I welcome 2011 with a smile as I also look back on 2010. From Christmas through New Years, I was on vacation with family in real world, and learned how much I depend on the Internet and on social media, or SoMe. Although I was supposed to be offline, I did use my iPad to check my social networks occasionally and post a few comments. In all honesty, I felt afraid I was going to miss out on important tweets or status updates on LinkedIn or Facebook. However, I was rewarded with wonderful F2F (face-to-face) time with my loved ones, and saw some beautiful scenery in Prescott, Arizona.

I did think about what I learned in 2010, and what the learning might mean for 2011. I bravely and humbly share a partial list with you:

1. Mobile [ fill-in-the-blank ] is here, and is here to stay and grow. I bought an iPad for my business and use it daily. In addition, non-mobile family members and friends moved to smartphones, and they quickly became “addicted” mobile learners; even the older folks. In the new year, I plan to become more involved in mobile anything.
2. Social Networking via the Internet is also here to stay and grow in leaps and bounds. On a daily basis I use Twitter, Skype, LinkedIn, and (to a lesser degree) Facebook to connect with a wide, virtual network of amazing colleagues. I’ve gained new consulting work through this network as well as exchanged expertise. Social media (SoMe) is a permanent part of my business. I will continue to nurture and grow my network in 2011.
3. Face-to-face Networking still plays an important part in my consulting practice. I pick up the phone and make a call instead of sending an email, and I schedule business lunches when possible. I’ve also discovered that when I’ve had the opportunity to meet my virtual SoMe colleagues in person, it feels like a joyful “reverse reunion”, where we finally get to add the F2F connection to a carefully nurtured business relationship. I look forward to more F2F connections this new year.
4. SCORE business mentors (click to learn more) provide amazing resources to anyone who is starting a business … and, their advice is free. SCORE also offers low-cost workshops. In 2011, I plan to leverage the wisdom and experience from these generous, warm, and encouraging mentors.

I’ve learned a great deal in 2010, and it’s hard to pick and choose what to share in this post. What did you learn in 2010 that you’d like to share with me and with others? Please feel free to add a Comment to this post!

On Twitter

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And, I want to add my voice to the blog carnival to say that we –dear colleagues– need to close that gap. I try on as many occasions as I can. If I’m offered $25 or $35 an hour for instructional design work, I refer that potential client to someone else. I have also found that the clients who pay me the best and honor my rates are women-owned businesses.

This first of several charts in the report gives you a sense of the survey results. Click the image to enlarge it. If you’re a woman, don’t just sit there: Know what your skills and experience are worth and pursue that dollar amount.

This post is part of a blog carnival on the subject of the gender salary gap. Read more from Kelly Garber: Shark Attacks and Salary Reports, Julie Dirksen: Ranting on the Gender Pay Gap in E-Learning, Cammy Bean: The eLearning Salary Gender Gap, and Janet Clarey: The Salary Gap in the US eLearning Industry.

Have something to say on the subject?  Join the ride and contribute with your own rant, er post.  Then share a link to your post in the comments on one of our blogs.

Tuesday, August 19, 2009, I celebrated my one-year anniversary as sole proprietor of Ridge View Media, my freelance consulting business. To commemorate this occasion, and to thank certain people and companies, I used Articulate’s new Web-based screen casting tool Screenr to create an anniversary video.

The funny thing is, there’s a “Freudian slip” in my narration. I mention my first “12 years” instead of my first “12 months”. I had to laugh and left that in the video, because some days it felt like it had been 12 years.

Enjoy! And, if you played a part in RVM’s success as either a client or a partner, my heartfelt thanks go to you! You mean a great deal to me.

I look forward to the second 12 months! ~Jenise Cook

Craig of HelpScribe has an April 2008 post that I found fascinating:

Why We Become Technical Writers

http://www.helpscribe.com/2008/04/why-we-become-technical-writers.html

Although I posted a comment on how I entered the technical communication field, it’s one-dimensional. My favorite topic is to talk about those of us I call “Hybrids”… that is, professionals who demonstrate proven success in both the training/learning and technical writing fields.

Yes, it’s true: Some of us do both, we love both, and we’re successful in both. To help others who feel the “tug” into both professions, I’ve revised my comment posted at Craig’s blog to capture my “Hybrid” journey.

My Journey

Craig, I found your message on Techwr-L, and I enjoy hearing the stories of how people started their technical writing careers.

Me? I have been writing and teaching since I was a child. As a volunteer, I started “teaching” when I was in high school, and I come from an extended family of educators. In college, where I majored in Spanish and French, the Engineering Department offered a course in Technical Writing. I completed it with all As. When I approached my professor for her help in starting my technical communication career, she replied:

“You can’t be a technical writer, you’re a humanities major!”

I believed her. Although I lived in an area surrounded by IT companies and government contractors, I limped into financial services after graduating with my B.A. My new managers noticed my writing and training talents. They helped me transition into writing policies and procedures, then into various Training Departments where they mentored me in both instructional design and ILT facilitation skills.

After some time, the Training gigs transitioned into writing print and online documentation for intranets, extranets, and Web-based applications. I felt a tremendous enjoyment with working “on the Web”, so I added some Web development skills (HTML, Dreamweaver) to my tool box. To make a long story short, through blessings and being in the right place at the right time, I am now a happy e-learning designer and developer, and I still use my technical writing skills to create job aids, quick-start guides, manuals, and more.

I love what I do, and taking “the path less traveled” only added to my knowledge, skills, and abilities or achievements. And my clients benefit from my “Hybrid” skills.

One word of advice to “Hybrid” career seekers: follow your heart. Invite learning specialists and technical communicators out for coffee, lunch, or dinner and interview them. Attend local ASTD and STC chapter meetings and ask the members about their jobs.

Stay away from the “anti-Hybrid” nay-sayers who discourage you, and build a personal community of career cheerleaders and supporters. Some of us are born to be “Hybrids”.

If what you read and hear about our professions gets your heart pumping, do everything you can to get your first instructional design and/or technical writer job.

You’ll be so glad you did, and you’ll never look back.

Good luck!

Some in our culture are talking about secrets, or The Secret. However, in these challenging economic times of 2009, with bailout after bailout, runs on bankruptcies, layoffs by the thousands, market downturns, … (okay, I’ll stop now.), I do look for and find good news! This past week, I stumbled upon freelance news at CNN.com’s Living section.

Businesses Are Hiring Freelancers!

The gems I want to pull out of the article for you are these brief points.

Businesses benefit most with freelancers when they:

• are project-based with one-year cycles.
• need work for a short time; it’s easier to hire a freelancer than getting an internal position approved.

Businesses who hire freelancers don’t have to:

• purchase benefits.
• pay payroll taxes.
• buy new equipment or programs, nor upgrade licenses.
• find work space for a new worker.

Click either the image or the link to read the article:

Cnn.com/living: More Businesses Using Freelancers

Looking Ahead to 2009

Businesses will be going through tumultuous times this year. One of the best things that they can do for the employees who remain (and who are doing the work of their laid-off colleagues on top of their own tasks), is to bring in a proven freelance consultant. That freelancer can help keep the business’s products and services flowing through the profit channels to their loyal customers.

I’m “Always Learning” and researching interesting topics, so I’ll share a few more links with you!

CareerBuilder.com’s 7 Hiring Trends to Follow in 2009:

“Trend No. 7: Freelance or contract hiring

To continue their cost-cutting efforts, employers are using freelance or contract workers to help support their businesses. Twenty-eight percent of hiring managers expect to utilize these workers in 2009.”

WCCO.com St. Paul Design Firm Changes Name, Expands

My Notes: Owner Renita Van Dusen says that she’s going to hire freelancers for awhile for her growing business. Why? To avoid the pain of laying off employees. I do want to emphasize that layoffs are very hard on the managers who have to give their staff the bad news:

“Despite her rising revenue, Van Dusen has decided against her earlier plan this year to expand her staff by one or two employees. The economic fallout of the past few months has her feeling nervous.

She never wants to be in the position of laying off employees because her business grew too fast, so she’s relying more on freelancers. “I’m just trying to be very careful,” she said.