Oh No! This is so therapeutic! It never occurs to me that I will be enjoying writing today.
But then,
- am I a writer …. nope
- did I study journalism … nope
- did I master in communication … nope
- did I ever work as a writer, editor, blogger … nope
and not at all!
I am just a mere IT Services and Outsourcing Subject Matter Expert who is passionate about the evolution of Business Transformation, Digitalization, and the Future of Work.
I used to report to many professional IT leaders, crunching financial numbers with them as to how to achieve targets, coming up with a strategic plan to bring in additional opportunities, and always striving for business growth. I worked with more than five hundred bread and butter of the company, supporting the hunters going every corner of Klang Valley, locally, regionally, and globally to convince their Multinationals customers to outsource their services to the company.
I have to promote the bread and butter who are the IT geeks, who are nuts and competent in diagnosing and resolving IT infrastructure, applications, and equipment issues. These bread and butter are my pillars to my career growth, they came with comprehensive skillsets, wearing multiple hats, supporting users across the globe and different industries. Additionally, I have to also work alongside umpteen local to global project managers who continuously harp on timelines, improvement plans, and stabilizing the services. And I studied Strategic HR Management and none relates to writing or IT.
Oh no… wait a minute. Yes, I think I did learn the traits of writing without knowing it. I suppose I inherited the skills when I wrote business and services proposals. A business and services proposal is not a mere one or three pagers proposal. The thicker the proposals are more enticing to some customers. We have to articulate with comprehensive details how we are going to drive the proposed solutions. We need to explain in detail as to what, why, who, when, where, and how we are going to provide the services.
I need to think through, explain in detail the processes, leverage on best practices as much as possible, and define who will be accountable and responsible for the work. We also need to include and explain if the services fail, how you are going to improve it etc etc.
Oh, by the way, I will also need to read policies, standard operating procedures, and dry technical processes and the toughest is the legal documents. I have to work with the legal team to interpret the commercial risk as providing outsourcing services will need to conform to the legal aspect and ensure the company is mitigated from all the anticipated risks.
I suppose that was where I learn to write. I must admit I am not a professional writer but I do know I found my passion of having the opportunity to promote myself (*ahem*). I can evangelize my passion i.e. The Future of Work (Gig Economy) by sharing how the Gig Economy is evolving and my two cents mere thoughts. I am also able to share and write anything I want to, reflecting on myself, creating my own blog #DXGIG, sharing people’s messages and ideas anytime and any day.
I started writing after joining the Big Quit or some know it as The Great Resignation during the pandemic. Today, I have written more than thirty articles, more than thirty thousand words published over a few platforms over a year. I am thankful today as I become one of the columnists for People in Asia and a content contributor for Fourth Leap’s magazine. Not forgetting the person behind the scene, Nixon Lee, the founder of Spin Interactive who disrupted the Digital PR industry. Nixon has been continuously coaching and inspiring me on the importance of personal branding and how it will impact my business in the future.
We are like what Mark Ekco quoted “You too are a brand. Whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not”,
While I am passionate about writing, however, this is not my full-time work. My forte is to help businesses who are looking into business transformation and needed additional hands and ideas to start their digital journey.
But what does it take to become a professional writer? Best if you can learn from the true breed professional writers on the art and skills of writing. But for me, I am just a mere amateur writer that starts from
- having the passion to write
- eager to share interest and information
- meeting and speaking to people who are in the same business community
- reading articles and books based on my interest
- listen to professional views
I suppose the above few pointers are good enough for one to start writing. Most of all, writing helps me to interpret complex technical information and translate it to laymen and languages that people like myself can easily comprehend.
So, do excuse me if I don’t write professionally and interpret information correctly at times but I tried my best *grin*
Let me share another quote extracted from Linkedin by Sahil@shi, (love this piece)
Quote
“Don’t think you deserve the job? Apply for it anyway
Don’t think your article is good enough? Publish it anyway
Don’t think they reply to your email? Sent it anyway
Don’t self-reject” unquote
The future of work is at the forefront hence content and technical writers are in demand. As such, having this capability, one can start marketing themselves as a professional gig or freelancer. If you have the passion, sign up for professional writing skills training but not from me as my focus area is more towards coaching businesses and individuals on the Future of Work.
Perhaps, start showing your piece here at People in Asia. We are fortunate and thankful to have Marketing in Asia’s founder Azleen, and his team in Marketing in Asia providing this platform to amateurs like us to shine.
Wow! it is so therapeutic!
