technical communication course work ?The Web portfolios of independent technical communicators and t

technical communication course work ?The Web portfolios of independent technical communicators and the documents of their clients? in Technical Communication, vol 58, no 3, August 2011 (Article 1)
Part 1. Provide answers to the following questions over the web portfolios of independent technical communicators article (Aug 2011).
1. Identify a legal, an ethical, and a practical reason independent contractors face difficulties including in their Web portfolios samples of their professional work for clients.
2. In the independent contractors? Web sites analyzed in this study, the contractors? work samples were presented in what two locations of their sites?
3. What kind of information about their work samples did some of the contractors? provide?
4. Summarize three ways in which independent contractors recast work for clients into work the contractors are comfortable making available legally on the Web for general viewing. ?Promoting Web sites of technical communication companies, consultants, and independent contractors? in Technical Communication, vol 57, no 2, May 2010 (Article 2) Part 2 questions over the promoting business Web sites article (May 2010)
5. What role does networking play in independent technical communicators? marketing? Independents report spending approximately how much time per month networking, according to the Broach, Gallagher, and Lockwood 2006 study?
6. Give an example from the article of how and why independents referred to their own business Web sites within a ?speech communication? context.
7. What purpose do Web sites serve for independents who gain clients through referrals?
8. How did independents in the study use print promotional materials to direct prospective clients to their Web sites?
9. How did independents in the study use their e-mail as a marketing channel?
10. To what extent were search engines useful in generating business for the independents in the study?
11. The author concludes: ?Collectively, results from all these studies suggest that many independents have been pursuing a limited repertoire of marketing practices while neglecting or not fully engaging in other marketing practices that work well for their peers.? Independents may feel they have limited time and money to spend on marketing, particularly if they already have sufficient work. Which marketing channels would you use if you worked as an independent technical communication practitioner? If you are already, or have been, an independent, what marketing channels did you use? How successful were your marketing efforts? Part 3. Locate 3 Web portfolios and/or marketing websites of any 3 different technical communication independent consultants or contractors. Provide the url of each and the name or title of his/her Web site. In no more than 300 words total analyze these Web sites by answering the following questions about each:
Ease of locating each site or portfolio
Navigation of the site, i.e. ease of finding information the audience/viewer is seeking
Practitioner?s work samples: number of them, attention shown to protecting the practitioner?s clients? proprietary information, range or breadth of the practitioner?s abilities
Other elements you notice