What can a Technical Writer do for me?

Enhance your public image

A good Technical Writer can be vital to your software company's public image. There is a learning curve with every piece of software. Bad documentation can make your customer's first experience with your product frustrating and difficult, and your reputation may never completely recover from that first impression. And given the importance of word-of-mouth recommendations for future sales, you can't afford to make a bad impression.

Improve the bottom line

Good documentation is a time-saver. If you produce a bad manual, your employees may spend hours on the phone with customers answering the same questions and solving the same problems over and over again. A good manual is like a Technical Support Rep who works overtime, and for free. A Technical Writer/Editor can measurably reduce your bottom line by reducing calls to Technical Support.

Also, by hiring a freelancer you avoid several of the costs associated with an employee such as benefits and paid breaks. A freelancer is engaged from the beginning of a project to its end, and no later. Hiring a contractor to do Technical Writing and Editing can be a cost-effective solution for a small software house that needs documentation services but cannot afford to hire a full-time employee.

What I can do that your people can't

Programmers and Engineers are creative, results-driven people and highly valuable employees. They are also, typically, highly paid for their time. As a rule, they are not good writers (unless they are writing code). If your developers are responsible for their own documentation, they are taking time away from what they do best, and they may be producing documentation that is not putting your best foot forward with your customers.

In a nutshell: I can do a better job, and I cost less.