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Part 2 in a continuing series of white paper outlines, each with a different structure and focus. Here, an outline for white papers that guide readers through revolutionary change. This white paper outline is about The Revolution that your new ideas and technologies ignite in your customers’ organization. Suppose you want your prospects to: replace [...]
Part 1 in a continuing series of white paper outlines, each with a different structure and focus. Here, an outline for white papers that educate readers on new technologies. If you’re writing a white paper for yourself, you can get away without writing an outline first, but if other people will approve the paper, you [...]
Bloggers often learn from and post about mistakes. When it’s our customers who are making the mistakes, should we post on them? In the 1968 comedy The Odd Couple, Jack Lemmon plays Felix Ungar. At a dinner party, he mentions that he writes for TV news broadcasts. Doe-eyed neighbor Cecily Pigeon replies, “That sounds like [...]
Marketing communication writing projects live and die on review loops. Marketers like talking about what needs to be changed, but writers would rather see it in print. Bigglehole, our staff writer, would like to weigh in on this topic, and respectfully directs these four reasons to clients, in the spirit of delivering to them the [...]
Marketing communications writers try to tell the story of the company that hires them. We should focus on customer problems instead. Most of the time, I like David Meerman Scott of WebInkNow renown, and agree with what he has to say. I think he has come to “believe his own stuff” and go on a [...]
“White paper” covers a multitude of formats, and it’s rare to find two people who take it to mean the same thing. Poisoned white papers harm the publisher more than the reader, but there are antidotes. I’ve looked at a half-dozen documents called “white papers” in the last few days and marveled at the variety [...]
The first step in writing a white paper is an outline, which acts as a skeleton that you flesh out with evidence and persuasion. My post last October, 4 Elements of a White Paper Outline, resulted in a large number of visits, so I’ll go into more detail in this post. As a matter of [...]
A good marketing communications writer is versatile, but don’t push it. Everybody’s talent stops somewhere. How thin can you spread your marcomm writer? Can she do a good job on everything you need, like: white papers Web content technology overviews case studies press releases corporate backgrounders annual reports blog posts SEO copywriting (isn’t that redundant [...]
Case studies can be low-hanging fruit for the marketing manager, but it’s easy to get them wrong and end up with ineffective content posing as a case study. “I’ve got a series of webinars that are recorded interviews with customers,” the director of marketing said. “I want to have the webinars transcribed, then turn the [...]
The blank page is a big obstacle almost every writer faces on almost every piece. You can play an important role in helping your writer over the hump, and get better writing in the bargain. Every piece that your marketing communications writer sends you started out as a cursor blinking on a completely empty screen. [...]
