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Now this is something I might take advantage of in coming months…I know I have a following, and I would love to expand what TechCommGeekMom is all about, but it takes time, energy, and in some cases, resources I don’t have. I would love to be a one-woman tech comm "journalist" and get paid to do that, but alas, that’s not reality right now. Perhaps in time, something like this would help to make that happen.
For any other potential bloggers who want to monetize and grow your blogs, this will be helpful for you! Thanks for Darin Hammond for bringing this to my attention.
While the title of this article by Tom Johnson is almost inflammatory (What? There’s got to be more innovations than that!), it is clear that if this isn’t the only significant innovation for tech comm, it’s most definitely THE most important innovation. Tom does a great job making his points–they are points I would argue as well, but I think he articulates it better than I could.
I came into tech writing and tech comm just in the last few years, when web was firmly established, and yet, I’m finding as I take my digital marketing course that there are still so many that are STILL not on board with the use of the Internet and the web for providing strong content and information. I think we’ve made some huge strides, and Tom points out how tech writers are still needed to help with making content stronger in the long term, but we are still in the infancy of using the web for communications and things are still developing on how to better deliver content to the masses. Time will tell.
What do you think? Do you agree with Tom’s points? Include your comments below.
Nice article shared by the Intelligent Content Conference on Facebook. All seem like common sense, but sometimes when you are in the thick of a project, these are easy points to miss.
That’s right, SEO. I know you put that sign there. (I wish I looked this good from behind, but that’s not me! I’m much wider. :-S) You win.
The second module of my online course in digital marketing is about Search Marketing and how SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) works. The module is taught by Mike Moran, who crams a lot of information in 3-4 hours of video.
My initial reaction is similar to when I heard Mark Lewis talk about using XML and DITA to determine ROI metrics on tech content, namely that I understand it on a broad level, but ouch, it hurts my brain! Mark is awesome*, don’t get me wrong, and what he figured out with his XML analytics is genius to me, but about 95% of it is over my head. That’s how I feel about Mr. Moran’s talk on SEO Marketing. I understand the concepts without any problem, but I supposed that since I have little practical marketing experience, much like my XML/DITA experience (which is even narrower), it’s hard for me to make the full connection to the information without feeling overwhelmed.
I just took my quiz, and got a 70% on it. Ugh. Not good. I can take the quiz over again many times until I get a better score, but that’s not a good starting point.
I think much of it feels overwhelming not only because it’s taken from a marketing perspective which I don’t originally come from, but also because I’m listening to the information, and the content strategist/writer in me is trying to think, “Okay, now with the content I write, it has to be clear and concise, and written in as much plain English as possible, using consistent terminology and word choices to be able to be reused and translated easily, as well as written in a way that can be globally understood in context, AND now I have to start thinking about keywords in relation to organic and paid searches to my website so that I can have as high a ranking in web searches as possible.” (And I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other things, too.)
AAAGGGGH!
I think my brain just exploded. Hopefully there’s something left, because it feels like a mess inside my cranium. In the end, what’s happened to the actual content? Is there anything left worth looking at after that? How creative can I be to make ALL of that happen?
To put it in context, I’m trying to think about how to apply this information I’m learning about search towards either this blog or towards websites I’m thinking of building for my potential tech comm consulting business I might start this summer. Part of me wants to give up before I even start! How can I compete when it all boils down to keywords in my content, figuring out differentiators (which I can’t figure out in the first place), and other factors that would help drive my listings towards the top of a search? For example, how do I even start to promote myself as a tech comm consultant? I have to figure out what makes me a great choice. Part of that is on me, because I have to figure out what my strengths are, and I still don’t feel as strong as other technical communicators who have been doing this much longer than me. Sure, I understand content strategy, but I’m no Scott Abel, or Rahel Bailie, or Ann Rockley, or Val Swisher, or Noz Urbina, or Sarah O’Keefe…(and the list goes on and on…) But once I figure that out, what’s the one thing that will help draw me to the top of the list, or at least the first page of a search, other than geography?
(Ow, ow, ow…hurting brain….)
I think I need to review the slides again for this module, and start re-analyzing the terminology and conditions of all the topics. From a high level, I understand this. From a more granular level–not even that far down–I get lost. I’m feeling a bit defeated already. Mr. Moran said at the end of the lecture that a lot of this information is overwhelming, and that we should focus on what we can do rather than what we can’t do, and work on one aspect, and hopefully you can grow as you learn and practice. He even wrote a compelling article that digital marketing is a matter of bravery, not necessarily matter of knowledge. While I take this to heart, and will keep pursuing this, it will be difficult since I have no or little practical application for this right now. Fear is my primary motivator in all of this. I’m not a content marketer…yet. I don’t even know if I’ll be any good at content marketing until I have a chance to actually try. All I know is that this is the direction I have to go to better my chances in finding work. I really need to master this better, because I don’t have practical experience to use.
I didn’t go to business school for a reason–I’m not good at it, or at least I know others who are a lot better at it than I am. If I can survive this digital marketing course, it’ll be a miracle, at this rate. 😦
One more review of module 2, then it’s on to Module 3– social media marketing. Okay, that might not be too bad. After all, I have a little bit of practical experience with that topic from promoting this blog and other stuff I’ve produced on other blogs…**fingers crossed**
* Since I wrote the two articles about Mark Lewis linked above, I did meet him a year ago, and that’s why I know he’s awesome beyond just watching his presentations. 😀
This is further proof of what I–and several others (RJ Jacquez comes to mind) about the proliferation of mobile. It’s spreading and growing in leaps and bounds! It’s still growing and adapting and morphing, but yes, mobile is becoming more and more commonplace all the time. I know that I will always be likely to use mobile, but I’ll also be one of the last to let go of my laptop due to the kind of work that I do. Even so, this is a compelling article to show that technical communicators had better get on the ball with mobile, if they haven’t already!
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