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Do you know what the 80% white paper rule is? Have you ever followed it?
Last week when I wrote the post “21 Important Rules to Follow While Writing Your White Paper,” I mentioned what the 80% white paper rule was, but I did so very briefly. I wanted to expand on that point and explain it further as I have seen people ignore it quite often and I wanted show how important this rule is.
What is the 80% white paper rule?
The 80% white paper rule states that at least 80% of your white paper should be educational and only 20% of the white paper should be promotional. This 80% of educational content should be the first part of the white paper (it is also called the magazine section) and the 20% of the promotional part of the white paper should be the second part (it is also called the brochure section).
Usually it’s better to have a white paper that has 90% educational content and 10% promotion material. But 80% content and 20% promotional material should do just fine. You shouldn’t exceed this 20% of promotional material.
Why is this rule so important?
In the past white papers were reserved to companies that sold complicated and expensive products and they followed the rule really well of separating the white paper into a magazine part and a promotional part because when their clients read a white paper they knew what to expect from it.
Nowadays almost everybody knows what white papers are and are using them in their marketing strategies. But they are not following the 80% rule. Many white papers nowadays contain a lot of promotional material interspaced with the educational content. If you do this to your white papers it will make them ineffective.
Why would adding too much promotional material make white papers ineffective?
When people read a white paper they expect them to be strictly educational right from the beginning. If they come across something promotional about your company it will discourage them from reading it. Once they see this promotional message they will expect more of it and they will give up reading the white paper. So you need to follow this 80% rule and only add promotional information at the end of the white paper if you want people to read your white paper completely.
How do you implement the 80% white paper rule effectively?
The following steps will help you implement the 80% rule so that you can make your white paper more effective:-
1. Have a good white paper outline where you specify that no promotional material is to be included in the magazine section of the white paper. Also mention that any promotional information will only be written at the end of the white paper.
2. Proof-read it several times to ensure that no promotional information has been written in the magazine section.
3. Focus on educating the reader and helping them, not on selling your product or service.
Following the above tips will help you write powerful lead generating white papers that focus on educating the reader.
For more tips on writing effective white papers read this free white paper on How to Write a White Paper.
Do you follow the 80% white paper rule? Has this helped you write better white papers? I would love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
Did you know that you need to follow certain rules if you want to write the perfect white paper?
Would you like to find out what these rules are?
When you write a white paper, you need to mix your procedure, techniques and ideas with certain rules. These rules will help you write the perfect white paper every time. This will help you save a lot of time and money as you will avoid having to rewrite it.
So if you’re keen on writing the perfect white paper, always follow all the 21 rules which have been listed below:-
1. Do a lot of reading:
Even if you’re an expert on that subject, before you write your white paper you need to perform a lot of research by reading on that subject and topic. Read any content you can get your hands on. You can read white papers, blog posts, website copy, articles, brochures, annual reports, journals, etc. These could belong to your company or your competitors. Take down notes of all the information you gather.
2. Interview many Subject Matter Experts:
After you finish reading, spend a lot of time interviewing Subject Matter Experts. These experts could be working inside the company or outside. From them find out more about the subject and get any questions you have cleared. Also ask them for suggestions, which can make your white paper better. Make sure you take down notes.
3. Study your audience:
Another important rule you need to follow is to study your audience. Once you find who your audience are and what they do, spend a lot of time getting to know them better. Find out what their biggest problems are, and write about these problems, and solutions to these problems in your white paper. For more tips on studying your audience read this post.
4. Write an outline:
Another step you shouldn’t forget to follow is writing an outline. Writing an outline can help you save a lot time and help you write the perfect white paper in your first attempt.
5. Have a headline and a sub-headline:
Always make sure you begin your white paper with an attention grabbing, persuasive headline and follow it with a sub-headline which complements the headline.
6. Have an introduction and conclusion:
After the sub-headline, have an introduction which summarizes the contents of the white paper and lets the reader know why they need to read this white paper and how the knowledge gained can help them.
Also have a conclusion after the solutions section which not only summarizes the contents of the white paper, but also bridges the brochure section with the magazine section.
7. Give solutions to problems:
In between the introduction and the conclusion write about the problems faced by your reader and give proper genuine solutions to these problems. Your reader should be able to use these solutions to get rid of their obstacles.
8. Promote yourself only at the end:
This is a very important rule. Promotional information about your company should only be provided at the end in the conclusion and the brochure section. You shouldn’t try to promote yourself in the magazine section. Follow the 80% rule – where 80% of the white paper is educational and only 20% is promotional.
9. Have a call to action:
At the end of the white paper have a call to action that asks the reader to contact you to try out your services or to use your products. Also add your contact details to make it easy for them to contact you.
10. Check and adjust the flow:
After you finish writing the entire white paper read it several times and make sure it flows really well and that all the contents fit in well together. If it sounds odd anywhere, make the appropriate changes and improve the flow.
11. Provide Quality Information:
Always provide quality information and make your white paper unique. The more quality information you provide, the more helpful your white paper will be and the more number of people will want to read it. If your white paper isn’t unique there will be nothing special about it. So fill the white paper with quality information and work on making it unique.
12. Give Away Your Secrets:
One of the best ways to make your white paper unique is to give your secrets away. If you have some secrets tips and techniques no one else knows about, then make sure you include them in your white paper. A secret can make your white paper unique and sought after. Never be afraid to reveal your secrets.
13. Only have one person write it:
Your white paper should only be written by one person if you want it to read well and have a uniform flow and aim, as we all know that too many cooks spoil the broth.
14. Get it proof-read and edited:
After you finish writing the white paper get it proof-read and edited by at least one editor. Sometimes you can have two editors. Especially if you’re new to the subject you’re working on. One of the editors can be an editor who specializes on that subject and the other one can be the editor you always use.
15. Get it designed:
Hire a good designer and get your white paper designed, good design accompanied with your white paper’s content can make your white paper stand out. The design of your white paper should be based around your company or product logo. Don’t be afraid to add a lot of design and colour to your white paper.
16. Make it browser (skimmer) friendly:
Two types of people will read your white paper – some of them will read your white paper thoroughly and some of them will read it briefly. The people, who read your white paper briefly, are known as browsers or skimmers. You need to make sure your white paper is browser friendly if you want to reach a larger audience. For tips on how to make your white paper browser friendly, read this post.
17. Use citations:
You should never use testimonials in your white paper, but you can improve its credibility by adding a lot of citations. Citations show that what you have mentioned is really true and it’s not something you have just made up. Use at least 5 to 15 citations per white paper.
18. Keep it simple:
A white paper is a really long document, if you want your reader to read it completely you have to make it easy to read. They need to be able to read it quickly without any problems even if it’s a very technical subject.
19. Have it branded:
Brand your white paper so the reader knows which company created the white paper, right from the very beginning. Several brand impressions can help create a good impression about your company to your reader.
20. Plan a promotion:
While you write your white paper keep in mind that you have to promote it after you finish it. As you write it plan your promotion – while you learn more about the subject and ways to write it, plan how you can use the same information to promote it. Use the information you gather to also write white paper landing pages, press releases, run social media promotions, blog posts, guest posts, etc. later. Planning this while you write the white paper can help you save a lot of time.
21. Make them technology friendly:
A recent Infographic shows that a lot of people are using technology in the form of cell phones, e-readers, etc. to browse the internet and read documents. Here’s another Infographic by Sam Laird of Mashable which shows that the latest generation of students are using technology to its fullest too. If you want to get more people to read your white paper, make them technology friendly. This can be done by cutting off the margins, making them available in various formats like mobi, epub, pdf, HTML, etc.
These are the 21 rules you must follow while you write your white paper. Follow them to if you want to write the perfect white paper.
For more tips on how to write a white paper, read this free white paper on how to write a white paper.
Did I leave out any important rules you need to follow while writing a white paper? Are there any other rules you follow? I would love to hear your tips and techniques. Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
5 Benefits of Writing a White Paper Outline
2 May2012
Is it necessary to write a white paper outline?
Can it help you write a better white paper?
The white paper outline is written after performing the research and right before writing the white paper. Even though this is considered an important step by many white paper writers, some people aren’t sure if it’s worth the time. They feel that directly skipping to the writing part will save them a lot of time, as writing a good detailed outline requires a lot of thinking and planning. But actually one of the many benefits of writing an outline is that it saves a lot of time.
Are you keen on learning how writing an outline can save time and provide many other benefits?
Then you have to read all the 5 benefits of writing a white paper outline listed below:-
1. Saves time:
As mentioned above writing a white paper outline can actually help you save time. A white paper is a really long document (about 6 to 14 pages long). It usually takes 20 to 40 hours to write a good white paper. This is a lot of time. You need to make sure you get it right the first time, if you don’t want the time you invested in writing it to go to waste.
This is exactly what writing the outline helps you do. When you write the outline you can verify it to make sure the white paper does everything you want it to achieve. You can also discuss it with the company and make sure they are happy with it before writing the white paper. This way you will be sure you are writing a white paper both the company and you will be happy with.
2. You can improve it:
After you finish writing the white paper outline you can go through it a few times and think about ways to improve it. You can think about what more you could include; maybe you could add a definition, a case study, a graph, etc. Writing the outline first and then reading it thoroughly and thinking about it can give you more and more ideas on bettering your white paper.
You could also ask other subject experts to take a look at it and give you their feedback.
3. You won’t leave out anything:
Like I mentioned earlier, it is really important to get your white paper right the first time. This is why you need to make sure you include everything important you plan to include in your white paper and not forget to add anything. If you write an outline beforehand you can be sure that you will include everything.
While writing the outline you will need to go through the content you collected and make sure everything you planned to include has been incorporated in the outline.
4. Improves flow:
A good white paper needs to have a good flow. For a good flow all the contents of the white paper need to fit in well together. All the problems and solutions need to complement each other and need to be placed at the right place. The best time to do this is while writing the outline. After writing the outline you can read through it and adjust all the contents with ease. It’s a lot easier to do it when you write the outline, than to do it after writing the entire white paper.
5. Simplifies the process:
Once you write the outline, it becomes really easy to write the entire white paper, as you will know what you need to write where and when. Having both the content and the outline ready will simplify and accelerate the process of writing the white paper.
As you can see from the above benefits writing a white paper outline is actually beneficially and time saving and not the other way round. This is why you need to write a good white paper outline before you write the white paper.
For more tips on writing good white papers read this free white paper on how to write a white paper.
Do you usually write a white paper outline? Does this help you write better white papers? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
5 Ways to Brand Your White Paper
25 Apr2012
Did you know you could brand your white paper?
As I have mentioned countless times before, adding promotional information about your company to the magazine section of your white paper will make it ineffective. But branding your white paper, though slightly promotional, will make it more effective. Branding it with your logo, contact information, etc. will help your readers know a bit about your company while they read the magazine part of the white paper.
The reader will know about your company without you having to promote it aggressively. Branding promotes your company, subtly. Therefore, when you’re in the designing stage, always make sure you brand it.
The tips below will teach you 5 ways in which you can brand your white paper:-
1. Add your Logo:
The best way to brand your white paper is to add your company logo to each and every page. Usually it’s best to add your logo to the top left hand corner or the top right hand corner of the white paper. I have also seen white papers where the logo was added to the bottom corners.
You also need to add a large logo right at the end of the white paper.
2. Add contact information:
Another important bit you need to do is add contact information. You could add the contact information to the header or the footer of the white paper. Contact information can be in the form of email address, website address, phone number, etc.
This contact information could work really well if the reader is reading the white paper for the second time. As they have already read the white paper once, they have most likely been through the brochure section too. If they are reading your white paper for the second time, they most probably found it helpful the first time they read it. So if you add the contact information they won’t need to go through the brochure section again. They can contact you from the contact information on these pages.
You need to make it really easy for your reader to contact you, if you want your white paper to generate more leads. So add your contact information to every page of the white paper.
3. Add company name:
Another important detail you need to add is the company name. Add this to the header or footer on every page of the white paper.
4. Copyright:
You should also add the copyright at the end of the white paper, right after the big logo. The copyright consists of the sign ©followed by the year the white paper was published on and the name of the company that created it. You can also add “All Rights Reserved” at the end. The copyright protects your white paper. The copyright lets others know that they can’t reuse this white paper to promote their company and if they want to, they need to contact you first.
5. Design:
Your white paper design should be based around your logo. The colour of the header, footer, any graphs you might use or any other design you will add to the white paper should go along well with the logo. You could also use a similar design to the one on your website, doing this will make sure your white paper appears better.
This is how you brand your white paper when you’re designing it. This subtle promotion doesn’t have a bad effect on the white paper because it’s not mentioned in the text. It’s only in the corners and the headers and the footers of the white paper. The readers can only look at it if they want to.
Branding it will make your white paper appear more professional and attractive. If you would like to look at some well branded white papers you can take a look at some of my white paper samples on my samples page. These can give you some ideas on how to brand your white papers.
For more tips on creating good white papers, read this free white paper on How to Write a White Paper.
How do you brand your white papers? Have I missed out any important points? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
7 Ways to Promote Your Content With Linkedin
18 Apr2012
Are you on Linkedin?
Have you ever promoted your content with Linkedin?
If you’re a B2B company, one of the social media sites you need concentrate promoting yourself on is Linkedin. With more than 150 million users and about 80% of them being decision makers in companies, Linkedin can be a great platform to promote your business. This study by Hubspot also shows that Linkedin is one of the best lead generators – ahead of facebook and Twitter.
B2B companies and marketers should take advantage of this and focus their efforts on generating leads on Linkedin. One of the best ways to do this is by promoting your content here.
Below are 7 methods you could use to promote your content on Linkedin:-
1. Answer questions:-
Using the answers tool located on the top right hand corner of your Linkedin profile, you can find questions (being asked) on subjects you’re an expert at and answer them. After you finish answering the questions leave a link to your blog or a specific blog post in the fields below. This will help increase website traffic and will also help display more of your expertise on that subject.
2. Share in Groups:-
Another great place to promote your content is in groups. Look for groups relevant to your niche. You can promote every new blog post or any other form of content here. Start a discussion: first write down a headline, then a description and after that attach a link to the content you would like to share. You could also provide links to your content as a response to a discussion wherever you think it’s appropriate, doing this will help you build relationships with people working in similar niches and with potential clients.
3. Add blog applications:-
You can promote your latest content by adding the WordPress application and the Blog Link application to your Linkedin profile.
Both these applications will help display the latest blog posts being published on your blog(s).
4. Add slides:-
Another good application is the Slide Share Presentations Application. If you have an account on Slide Share, you can then display all these slides on your Linkedin profile by adding the Slide Share Presentations Application to your profile.
5. Add share buttons to blog posts:-
You can also encourage people who visit your blog to share your posts on Linkedin, by installing the Linkedin share buttons, above and/or below your blog posts.
6. Add share buttons to documents:-
Another place where you can add your share buttons is in your documents. If you have any white papers, ebooks, case studies, etc. you can add Linkedin share buttons to them too. All people will need to do is click on these share buttons, while reading these documents, to share them. You can learn more about how to do this by reading this post.
7. Link your Twitter and Linkedin accounts:-
One of the best ways to keep your Linkedin profile updated is by linking it with your twitter account. If you do this, every time you tweet something, it will be posted on your Linkedin profile too. This can help you save a lot of time and also increase your twitter click through rate.
This can be done by adding your twitter accounts first and then choosing the twitter account you would like to link to your Linkedin profile.
These are a few ways in which you can promote your content in Linkedin. Following these steps will help increase your website traffic and also help you get more shares on Linkedin.
How do you use Linkedin to promote your content? Have I missed out any tips? Please leave your comments in the comments box below?
Proper promotion of your white paper is the key to your white paper performing at its best and helping you generate leads. If your white paper is promoted properly, it will get more exposure and more people will read it. The more the number of people who read your white paper, the more leads it will help you generate.
So if you would like to generate more leads from your white paper, read all the rules below and follow them while you promote your white paper:-
#1. Always have a landing page:-
A white paper landing page is the basic necessity for every white paper. You shouldn’t just place your white paper somewhere in the corner of your site and just have a couple of lines that describe it. You need to have a well written, persuasive landing page which can convince the reader to read the white paper.
#2. Avoid placing ads on your landing page:-
There should be no ads on your white paper landing page. If you want your landing page to convert really well, you will need to get rid of any ads or links which could lead to another page or website. A good landing page with no distractions at all will convince more people to download your white paper.
#3. Add sharing buttons on your landing page:-
Always add social media sharing buttons at the top of every landing page. These buttons will make it easy for the page visitor to share the landing page. They can also add credibility once you get many shares. As many shares will help display that your white paper is read and shared extensively by many people and this will add proof that your white paper’s worth reading. You can see an example of this on the landing page of my free white paper on how to write a white paper.
#4. Use various methods:-
You shouldn’t just use one method or one marketing material to promote your white paper, use as many as you can. For e.g. don’t just use the landing page, supplement it with other marketing materials like; social media, blog posts, press releases, forums, articles, guest posts, etc. Read this free white paper on how to promote your white paper, to learn how to write different kinds of white paper marketing material.
#5. Link all your other marketing materials to your landing page:-
Always have a link in your other marketing material that lead to the landing page. Your aim is to increase traffic to your white paper landing page so that people can download it. So work hard on driving as much traffic as you can to your white paper landing page.
#6. Make use of emails:-
Always fan gate your white paper. It’s important that you collect as many emails as you can. Not everybody who reads your white paper will hire you right away. There will always be a few people who will just download your white paper and plan to hire you in the future. If you want to make sure that they hire you and not your competitors you will need to stay in touch with them and the best way to do this is by emailing them your latest posts, news, offers, etc. So collect email addresses right from the start.
#7. Make it easy to sign up:-
People should be able to sign up to receive your white paper easily. You can fan gate your white paper, but ask as few details as possible. Normally it’s good to just ask for the name and email address. If you want more details, you can ask for it as you slowly build trust. If you ask too many details it could discourage people from signing up to receive your white paper.
#8. Add social sharing buttons in your documents:-
Social sharing buttons should not only be added to your landing page, they should also be added to the white paper document. This will make it easier for someone to share your white paper. They can share your white paper while they read it. You can learn how to add social share buttons to your PDFs by reading this post.
#9. Add links and call to actions at end of blog posts:-
If you have a blog, add links and call to actions at the end of posts which relate to your white paper. Let people know that if they would like to learn more tips they can read your free white paper and then provide a link that leads to it. This can drastically increase your white paper landing page traffic.
#10. Avoid self promotion:-
Never write about your company or who wrote the white paper in your white paper marketing material. The marketing material should always be about why your reader should read the white paper, what they will learn, how it’s going to help them, etc. Your aim here is to get the reader to read the white paper, so focus on that job. Your white paper will automatically do the job of letting them know more about your company and how to contact you.
#11. Keep them short and easy:-
Always keep your white paper marketing material as short as possible stick to a length between 100 and 400 words. Short, quick and easy to read white paper marketing materials can help convince busy readers to read your lengthy white paper.
#12. Use white paper distribution services:-
Don’t ever forget to use white paper distribution services along with your regular promotion. These websites usually have an audience who regularly download their white papers and read them. These services also promote white papers through email, social media, etc. Once you place your white paper here you can be sure that people will download and read them. So look around and find a few services which will suit your white paper.
If you follow all the 12 rules stated above, while promoting your white paper, your white paper will be read by many readers who will get to know about your knowledge and expertise. This will help you generate a lot of leads.
For more tips on how to promote your white paper, read this free white paper on how to promote a white paper.
Have I missed out any important white paper promotion rules? How do you promote your white paper? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
Your white paper has to be interesting, right from the very beginning. You need to get your reader engrossed in your white paper from the first line itself.
A white paper is usually a very long document, if you want your reader to read it completely then you have to make sure they find it interesting and helpful right from the very beginning, otherwise their mind will wander off and they won’t read your white paper completely.
If you would like to learn how to get your readers engrossed with your white paper right away, then read the 4 tips below and use them in every white paper you write:-
1. Write a cracking headline:
The headline is the most important part of anything you write. As a good headline can attract attention and spark the initial interest. It’s the same with long documents like white papers you need really good headlines which can convince people to check out your white paper. Follow this headline with a good sub-headline too. For more tips on how to write white paper headlines read this post. Also check out this post on Copyblogger by Brian Clark on how to write good headlines.
2. Summarize everything in the introduction:
Your headline and sub-headline will be followed by an introduction. If it’s the job of the headline to get the reader to check out your white paper, then it’s the job of the introduction to convince the reader to read the white paper.
In the introduction briefly summarize the contents of the white paper. Let the reader know what the white paper is on, the problems and the solutions it covers and how the reader can make use of the education they receive by reading it. If you let the reader know that they can apply these solutions effectively and solve the problems they face, they will want to continue reading the rest of the white paper.
3. Avoid creating suspense:
Many people make the mistake of creating suspense while writing marketing material. They feel that writing the most important point at the end and building suspense to it, is the best way to write a white paper. But this is a huge mistake. When people read white papers they want to know about the biggest problems that are hindering their performance and tips on how to solve them right away. They don’t want to know about it at the end – it’s not like they are reading a story or a novel where they patiently wait for the end.
You need to keep this in mind and avoid creating suspense. When you write a white paper always write the biggest problems and key solutions first and cover the less important ones later. These will get the reader engrossed in the white paper and they will continue reading the rest.
4. Write a good conclusion:
If you want the reader to read the brochure section after they finish reading all the solutions, you need to write a good conclusion too. The job of the conclusion will be to let the reader know that they can either try out the solutions discussed in the white paper or they could check out the readymade solutions designed by experts below. This will get them to read the brochure too.
If you follow all the tips above you should be able to keep your reader engrossed while they read the entire white paper.
For more tips on writing white papers that keep readers engrossed read this free white paper on how to write white papers.
What do you do to keep your reader engrossed with your content? Have you got any other tips you would like to share with us? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
A white paper doesn’t have to always be used to show that your products solve a specific problem. You can also use a white paper to show the reader that your product or service is better than your competitors.
Most white papers just discuss a problem in detail and then provide the ideal solution to this problem. At the end of the white paper, information about a product is given which provides a similar solution. But by using another white paper writing technique, you can show your readers that your product or service is better than your competitors.
One small change…
This white paper is the similar to any white paper – a problem is displayed to the reader and the solution to this problem is then written. One change you will need to make here is to write about your competitors. In this white paper your competitor becomes the problem and you become the solution.
How to make this work?
You will need to start the white paper like any other white paper; with a headline, a subheadline, and a brief introduction. In this introduction write about what you plan to discuss in the white paper and how the reader will find it helpful.
Write about the problems of working with your competitors…
Follow this introduction with the problems section of the white paper. Here, write down about the problems of using all your competitors’ products and services. Let the reader know what the main problems are and how using these products or services can have a bad affect on their company.
You are the solution…
After you write down all about the problems of using your competitors’ products and solutions in detail, you can start writing the solution. Here the solution is your product or service. Write down why your product or service is better and the benefits of using it and then write down all about your company in the brochure section.
One thing you need to make sure for this to work is to not mention anything about your company or give specific names of your competitors – write down relevant problems with your competitors and relevant solutions provided by you. You need to be subtle. For tips on how to do this, read this free white paper on how to write white a paper.
Take a look at this sample…
I wrote this white paper for an electrical renovations company. My client wanted a white paper which showed that the services he offered were better than, if the client did their own renovations or hired an independent handyman or an electrician. This is exactly what I did in the white paper.
If you look closely at the white paper, you will see that trying to fix your own electrical issues and hiring a handyman or electrician, form up the problems section of the white paper and the benefits I pointed out about using a proper electric renovations company, form up the solutions section of the white paper.
After that I go into detail about choosing the right electric renovations company. I don’t give any information about my client till this part. I only give information about my client at the end of the white paper in the brochure section of the white paper. This is how you create a white paper which can destroy your competition.
For more tips read this free white paper on how to write white a paper.
Have you ever written a similar white paper? Have you got any other tips you would like to share with us? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
How to Write a White Paper Press Release
21 Mar2012
One of the best ways to promote a white paper is with a press release. There are several benefits of writing a press release – you can take advantage of the same benefits when you write a press release for a white paper.
Benefits of a white paper press release:-
A white paper press release can help spread the word about your white paper, increase credibility of your white paper and help increase traffic to your white paper landing page which can help increase the number of people who download your white papers, thereby generating you more leads.
How to Write a White paper Press Release?
The biggest mistake most people make while writing a white paper press release is marketing the wrong part of the white paper in the press release. Many people end up marketing the brochure part of the white paper. Here they write more about what the company is all about and why they need to read the white paper produced by their company. This doesn’t work, as people don’t care about who created the white paper – what they care about is how the white paper can help them.
This is what your press release should focus on too – marketing the helpful magazine part of the white paper. So in your press release write about the different benefits of reading the white paper. Let the reader know what they can learn by reading the white paper. Your aim has to be to let them know how reading the white paper is going to benefit them and their company – this will convince them to read your white paper.
Quick tips for writing a white paper press release:-
1. Write a short headline (less than 14 words). The headline needs to attract attention and generate curiosity. One of the best ways to do this is by mentioning a benefit.
2. Start the press release with a short paragraph which explains the problems faced by the reader. These need to be the same problems you mentioned in the white paper.
3. In the next paragraph briefly write about the solutions to these problems and how they can be learnt by reading your white paper.
4. In the next paragraph write more about your white paper and the benefits of reading it and how your reader can make use of the knowledge gathered.
5. After you have marketed the white paper write down some brief information about your company. You could have a statement from your CEO or chairman or from someone of a similar position stating what the white paper is about and how it can help their clients.
6. After you have felt that you have done enough to market the white paper include a call to action which leads to the white paper’s landing page.
7. At the end of the white paper include your contact information. Let people know that they can contact you for more information.
8. Keep the length of the press release to less than 400 words. You don’t want it to be too long as the press release needs to be a quick way to learn more about your lengthy white paper.
These are a few tips which will help you write a powerful white paper press release which can increase white paper downloads and help you generate leads. For more tips read this free white paper on how to promote a white paper.
Also read our free white paper on how to write a white paper.
Have you ever promoted your white paper with a press release? Have you got any tips you would like to share with us? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
“How much does a white paper cost,” this is the first question I am asked when someone wants me to write them a white paper. I did write a post on this topic before, but I never revealed any prices in that post. In this post I will reveal prices on how much a white paper costs and how much I usually charge for writing them.
Many factors influence the price…
The cost of a white paper can depend upon many factors like the length, the subject, the time taken, etc. Every white paper won’t cost the same. The white paper cost will usually vary from one project to another as different amounts of time will be required to create different white papers.
Some white papers might need more time writing, some white papers might need a lot more research – these are just a couple of the many factors that could affect the cost of a white paper. It usually takes up to 24 to 45 hours to write a white paper.
A good white paper costs between $3,000 and $6,000
A good price for a white paper is $3,000 to $6,000. This is the price I usually charge for a white paper. Sure, you can get a white paper for a lot less than that, but are you ready to take the risk. When you get a white paper written on the cheap, you take the risk of losing a lot of time and money.
There might be a few writers who would write a white paper for really cheap, but this is going to affect the quality of the white paper. Sure you will save a lot of money and you will have a white paper, but you probably won’t generate leads with it and all the money you spent on getting this white paper written will just go to waste and you will need to shell out more to get a new effective white paper written.
Always keep quality ahead of price…
So make sure you get a white paper written by a good experienced writer. Like I mentioned a good price for a white paper is between $3,000 and $6,000. This is the price I usually charge for my clients and it includes the basic design too. I usually charge a little more if the client wants some special design in the white paper. If your budget is a lot more than this you can find a few other writers who charge between $7,000 and $14,000.
Before you hire a writer spend some time analysing their work. Check if they have written any articles about white papers, their samples, etc. Getting a white paper written is a very important part of your marketing strategy, make sure you get it right the first time and then make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
If you would like to learn how to write a white paper read this free white paper on how to write a white paper.
Have you ever had a white paper written? How much did it cost you? Are you a writer – how much do you charge for a white paper? Please leave your comments in the comments box below.