White Paper Project Management
White papers and… the polar vortex?!
If you live in the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest or Canada, in 2018-19 you probably experienced a tough winter. Snow fell like crazy and the temperatures plummeted. Cars didn’t start, flights and trains were cancelled, meetings were postponed. Even mail wasn’t delivered in some places. Niagara Falls froze over, as shown above. That’s rare. And…
Read MoreWhite papers and… renovating a bathroom?!
Have you ever renovated a bathroom? I’m not talking about a new shower curtain. I’m talking about a rip-and-replace. That means tearing out everything down to the studs, hacking out the old plumbing, ripping up the old wiring; redoing the ceiling, walls, and floor; replacing the vanity, tub, toilet… And I’m in the middle of…
Read MoreHow to make your white papers succeed
What does it take for a white paper to succeed? That question has been on my mind a lot lately. And here’s my best answer, based on real-world data. As you may know, we recently analyzed 300 white paper projects I worked on from 1997 to 2020. Of those 300, we judged that 214 were…
Read MoreHow we analyzed 300 white papers
We recently reviewed all the white papers we worked on from 1997 to 2020. The results were fascinating. Of these 300 white papers, a full 50 were abandoned and never published. That’s 1 in 6. Three dozen more were published, but with clear defects. That’s 1 in 9. That means 214 of our papers (71%)…
Read MoreWhen clients “ghost” writers: Advice for both sides
A marketing person asks me to do a white paper for their company. They’re excited to have me on their team. Using my time-tested method, I deliver an executive summary. The client approves it with no reservations. They pay my first invoice. I expand the executive summary into a full-length draft. It’s the right length.…
Read More5 reasons white papers are challenged: our data and stories
Let’s compare a white paper to a dessert soufflé. Done right, a soufflé is an extraordinary dessert that gets people talking. But making a great soufflé takes skills, the right ingredients and an oven in tip-top shape. If you’re missing one of these factors, your soufflé will fall flat. By the same token, publishing a…
Read More6 reasons white papers fail: our data and stories
Not every white paper that’s started ever gets finished. In fact, our data shows 1 in 6 white papers fail. At That White Paper Guy, we recently analyzed 300 of our own white paper projects going back to 1997. We were shocked to discover that 50 of these white papers—1 in 6—were abandoned and never…
Read More18 must-do’s to promote a white paper
So you wrote a white paper. Now what? Now it’s time to get it in front of your target readers. And that means doing promotions. There are lots of ways to promote a white paper. In fact, my book White Papers For Dummies includes a list of 40 possible promotions. But not every tactic works for…
Read More12 steps to great white paper project management
A white paper project is a complex undertaking, with many moving parts. Here are 12 steps to an effective white paper project. We created each of these steps after going through a painful experience with a white paper that went off the rails A few were never even completed, despite my best efforts. So consider…
Read MoreMarketing Managers: 5 ways to boost content marketing results in the dog days of summer
If you’re like many B2B marketing people, not much happens during the dog days of summer. In North America and Europe, that’s from mid-July to early August… the most coveted weeks for summer vacations. In Australia, school holidays encompass Christmas and New Years, so many people take vacations in December and January. With so many…
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