry, many writers work on a contract basis through an agency. This type of employment is called contracting, although you may also hear it called consulting. I prefer the term contracting because I associate consultants with people whose job is to advise a company on one issue or another. That may or may not describe a particular technical writing assignment.
Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Careers>Writing>Consulting>Technical Writing
#21797
Effective Use of Contract Communicators
How to get the most from employing a contract technical writer -- common sense, but not necessarily common practice.
Info Action (2002). Articles>Management>Consulting
#31398
Eight Things You Can't Neglect
Almost every independent consultant knows the drill. You're asked what you do professionally and you reply that you own your own business. Perhaps you give the 30-second elevator speech, or just the 10-second party version. Either way, what happens next is all too predictable—the person greets the news with a mixture of envy and admiration and starts peppering you with questions about the solo life.
Steigman, Daria. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Careers>Consulting
#27812
Recognize the many paths to success and be prepared to forge your own if needed. You may find at the end of your 'wrong way' happy clients, satisfied users, and a successful and delivered system.
Bachmann, Karen L. Usability Interface (2006). Careers>Consulting>Usability
#22575
Errors and Omissions Insurance: Assuming the Risk of Professional Liability
Discusses the costs and benefits of errors and omissions insurance, a type of coverage normally obtained by independent technical communicators and consultants.
Juillet, Christopher. Intercom (2004). Careers>TC>Consulting
#22600
Estimating a Technical Writing Project
How do you go about estimating the number of hours that a project would take?
Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2000). Careers>Consulting>Writing>Technical Writing
#18537
Describes a detailed process for estimating the time and costs of online communication projects.
Drakeley, Caroline A. Intercom (2003). Careers>Web Design>Consulting
#22031
One of the more challenging parts of being a contractor or managing a writing project is developing an estimate of the fee or costs. Sure, there are various techniques out there, some more accurate than others, but generally no hard and fast rules applicable across the spectrum of potential assignments. Therein rest at least part of the key to doing a viable estimate, i.e., what kind of document development are you doing.
#26153
Estimating the Cost of Writing and Editing
The cost depends on how long and complex the document is, and how much editing is required. Most editors have a fixed hourly rate, and will quote for a job after they have studied the document. Skilled wordsmiths usually charge more per hour, because they do the job faster. When you find a fine wordsmith, handle with care. They are not exactly thick on the ground.
McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2004). Careers>Consulting>Writing
#31372
Finding Your Way: John Deveney, ABC, Discusses His Views on Consulting
Natasha Spring talks with John Deveney about the success of his consulting firm, client relationships, technology, and the challenges he has faced.
Spring, Natasha and John Deveney. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Careers>Consulting>Business Communication>Case Studies
#30357
Focus on Consulting: When Home is Where You Do Your Job
The freedom to be a consultant or independent contractor (C&IC), to work on your own, to work at home, to 'tele-commute' has become one of the principal aspects that entices otherwise happy, healthy, sane people to leave their jobs and hang out their shingles. But like nearly every other aspect of being independently employed, working out of the home presents advantages and disadvantages in such areas as lifestyle, professionalism, and tax considerations.
Boston Broadside (1989). Careers>Consulting>Freelance
#30148
Forging Effective Partnerships with Clients
Numerous helpful references and courses teach us how information developers can create value for clients through good project management, but getting our partners to recognize that value remains a challenge.
Knodel, Elinor L. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Consulting>Collaboration
#22056
Freelance, Independent, Contractor, Consultant...
If getting into the technical writing business is a challenge, and it assuredly is, defining our employment status often poses a few questions too. Naturally, there’s the common full-time employee status we all know and understand fairly well, but when we find ourselves dealing with a technical services or technical consulting firm there can be some murky waters, and more than a few aberrations of the “traditional” understanding of the term. So, we need to define some “terms” of employment since the majority of technical writers will ultimately encounter variations.
#10488
Katharine Oï¿Moore-Klopf responded to the call in the last issue of The Freelancer for information on freelancers who have been successful in working outside of New York City. She lives in East Setauket in Suffolk County, Long Island, a two-hour trip from Manhattan. After eight years of commuting to work as a production editor for a Manhattan medical publisher, she decided to work from home so she could spend time with her new baby. She reports that she puts in an average of 35 hours a week. She is currently doing production of a medical journal for her most recent former employer, editing a medical journal as well as medical textbooks for a Manhattan publisher, and editing fiction and mass-market nonfiction for yet another former employer. She also proofreads a medical journal and expects to begin doing electronic editing soon.
Maas, Georgia. Editorial Freelancers Association (1996). Careers>Consulting
#21673
From Independent Consultant to Business Manager
Moving from being an independent contractor to being a business owner is a big step. It involves not only practical concerns, such as accounting, legal, and administrative ones, but also re-evaluations in goals and outlooks. Sometimes we need to work through barriers, or blocks, to achieving success as a business owner.
Fay, Brenda. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Management>Consulting
#29775
From Independent Consultant to Employer
Making the leap from independent consultant to employer is a complex process. When you become an employer you are no longer dealing with the same tasks that are familiar to you. When we decided to combine our efforts to start a training and documentation consulting company, we overcame difficulties, but made mistakes along the way. If you have been pondering the idea of starting a business, we hope that our experience can better prepare you for becoming a successful employer.
Dianetti, Angela and Jill McCauslin. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Management>Consulting
