'How To Get It Written In 48 Hours --
not Weeks or Months'
Dear Nam,
For most people, writing a white paper
sounds like a dreary chore. Something
handed down from above, perhaps, that lands
on your desk and threatens to consume
weeks of time better spent on something else.
I know how you feel. But there's no reason
for that to be the case. Today I'm going
to give you two things to think about:
1) IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LONG.
Sometimes a 10-20 page white paper might
be OK, but I like 1- and 2-pagers best. Short
little guides, reference tools and problem
solvers that people will keep in their desk.
That's a magic formula, and it doesn't take
long to write. You can probably do it in
a couple of hours.
You might consider breaking a 10-page
white paper into three small documents, each
addressing a very specific issue. (You can
potentially get three times as much PR mileage
from the same content, by doing it that way.)
At that point, the key is to have a follow-
up system that continues to nurture that prospect
until they take a next step -- call you on the
phone, email you with a question or whatever.
2) You don't have to give the person an exhaustive
technical treatise, you only need to give them knowledge
that enables them to DO something. White papers
are not theoretical. They are action-oriented. So make
a list of two or three or five things you want your
customer to know how to do as a result of reading
your white paper, then just tell them how.
About ten years ago, there was a very popular
book by Steven Covey called '7 Habits of Highly
Effective People.' Maybe you read it.
In that book, Covey talks about the idea of
an 'emotional bank account' that everyone has.
When you do something good for someone, you
make a deposit into their emotional bank account.
When you ask someone to do something for you,
you make a withdrawal. If the account balance
is zero, they will ignore your request.
Most advertisers and marketers try to make
a WITHDRAWAL from a customer before they've made
a DEPOSIT.
No wonder sales is such an uphill battle!
A White Paper is a way to make a deposit
before you make a withdrawal -- with useful,
problem solving information.
People are VASTLY more responsive to this
kind of information than they are to a traditional
ad. It builds trust and credibility like no
other kind of advertising does.
In comparison, telemarketing creates distrust
and annoyance. And people just ignore most ads
they see. So the best thing you can advertise is...
a White Paper, guide, problem-solver or report.
At the same time, that paper is also a way to help
the customer define the problem in *your* terms,
not somebody else's. There's a lot of subtle power
in that.
Tomorrow is day 3. The subject:
'The #1 Most Critical Success Ingredient of Your
White Paper'
Talk to you then.
Best,
Perry Marshall
http://www.perrymarshall.com/whitepaper
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