Before Web Content Strategy
Life
at the bottom of the food chain is no fun for anyone. It doesn't
matter if you are a mouse or a writer, being overlooked, ignored,
and utterly dispensable is frustrating.
Now,
everyone hold on a minute before you start writing me hateful
emails; I know all the arguments. I was a tech writer for eleven
years.
It was a good job
and I had a lot of great experiences, but I still felt like I
was at the bottom of the hierarchy. I talked constantly about
how I was the first advocate for the user and the first system
tester. I know that I made countless user interface change suggestions
and that the ultimate user experience was better because I was
on the team. I was a very good technical writer and no one argued
that fact. But my opinion was still perceived as less important
than the other members of the development team. I could suggest
changes, but others had to actually make them, and often took
credit for them as well. I felt underpaid, under-appreciated,
overworked, and unfulfilled.
Even though I had
been working in the software development world for much longer
than many of the programmers and designers with whom I was teamed,
and I encountered the same problems over and over again and often
knew we were headed down the wrong road, usually all I could do
was say, "I told you so," when things went badly. Don't
get me wrong; I was not a shy guy. I stated my case well and with
conviction. It was just that no one really had to listen to, or
take advice from, the tech writer. It's as simple as that.
So I walked away
from a stable, yet dull, job I had held for years and decided
to do some technical writing contract work to see how things worked
elsewhere. Unfortunately, I found only more of the same or worse.
My co-workers were even less likely to be interested in what I
had to say because I was a contractor. I knew my job, was damn
good at it, and by this point in my career I felt like I could
make a strong contribution at a higher, more strategic, level
in a project. But this was a sand box in which tech writers were
just not allowed to play. It didn't matter how much experience
I had.
Eventually I landed
at IBM. The Internet was exploding and IBM was just getting into
the whole Web design thing. The Web development team needed someone
to set up a technical writing department, providing technical
documentation for the websites they were building for big Fortune
500 customers. Part of what they needed to provide as part of
a website launch project was information on how to boot and take
down the servers and how to upload new files, etc. It was a good
gig, but the managers had a hard time finding a home for me in
the organization. The technical manager didn't want me, as he
only managed programmers. So I was placed with the only other
writers in the group-the Web copy writers and the content strategists-a
group whose title I did not yet understand.
I went about my
job mixed in with these others writers whose jobs seemed much
more interesting and creative than mine. They wrote Web copy for
the new websites that the group was developing and also wrote
and helped design the detailed and very creative proposals that
they sent out to clients to try and win new business. Little by
little, I began to infiltrate their work world. First, by writing
and editing the technical portions of the proposal documents we
were sending out, then later by actually helping out with developing
creative ideas for new Web content.
The more involved
I got, the more it became obvious that these other writers had
a much better job than I did. They went to off-site meetings and
talked about wild and creative ideas, and everyone listened to
them. Shocking! Their ideas went up on the white board and got
considered along with all the others. And they got to talk to
actual customers! I had been in software development for eleven
years and never met a single customer; yet these guys were flying
all over the country to meet with clients all the time. This was
unheard of in my world. Something interesting was happening here.
The Day I Doubled My Salary
I was ready to make
my move. I spent days writing out my accomplishments, listing
the projects to which I had made significant contributions, printing
out sample documents, and finding complimentary emails from clients
and team members. I walked to my boss's office armed and ready
to do battle.
"Hiya. Got
a few minutes to talk about some stuff?"
"Sure," she said. "Come
on in."
"Well I've been working a lot
on Web content projects and helping out where I can. My tech writing
material is well defined now and I could easily hand it off to
someone else. So... I was wondering if I could change to a content
strategist role?" I opened up my folder, ready to provide
all kinds of back-up documentation.
"Sure, great! Do you want to start now or
in the morning? I have a few projects I can assign to you right
now."
I was shocked! It
was as simple as that. All I had to do was ask. No long negotiations
and proving my ability. She already knew me, she had work that
needed doing, and she was happy to have me step up and take it
on. I quickly found myself on a plane to New York City to meet
with PriceWaterhouseCoopers about phase two of a project we had
just launched for them. And shortly after that, I was off to spend
nine months in Paris working on another project. All paid for
by the client. Why didn't I ask for this job sooner!
All this time, I
was still on contract. My contract rate got a nice bump and I
was quite happy with things. But it was not too long before IBM
wanted to hire me as a full-time employee. Again, I was shocked.
The offer they gave me was a lot more than I was making on contract,
and fully twice as much as I had ever made on salary as a tech
writer.
Maybe All You Need to Do Is Ask
I mention my easy
path into the Web development world not to brag, but because it
was all there, right in front of me, and all I had to do was ask.
Eighty percent of my skills and experience translated well to
this new job, and the things I had to learn were actually fun
and creative. I didn't mind putting in the extra work and extra
time because I really enjoyed getting up and going to work in
the morning! Without even knowing it, you may be in a similar
situation. If you have good writing and editing skills, you are
a seasoned Web user and are interested in how websites are developed,
and you know how to manage a project through to completion, all
you may have to do is ask.
Is "Web Content Strategist" a Real Job?
Yes, it absolutely
is. However, you could work an entire career as a writer and never
even hear this job title unless you work directly in website development.
This is a growth field as both large companies who manage their
own websites, and Web agencies need content strategists. But you
don't have to take my word for it. As I am writing this, I just
went out to Monster.com and got 35 results when I searched for
the keywords "web, content, strategist." One of the
jobs listed a top-end salary of $105,00.00! Here a composite ad
I created based on what I just found online to give you an example
of what companies are looking for.
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