Why?
How does product documentation add
value for me?
Why use a consulting company
instead of creating documentation in-house?
How are you different from
companies that send out hourly contract writers?
Can't my engineers just write the
documentation?
If we can use Word, can't we
document our own products?
How do you work?
What information do you need when
we first contact you for a consultation?
What happens after the first
consultation?
Do you work on site?
When do you subcontract?
What are the stages of a typical
document creation process?
Do you sign confidentiality
letters with your clients?
Do you guarantee your work?
Who owns the final documentation?
What about your charges?
Is the initial consultation
free?
What is your hourly rate?
When are payments due?
Why?
How does product
documentation add value for me?
Your
product documentation becomes a critical part of your marketing
communication. Experienced sales staff often use good documentation as
a valuable sales tool.
Quality
documentation is also key to cutting costs, especially in technical
support. With an effective documentation set, bug reports from the
field can - and have - dropped by 90% or more. Writers with technical
expertise can help you spot bugs or usability issues in your product,
resulting in further savings.
Why use a
consulting
company instead of creating documentation in-house?
Many
companies don't release enough new products on a frequent enough basis
to justify the cost of a full-time technical publications group.
Instead, they rely on contract writers to develop and update the
documentation as needed.
Even
large companies will have irregularities in their product development
cycles that overload their technical writers. Temporary support from
contracting or consulting writers is an excellent option in these
situations.
How are
you
different
from
companies that send out hourly contract writers?
Most of the largest technical
writing service companies are known in the industry as "body shops."
They compete with one another strictly on price, which puts a limit
on the types of contract writers they can send. Almost all of these
writers are non-technical, or have relatively little experience, or both.
This business model can succeed with very specific types of projects,
but otherwise it simply doesn't work.
Technical
Documents on Demand is a writer-owned business that works on specific
projects, not on just placing hourly workers. We make sure that we
understand your business and your needs, and we put together an
efficient plan to help you meet those needs.
Can't
my
engineers just
write the documentation?
If
your engineers have the time to write, Technical Documents on Demand
can upgrade their results by providing editing services, writing
coaches, or both. We can also conduct technical writing seminars for
groups of engineers.
If we
can use Word,
can't
we document our own products?
For
some applications, that might be fine. However, if you want total
control over the look and feel of your document, you're going to need
an expert, and probably one who knows a desktop publishing tool other
than Word.
How
do you
work?
What
information do you
need when we first contact you for a consultation?
Following
is a
list of items we ask
prospective clients to supply when they send their first email.
What
happens after the first consultation?
Based
on the information you give us, we prepare a Statement of Work for a
project that will fulfill your documentation goals. This statement of
work will be sent to you within 2 to 3 business days, and it will
contain the following information for each deliverable in the project:
When both
parties agree with the
project's scope and deadlines in the Statement of Work, we will prepare a
contract for your signature. If the terms of the Statement of Work aren't right for both of us, we will move on and it will cost you nothing.
Do you work on site?
We work with clients throughout the world. As a company, we rely on Zoom for most meetings, and we offer a free Slack channel for everyone on your own team who is involved with the documentation project.
For local clients, we can schedule onsite work for most situations where it would be valuable to
have a writer on site. If a client needs someone to travel long distance, it will be responsible for all travel expenses.
When do
you
subcontract?
Subcontractors
are normally used only on large projects, particularly when the
turnaround time is much faster than industry standard.
What are the stages
of a
typical document creation process?
The following diagram shows the
usual steps involved in a documentation project.
Do you sign
confidentiality
letters with your clients?
We
always include confidentiality and non-disclosure clauses in our
contracts. Please let us know if you have further legal needs.
Do you guarantee
your work?
We
guarantee our work to be free of typographical, grammatical, and other
mechanical errors, and that the final result will be clear, readable,
and well-organized. We also work closely with your product development
experts to incorporate all additions and corrections that they request
in their technical reviews.
Who owns the final
documentation?
Our
clients hold the copyright on all deliverables. Technical Documents on
Demand retains at least one electronic copy for recordkeeping purposes.
We also usually request permission to reproduce a small portion of the
document, for use only as part of our portfolio, and which does not
materially fulfill the purpose of the original document.
What about your charges?
Is the initial
consultation free?
Yes. There is never any
obligation
or commitment to pay until a contract is signed.
What is your
hourly rate?
We
normally do not bill our clients by the hour, but by the deliverable.
Rest assured, we will deliver the highest quality results at a
competitive cost.
When are payments
due?
Payments
are due at the time the client receives each deliverable. For small
projects, such as updating a three-fold brochure, there is only one
deliverable with a short time frame. For large projects, there will be
multiple deliverables.
