Illuminations

Volume 5, Issue 1
January-February 2002

In this issue:

WebWorks Publisher 7 Training--Finally!

The Travel-Restricted and the Budgetless: Training Alternatives

TRIDOC Conference

How to Get Money Budgeted for FrameMaker

WebWorks Publisher 7 Training--Finally!

Many of you have requested it, and now we can officially announce we're offering Mastering WebWorks Publisher Professional 7, a class developed by WebWorks University.

You can check out the class outline and register online. Because we're using materials developed by WebWorks University, our development costs are lower. We're pricing the class accordingly at $675. (Our Introduction to WebWorks Publisher 6 class costs $1100.)

Sign up by February 18 to get the early registration discount, and don't forget about our other discounts.

We're also offering several other courses to help you gain new skills in 2002.

The Travel-Restricted and the Budgetless: Training Alternatives

There are a lot of folks these days who'd like training in FrameMaker 6 and WebWorks Publisher 6, but they just don't have the time for travel or the budget to take one of our instructor-led classes. We've come to the rescue with our FrameMaker Workbook and Coursebook and WebWorks Publisher Workbook.

We use The FrameMaker Workbook and Coursebook in our Accelerated Introduction to FrameMaker class, and you can now purchase them to learn FrameMaker 6 at your own pace. You can purchase the printed and spiralbound versions we use in class for $159, or you can buy the CD-only version, which includes PDF versions of the Workbook and Coursebook, for just $99. These books consistently receive high marks from students and from instructors who license them, so order your copy today.

The WebWorks Publisher Workbook is now available on CD, and we've dropped the price from $125 to $99 ($148.95 with a copy of The WebWorks Publisher Cookbook). For those of you who need to learn WebWorks Publisher 6, this is an economical way to get an introduction to this tool.

TRIDOC conference

Don't forget about the STC Carolina Chapter TRIDOC Conference in Research Triangle Park, NC, on April 26-27. Some excellent presentations have been scheduled, and the keynote speaker will be Mark Hanigan, Immediate Past President of STC.

Register by March 9 to save $55!

How to Get Money Budgeted for FrameMaker

You've built a solid case for FrameMaker. Read the articles. Written feature comparisons. But your manager won't budge. Or budget.

How do you shake loose a few paltry simoleons from your vision-free, humorless, miserly, misguided management? The answer is simple: Show them the money.

Although you may think in terms of productivity and quality, chances are your manager doesn't. Or at least doesn't think of those things first. Right now, money is first. And managers are trained to think in terms of ROI--return on investment. So give them what they want.

Your FrameMaker ROI calculations will go something like this:

1. Make a list of all of the FrameMaker features that will save you time. For example:
   • using book files so that I don't have to wrestle with pagination: 2 hours/week
   • automatic creation of bookmarks in PDF files: .25 hours/week
   • versioning with conditional text instead of copy/paste: 1 hour/week
   • graphics that import and update automatically: 1 hour/week

    

   Total: 4.25 hours per week

2. Multiple this total by your effective hourly rate. If you're an employee, use this formula for a rough estimate:

   Annual full-time salary * 1.3 (for benefits) / 2000 working hours = hourly rate

   At $50,000 per year, this works out to $32.50/hour. The preceding example results in savings of $138 per week. Therefore, it will take about six weeks ($800/138) for FrameMaker to pay for itself.

3. If you're going to request training or buy books on FrameMaker, add these amounts into your initial cost before calculating the break-even point. If you have several employees who will switch to FrameMaker, be sure to multiply your calculations by the number of employees.

After putting together these numbers, you should have a rather compelling case for FrameMaker. Don't forget to put in all the warm fuzzy stuff as an afterthought. For example:

• improved documentation quality because of less wrestling with tools
• happier employees because of same

Your manager won't buy FrameMaker because it'll make you happy. Show that it'll save money instead, and make employee happiness an added bonus.

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