White After Memorial Day

Continuing on our summer theme, I'm thinking of White Papers! A white paper is simply a position piece that is an excellent way to generate leads. You, or your professional writer, create an article that highlights either your expertise or something critical to your target market, then you place it on your website, or direct mail it to prospects.

I'm writing some white papers this summer, and encourage you to do so, too. You can learn more about white papers at these terrific resources:

Stelzner Consulting White Paper on White Papers
http://www.stelzner.com/copy-HowTo-whitepapers.php

White papers are excellent lead generators, especially in the B2B marketplace. As a result, it seems like just about everybody offers one, which means yours has to be really good to get results. At this site you can explore the art and strategy of creating an effective white paper according to Michael Stelzner, a copy writing specialist, who also happens to be the Editor of the WhitePaperSource Newsletter, which focuses on white paper marketing information. Study carefully, because the white paper that he presents has been crafted with a very specific process in place that you should emulate as well, in addition to reading the worthwhile content.



WhitePaperSource
http://www.whitepapersource.com

This site is a one-stop resource for everything you ever wanted to know about white papers. Visit the Writing section for articles on how to pick the perfect title, conduct an interview, create a technical brief, or dozens of other tasks. In the Marketing category you can explore various white paper distribution services and buyers guide aggregators, read interviews with key personnel from companies like KnowledgeStorm or TechTarget, or explore the growing world of PPC (Pay Per Click) white paper syndication and advertising services. There's a news section, an email newsletter, and a forum devoted exclusively to the discussion of using white papers as sales lead generators. Bookmark this one.

These leads come from Larry Chase of Web Digest for Marketers. (That's you. You're a marketer). Subscribe to his weekly email newsletter if you don't already. He's one of my secret weapons because he always has great tools like the two mentioned here.

And, don't be fooled. You can "do" white papers anytime of year.

Try. Fail. Learn. Grow.

Dina