{"id":636,"date":"2014-06-09T16:34:04","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T16:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thatwhitepaperguy.com\/?p=636"},"modified":"2021-02-01T12:04:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T17:04:49","slug":"four-wild-beasts-that-can-ravage-a-white-paper-and-how-to-tame-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thatwhitepaperguy.com\/four-wild-beasts-that-can-ravage-a-white-paper-and-how-to-tame-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Four wild beasts that can ravage a white paper… and how to tame them"},"content":{"rendered":"
If you encounter two or three on the same project, run for the hills?!<\/p>\n
Here’s what each varmint looks like, and how to deal with it.
\n<\/p>\n
This annoying little fellow refuses to stay on topic.<\/p>\n
He is always hopping about, suggesting side issues, sending you irrelevant material to review.<\/p>\n
He delights in urging your white paper to cover more… more… more!”<\/p>\n
Why stick to one issue, he seems to chirp, when you could skim the surface of 10?<\/p>\n
With a Scope Creep as a reviewer, your white paper may never be completed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Deliver an outline early. Identify your ideal audience, preferred page count and overall scope. Get management to approve this direction.<\/p>\n
Then if a Scope Creep rears his pointy head, don’t say anything like, “That’s a scope change…” or “That will cost you extra…”<\/p>\n
He doesn’t care. It’s not his budget.<\/p>\n
Instead, politely ask, “Does our target audience really need to know that? If so, we’ll have to change the outline.”<\/p>\n
If other reviewers feel this is pointless, rally them together to overrule the Scope Creep.<\/p>\n
If this happens often enough, he will be on his way, looking for a project that’s easier to disrupt.
\n<\/p>\n
This willful strong man is always up for a contest.<\/p>\n
He may be from sales, marketing, engineering, finance or legal.<\/p>\n
Wherever he works, he wants everyone to see things his way. He’ll argue with anyone, anywhere and never give an inch.<\/p>\n
His call of the wild sounds like: “I’m right, you’re wrong, and this is not a democracy.”<\/p>\n
With a Tug-o-Warrior as a reviewer, your white paper may fall into perpetual limbo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
If you’re a contractor, get half the money up-front, so the company is committed to finish the project.<\/p>\n
If you’re on staff, peg your white paper to a real-world event like a trade show or a product release. That will give it more urgency, and help you join forces with higher management to out-muscle a Tug-o-Warrior.<\/p>\n
If you’re locked in a push-and-pull, try to clearly articulate the different positions, then hold a showdown meeting or phone call to resolve them.<\/p>\n
If enough reviewers all pull together, you can topple a single Tug-o-Warrior.
\n<\/p>\n
You don’t often see this pest in the light of day.<\/p>\n
No one knows when he’ll come swooping down out of the night… until he’s got your white paper in his talons and he’s shredding it to bits.<\/p>\n
Of course, he hasn’t bothered to be involved until then.<\/p>\n
Why waste time giving his views any earlier? He prefers the thrill of the kill.<\/p>\n
This winged menace can be very dangerous if he sits anywhere high up in the company.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Identify all reviewers early. Ideally, pull them all together for a kickoff call or meeting. Have them sign off the outline.<\/p>\n
If you still get ambushed by a No-See-Em, appeal to the white paper’s sponsor.\u00a0Then tell your No-See-Em that next time he should be involved from the start.
\n<\/p>\n
This harmless-looking rodent can undermine a white paper after everyone else’s work is done.<\/p>\n
A Dyslexic Designer loves to bury things.<\/p>\n
She’ll be happy to dig a hole for your text, and bury the key messages of your white paper.<\/p>\n
Her specialty is shoveling your carefully chosen words into a deep well, so no one will ever see them again.<\/p>\n
Or sometimes she hides your words in a wall of grey that’s hypnotizes all readers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brief her early about the unique format of a white paper. Get her thinking about how an annual report or magazine article looks.<\/p>\n
The point is the words must be easy to read for someone thinking about spending a lot of money with your company.<\/p>\n
Make sure you and the white paper sponsor get final approval on the design.<\/p>\n
If the company has a corporate template unsuitable for a white paper, get an okay to modify it.<\/p>\n
Once a Dyslexic Designer realizes that someone is looking at her work, she may wake up and produce something attractive.<\/p>\n
This light-hearted look at these white-paper predators has a serious point.<\/p>\n
An effective content development process can help you tame these wild creatures and produce a white paper that gets results.<\/p>\n
Don’t be inflexible, but do develop a workable process to protect your white papers against these varmints.<\/p>\n
And if you ever find yourself acting like one of these, please stop and reconsider. The white paper you save may be one of your own.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Did you ever encounter one of these beasts? How did you cope? Please leave your comment below.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n