Business

Tips, tools and techniques

Employees and independent (self-employed) people need to deal with business issues related to getting more work, increasing income, marketing services and products, working remotely, and using the internet in a variety of ways.

This section of the site provides information on these and related topics. It is still under development.

Educating yourself

One problem many people face is learning new tools and skills, either to increase our marketability or to better handle the business side of our work.

Cheap ways to learn expensive tools

Marketing yourself and your services

Do you want to change careers or get a better job?
Do you work for yourself or want to?
Do you work from home, or want to?
Have you lost your job recently?

In any of those circumstances, you need to "sell" yourself to prospective employers or clients.

See this page for some ideas.

Putting your business on the Web

To successfully put your business on the Web, you need to have some basic services.

See this page for some ideas.

Designing and developing your website

Whether you are developing a website for your own business or for a client, you need to understand and apply many new ideas.

See this page for some ideas.

Supplementing your income with a web-based business

If you can’t make enough money from your job or your existing business, you need to expand onto the web and diversify your income.

See this page for some ideas.

Last updated 29 May 2003

Advertising your website

How do you advertise your web site? Here’s a starting list. Not all of these ideas are relevant to all web sites. Choose what’s best for you. Register the site with the major search engines and directories. Put the address on all your printed stationery, business cards and advertising. Put the address in your e-mail …

Cheap ways to learn expensive tools

Some practical suggestions on ways to learn how to use expensive tools, if you feel you need to know them to make yourself more marketable and you can’t afford a training course: If you’re in an area that has agencies providing technical writers to the computing industry, see if any of them have self-training machines …

Choosing a domain name

A "domain name" is that part of a network address that identifies the owner of the address; it’s usually the bit of the website address just before ".com" (or ".org" or ".edu" or ".info" or similar). For example, the domain name for this site is "jeanweber". If I didn’t have my own domain name, my …

Choosing an ISP (Internet service provider)

This page is out of date. High-speed internet access for travellers has changed dramatically since it was written. To be updated. Here are some criteria to consider when choosing a service provider (ISP): Will you usually access the Internet from only one location, or do you travel and need to work from different locations using …

Designing and developing your website

Note: This page is out of date. Whether you are developing a website for your own business or for a client, you need to understand and apply many new ideas. This page collects some material you may find helpful. Who will design and develop your website? Some considerations when choosing a website designer and developer, …

ISP, URL, e-mail

What’s the connection between your ISP, your e-mail address, and your website address (URL)? Your e-mail address and your website address (URL) may be associated with your ISP (Internet service provider), or they may be completely separate. Your internet service provider (ISP) is the company through which your computer connects to the Internet and the …

Maintaining your web site

Some sites are not intended to be visited frequently, so they can remain unchanged for some time. If yours is one of them, don’t put a date on the site, and don’t put anything there that can get obviously out of date (like pointers to upcoming events). Most sites are looking for repeat visitors, or …

Marketing yourself and your services

Do you want to change careers or get a better job?Do you work for yourself or want to?Do you work from home, or want to?Have you lost your job recently?Do you want to sell more products or services?Do you want more visitors to your website? In any of those circumstances, you need to market yourself, …

Negotiating with writers, managers and others

By far the greatest number of questions I’m asked about technical editing are actually about management issues, the role of the editor, how to handle writer-editor relationships, and similar personnel issues. Even in organizations where the chain of command is clearly defined, relationship problems are common. (Not that this is unique to editing, by any …

Putting your business on the Web

When deciding whether, when, and how to put your business on the Web, you need to consider several interrelated questions. This page collects some material you may find helpful. What is the connection between your ISP, your e-mail address, and your website address (URL)? What are the purpose, audience, and goals of your website? What …

Self-Publishing with OpenOffice.org 3 Writer

Self-publishing books on the Internet

by Jean Hollis Weber Note: Many of the details in this article are out of date, especially those related to recommended services. To be updated. In 1999, I began self-publishing books for technical writers and editors and marketing those books on the Internet. This article summarises some of the issues I had to deal with …

Supplementing your income with a web-based business

This page is incomplete. If you can’t make enough money from your job or your editing business, or you’d like a career change, here are some ideas for expanding onto the web and diversifying your income. Affiliations Once you have a website, you can become an affiliate of other businesses. (You’re probably familiar with the …

Take control of your attitude

A good attitude is the key to success What is a good attitude? It’s a way of thinking positively that says: I can control my life and achieve my goals. I am responsible for the choices I make. My past does not matter; I can change my future. Many other people have written about these …

Website purpose, audience and goals

Before you begin designing your website, you need to consider its purpose and audience. Here are some things to consider: What is the intended purpose of your site?What goods or services do you intend to provide through your site?Who are your main target audience? What are your immediate (short term) goals for the site?What are …

Who will design and develop your website?

The choices are: You or your staff A friend or family member You, with some help from a web programmer or other specialist when needed A web designer – individual or company Another approach is to hire a consultant to help you make the major decisions (and understand what the questions really are) and then …