Doing first things first (with a little help from your clients)
A funny thing happened on the way to writing my FAQs: I ran out of steam. Again and again and again.
No matter how many times I'd get asked "why does this cost so much?" or "how come I can't have the layered Photoshop file?" or any other common query, I could not get myself to buckle down and write them. I'm bad with blue-sky projects, good with structure and deadlines.
And then, one day, I got an email query asking one of those questions. I did not feel like calling up and explaining one more time. And I had no FAQ section to point her to. So I sat down and spent 45 minutes composing an answer. A really good one, that was water-tight and bulletproof and explained everything calmly, rationally and completely.
And when I was done, I realized that not only did I now have a "boilerplate" email I could reuse time and again with a little tweaking, but that I had also written a signal entry for my planned FAQs.
Now I look for taskmasters—deadlines in disguise. Requests for interviews, guest blog opportunities, email queries all become opportunities to add to the oeuvre, instead of inconveniences that must be dealt with.
Of course, now that I've discovered this little trick, I'm always looking for more ways to turn things to my advantage. Any suggestions? Stuff I'm missing?
Thank you again for the conversation with Kimber (sort of interview!)- I loved it. I agree that there are times to jump- but your advice to not jump recklessly was great!
Posted by: prlinkbiz | July 02, 2007 at 06:55 PM
You're welcome! There are more installments to come (I write long), so I'll let you know when they're up.
Posted by: Colleen Wainwright | July 02, 2007 at 08:25 PM
I found a neat little tool for organizing boilerplate text and other small snippets. It's Time Saver Wolf. Weird name, but it does the trick and is inexpensive, too. You can find it at http://www.lonewolf-software.com. I'm not an affiliate; just a happy customer! I also have their Contact Wolf and Backup Wolf.
Posted by: Mary | July 08, 2007 at 09:55 PM
Windows, as I expected. I know there's a Mac tool out there that organizes boilerplate. Anyone? Or are you all going to make me do my own Googling?
Posted by: Colleen Wainwright | July 09, 2007 at 11:00 AM