At the beginning of the book, Bly focuses on what he terms the “edu-marketing” revolution and how it is gradually replacing traditional marketing methods for generating leads and creating interest in a company’s product or service. Bly correlates the rise in edu-marketing with the ubiquitous growth of the Internet and its usage to ferret out the best information on products or services.

He states in his book, “Today the Internet has trained consumers to demand and respond to informational, content-rich marketing materials (like white papers) rather than traditional ‘hard-sell’ advertising.”

Much of the focus of the book discusses why it’s important to shift marketing efforts toward educating the consumer and away from the traditional hard-sell methods that marketers have relied on for the past 20 years.

In the book, Bly explains, “Marketers who educate their customers build better relationships with their marketplace and project a positive, leadership-oriented image. They are seen as more honest and credible than marketers whose only objective seems to be to sell their product rather than solve the customer’s problem.”

The book consistently returns to the theme that a white paper’s first aim must be to educate the consumer about his or her problem, and secondly, provide a real solution.

Bly says, “Edu-marketing is solutions oriented.” For white paper writers and marketers, this concept is challenging because it retreats from relying on clever “marketing-speak” and moves toward providing solid content. No tricks or clever slogans will sell a product; just the true attributes of the product can convince the consumer that it will solve his or her problem.

Bly’s book provides a great deal of valuable insight for marketers and white paper writers. While other books often hint at the best methods, Bly’s book thoroughly details processes for creating content, generating leads and using white papers to build customer relationships that drive sales.

In addition, the book contains case studies highlighting IBM, Home Depot, and Hewlett-Packard to demonstrate how successful edu-marketing can truly be.

The book will challenge both marketers and white paper writers to aim higher. Additionally, it urges marketers to recognize that the consumer is no longer outside the circle waiting to be drawn in or captured with clever marketing. Rather, consumers inhabit their own content-driven circle and will only be persuaded by content that adds value to what they have already gathered on their own.

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