One reader writes that a CPA hired him to write a white paper.
Why would a CPA need that? Isn’t it a bit like writing an annual report for a hot dog vendor? Pardon the play on words, but the result would more likely be a white elephant than a white paper.
Here’s the note the writer sent me:
I did a feature story on my CPA for a neighborhood paper a couple of years ago and he still keeps it on the receptionist’s counter for people to see as they come in. He wants me to do more work for him.
I saw him a week ago and I mentioned some research I’d done on writing a white paper. His eyes got quite large and he told me he was interested in having one for his business. We’re meeting tomorrow so that I can outline what I think I can do for him.
Any thoughts on what I should do next? I haven’t a clue how to do this without it looking like a complete experiment.
A white paper for a CPA?
Sounds like a stretch to me, unless the client is PwC, or unless the CPA has some kind of how-to content in mind.
Have you ever met a CPA with the time to devote to providing material for a white paper, let alone to reviewing it? I’d be surprised if the average CPA uses white papers. It sounds to me like writing a white paper for an elementary school: overkill and a bad match.
I suggested the writer browse the sites of a few other CPAs of similar size and examine the content they’re putting up. Small and medium businesses tend to favor case studies, checklists, strategies and quick takes. The writer should then ask which kind of content the client wants to pursue.
That would serve three purposes:
- It would demonstrate that the writer is more interested in the CPA’s overall content picture than in scoring an engagement.
- The CPA could focus on bite-sized content better matched to the amount of time he can spend on the project.
- It would save the writer from delivering a white (paper) elephant that nobody really needed.
Plus, it sets the writer on the road to being a trusted advisor, better known as a content strategist.
