OK… I’ve got something to share and something that would be useful to foreigners here. It’s like a technical guide on using a particular product that makes life easier for me but foreigners don’t use because of the language problem.
I have tips and step by step strategies to use this thing. Surprisingly… there is nothing much in the literature for foreigner on how to use this product.
Now… I’d love to share it for free but… I put some work into it and don’t get many great ideas often. Plus really could use a little extra money.
Should I… approach the manufacturer with my work?
Should I submit it to a foreigner magazine? I don’t think they pay for submissions.
Should I just release it on Google Docs and ask for donations if you feel the information is useful.
It will be a professional looking article with screen-shots and all that. If do release it publicly, will I still own it? I’m trying to 1. Make a little extra money 2. Try to teach myself technical writing and build a little portfolio.
Thanks for your help…
Well, I might need it, but don’t know that I need it. You’ll need to sell it to me first. That means making me want it more than I don’t want the pain of paying for it.
So how many foreigners are there in Taiwan who speak English and need this product? And how can you market to them?
There’s a section in the book “$4-hr Work Week” about turning some unique knowledge into a product you can sell to a niche market. Some of it will be applicable to you, and the rest will be helpful.
You retain the copyright until you give it up. ie it’s your intellectual property and you just sell copies for single-use. Nobody is allowed to photocopy etc., same as with any other publication. (In other words, they will.)
Don’t expect foreigners in TW to pay for anything they can get for free. There will be few, but the majority are cheapskates.
Aren’t there two or three magazines that cater to life in Taiwan for the English speaking foreigner? (I live in the boonies and am so far out of the loop) Do they pay anything? What I’d like is to present it to an editor of a magazine who will a) read it, like it pay for it. b) reject it and I would not have to fear that an article exactly like mine would appear the following week written by the the editor’s brother in law.
BTW: Just curious. in the States, do most magazines that accept submissions, Readers Digest for example, make you give up the copyright to a work or do they pay for the just the right to print it.
Again… what I do is so mind bogglingly easy that I’m surprised that I’m the only one doing it or writing about it. So… that’s why I want to present the article in a form where I can make a little money out of it.
The question I’d be asking myself is: Why has the company decided that its not worth targeting foreign customers? What do YOU know about the product that they don’t? And how can you persuade them that you know better than their marketing dudes?
If you told us what the product is, we’d probably have a much better idea of what you’re talking about. We’re mostly foreigners, after all. Why not let US tell YOU whether the product is useful or interesting, rather than YOU telling US? We’re the ones who would be buying it, after all, not you.
And for sure, don’t give up your copyright! A lot of local publishers, though, will demand exactly that.