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.
Author Bylines for White Papers?
So you work you buns off to produce a white paper for your company or your client and… They will not let you put your name on the paper. What gives?? How do you handle this?
Persuasive Copywriting: An Interview With Brian Clark
Brian Clark is best known for being the brain behind Copyblogger.com, the world’s most popular blog for writers. In fact, Copyblogger.com ranks in the top 60 of ALL blogs (pretty good, considering there are 8 million!). Nearly each day, his site has fresh perspectives on writing persuasive and compelling content.
Top 6 White Paper Design Mistakes
Design plays an important role in the success of your white papers. Design pre-sells the importance of your words. Before prospects begin reading your white paper, they judge its value by its appearance and your attention to detail.
Will Video Kill Print White Papers?
There’s a new type of paper making waves these days. It has all the elements of a typical white paper, but there’s a difference: It’s not on paper.
The Art of Customer Case Studies - It’s the Story, Stupid!
Perhaps it’s their unfortunate name, too synonymous with staid blurbs in business school textbooks, but “case studies” are all too often uninspiring.
The Future of White Papers: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?
White papers are hot. Marketers everywhere use these effective marketing tools to educate buyers on solving business problems. But in the “here today, gone tomorrow” world of marketing trends, will the excitement about white papers fizzle?
Building Credibility: Including Case Studies in Your White Papers
When it comes to marketing, most business executives are skeptics, especially when someone promises that all of their problems will go away if they only purchase the prescribed product or solution.
6 Deadly Diseases Afflicting White Papers
Let’s look at six germs that afflict the format of a white paper, and what you can do about them.
Pushing the Hot Buttons: What Does Your Reader Really Want?
Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Day after day he’s bombarded with so many marketing messages that he simply stops listening. But a best-selling author says there’s a secret to writing copy that breaks through the clutter and makes a connection.
Six More Diseases that Afflict White Paper Content
Let’s look at six diseases that eat away at the content of a white paper, and what you can do about them.
I’m Swamped! How Can I Better Manage My Time?
You’ve got a million things to do but only a few hours in which to do them. Your deadline is coming up fast. How do you manage your time so you get everything done and get it done well?
How Do You Capture Skim Readers?
Whether you write white papers, articles or blog entries, it is important to meet the needs of the skimmer.
Avoiding the Hard Sell: Improving White Papers by Exercising Restraint
This is a losing strategy. Prospects today look to white papers for insights and education-not a sales pitch. When companies ignore this expectation, they risk losing credibility and valuable sales opportunities.
