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We never sold docs. They were part of what was delivered
with the product, and we minimized printing, in favor of
PDFs on the software CD that comes with the hardware.
My most recent major achievement was to switch the bulk
of the customer docs (User, Reference, Integration, etc.)
from PDF/printable over to WebHelp.
As well, we don't sell to Joe Public. We sell relatively
pricey items (network security and crypto devices)
to major corporations and institutions and government
departments/agencies. My imagination fails me when it
comes to promoting myself as a profit center, or actually
making myself into a profit center.
Perhaps there's an opportunity here somewhere, but I'd
hate to start singling myself out for costing, only to
reveal that docs are a big drain on the corporate purse.
(Well, can't be that big a drain, there's only me and
very little printing.)
/kevin (if I cost so much, how come I keep so little? :-)
Kevin,
When I started at Microware systems in 1985, I was the sole writer. We
didn't sell docs, and we sold only to other corporations in the embedded
system software market (robotics, control systems, etc.). It took 5 years
to understand the business models of that industry. My second major job was
with Philips. We sold very very pricey software (the most expensive was the
first hardware MPEG-1 encoder -- 125K per seat). Our total customer base
was about 200 companies. I personally knew all of the CD-I customers (60
Designers). I had 4 writers working for me. My history led me to the
arguments I make in Services.
You may not need to recast your department of one as a profit center. BUT,
if you need more writers, you need to discover/invent/explain an argument in
terms that someone that knows the business model will accept. Profit
centers are just one of those arguments. Comparitive Value Add is another
argument (this sounds like market speak, but it really is a major issue).
The least argument, but always there is that products are more than code.
One of the things I learned long ago was not to argue for docs, but to argue
for product. Docs come along for the ride. Argue for Testing, QA,
appropriate packaging, UI Design, oh... and docs. If you care enough about
the productization of your work, you will get allies and they will
eventually come back to help you.
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Try ROBOHELP X5 for Free - Now with Word 2003 support, Content
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