Many organizations develop technical white papers to explain the advantages they offer or to educate their stakeholders about situations or issues. And all too often, those technical white papers perform poorly. So the stakeholders come away not knowing any more and the organization’s team has essentially wasted the time they spent developing them. Why do … Read more
Most people don’t agonize about how communication works. We simply do it. If we leave agonizing to the academics, we can break communication into three parts. There’s the composition of what’s going to be communicated, the delivery of that message, and its reception by another party. As a writer who helps companies and other organizations … Read more
If your company wants to get more leads, working with a white paper writer in Indiana may be an excellent strategy. Creating and offering white papers is a common lead-generation approach for companies in many industries in Indiana and elsewhere. While some companies try to write white papers using internal staff, there are many advantages … Read more
Every business has its slower moments. When they happen, instead of trying to find ways to kill time, use the opportunity to tidy up your website and other marketing materials and toss out the obsolete trash. That way, they’ll be updated when things get busy again. I rarely find websites that wouldn’t benefit from a … Read more
White paper graphics can provide a powerful addition to your white paper, as long as you’re choosing the right types of graphics to educate and inform your reader. Organizations typically develop white papers to convince readers that their product, service, or strategy is the best approach for a particular need, and carefully selected graphics can … Read more
White papers for multiple audiences can be inherently more challenging to write than those aimed at a specific audience, but that doesn’t make them impossible to create. Doing so successfully involves two things: thoughtful organization and building in what we call “navigation” tactics to guide readers to the most relevant information for their specific needs. … Read more
Remember when we started it? It was so exciting. The company was finally going to let customers know everything that was important. Each department had to contribute something. Management agonized for hours over the name. Sales came up with key customers to profile. The graphic designer presented a breathtaking layout. Finally, 20,000 emails arrived on … Read more
Marketing tools emanate from a variety of sources, but only white papers can trace their history back to one of history’s most consequential figures. During the 1920s, the United Kingdom faced some tricky political issues in the Middle East. Then a Member of Parliament, Winston Churchill asked his staffers to develop a paper exploring the … Read more
White paper readers rarely take the time to carefully read every word of a white paper, even though that’s what the authors of white papers wish they would do. It isn’t that white paper readers don’t care about the information that can be found in the papers. Instead, it’s about the reality that everyone is … Read more
Many people will tell you there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Yes, there are questions that trigger involuntary eye-rolling. Sometimes they’re questions we’ve heard ten times too often. Sometimes they’re just plain dumb. But when it comes to communicating with prospects and customers, stupid questions are often a remarkably deep source of wisdom. … Read more