In working with engineers in diverse fields such as contaminated-soil remediation, indoor air quality and slope stability, I’ve come to love the sometimes-wonky intensity these people bring to their work.
For example, I recently worked with an engineer in remote-sensing data to prepare an article for a mining publication. This specialist (I’ll call her “Jasmine”) was a clearly brilliant PhD based in Vancouver, Canada who studied the use of satellite imagery of the earth to determine elevation. Specifically, she focused on finding changes in elevation, such as when the ground subsides under mine tunnels that are near the surface.
Subsidence of mine workings is particularly a problem in the potash mines of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Jasmine explained. Because the mines are in sedimentary rock and near the surface, there is a tendency for the soil to slump down as the worked-out parts of the mine collapse. This causes changes in topography on the surface -- creating havoc for drainage systems as watercourses change, as well as for the integrity of roads, rail lines, and buildings.
Jasmine’s work helped to identify which parts of a potash mine operations showed signs of surface subsidence, so that the mining company could take corrective action before the impact exceeded regulatory limits. Recent improvements in data availability and computing power, Jasmine told me, meant that she was now able to provide reports to clients much faster than before.
In interviewing Jasmine, I asked her why having reports quickly, would benefit a mining company. She paused. It was clearly a question she hadn’t thought of before. I could almost hear the wheels going around inside this brilliant woman’s mind, all the way from Vancouver. What was the client benefit to what she was able to provide?
Then she thought of the answer. “The mining company can take action quickly, before the problem becomes more serious,” she said. I probed a bit further, and we were able to develop an article that talked about the logistic and financial benefits of having information on subsidence more quickly than before.
The result was a stronger article, because it addressed a real client issue. But I think that Jasmine benefited too. Because she was forced to think of her work from the perspective of a specific kind of client -- a mining company -- she was better able to understand how to describe her work in terms that these clients would understand. Depending on the marketing objective of her firm, we could have also developed an article that would have addressed the issues of another industry, such as the pipeline sector.
For further thought:
· In building your own professional profile, consider how developing content for specific client groups can help you to understand their needs, so you can sell better.
· What are the markets you don’t serve now, but want to in future -- and what content can you develop that will address the problems that your work can help them solve?
· If you’re working with mid-career professionals, think of how developing content for specific markets - as with “Jasmine’s” article for a mining publication -- can help them to grow.