Search results for: quick tips
Quick Tip: Show people on your white paper covers
The cover of any white paper is extremely valuable real estate. Don’t waste this space by showing nothing but text. That approach went out in the 1990s. Here are three old-fashioned examples. What’s wrong with these covers? Well, many things: They’re not engaging They’re not visual, except for the splats of color They’re…
Read MoreQuick Tip: Don’t make your readers squint
My pet peeve about B2B content is basic, impossible to argue with, and simple to fix. Don’t make your readers squint and struggle to read your text Make your text crisp, easy-to-read, 100% black type. If you’re a young designer, remember: You’re not designing for yourself. You’re designing for your readers, many of them 40, 50,…
Read MoreQuick Tip: Name your white papers right
This tip applies to everyone: writers, marketers, agencies, and designers. You know how most organizations have some system for naming files? And those names go something like this: whppr-cdv10bb4f-220417e-FINAL-FINAL.pdf And those filenames end up on your white papers when they’re published? Or maybe somebody along the way renames each white paper to match your corporate…
Read MoreQuick Tip: Move up your Executive Summary
We all know the proper page order for a white paper, right? The proper page flow is clearly like this: Page 1: The cover that attracts attention with a graphic and catchy title Page 2: The Contents that show at-a-glance what’s inside Page 3: The all-important Executive Summary that sums up the main ideas I…
Read MoreTips on using dictation software to write
Marketer or writer, you need to get text out of your mind and onto your screen every day. Most people do that by typing. If you’re fast, you might get 60 words a minute. But you can talk at something like 150 words a minute: 2.5 times that fast. That’s why I love dictation software:…
Read More20 top tips for white paper designers
First time ever designing a white paper? You can make that a smash hit or a total flop. It’s as simple as that. White paper readers don’t demand anything fancy. They just want a document that’s easy to scan, easy to read, and professional. If you give them that, they’ll likely scan it to pick…
Read More10 tips on writing from Alexander Green
Last fall I had the pleasure of attending the AWAI 2016 Bootcamp in southern Florida. What a fantastic event! What’s not to like about a meet-up of 450 writers in an ocean-side town that has October temperatures reaching almost 90 degrees? And what a powerful opening keynote by Alexander Green who provided many inspiring tips on writing. If…
Read More9 tips for how to be a great client
I’ve written for 120+ different companies now. That gives me enough experience to separate the sheep from the goats, the good from the bad. I’m always delighted to work with a good client again. And I’m happy to be done with the few I consider not-so-good. Here’s my list of 9 tips on how to be a great client for…
Read MoreHow to write a white paper as tips
Try Googling a phrase like “7 tips” and you’ll see at least 100 million hits?! Check out any newsstand and you’ll find “tips” on the cover of most magazines. Self-help books sell $2+ billion every year. And what is a self-help book, if not a series of tips? So why do “tips” rule newsstands, bookstores…
Read More5 tips on writing better bullets
Most white paper writers use bulleted lists to break up long chunks of text. But are your lists as effective as they could be? Here are five tips to help make every bullet count. Better bullets tip #1: Order bullets for quick scanning “Copywriters write numbered or bulleted lists in order of importance. The first…
Read More