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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sean Brierley [mailto:seanb_us -at- yahoo -dot- com]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 2:56 PM
> To: John Posada
> Subject: RE: ROI tech writing strategies
>
> Just what and how did you measure and how did you
> present it.
>
> Would you mind posting on-list?
Sean...it was quite a while ago...I don't even have the Excel that I created
and I don't remember enough to be of any constructive use.
I do remember that there were factors that surprised me, things that any
tech writer is going to not think about...things like Cost of Money (in
other words, how much would the company make if they put the money they are
spending on you and the project into a Money Market instead), tax rates,
what type of budget the money spent came from, etc.
I remember the spreadsheet had over 100 rows by over 10 columns...took me
almost a year to create it...included things like spot price of currency
that it pulled from an online service. The goal was to see two numbers. The
number of months until breakeven and the cost went from red to black, and if
it was more or less than 18 months (different companies have different ROI
periods).
It's hard for us to remember that customer service, future business, good
will, intangibles, etc., have nothing to do with ROI. It's simply "I have
$X. After I spend for your project and collect funds/income, do I have more
or less than $X, and if more, do I have more than a different investment and
how long till break even.
I'd never go down that path if I wanted to keep my job...unless you are
charging for the deliverable, you'll never come out ahead.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
Barnes&Noble.com
jposada -at- book -dot- com
NY: 212-414-6656
Dayton: 732-438-3372
You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that
never were; and I say "Why not?"
-----George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah, 1921
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