Years ago, a wise boss told me that the most affordable attorney I’d ever hire is the one I called before making a decision or taking an action. I’ve since come to realize that the same holds true with writers. I’ve often seen organizations decide to tackle writing a new website, guest blog post, or … Read more
Companies and other organizations develop technical documents like white papers and blogs to explain the advantages they offer or to educate their stakeholders about situations or issues. Unfortunately, all too often, those efforts fall short of their objectives. Their target audiences come away not knowing any more, so the organization’s team has essentially wasted the … Read more
Grammar with white papers is an area that creates confusion for many writers (and people who evaluate writers’ work). White papers are typically lengthy documents, and may very well remind you of the research and term papers you wrote in school. But while both school papers and white papers have a lot of words and … Read more
Not so long ago, we thought of information as a prized possession that was to be guarded closely. Today, those who are willing to share their knowledge can gain a competitive advantage. As with so many things, the arrival of the digital universe changed everything. Now, when we want to know about nearly anything, a … Read more
You might assume it’s obvious to have a white paper ask for the order, but that standard element of effective sales and marketing tactics generally doesn’t apply to the marketing channel known as white papers. That’s because a well-executed white paper will help a reader become a fan of whatever you offer or believe. They’ll … Read more
Have you ever wondered why customers go away? Maybe it’s all about romance. Most businesses and organizations devote a substantial amount of effort and investment to landing new customers. Interestingly, very few pay attention to the other end of that process. That’s the point at which existing customers disappear. And each time that happens, you … Read more
Using white papers as backgrounders can be a particularly effective way to share large amounts of information with audiences that would benefits from that knowledge, such as prospects, customers, employees, and the media. What is a backgrounder white paper? When we talk about white papers as backgrounders, we’re normally referring to a white paper that … Read more
Time after time, I’ve watched owners of reputable, high-quality businesses walk away from their hard-earned reputations and present themselves as something other than what they are. I’m not talking about deliberate deception with intent to defraud. At the risk of sounding like an amateur psychologist, it really sounds more like a problem with self-esteem. It’s … Read more
Writing for translation requires different thinking and approaches than writing for American audiences. There are two primary reasons for this. Writing for translation involves language The first of these is probably obvious, in that there’s a difference in language involved, and American English and other languages don’t always translate cleanly and clearly. In fact, American … Read more
Mark Twain’s take on prevarication remains as accurate today as when he penned it: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” We live in an age in which we’re overwhelmed by information, and a large share of what we consume is in the form of statistics. A key reason for that … Read more