Wednesday, April 12, 2006

A good reason not to settle for expediency.

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A good reason not to settle for expediency.
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To read the full color version of this article,
go to:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?nEUBxBRVBS1znciHgWSwxA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your business associates will appreciate
knowing about this newsletter.
Why not forward it to them n0w?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Expediency is the chief enemy of your
"entrepreneurial dream." Too often, your
company's Strategic Objective is abandoned in
favor of expedient actions that appear easier to
fulfill.

For example someone might say, "I don't need a
system, all I need is good people." Here, you
have expediency (good people) instead of a proven
system that delivers every time.

Expediency and sound judgment tend to be
diametrically opposed.

It's so easy to lose sight of "the dream" -
sometimes, with only the slightest distraction,
Therefore, as a manager you must exude constant
focus on "what it's all about."

A halfhearted and superficial approach to "the
dream" will surely spoil your company's
achievements and result in mediocrity. Through
your own actions as a manager or executive, you
must demonstrate:

* persistent implementation of systems and
policies,

* dissatisfaction with compromised results,
and

* refusal to gloss over serious problems.

Anything less will invariably cause your company
will sink DOWN to expediency instead of rising UP
to the entrepreneurial dream.

Expediency is the chief enemy of your
"entrepreneurial dream."


==================================================
Our streamlined, documented SYSTEM can help you
achieve your dream.
==================================================

As our client, you have access to a proven system
that slashes costs while saving you time, worry,
and needless expediency. Don't let the lack of a
proven system squash your entrepreneurial dream!

We can help. You decide.


==================================================
HELP Profitable Venture Tactics help your
colleagues.
==================================================

This eZine relies on subscriber's participation.
So, it stands to reason, the more subscribers,
the more participation. You can expand the
circulation by telling your colleagues about
Profitable Venture Tactics.

Your business and management colleagues will
thank you for being so thoughtful.

What did you learn today that you found most
beneficial?

How will you apply what you have learned at
work?


Please email your comments to
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?j9KnDeq1JWkBewGMlTgiUA

Best Regards,

Mike Hayden, Principal/Consultant
Your partner in streamlining business.

PS. If you're not on our P V T Roster, sign up (fr#e) at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?zaQcQN5FhdW8o9O9ocA9cw

PPS. To sign up for the PVT Forum, sign up (fr#e) at:
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(c) 2006 Mike Hayden, All rights reserved. You may use
material from the Profitable Venture Tactics eZine in
whole or in part, as long as you include complete
attribution, including live website links and email link.
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Friday, April 07, 2006

What four-letter word do you utter when ...?

What four-letter word do
you utter when you write that che.ck
for your high documentation costs?
==================================================

To read the full color version of this article,
go to:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?m.4ixSuIIEsaX7jcP_piCQ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your business associates will appreciate
knowing about this newsletter.
Why not forward it to them n0w?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


==================================================
FACT: Most publication managers and writers waste
a lot of m0ney and time ... without even
realizing it!
==================================================

A few years ago, I interviewed Silicon Valley
managers and executives about their documentation
budgets. I was looking for the cost per page for
manuscripts before typesetting and publication. I
asked,

"How much do you spend on developing each
manual, brochure or data sheet? How much do
you spend to research, write, illustrate,
update?"

Typically, publication managers said,

"We're too busy to keep track of those cost
details. We simply assign a writer(s) or
employee(s) to the task ... when it's done,
it's done."

They didn't know their development costs.

In fairness, they usually knew printing costs.

But that's like General Motors knowing how much
it costs to paint a car but not how much it
costs to build it!

So, using wages without benefits, I estimated
that companies spent $200 to $400 per page and
more to develop documentation in-house (before
printing). For example,

Company A assigned a writer to produce a
Product User's Manual. Four months later the
60-page manual was ready to print.
Cost: $15,132, about $252 per page.

Company B spent $200,000 (wages) and two
years to produce a 700-page Programmer's
Reference Manual. Initial cost was about
$286 per page. But then, their client
rejected the manual as "poor and unusable."
After expensive le.gal battles, Company B
grudgingly upgraded the entire manual,
spending another $42,000.
Final cost: $346 per page (not including
le.gal fees)!

Company C spent $60,000 and 14 months to
develop a 150-page manual.
The cost: $400 per page!

What's more, I discovered that while publications
people talked about budgets, their work always
expanded to meet or exceed the "budget" as
management suffered excuses and delays.

Still, publication managers were more interested
in building their in-house empire than saving
m0ney.

So, they weren't especially interested in the fact
that I had consistently produced documentation
faster at $100/page or less!


==================================================
The technology that changed writer's abilities.
==================================================

In the early days of my business, a "page" was an
8-1/2" page of hand-typed text. Graphics had to
be pasted up manually. Every edited manuscript
required complete retyping.

Soon, desktop computers and word processing
software emerged, which let writers
electronically store and update manuscripts
without retyping everything.

Still, we had to manually paste up illustrations
and photos. Later, desktop publishing (DTP)
software emerged, which allowed embedded
graphics.

But, the evolution didn't stop there. Along came
the Internet with web pages and hypertext
page-linking.

But despite all this technology, development of
documentation is STILL labor intensive (i.e.
expensive).

And today a "page" is no longer a page. For
example, a "web page" when printed can take 10,
20, 30 pages and more.

So, n0w what does a page cost? What are your true
costs for developing documentation?


==================================================
You will overpay for your next documentation
project ... unless you heed this advice by a
documentation expert.
==================================================

To reduce your documentation costs, you must
develop a streamlined documentation system.

(NOTE: Fancy DTP software is not a documentation
system anymore than a fancy hospital building is
a healthcare system.)

To slash costs, you must develop a complete
system of steps to write, edit, review, publish
and update your documentation. You must quantify,
test, and streamline every step of the
development process. You must rigorously monitor
costs and resources.

Yes, you CAN save up to 50% and more by using a
tested and optimized system as we do. This means
you can save many thousands of dollars -- on
every manuscript!

You may not know all the possible benefits of
this idea. But, I am sure you want the most for
your m0ney. I'm sure you'd be happy if you could
slash YOUR documentation development costs by
50%-65% ... while improving quality.


==================================================
A streamlined documentation SYSTEM can help you
get what you want, predictably and save you 50%.
==================================================

As our client, you have access to a proven system
that cuts documentation costs in half while
saving your time, worry, and needless expense.

Don't let the lack of a streamlined documentation
system strangle your budget!

We can help. You decide.


==================================================
HELP Profitable Venture Tactics help your
colleagues.
==================================================

This eZine relies on subscriber's participation.
So, it stands to reason, the more subscribers,
the more participation. You can expand the
circulation by telling your colleagues about
Profitable Venture Tactics.

Your business and management colleagues will
thank you for being so thoughtful.

What did you learn today that you found most
beneficial?

How will you apply what you have learned at
work?


==================================================
HELP Profitable Venture Tactics help your
colleagues.
==================================================

Mike--This eZine relies on subscriber's
participation. So, it stands to reason, the more
subscribers,the more participation. You can expand
the circulation by telling your colleagues about
Profitable Venture Tactics.

Your business and management colleagues will
thank you for being so thoughtful.

What did you learn today that you found most
beneficial?

How will you apply what you have learned at
work?

Please email your comments to
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?FI2J7OF3xC6f6mPT98J.fQ

Best Regards,

Mike Hayden, Principal/Consultant
Your partner in streamlining business.

PS. If you're not on our P V T Roster, sign up (fr#e) at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?u5eYc4ceMwMxfnAAvarMKQ

PPS. To sign up for the PVT Forum, sign up (fr#e) at:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?yO94mdggFkL59y6yKrE..Q

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(c) 2006 Mike Hayden, All rights reserved. You may use
material from the Profitable Venture Tactics eZine in
whole or in part, as long as you include complete
attribution, including live website links and email link.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *