Successful Blog

Create a Viral Buzz – With White Papers

by

Michael A. Stelzner, Guest Writer

Mochael; Stelzner 2

Trying to get everyone to beat your drum? Love the sound of others singing your praise? Word of mouth still reigns.

A good white paper is like the Energizer Bunny. It keeps going places you never imagined.

Why?

People like valuable information AND can easily forward it (especially packaged as a white paper).

White papers should present some of your best value in an easy-to-digest package. It should be a free taste of what you have to offer the world (think sample Cinnabon roll).

The carefully crafted white paper sings – mesmerizing its readers and encouraging an encore.

For example, VistaPrint (the inexpensive online business card company), decided to prepare a white paper called “Marketing Your Business on a Shoestring Budget: A Practical Guide to Success.”

The paper provided actionable tips (using VistaPrint’s inexpensive products, of course).

In only 90 days, more than 5000 small business owners registered for the paper, a smash hit!

This article is the second in a five-part series on the advantages of white papers. The next article will examine how white papers can be used to generate business leads.

Your action: Start outlining your viral masterpiece. Get off to the right start with the new book, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged.

—Michael A. Stelzner

Bookcraft 2.0: The 90% Rule of Repurposing Content

by

Content Always Wins

books

When I left you on Friday, an editor friend and I were on our way to Milwaukee to meet with Phil to make a bookmap from the rough cut of his book. The rough cut had been built on a set of criteria that made choosing content from his archives an easy decision-making process. I outlined those criteria in Archive Mining: How to Get From Working Book Title to Rough Cut Content. Now, it was time for a finer cut. Armed with 5 categories of pages, I was sure that we’d sort them into 7 or 8 chapters and make a bookmap. That was the plan.

Because our topic is timeless, we can be flexible about schedule. That gives us even more room to focus on what’s best for the book. Here’s what happened.

We didn’t make a bookmap.

I was wrong about 7 or 8 chapters.

The plan went out the door early on

because

To make a great book, the content must win. Always.

Making the Finer Cut

In order to make that finer cut, we needed a finer set of criteria. Again, we turned to black and white rules — that crucial tool for sorting intellectual gray questions efficiently.

We made two black and white “gating rules.”

A simple definition of what the book would do — Every entry, story, or example would offer a practical application for the reader.

Every written bit of content had to meet the 90% Rule of Repurposing Content.

We read aloud each piece, if it failed on either point, without question it was out.

What is the 90% Rule of Repurposing Content? It’s a rule that I made up.
[Read more…]

Five Reasons to Start Writing White Papers NOW

by

Michael A. Stelzner, Guest Writer

Michael Stelzner 3

By now you have heard that the hot new trend in writing is white papers.

These are short documents that help people make decisions. Think informative article meets persuasive brochure and births something new.

There are five very compelling reasons you ought to leap on the white paper wagon. White papers help:

  1. Establish thought leadership (for yourself, your blog or your business)
  2. Create a viral buzz (others send your message everywhere)
  3. Generate quality leads (imagine prospects lining up to talk to you)
  4. Persuade others (help people need you)
  5. Grow a writing practice (develop extra revenue streams)

The Thought Leadership Advantage

Everyone wants to be an expert.

Combining a well-written white paper with other marketing efforts, such as a blog, can help you gain the position of thought leader.

By discussing the concepts that can shift industries or the future of a marketplace, a white paper can be referenced as a “reason to change” by businesses.

For example, FedEx wanted to convince electronics manufacturers that moving product by air from China could shorten the supply chain and provide manufacturers a competitive edge – despite a great sea of resistance (think slow-moving ships).

They crafted a white paper titled, “Speeding the Supply Chain From China: How Manufacturers Are Winning With Full-Service Air Transportation” and proceeded to change an industry.

This article is the first in a five-part series on the advantages of white papers. The next article will examine how white papers can create viral buzz.

Your action: Learn to master the art of the white paper with the new book, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged .

—Michael A. Stelzner

A 5-Part Series: Five Reasons to Start Writing White Papers NOW

by

Introducing logo

Writing White Papers Image

You might have noticed Michael’s Stelzner’s popular new book — Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged around the neighborhood. It’s also in my sidebar.

I’ve read Michael’s book and talked with him about it. It’s filled with all the information you need and the fine writing you’ll find on Michael’s Blog, in his newsletter that has over 20,000 subscribers, and throughout the famous White Paper on White Papers, that established Mike Stelzner as the expert in this field.

I was delighted when Mike Stelzner agreed to take some time from his publishing and consulting business to guest write write a 5-part series called Five Reasons to Start Writing White Papers Now for us at Successful-Blog.

I’ve read all of this series too. Every post is brilliantly packed with information, energy, and great writing. You’ll know immediately exactly why Mike is considered the expert and why his book and his newsletter are so incredibly popular. The cool part is that he made this series just for us.

Look for Michael’s series this week and next week.

Monday, October 9 — Five Reasons to Start Writing White Papers NOW
Wednesday, October 11 — Create a Viral Buzz – With White Papers
Thursday, October 12 — Luring Prospects With White Papers
Monday, October 16 — The Persuasive Power of White Papers
Wednesday, October 18 — Five Reasons Writers Make More $ Writing White Papers.

Thanks, Mike! I can’t wait to start sharing what you wrote.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Bookcraft 2.0: Why No Bound Book Has 666 Pages and Get Your Free Blank Bookmap

by

Done with the Rough Cut, Time To Map the Book

books

After I found the 140+ pages, I discovered that Phil actually had 6 more months of archives. What a bonus!

So I now sit with close to 170 pages — sorted into 5 categories. Those 5 categories will soon become 7 or 8 book chapters. That will happen when we’ve reviewed the larger ones to break them into more readable chunks.

The next step is to plan how the pages map out.

We’re actually going to make a bookmap.

No Bound Book Has 666 Pages

You may never have thought about it, but it’s a fact:

You can’t have a page 1 without a page 2.
Every sheet of paper has a front and a back.

That’s the first reason that page counts matter. Paper is tangible.
There are some things that paper won’t do.

It’s also a fact that:

No bound book has 666 pages.

[Read more…]

How Many Words Does It Take to Make a Book?

by

Bookcraft 2.0 SERIES

An Average Book . . .

As an introduction to Bookcraft 2.0, I wrote Write a Book? Assemble the One in Your Archives! In the comments, Chris showed serious interest in finding out more about it.

. . . My new venture, SuccessCREEations has been up and running for less than a month and already has 23,000+ words, all fairly focused topically. So perhaps in a few months I’ll have enough there to put something together (provided I keep the pace steady).

Of course it begs the question, how much material does it take to become publish-worthy? If you figure an average of about 250 words per page, then what about 60,000 words or so for an average book? Is that anywhere near right?

My apologies. Chris, for trying to answer a BIG question with a small answer. I should have said, “Yes, Chris. you’re more than near right . . . because you write well, you might even have two books there.”

Let me try to explain it better in this post.
[Read more…]