Skill #17: Branding Your Work
As a technical writer, you’ve likely not considered branding yourself and your work—and understandably so: your documentation—no matter how masterful and easy to understand—often isn’t associated with yourself.
You don’t get a byline; you don’t get a image of yourself below the headline; instead, it’s just another piece of content created by “the documentation team.”
However, that doesn’t mean there’s value in creating your brand as a technical writer. And you can do so in ways that align with your philosophy and perspective of the industry.
Take Tom Johnson, for example, who’s built a brand for himself around his tech writing site, I’d Rather Be Writing (which, I highly recommend, as you’ll sense in this episode); or Sarah Maddox at Google Maps, who’s built a brand through her site, Ffeathers, combining her interests in technical writing and science fiction.
You have a unique perspective on technical writing that could build your brand while helping your peers lead more fulfilling careers—and in this episode, you’re gonna learn how to do it.
We have Ash Blankenship on the podcast: former fellow podcast co-host at Parskify podcast, where we first met, and today, is the founder at Acme Design: a web design agency that helps entrepreneurs and creatives build their brand.
In this episode, Ash shares how you can find your unique perspective on technical writing to brand your work, including:
- How to use content to build your brand
- How to choose the right platform to build your brand
- How to build a tribe that believes in your approach to technical writing
Show Notes:
Creators and Guests
Host
Jacob Moses
Jacob Moses is the founder and original host of The Not-Boring Tech Writer podcast, which he launched in 2016 to celebrate tech writers and push back against the stereotype that technical writing is boring. He studied technical communication at the University of North Texas, and his first gig out of college was as a tech writer at Rainmaker Digital (formerly Copyblogger Media). Since then, he's carried the skills and values he cultivated as a tech writer into community development and real estate. Today, Jacob is owner of Care Block Development, a real estate development company that acquires, rehabs, and manages historic buildings in Denton, Texas. Pairing historic preservation with thoughtful improvements, Care Block honors the culture of the neighborhoods in which it works to create lovable places for the people it serves. He's also the owner of Sardinha, a premium tinned seafood pop-up pushing premium tins in Denton. If you need a tinfish plug in Denton, Jacob is your guy.
