Punch Up Your Writing With Graphics
Great writers obsess over their words, and who can blame them? Words create the messages that make readers buy. But it’s a mistake to ignore potent graphic elements such as illustrations, charts, photos and subheads. They’re powerful weapons that pack punch into your prose. Let’s start with a question: Why use graphics?
Seven Steps for Fighting Writer’s Block
It happens to everyone—that point when the words for this particular white paper just won’t come. Of course, the more frustrated (or frightened, or angry) you get about the situation, the worse it becomes. So, how do you move forward?
To Persuade Readers, Put Yourself in Their Shoes
With competition so tough these days, you’ve got to seize every opportunity to craft content that will compel your readers to buy. But when writing to persuade, if you begin with your own product or service in mind, you’ve started wrong.
Apryl Parcher Wins Stelzner Apprenticeship
On the hit TV show “The Apprentice,” contestants slog through a harsh application process for an apprenticeship with Donald Trump, hoping they don’t hear Trump growl those dreaded words: “You’re fired!” For the 100 people who vied for an apprenticeship with white-paper guru Michael Stelzner, the application process was cordial yet demanding. Stelzner selected Apryl Parcher as the winner.
5 Nuts and Bolts of Case Studies That Sell
Like white papers, customer case studies have seen their stock rise in recent years—especially as buyers become increasingly more skeptical. Here are the 5 nuts and bolts of case studies that truly sell…
How to Clone Your White Paper for Different Audiences
Most white paper readers want content directed right to them. But what if you have two or three different audiences in different roles or sectors? How can you engage them all?Of course, you can write a separate white paper for each audience. But what if your company or client can’t afford that?
5 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Before Going Solo
How do you launch a successful freelance writing career? Where do you start? Should you approach it differently today, considering the economy?
Closing the White Paper Deal: How to Convince a Skeptic
As a society, most of us have been skeptical about one issue or another at some point in time (that probability is dramatically increased if you live in Manhattan). Often, business executives think that no-one except their own employees can create a good white paper.
Interviewing to Get the Information You Need
You’re working on an important white paper project and it’s time to interview a subject-matter expert. You not only need to get a lot of information from the interview, it has to be the right stuff. What’s the best way to do an interview to get everything you need?
How to Refresh an Old White Paper
How long can a company use the same white paper? As long as it works, really. Learn how to keep an older paper up to date.
White Paper Education vs. White Paper Selling
Have you seen any of the commercials for the Dyson vacuum cleaner? In these segments, founder James Dyson demonstrates the unique properties of their Root Cyclone technology and why it is a better path to a cleaner carpet. So in these commercials, is James Dyson educating you or selling you a vacuum cleaner?
Get Linked In to Improve Your Networking and Your White Papers
You know the value of networking. But if the same old methods have grown tiresome—and if they’re not as effective as they used to be—you might want to try a different way of getting the word out.
Bringing New Color to the Gray World of White Papers
White papers have been with us for a long time. But innovations in printing and distribution—and even in the way we conceive white paper content—have dramatically changed the game. Let’s take a look at the ways you can bring color to the white paper and multiply the impact of your efforts.
3 Reasons Why Your White Papers Might Fail to Bring in New Business
Do you use white papers in your marketing? Are you happy about the new business they help attract? Here are three main reasons your lead generating white papers aren’t working…
Why Time Management Often Fails
Too many people believe they can boost their productivity simply by managing their time more effectively. And it’s true that the disciplined use of time management tools can help most people in most circumstances. However, if you don’t address your poor work habits before applying a new time management system, it’s like putting your foot on the accelerator with the emergency brake still engaged.
White Papers in the 2008 Presidential Campaign
If you needed evidence that white papers have finally attained the status of a mainstream communications vehicle, there is no better example than their impact in the 2008 presidential primaries and fall political campaign.
White Paper Standards? What Standards?
Are there really any standards for white papers?
What’s the Ideal Length for a White Paper?
You’ve got a lot of information to present in your white paper, but exactly how long should the paper be? Will 5 pages be enough? Will 15 be too many? We asked some expert white paper writers for their opinions on the ideal length for white papers.
Jazz Up Your White Papers with Cost-Effective Graphics
Every white paper needs at least one effective graphic to help anchor its argument in the reader’s mind. The problem: Not every white paper has a budget for custom graphics. Here are two cost-effective tools that can really help out, one for business graphics, and the other for stock photography.
How Freelance Writers Can Succeed in a Voicemail World
You craft a direct mail campaign with an information product offer. Maybe it’s a white paper you wrote on a topic related to your area of specialty. You mail 200 letters and receive 7 downloads. But when you follow up with these respondents, you keep getting voicemail.
Adding Voice to Your White Papers with Audio Clips
In the near future, we’ll not only read white papers, we’ll listen to them as well. A brand-new trend is slowly moving onto the marketing scene: Embedding audio clips into PDF files. As readers move through the paper, they can listen to audio, providing a human touch.
Headlines That Pull, Persuade and Propel!
In written communication, there are a few things that can maximize the reader’s response to your message. The first and most important element that can turn a white paper, website, sales letter or advertisement into an action-generating mechanism is the headline.
Are You Making These White Paper Mistakes?
Let’s face it. White papers are the industry standard for getting your message across. White papers provide decision-makers with the information to make a decision or a series of decisions that will impact their business. So why are companies making such glaring mistakes in writing white papers?
Boost Your Freelance Business by Teaming With Designers
Have you hit a plateau as a “solo” freelance writer? If you’d like to take your business to a higher level, why not team with a graphic designer?
Interview Lessons With Al Pacino
Do you know how to interview experts? See how Lawrence Grobel teaches students to interview Al Pacino.
Tips on Succeeding as a Freelance White Paper Writer
Has your freelance white paper business has hit a plateau? Do you need an idea, an answer or anything to jump-start the business and get it growing again? We’ve got some suggestions.
What to Do When a Client Says, “Your Price Is Too High”
A potential client asks you to estimate costs for writing some web pages. You gather all the project details, determine how much to charge, and confidently email him your price proposal. Okay so far. Then the next day, he calls and says, “Sorry, but your price is just too high.” What do you do?
Get Organized or Lose Money
Many commercial writers and copywriters take a perverse pride in working within a messy workspace. There is something “creative” about piles of papers on their desks and acres of files and folders spread around the floor. The trouble is, for most commercial writers, messy working practices translate into inefficient use of time.
How Great Layout Creates Greater Impact
White paper writers slave over their words to convey the right messages. But it’s not just the words that influence; it’s also the way they’re presented on the page. An effective layout can give your words more impact.
Writing Insights from ‘Readability Expert’ Rudolph Flesch
We’ve all seen this type of white paper: Well-researched and well-organized, but so wordy and overloaded with business jargon that reading it gives you a headache. No matter how complex your topic—or how sophisticated your reader—to be instantly understood, your copy must be easy to read.
How to Write Faster (and Relieve Deadline Pressure!)
There will never be more than 24 hours in a day. Deadlines will always be tight. But there’s something you can do to relieve the pressure–write faster.
Interviewing Tactics: How to Get Experts to Talk
If you’re a white paper writer, this situation is all too familiar: You’re interviewing a content expert and hoping for interesting answers that will make your paper worth reading, but all you hear is nuts-and-bolts tech talk. How can you manage this situation and come away with compelling material for your paper?
How to Simplify Your White Paper Research
You’ve received a white paper assignment from an important client. After you’ve clarified your topic and conducted a needs assessment, it’s time to do research. If you’re like many white paper writers, your first question is: Where do I begin?
Creating Persuasive White Papers: An Interview With Bob Bly
If you have a question about copywriting, chances are Bob Bly has the answer. We interview Bob about white papers.
Should You Localize the English in Your White Paper?
While both the United States and the United Kingdom share a common language, there are subtle differences between the two versions of English. Writers might wonder if they should take these differences into consideration when producing white papers for those markets.
