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Creating White Papers Responsibily

With all the disillusion and uncertainly this this economic world, it makes sense to create additional revenue streams to keep your business alive and well.

One way to do this is by producing specialized content – and then selling it to those with an interest. Selling content in this manner via white papers or special reports really can be lucrative – and fast.

Unless you haven’t have internet access for the last ten years, you’ve probably noticed thousands of ebooks vying for your attention on almost any subject. You can do the same with white papers. Find out which ingredients make customers willing to pay you for material available from other sources, and what elements you should include in your marketing copy to spark their interest in buying now.

Review these variables when creating your special report:

  • Keep your goal in mind even from the very beginning of your project.

  • Do you want to find a way to increase sales, while reducing your cost to acquire those sales?

  • Who are you trying to attract and what is on their minds?

  • What distribution method will be best?

  • How large is your market?

  • Make sure the layout of your special report user friendly and is very easy to read.

  • Keep in mind that it’s basically sales copy in writing.

  • Make sure you have your facts straight, very brief and to the point.

  • Write an attention getting headline. Ninety-five percent of your readers will decide if they will read your special report based totally on your headline, so give it much thought and make it outstanding.

    • Upload your special report strategically. When emailing others, include your white paper URL in your signature line as well as any online marketing area you can think of.

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    – December 24, 2011

    B2B White Papers Vs B2C White Papers

     

    Are there any differences between B2B white papers which are written by business for businesses and B2C white papers which are written by businesses directly for the consumers?

    Most of the papers are written for the B2B market and very few are written for the B2C market. There’s a notion that businesses executives and decision makers are the only ones who are ready to dedicate their time to read white papers. People think that consumers aren’t ready to dedicate their time to read long papers.

    But this is just a notion as B2C papers or e-guides have been known to work. In fact there are many of these papers which are much longer than the regular white paper length of 10 to 14 pages and have been known to work. Some of the B2C papers are even 20 to 40 pages long and they generate leads. Regular consumers aren’t as busy as decision makers and have a lot of time on their hands and they are willing to spend a fraction of this time to read long documents that will educate them. In this process these papers also persuade the reader and sell the product/service to them.

    The way you write these two papers varies:-

    B2B white papers:
    B2B white papers are written using very formal language. They don’t directly sell the product. The writing is very indirect. There are no catch lines like “Pick up the Phone and call us today to receive this massive discount”. They discuss a problem in detail and then discuss the solution to this problem in detail. After this the company Info and the services or products are mentioned. There is normally no call to action. The design in these papers is also very formal.

    B2C white papers:

    B2C papers are more direct selling. They consist of problems and solutions that are discussed in a similar fashion as in the B2B paper, but the selling is very direct. After writing all the company info and the product/services info there is a strong call to action that asks the reader to contact the company straight away and use its services. There are also offers and free gifts that encourage the reader to buy the product and use the service. The design here is more colourful and more fun and it please the eyes of the reader. They are more attractive than B2B papers. Many of these papers also have testimonials to make the product/service appear more trustable.

    Both types of papers have been proven to be effective when written the right way. So if you have a business and you don’t have a white paper. Then make sure you get one written now.

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    – November 2, 2011

    White Papers – How Many Do You Need?

     

    How many white papers you need depends upon your company and how many you personally want. You could have only one paper that describes all the products and services offered by the company using the problem and the solutions structure or you could have many papers describing every single product and service.

    Many factors can affect the number of white papers you have:-

    What’s your budget?

    If you’re hiring an expert white paper writer it might cost some money to get many papers written. But if you’ve got the funds you can get as many papers as you want. One thing you need to keep in mind is that if you get a good paper written, you can be sure of it giving you a return on the investment very quickly, as you can be sure of having a marketing tool that generates leads. When your paper is read by your clients and customers you can be sure of it generating leads.

    It could also depend on the time you have got

    If you’re getting it written by an in house writer you could save a lot of money, but it might take many weeks for someone who’s not experienced to write good papers. All this also depends upon how much time the writer’s got to dedicate to writing all the papers and how experienced they are. If your writer has got his own work to take care of it might take longer to finish the project.

    What sort of advertising project you’ve got in mind?

    What sort of advertising are you trying to promote also affects the number of papers you require. Is it just image building, is it to describe your products and/or services, etc. can affect the number of papers you require at that particular moment.

    How many products/services you have?

    You could have a single paper briefly describe all your products and services or you could have many white papers to describe each of your products and services in detail. You could also have one which describes everything about the company and many more which describe everything else i.e. the products and services in detail.

    Therefore if you have more products and services to describe you will require more papers and if you have fewer products and services to describe you will require fewer papers.

    Anything new about the company

    If your company is new or you would like to share some important news about the company then you could do it through your white paper. It can use its powerful educative and persuasive nature to let the world know everything about what happens inside your company and can impress them.

    The best thing to do is to get as many papers as you need written. As when they are written the correct way they can generate many leads and lead you to profits that will themselves pay for the white paper. But you need to remember that you need to get them written the right way by the right writer the first time. If you don’t do this all the time and money invested in writing your white paper will just go to waste.

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    – November 2, 2011

    Creating the perfect white paper

    As online marketing becomes essential to your marketing efforts, creating well-written and effective white papers, reports and newsletters becomes mandatory. But only as long as they comprehend well with current market needs. Creating and using information without taking into account the needs of the market will be of little use.

    A well-drafted white paper can provide a marketer with a host of advantages. Business modules, new services and products can be advertised effectively with the help of a professionally created white paper. Attracting people to the website and the white paper listed depends on the kind of information conveyed.

    Here’s how one can go about it.

    • Introduce the solutions you are offering. Try to grasp a reader’s attention by putting the message quickly around.
    • Keep the aspirations of the reader in mind before drafting any text. This will allow you to focus the attention to a particular niche segment.
    • Any perfect white paper must have good reference material. The quality of the reference material used will reflect in the write-up. This allows the reader to verify the claims made. A perfect white paper giving authentic information will result in increase of clientele.
    • Offer solutions to any potential questions readers might be having. Undersatnding the psyche of the client should reflect in the solutions the white paper is offering.
    • Research about any potential topic before offering solutions. Be specific in the type of answers you are providing to the questions of the client.
    • Invite reader’s comments and suggestions and be prepared to take any potential questions. A well-drafted white paper will bring much needed appreciation for the work.
    • A white paper can be of five pages and can go up to twenty pages depending upon the problems it is dealing with. Keep the target market in consideration before drafting the white paper.

    An effective white paper always looks nice and professional. The white paper can be moduled on numerous templates. Use tables, charts, graphs and other form of visual media, which are appealing and can let readers connect with the idea instantly. The look and feel of the white paper is as important as the content within.

    Draft and re-draft the white paper. Study it repeatedly. Incorporate ideas as they come. Work done in haste always goes waste. Take your time and add facts pertinent to the need of the customer.

    Make use of social networking media. Publish the white paper on to the website, email it to existing and potential new clients. Post it on Google documents, Scribd, Slideshare, Authorstream and other potential online media sources. Verify and cross-check the claims made in the white paper. Any potential claim has to be verified with authentic facts if questioned. Having true, reliable facts in the white paper will add to your stakes and will bring worthy results for the business.

    A perfect white paper with proper groundwork pertinent to the needs of the reader and of niche market segment will bring appreciation for the work and increase in profits

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    – July 13, 2011

    4 Common White Paper Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

    According to a recent survey, white papers (aka special reports or executive briefings) ranked for the third year in a row as the marketing tool with the most influence on purchasing decisions.

    There are several reasons for this continuing trend, but a few things stand out:

    • With each passing year, technology becomes more complex and it becomes harder to educate potential prospects using small news bytes.
    • The advent of the Internet has made it easier for companies to educate potential prospects and provide quick access to their white papers.
    • As purchases become more closely scrutinized and budgets continue to shrink, white papers can provide increased justification for the expense.

     

    And when it comes to overcoming the barriers to the adoption of green technologies, white papers are uniquely suited to addressing the ongoing issues surrounding lack of awareness, understanding, and cost.

    But many marketers are unclear on how best to utilize them and end up getting either a lackluster response, no response — or worse — a negative response.

    It’s no joke that a lot of steps go into the successful launch of a white paper, but if the writing itself goes awry, no amount of marketing can cover up the flaw.

    So a marketer needs to get clear on several things before they ever put pen — or keyboard — to paper.

    1. Know thy audience.

    If you’re writing a TV ad selling vacation packages to people over the age of 65, you’re probably (or hopefully) not going to show a bunch of scantily clad college students living it up on a spring break package to Cancun.

    The same is true when writing a white paper.

    A surprising number of folks forget who their target audience is when they sit down to write, or they never got clear on that point in the first place.

    Either way, if you don’t know who your audience is, your white paper will go off course before it ever reaches its target.

    For example, if your paper is aimed at CEOs, focusing on technical specifications will work against you. Instead, address issues near and dear to their hearts — like the impact on their bottom line.

    2. Watch the length.

    A good length for a typical white paper ranges from about 6 to 12 pages.

    Shorter than 5 and your paper risks being seen as too flimsy and short on substance. Longer than 12 and you risk getting into the realm of too much information.

    But it also depends on your audience.

    Upper level management will appreciate more brevity, while the more technically minded will tolerate more length — as long as your paper provides a lot of informative detail.

    3. It’s all about the education.

    By far, one of the biggest mistakes writers of white papers make is treating the report as though it were some kind of giant, glossy brochure, specifically designed to hawk their company’s product or service.

    Bad idea.

    A good white paper is all about substance — facts, figures, case studies, third party experts.

    Of course, you want to mention your product or service at some point (more on that in a second), but what you’re really trying to do here is identify a problem or concern your reader has and then lead her to the solution.

    A solution coincidentally provided by — you guessed it — your product or service.

    In this way you’re not only keeping the focus on the reader and her needs, you’re establishing your credibility and positioning yourself as a trusted expert.

    4. Bring on the solution.

    So you’ve discussed the problem or concern your reader has. And you’ve provided her with helpful, objective information backed up by hard evidence.

    You’ve taken the reader by the hand from the beginning, through the middle. Now it’s time for that all important ending.

    If you’ve done your job properly, you’ll know when the time is right to introduce your product or service. (Hint: It’s right after you’ve thoroughly addressed the reader’s concerns.)

    Just be sure you don’t forget to include a clear call to action as well. After all, if people don’t know what to do to find out more, all your efforts were for naught.

    Concluding thoughts…

    In an age of shrinking budgets and growing complexity, white papers are becoming an increasingly vital part of the sales funnel.

    When used as part of an effective front-end strategy, they can be strong vehicles for generating leads and proactively positioning your company as a thought leader.

    And done well, white papers can be an integral part of the relationship building process, boosting both your reputation and your client base.

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    – May 14, 2011