Search results for: quick tips
Quick tip: Cook up your titles like lasagna
A mouth-watering serving of lasagna contains three essential ingredients. And so does my favorite format for a white paper title. For lasagna, those three key parts are: Melted cheese topping that catches the eye. Rich sauce that forms the main body. Noodles that lay the foundation of the dish. Miss out on any one, and…
Read MoreQuick tip: Check quotes from your sources
When you quote someone, make sure to get their quote right. This is especially important if they’re an ongoing source you want to go back to again. Remember, most business people are not used to being quoted. They’re not spokespeople. They’re not celebrities. So they’re unsure about the process. To reassure a source, here are…
Read MoreQuick tip: Build your own list of sources
Here’s how to save time researching your next white paper. Build your own list of sources you trust, and go to them for insights. I’ve said this before: Don’t start with Google. Now I’m doubling down on that advice. Develop your own list of trusted sources. Don’t rely on Google to find them. This works especially…
Read MoreQuick tip: Do footnotes the Chicago way
So you’re writing a white paper with lots of sources. So you’re writing a white paper with lots of sources. Way to go on doing your research! Now you need footnotes (or endnotes) to cite those sources. But how do you format the pesky things? Just stick in URLs and call it done? Well, I’ve…
Read MoreQuick tip: Format white papers for the screen, not the page
I’ve seen figures saying 90% of all white papers are viewed on-screen. Yet too many white papers are still formatted like printed books: Long paragraphs of text Skimpy white space Few visual breaks Lots of extra pages at the start Making a white paper like a mini-book is NOT the way to reach busy prospects.…
Read MoreQuick Tip: Using multiple calls-to-action
You’ve heard the classic advice: Use a single call-to-action. Make it crystal clear what an interested prospect should do. But what if you have multiple audiences for the same white paper? What if one call-to-action isn’t enough? There’s a simple way to handle that: Just specify a different call-to-action for each segment of the audience.…
Read MoreQuick Tip: Stop charging by the hour!
Whatever you think about AI, it’s fast. And cheap. ChatGPT-4 can write a blog post faster than you can dictate the words. And it can revise and rewrite just as fast. For pennies. With no complaints. So if you’re a writer or agency still charging clients by the hour, you can’t compete with your old-fashioned…
Read MoreQuick Tip: With AI, tackle your most significant tasks first
Just because you CAN do something with AI doesn’t mean you SHOULD. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Don’t get rid of a perfectly fine workflow just to save a few bucks. For example, people proclaim they now use AI to generate their own graphics so they’ve stopped buying stock photos. Is that…
Read MoreQuick Tip: With AI, write your white paper as a numbered list
ChatGPT struggles to write long-form content. So don’t make it. Keep it short. To write a white paper with AI, make a numbered list. A numbered list—also known as a strawberry white paper—presents a collage of related points. You can arrange those points in some sort of sensible order. But you don’t have to build…
Read MoreQuick 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…
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