The Importance of the Needs Assessment

[PaperShark]

In a recent edition of the WhitePaperSource newsletter, Michael Stelzner discussed the importance of performing a needs assessment. Here is an excerpt:

[Gordon Graham]

I hate that term "Needs Assessment." Reminds me of something a bureaucract would do to see whether someone qualifies for welfare.

Guess I was turned off by all the rather bureaucratic instructional designers and consultants I've seen who spend all their time analyzing the problem and never actually do anything about it.

I always do an audience analysis, which can take 10 minutes. I agree that without that, you're flying blind.

I also ask what the problem is and try to probe what the client is really telling me, and their customers Really Need to Know. If that's a Needs Assessment, I guess I do one.

Gorodn Graham
(514) 488-1875
www.gordonandgordon.com

[Appum]

Mike,

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment and it is a good one.

Unfortunately, many customers "feel" that they need a white paper, yet don't know which group to target. When one is dealing with a large marketing department that runs like a finely-tuned machine, they have the benefit of understanding each of their marketing segments very well, they are able to provide highly detailed data to an outside white paper writer. With most small to medium sized companies that are first experimenting with the concept of a white paper, many don't know the appropriate level to target with these type of papers, the C-level executive, the MIS level director, technical professional, or to the general business public.

I have found asking the question "what do you want to achieve", or "what action do you hope to this white will elicit", to be equally effective questions in addition to determining who their target market/reader will be. In comparison to larger companies, that may view white papers solely for an educational purpose, small to medium sized companies are looking for their white papers to generate some response or call to action. This can often change the content and the scope of the project as well.

Jonathan
_________________
Jonathan Kantor
The Appum Group, Inc.
Email: jkantor@appum.com
Website: http://www.whitepapercompany.com/
Blog: http://www.whitepapercompany.com/blog/
Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/Jonathan_Kantor
Linkedin:http://www.linkedin.com/in/jkantor
My FREE White Paper "Short Attention Marketing":http://bit.ly/ft0Gy
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[seraulu1]

,
Hi guys I'm new to these forum and i read all of that comment and suggestion,that's very helpful and i have one and quick question I have found asking the question "what do you want to achieve", or "what action do you hope to this white will elicit", to be equally effective questions in addition to determining who their target market/reader will be,what do you mean of that?and i apologize for my bad English too hope you understand it!and thanks again for that helpful suggestion that's good help for us!how to hypnotize someone

[Patricia Redsicker]

Hi everyone. I'm new here. I've been studying Mike's book for a while, and by Providence, was asked to write a white paper. They know who their target audience is, and they know what the objective of their paper ought to be (to differentiate themselves from competition and to establish thought leadership).

But they do not know what the topic ought to be! Since this is part of the Needs Assessment, how do I guide them into figuring out what the topic ought to be? They've never written a white paper before. Thanks.

[Stelzner]

Ask them who their target market is they want to reach. Then identify a hot button problem faced by that market and solved by your solution. This will help you find a good topic.

Mike
_________________
Michael A. Stelzner - Publisher
Founder of WhitePaperSource & SocialMediaExaminer.com

email: mike@whitepapersource.com
my book: Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged
blog: Social Media Examiner
twitter: http://twitter.com/Mike_Stelzner

[Patricia Redsicker]

Thanks Mike,

That's a good idea! Will keep you posted!

Patricia

[JohnWhitePaper]

Patricia:

Also, I'd go easy on the thought leadership. You can't lead it, but you can throw a lot of words at trying to look as though you're leading it.

People don't care about what you're thinking. They care about their hot buttons, as Mike says, and what you can do to cool them off.

Good luck on your first paper!
_________________
John White
venTAJA Marketing
http://thecontentbuffet.com
Say, buddy, can you spare a tweet? http://twitter.com/johnwhitepaper

[Patricia Redsicker]

John White Paper;

Thnx for your thoughts. I get what you're saying about thought leadership. That makes total sense to me. People only care about what you're thinking if they can benefit from it.

What I was thinking was to really showcase the benefits that their readers would gain by accepting my clients solution. I was thinking that the more I emphasize the benefits, the more THEY will assume my client to be a thought leader in the industry.

Because of the bad economy, my client has been losing to the competition based on their higher prices (although their service is superior due to the qualifications/experience that my client's company offers).

My challenge is to show the reader, why there are real business/technical benefits to using my client's solution (despite the higher cost). This will be tough, because their reader (the insurance industry) is already bending over backwards to defy expenses as insurance claims continue to sky rocket!!

Patricia