This page explains how white paper writing works and invites inquiries from prospective clients. Scott Flood is a professional white paper writer with decades of experience who helps clients nationally and locally enhance their marketing effectiveness, reduce risk, and make better use of their precious time by developing a variety compelling types of white papers from Indianapolis, Indiana.
WHAT IS A WHITE PAPER?
A white paper is a serious report that explores a complex issue to educate an audience. In a marketing or policymaking context, a white paper provides enough facts and arguments to convince people that your product, service, or strategy offers the best solution for the situation, educating them while helping them reach the decision you want. If your company offers a product or service that’s complicated, innovative, or significantly different from what your competitors provide, or that involves a lengthy decision-making process, creating a white paper may be one of the most effective ways to convince people that you’re the right choice for them.
Put simply, if the people who are making decisions about what matters to you don’t know as much as they should about the topic, a white paper will help you educate them.
WHAT MAKES WHITE PAPERS WORK?
Like you, your customers, prospects, and other audiences are hungry for good information, but they’re also busy. Because their time is limited, they appreciate practical guidance that’s focused on their specific needs. Most are suspicious of advertising or other obviously sales-focused approaches, but white papers are different. They’re informational and based on facts.
Nobody reads white papers for fun. We read them because we need to know something. Maybe we want to better understand a new technology we’ve heard about. Perhaps we’re desperately seeking a solution for a problem that’s hurting our business. Or it could be that we want support for a recommendation we’re making to our bosses. Whatever the reason, white papers provide trustworthy information and improve our perception of the company that develops the white paper.
One industry publication conducted a survey reporting that 84 percent of businesspeople felt that white papers influenced their decisions about purchases. And, reflecting the fact that many purchasing decisions involve several individuals, 89 percent of respondents said they pass white papers along to others. You can find other surveys online that report similar results.
WHAT DO WHITE PAPERS LOOK LIKE?
White papers are serious, non-promotional documents, and the most effective white papers are designed to reflect that. Most are simply set up to look like trade magazine articles with fewer pictures. If your product or service lends itself to charts or graphs, they can strengthen your message. It’s okay to include photographs if they support and add value to your message, but simply adding those stock images of happy people in business meetings isn’t necessary. Some white papers include a short abstract at the beginning of the paper to summarize the key messages and conclusion. You can also place a list of other references and sources that the reader may find informative at the end of the paper.
HOW CAN AN ORGANIZATION USE WHITE PAPERS?
White papers are versatile documents, and their potential uses are only as limited as your imagination. Organizations use white papers in many ways:
- Capture leads by offering on your website or email newsletter
- Mail them to your prospect lists
- Hand them to people visiting your trade show exhibit
- Use as leave-behinds on sales calls
- Share with industry media
- Develop presentations and webinars based on them
- Use them as sources for blog posts and infographics
- Train new hires or existing staff
WHY SHOULDN’T YOUR TEAM WRITE YOUR WHITE PAPERS?
While it’s tempting to assign the responsibility of creating white papers to the technical members of your staff who have the information the papers will cover, that’s not always the best solution. Even people who can write fairly well may not be able to articulate the key messages in the most coherent, convincing way. In particular, people who have significant amounts of technical knowledge — such as engineers, attorneys, CPAs, and scientists — often find it difficult to escape the specialized jargon of their professions and write in ways non-professionals can understand.
Another reason is that you and your staff members have a significant amount of knowledge about your company and what it does. You have a deep understanding of your marketplace and how what you offer compares with what your competitors provide. The problem is that you and the people who work with you often assume that everyone in the outside world shares your level of knowledge and brings the same assumptions you’ve developed to decision-making. They don’t.
WHAT IS A WHITE PAPER WRITER?
Professional white paper writers focus exclusively on helping businesses like yours communicate with key audiences. They’re accustomed to the style, structure, and techniques that are most effective at delivering information, and they recognize that the ultimate goal of your white paper is to accomplish a business objective. That’s what makes professionals the smartest choice for your white paper needs.
WHO USES WHITE PAPER WRITERS?
Scott Flood has handled white paper writing projects for busy professionals and company leaders in a broad range of industries, including electric power, financial services, architecture and engineering, digital technology, mental health, and professional services. He has also supported internal marketing teams by operating white paper writing programs for them.
WHY SHOULD WE USE AN OUTSIDE WHITE PAPER WRITER?
Outsourcing white papers to professional writers provides several clear benefits, including:
- Professional white paper writers specialize in writing, so they provide a higher-quality product. They know how to use language to present your message in the most effective ways.
- Outside writers must develop a thorough understanding before presenting it to the outside world, so they’ll ask questions you and your team may not have considered. Those are likely to be many of the same questions your prospective customers might ask, so they can help you shape the most impactful messages.
- A professional white paper writer approaches the process and your company with fewer preconceived notions and internal assumptions about your product or service. They will bring more objectivity to the process and be better able to point out how your audience might not come away with the same impression of what you plan to say.
- Turning outside helps you make better use of your time. Even if you’re a skilled writer, it’s going to take longer for you to develop materials than it would for a professional writer. And what happens to the rest of your workload when you’re spending hours trying to string together the right sentences?
- You can be more objective. When an outsider writes under your direction, you have the opportunity to review and edit it without having to worry that your comments will reflect negatively on the person in the next office or department. And if someone else finds fault with it, you can deflect those criticisms.
- Ultimately, you get the credit. Even though you may not have done the actual work, you get the credit for it – along with the recognition that you made the best possible use of your time. That makes you look no less industrious, and a heck of a lot smarter!
WILL A WHITE PAPER WRITER UNDERSTAND MY FIELD?
Whether your expertise is in tax policy, microbiology, or logistics, a professional white paper writer from Indianapolis or anywhere will never know as much about it as you do – and that’s one situation in which ignorance is highly beneficial. To capture your message accurately and convincingly, the writer needs to develop a solid understanding of the subject. That usually means asking a lot of questions to clarify points. Often, professionals and other leaders operate so deeply in their subject matter that they forget the outside world doesn’t use the same jargon or grasp elements as clearly. Part of the white paper writer’s role is bringing it to your audience’s level of understanding.
WHY USE SCOTT FLOOD AS A WHITE PAPER WRITER?
Scott Flood has been developing white papers for clients for several decades – most of whom have worked with him for many years. Why? He makes the process easy for them. He has worked with business owners, CEOs, policymakers, strategists, elected officials, and people who dream of being in those roles. He’s helped them communicate in the most effective way for their specific audience. And while he’s based in Indianapolis, Scott Flood has written white papers for clients throughout the United States.
WHAT DOES WHITE PAPER WRITING COST?
Because every white paper writing project involves different levels of complexity, varied formats and lengths, and approval processes, it’s impossible to set a standard rate that’s fair for both parties. However, here are some typical price ranges for non-scientific subject matter (highly scientific materials generally involve higher fees because of the additional time required):
- 800-word white paper $700-850
- 1200-word white paper $900-1250
- 2500-word white paper $1300-$1600
Note: this pricing reflects single, one-time white paper projects. When Scott Flood handles ongoing projects or multiple projects at once, he adjusts the pricing to reflect economies of scale.