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The best way to find out what indexers do is to try it yourself. Grab an old textbook and go through it from page to page, highlighting every occurrence of names, places, titles and concepts. Go back and type up all the entries into a big table with the page numbers and page ranges included. Sort the whole thing into alphabetical order, and presto! you have an index.

Sounds easy? Here are some things to consider. Have you included all the meaningful references and excluded all the ‘mere mentions’ that don’t really say anything about the subject? Have you included enough subheadings, so that users don’t have to look through thirty or forty undifferentiated page references to find the page they want? Have you put cross-references or double entries to link synonymous terms, so that American users looking up ‘elevators’ find the same pages as British users looking up ‘lifts’? Have you got all the correct accents and diacriticals in the foreign words? Where do you put entries for ’1914′, or ‘α-keratenase’? Are you using plural and singular forms correctly, so that users aren’t jolted by having to switch back and forth between them? Is it in the format required by your client? And can you trim or expand that index to the required length, and deliver it on time and on budget?

Luckily there are professional indexers who spend their working lives obsessing about these issues. If you can provide an accurate and complete brief, Wordwallah will be glad to quote on providing an index of any desired length or complexity; but remember, we do our best work when we have plenty of notice. Don’t leave it till the last minute!

Technology has brought massive changes to the way news is delivered today. News comes into our homes literally as it happens.

With this brings many challenges, especially for the public sector and businesses that may come into contact with the media for one reason or another. Perhaps it might be a contentious issue, or maybe it is a human-interest matter. Most people are not born media savvy, but by following a few simple tips, dealing with journalists and other media need not be a daunting experience.

1.   If you are contacted by a journalist to make comment on something, ensure you get their name, media outlet, telephone number and email address.

2.   Don’t feel pressured that you have to answer their questions there and then. Most interviews are conducted over the telephone, but you may prefer to ask the journalist to come and see you face to face. Remember though, that this may not be possible if the journalist is in another state or country.

3.    If you want time to think about what the journalist wants to talk about, do not hesitate to ask them to give you some time to think about it and then have them call back. Sometimes journalists may be limited by deadlines, but this is not your problem.

4.    It is a good idea to ask the journalist to email you an overview of the story they are writing and the sorts of questions they would like to ask you. Remember that these may not be the only questions they are likely to ask you.

5.  If you decide to go ahead with the interview, check whether the journalist is taping you or taking notes. By law they must declare if they are taping any telephone conversation.

6.  At the end of the interview, ask the journalist to go over the discussion and clarify any quotes they plan to use. It is unlikely that they will agree to show you a draft, but you are well within your rights to ask for quotes to be checked with you. You might consider making this a condition of the interview.

7.   You might be asked to participate in a photo shoot. Consider this carefully, especially if there are children involved.

With all this in mind, dealing with the media can be rewarding and useful for businesspeople and organisations. A good journalist should always be trusted to respect your wishes and report with honesty and balance.

Keep sentences short.

It’s easier for your reader to absorb your message if you keep your sentences short – around 15 to 20 words. By removing repetition and verbiage, using lists and headings properly, and shortening sentences, your reader will grasp your message faster. Their information retention will also be higher.

If a sentence is too long – split and disconnect. Full stops allow your readers to digest your latest point and prepare for the next.

Compare these two statements:

1.   I understand that some doctors making night calls have been attacked in recent months on the expectation that they were carrying drugs and their caution when visiting certain areas in the south of the city has been very exacting and has even included telephoning the address to be visited from their car when they arrive outside the house.

2.   I understand that some doctors making night calls have been attacked in recent months on the expectation that they were carrying drugs. Their caution when visiting certain areas in the south of the city has been very exacting. It has even included telephoning the address to be visited from their car when they arrive outside the house.

Sometimes a sentence is lengthened by needless repetition.

Compare these two letters:

1.   Dear Sirs

Trial of John Smith and James Jackson

The above defendants are to be tried at Sydney Supreme Court on Tuesday 2 October 2007 at 10.30 a.m. for several offences under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 concerning the supply of motor vehicles to which false trade descriptions had been applied.

2.   Dear Sirs

Trial of John Smith and James Jackson

The above defendants are to be tried for several offences concerning the supply of motor vehicles to which false trade descriptions had been applied.

Here are some tips to ensure your outsourced copywriting projects run smoothly and achieve their objectives

1.   Choosing the right writer
It’s often difficult to find a copywriter who is suitable and available, particularly if your projects vary in their requirements of skill and experience. For example, a writer who only has magazine experience probably won’t be suitable for writing website content. If you want to save yourself a lot of time − choose someone who works with a pool of other writers with differing skills and experience. That way you only need one point of contact − if they’re busy on another project or they don’t have the specific skills/experience for a particular job, they can organise an alternative writer for you.

2.   Briefing the writer
Providing your writer with a clear brief will save you unnecessary copy revisions and keep your costs down. Points to include are:

• your target audience
• what message you want to convey
• what tone you want to speak to your reader in
• what response you ideally want the reader to make
• your schedule

3.   Setting the schedule
Copywriters need time to develop the ideas and words, so set a realistic schedule to allow for research and the creative process. Also, don’t expect the first draft to be perfect − allow for one or two revisions so your writer can refine the content.

4.   The agreement
The agreement should include:

• the project size
• number of revisions included
• schedule
• agreed fee (this can be a flat fee or hourly rate).

Also check what’s not included. Many writers charge extra for face-to-face meetings, research time, and weekend or rush work. Most writers charge 35−50% of the total project fee upfront. And if you have sensitive or proprietary information, don’t hesitate to have your writer sign a non-disclosure agreement.

5.   Providing background information
Provide as much background information as possible up-front. This can save you and the writer considerable time. And if they still need more information, they can always come back to you.

Do you or one of your colleagues ever get asked to produce a business form or template for a specific subject or criteria? For example, a Project Management template, Tendering template or just a Glossary of Australian Acronyms.

Is it daunting trying to work out where to start? Well, here’s a website that may save you a little stress and a lot of time: www.docdownload.com.au

docDownload is ideal for anyone who needs a document template, whether you’re in the public or private sector. They provide fully-researched templates to publication standard for just about any document you may require. These templates will save you between 40% to 90% of document preparation time.

They have a small team of technical writers who are very experienced in document preparation for the Australian market. The documents produced meet national and international standards and the law.

They have hundreds of fully prepared templates that can be downloaded individually by casual users at very reasonable prices; many are free.

And they are looking to enter into a long term relationship with small-to medium-sized businesses in every State in Australia and with corporate tech writers in the key divisions such as Head Office, IT, HR, Marketing, Risk Management, and Project Management.

If you become a member, all documents on the site are available to you at no extra cost! And members may send a request to the team for additional documents to be published on the docDownload website.

VALUE VS. PRICE

When choosing an editor, it’s important to look at various elements, not just the quoted price.

For example, if two editors quote an hourly rate of $50 and $100 respectively – it doesn’t necessarily follow that one is twice as expensive as the other. The $100ph editor may be twice as fast as the $50ph editor. He/she may also be more experienced and efficient, which means you spend less time answering questions and sending drafts back for revision.

Remember, your time on the project needs to be added to the equation, so the less you need to be involved, the more productive you can be in other areas.

Do they work on their own or with a team?

An editor with a team around them can provide specific expertise/skills for specialised subjects – saving you time trying to find the most suitable person for the job.

A team can also handle all the elements of your project, from writing, editing and indexing to graphic design and print production. You will save time because you only need one point of contact instead of three or four.

And what happens if they get hit by a bus. Is there someone who can take over? What if the project is put on hold halfway through? When it’s time to resume, will your editor be available or will you have to start from scratch and find another one?

INSURANCE

Litigation is becoming more and more common these days. Does your editor have professional indemnity insurance?

So next time you get a quote, make sure you look at the real cost, not just the dollar amount.

How often have you needed information, which you know is stored somewhere on your computer, but you just don’t know where you put it? It may have been an email someone (you can’t remember who) sent you in the last six months. Or was it a Word document or Excel file? Maybe you just read it on the internet. All you remember is that it had some vital information about a widget supplier in Guangzhou, and you need that information NOW!

If you have the Google desktop toolbar, you simply type in the words ‘widget’ and ‘Guangzhou’ and it will instantaneously bring up everything on your computer with the words ‘widget’ and ‘Guangzhou’. You can even choose to display only emails, only files or only web history. Imagine the time this can save you – and it’s free!

You are given the option of three display styles:

1. Within the Google sidebar (a bar you can install that sits vertically on one side of your screen)
2. Within the taskbar (at the bottom of your screen)
3. Hidden – you display it by pressing the ‘Ctrl’ key twice (this is my preferred option).

When you first install it, it requires a couple of hours to index your computer, but once that’s done, you have instant access to any information you need. Brilliant.

One proviso – if you want to download this for your office computer, check with your IT department first.

Download the program from: desktop.google.com

How readable is your document?

Did you know that Microsoft Word has a built-in readability feature, which uses the Flesch Reading Ease score. It rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier the document is to understand. For most documents, you should aim for a score of around 60 to 70.

To activate this feature, do the following:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab
2. Select the Check grammar with spelling check box
3. Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK
4. Open the document you want to check, then press F7.

When Microsoft Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, it displays the Readability Statistics. Voilà!

Do you use newsletters as a communication tool? And, if so, are you getting the most out of them?

If done correctly, newsletters are by far the most powerful way to communicate with your target audience on a regular basis, especially in today’s fast-paced information age.

Newsletters can be informative, creative, serious, fun, printed or electronic – perhaps they’re just part of a work project. They can be large or small, and distributed on a weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual basis depending on your needs.

To ensure that your newsletters are effective, it’s vital that you focus on your audience. Think about the language and style of writing you use. A newsletter to lawyers will have a very different style to one aimed at builders.

Also, what motivates them? What are their needs or concerns? If you’re not sure ─ ask them. Place a segment in your newsletter asking them for feedback. Alternatively, you might try an external resource to do the research for you ─ sometimes an audience is more open to discussing their concerns with a third party.

Once you have gathered your information, you can then tailor your message to suit your audience, so everyone benefits.

But, perhaps your newsletter is taking up too much of your time or you simply don’t have the resources in-house to produce it. Then give Wordwallah a call. We can research your audience, source stories, write and edit the articles ─ we can even design, print and distribute them if you wish.

And we can do it in a fraction of the time it might take you ─ freeing you up to focus on other important areas. You’ll be surprised at how hassle-free the process is.

For more information:

+61 2 9973 2830
info@wordwallah.com