Grow Your Business by Writing Articles and White Papers

Recently we discussed White Papers and their effectiveness in generating business opportunities. You might be interested in the following statistics, as they illustrate the returns you can generate from a well-crafted white paper.

While working on a recent consultancy project, we prepared a 5-page white paper as the sole source of lead generation. Budgets were tight, so that's all we could afford. We wrote it in two days and then published it online. Only minimal registration was required to download it.

We wanted to get it out there quick!

Writing White Papers

Once the registration details came in, the Sales Team took it from there and followed up the leads as fast as possible.

Less than 3 weeks after publishing this white paper, the lead flow had increased from 25 leads per month to 280. Very good returns in a down market!

White paper marketing creates opportunities very fast. If you know your product, and your customers, then they will want to read your white paper, particularly when you write about a niche industry or service.

To do this, a few points should be highlighted:

• White papers require an investment in research and writing time.
• White papers work well if you have a unique product with information your clients don't have.
• Writing white papers is not for everyone.

Be careful about who you chose to write the paper. Ultimately, white papers are strategic sales documents. Engineers can't write these. Don't ask them-it's not fair for you or them. They can contribute to the technical details, but you need to have an experienced writer managing the overall delivery and coordinating all resources involved. If, you do have experience in writing, it shouldn't take a lot of your time.

Set Yourself Targets

Most relatively experienced writers could write at least five good articles, (for example around 1000 words), with material that we have at hand. In other words, writing papers about our CRM solution or the services we sell. Not much research is required.

Start with one article

Choose the subject matter that is the easiest to write about, and will generate the most interest from your customer base.

When writing sales-orientated articles, use a light conversational style as if you were talking to a friend

Though the article promotes your product or services, the sales angle is hidden in the helpful, useful information that you are providing to your readers i.e. your prospective client.

Useful white papers build credibility and have a long shelf life. Decision-makers store them for as a reference. Always, include a section at the end about yourself with your contact information, including 1800 telephone numbers and email address. Once you've written the article, get a reliable person to check the grammar and spelling. Make sure it's clear, concise, and to the point.

Then, leave it aside for a day or two. This is a very useful trick. When you return to it later in the week, you'll have some distance and be able to see where it needs adjusting.

Now, you're ready to use it for promotion - and that's what we'll talk about next month.

Your Thoughts?

What are your thoughts on this? Drop me a line at ivan at klariti dot com