RE: Advocating Documentation and Support

Subject: RE: Advocating Documentation and Support
From: "Michele Marques" <marquesm -at- autros -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2001 14:22:21 -0500

I see a few messages on this thread debating whether customers should have
to pay for user manuals.

There are a number of approaches to have it both ways - to include the
documentation as part of the product, but still make a profit from it.

(1) Include at no extra charge only electronic copies of documentation and
charge for people who want to order a printed manual.

(2) Include only one copy of the documentation and charge people who want to
order additional sets. If your software is meant to be used by many people,
then your customers may want additional document sets, especially if not all
users are at the same location.

(3) A variant of #1 - even if you provide printed manuals for the initial
purchase, only provide electronic copies of documentation for upgrades and
charge for ordering a printed manual.

Having worked at companies practicing #2 and #3, I can tell you that it
feels great when customers are ordering additional copies of the
documentation.

--------------------------------------------
Michele Marques
Technical Writer,
Autros Healthcare Solutions
marquesm -at- autros -dot- com

This material is intended for the use of the individual to whom it is
addressed and may contain information that is privileged, proprietary,
confidential and exempt from disclosure. If you are not the intended
recipient or the person responsible for delivering the material to the
intended recipient, you are notified that dissemination, distribution or
copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received
this communication in error, please contact the sender immediately via
e-mail and destroy this message accordingly.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Develop HTML-Based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 ($100 STC Discount)
**New Dates!!** San Francisco (Apr 16-17), San Jose (Mar 29-30)
http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.

IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


Previous by Author: RE: Lumberg! (was Ruffled Feathers)
Next by Author: RE: Task-based vs. descriptive online help? (quasi-summary)
Previous by Thread: Re: Advocating Documentation and Support
Next by Thread: RE: Advocating Documentation and Support


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads