How I analyzed 300 white papers

I recently reviewed all the white papers I 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 my papers (71%) were published as planned, while 29% weren’t.

You can hear about some of the more outrageous projects in these posts:

— 6 reasons why white papers fail

— 5 reasons why white papers are challenged

And you can hear about what went right more than 200 times here:

— How to make your white papers succeed

Now I’d like to describe why and how I did that analysis; my methodology, if you will.

Why do this?

For years, I (Gordon Graham aka That White Paper Guy) have been keeping a list of every white paper I worked on. That’s why I knew the count was getting close to 300.

I can’t remember anyone else claiming to have personally worked on 300 white papers over a stretch of 20+ years.

That must be some kind of record.

When I reached that mark in mid-2020, I figured it was time to look back and see what I’d learned from all that.

And I wanted to share my observations and advice with the upcoming generation of long-form content writers… and the clients who hire them.

What I counted

For this analysis, I counted any white paper that I had worked on directly.

I wrote most of these himself from scratch.

There were a few exceptions.

Some of these 300 white papers were:

• Revised from a draft done by someone else
• Updated from an earlier version
• Planned in detail, but never written
• Subcontracted to another writer (about a dozen in all)

How I rated each project

I remember many of these projects like they were yesterday.

And for most projects, I have a finished PDF on hand.

Where my memory was hazy, I went back to review any notes, e-mails, drafts and invoices for that project.

To report the results, I were inspired by The Standish Group.

This organization has analyzed many thousands of software projects, using the simple metaphor of a stoplight.

I used the same metaphor, with these definitions:

• Red: a white paper started but never published (failed)
• Orange: a white paper published, but with defects (challenged)
• Green: a white paper published as planned (successful)

Over several weeks, I collected his thoughts for each project.

Then I grouped similar types of problems together, refined the descriptions, and counted the projects in each group.

A few papers suffered from more than one problem. If so, I assigned each one to the category I figured was the main issue.

I certainly didn’t sugarcoat anything.

When a project flopped, I admitted it. Then I tried to identify why.

Editorial success, not business results

This data covers the process of creating a white paper and the finished results from an editorial point of view.

After all, that’s what I know.

I have only sketchy data on the business results generated by any project. Clients don’t often share that with writers.

I’d love to know about the results too. From now on, I plan to circle back and ask.

That said, my ability to impact business results is limited. I have no hand in running the promotions for the white papers I create.

So it’s possible for a white paper to be excellent in editorial terms but still not generate any significant business results.

It could be sent to the wrong list, with a weak e-mail, a muddled landing page, and so on.

Down the road, the sponsor’s offering may have a deep technical flaw, an outlandish price-point, or some other show-stopper.

To publish a white paper that succeeds editorially and generates good business results takes many players contributing at the top of their game.

That’s sort of like creating a show that both the fans and the critics love.

When it happens, everybody’s happy.

Let’s all continue to push for that.

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