I was talking with a colleague the other day about how to increase the number of hits per article on our organization’s technology website. We get about 800 hits per article, which isn’t much given the potential audience. To increase hits, I said we need to send these articles to all users via a newsletter. Email is the only way to reach a lot of … more »

Paul Pehrson and I sat down after Leadership Day at the STC Summit to talk about some of the strategies the board is taking to address the issue of trust. This is the first in a series of videocasts that I’ll be posting at the Summit.

Secrecy versus openness in communication. Gerry McGovern makes an interesting comparison between Apple and Microsoft when it comes to secrecy and transparency. Although many people love Apple and find their applications simple to use, they are not a very transparent company at all. They maintain absolute secrecy until the day of release. Not so with Microsoft.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download MP3 Length: 50 min. This podcast is a recording of the Blogging, Podcasting, and Screencasting presentation that I gave to the TransAlpine conference in Vienna in June 2009. In the presentation, I explore what well-known bloggers, podcasters, and screencasters do to inspire readers to become devoted followers rather than just casual subscribers. Devoted followers stay updated with … more »

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download MP3 (to download, right-click and select Save Target As) Length: 14 min. At the STC Summit, I ran into someone from Australia who follows my wife’s blog fairly regularly and had even brought gifts for her and the kids. It made me reflect on blog subscribers, and how you convert readers from being occasional readers to devoted … more »

InDesignSecrets » Blog Archive » Eliminating YDB (Yucky Discolored Box) Syndrome. If you ever put transparent images over colored backgrounds in Indesign, you need to apply this tweak to avoid discoloration issues around your image.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download MP3 (to download, right-click and select Save Target As) Length: 40 min. This is the second half of the Blogging for Technical Communicators webinar that I gave to the STC-Rocky Mountain chapter on February 19, 2009. Here’s the accompanying PowerPoint visual. Note: Make sure you listen to Part 1 first. Otherwise you’ll come into this podcast in … more »

Author-it launched a blog today. You can view it at http://author-it.com/blog. I had a sneak peek of the blog about a week ago and contacted Kathy Howes for an interview about it. The questions I asked her are below. Why did you decide to start a corporate blog? We see blogging as an essential part of an organization’s content strategy, and a great opportunity to … more »

If you’re starting a corporate blog, you’d be well off with a little mommy blogger training to break you in. After living with a mommy blogger, you’ll more naturally embrace transparency, skip any attempts at censorship, and become accustomed to the occasional distorted portrayal of what you say and do. These are all principles I’ve honestly learned to love from Jane. Jane is the mommy … more »