Technology is frustrating and intimidating, until somebody shows us the way. 

Some online knowledge base software (e.g. wikis) assume end-users know the questions they want to ask, so the software is optimized for search. The problem is, this approach leaves out end-users who don't know what question to search with, or what the options are.

When your end-users have a question about what to do in Salesforce, they want an answer right away. If that question is about an overall workflow, then a video might be nice. If the question is about how to fill out an invoice, then screenshots with arrows pointing them through steps would be great. If the question is, "What goes in the Parent Account?" field-level help is the way to go.

Helpful Salesforce documentation consists of showing end-users each step of a process using screenshots. Today I’m going to show you how to do it using Snagit.

You know it's a lot of information, but you go ahead and click "send" anyway, even though the majority of the recipients probably won't read it. You wish they would, but you know they won't.

It's not that the information is unimportant — it is very important! But most readers have a hard time getting through the information because the email is disorganized and poorly formatted.

So today, I want to share 3 tips for formatting and organizing email that has a lot of information:

This week we discussed why you should make a Salesforce training video, and then I gave you a few tips on how to make one. But making training content isn't enough - you also need to make it easy for your end-users to find. 

Making a training video for your Salesforce end-users can help with onboarding new users, showing off new features, or demonstrating the benefits of Salesforce. But before you hit "record," I have a few tips that will help you streamline the process:

I came across a great presentation by Phil Nottingham from a conference called MozCon. Phil discussed some of the flaws behind the current strategy for using video as content, and I thought his advice was applicable to anyone who is creating content for teaching purposes - e.g. Salesforce Admins or consultants who are in charge of training.

Why do we make video?

Sometimes, we just want to create a video because video is impressive. So we approach the video creation process by saying, “I want to make a training video… what should I make it about?” 

Using screenshots to explain how to perform a process to your users is becoming the standard for writing customized Salesforce documentation. If you do it correctly, it's faster to write and easier to read - but if you don't know the best practices for taking screenshots, your users won't find them very helpful.

When you hire new employees (or your existing employees change roles), getting them up and running can be a headache - which is why I recommend creating a quick onboarding guide that you and your users can reference.