Quick Tips
Quick tip: Don’t start your research with Google
Yes, you need a lot of research for a white paper. No, you don’t want to start with Google. That might send you down countless rabbit holes. And with AI content being dumped online, we can expect the web to get even more polluted with lies and disinformation in the future. So here are three…
Read MoreQuick tip: Pick your idea the way Goldilocks does
A white paper needs an idea that’s not too big, not too small. Just like Goldilocks, you need an idea that’s just right. Here’s how to find one. Say you work for a company that makes electric lawn tools, the kind that run on batteries instead of gasoline. And you’re looking for a topic for…
Read MoreQuick tip: When a promotion is working, do more of it [checklist]
And when it isn’t, do less of it. That’s a pretty good rule of thumb for how to promote your white papers. People often ask me, “How do I get anyone to notice my white paper?” Well, you have to promote it. Here’s my checklist of the 18 must-do promotions. Beyond those, you can start…
Read MoreQuick tip: Use AI to make a Mini-Me
Remember the Austin Powers spy spoof movies? And the ones where supervillain Dr. Evil had a miniature clone of himself, called Mini-Me? Mini-Me dressed the same, talked the same, and shared many of the same silly tics as Dr. Evil. But he was a whole lot shorter. This is how to think about the executive…
Read MoreQuick tip: Use AI for tech support
Quick tip: Use AI for tech support Do you ever have software headaches? Or some new gadget you’re trying to figure out? I know I do. But any writer working from a home office doesn’t have any IT team to call. When we need tech support, we’re often stuck. We can try: Combing through online…
Read MoreQuick tip: Get to the point
Did you hesitate before clicking on this tip? Even though it’s labeled “quick”? Then you know just how your white paper readers feel. No one is waiting on the edge of their chair for your white paper to arrive. B2B prospects are busy! They have: Too much to read Too much to think about Too…
Read MoreQuick tip: Excise the IZEs! [guest tip from Bob Bly]
The tendency to add IZE to nouns is an old story in English. The practice has been going on for centuries. Apologize was born before 1600, and criticize appeared in Shakespeare’s day. Revolutionize came along before 1800; burglarize first appeared in the 1870s. Edwin Newman, in his book A Civil Tongue, suggests that by adding…
Read MoreQuick tip: Shun the TIONs!
2.5 minute read. 3.5 minute listen. I see them all across the nation, to my total consternation: puffed-up words that end in TION. Too many people play this game of word puffery. You just add TION to any verb, and “poof!” it turns into a noun. But in my book, that’s going in the wrong…
Read MoreQuick tip: Here’s how to handle LSD
No, this isn’t advice on avoiding bad trips. This is about writing numbers clearly, using the notion of the Least Significant Digit (LSD). 3 minute read. Y minute listen. One of my pet peeves is false precision: numbers that suggest more accuracy than they can possibly convey. For example, say you drive to a…
Read MoreQuick tip: 3 steps to a stronger title [with example]
The title is the single most important line in your white paper. A good title gets your paper noticed. A poor title gets it ignored. That’s why much of the success of a white paper depends on your title. But many writers struggle with titles. So here’s a step-by-step process that makes writing your title…
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