Top Ten Reasons to Outsource White Paper Writing

1. Trust the experts.
Writing is a craft, and you benefit from the expertise of a skilled writer. In addition to a solid understanding of style, grammar, punctuation, and spelling, a seasoned white paper writer is also a marketer and knows how to indirectly market your products or services by informing readers and demonstrating thought leadership.

2. Conserve time.
Like any experienced professional, proven white paper writers are intimately familiar with their craft and can therefore produce drafts much more quickly than someone who is unfamiliar with the process of content gathering and writing. Since time is money, a hired writer almost always writes more quickly than a writer inside your organization, particularly if that person is unaccustomed to deadlines.

3. Save money.
Hiring a professional writer can actually save you money because these writers are always deadline driven and will finish your project faster. In addition to time savings, outsourcing white paper writing may be more cost-effective than hiring an employee if you cannot keep a writer busy full time.

4. Benefit from outside objectivity.
An outside writer is especially helpful in maintaining a sense of objectivity about your products or your company. Inside writers are sometimes too close to a topic to ask the probing questions your readers want to know. After being inside your company for a while, writers can become jaded. An outside writer lends a fresh perspective and is sometimes better able to gauge your customers’ needs.

5. Stay focused where you excel.
Although your lead engineer might be the most knowledgeable person about a specific technology, they may not necessarily be the best candidate to write a white paper. A professional writer can leverage your engineers’ knowledge base by conducting a set of interviews and then weaving this information into a paper. In this way, you keep your employees working at the jobs they do best.

6. Continue to market.
In a down economy, businesses can compete more effectively by using an outside writer. Although many companies slash their marketing dollars and stop creating papers when times get tough, this is rarely a good strategy. When the market rebounds, you want your customers to remember you. Even when budgets are slashed, successful companies maintain a presence by creating and distributing white papers. Even if you have reduced your marketing staff, call an outside writer and keep your name circulating in the marketplace.

7. Keep current.
Professional white paper writers are adept at the latest tools and trends in writing and marketing and will use these skills to your advantage when creating a paper.

8. Leverage local style and terms.
If you are marketing in a foreign country, trust your white papers to a writer who is knowledgeable about the country, customs, and culture you are targeting. A local writer will intrinsically understand regional idioms and word uses that you would not spot as a non-native speaker.

9. Achieve aggressive deadlines.
In-house writers cannot always achieve the same deadlines as a professional writer because they are often distracted by other important tasks. As part of their responsibility for delivering a good product, professional writers must deliver on time. In cases where you need the paper for a trade show or for a new product launch, hiring an outside writer is sometimes your best bet to achieve an aggressive deadline.

10. Enhance your image.
Rely on a professional writer to enhance your image—especially for important white papers. No longer do you have to worry about spelling errors or poorly written papers that tarnish your company’s image. A skilled writer will add a professional touch to all your white paper projects.

Next time, read about green white papers—the benefits of digital distribution over printing.

For more information, contact info@hoffmanmarcom.com or call 408-778-5664.

An Eleven-Question Guide to Creating an Excellent White Paper

Answer the following questions before you meet with your writer. The result will be an outstanding white paper!
1. Who is your target audience?
Who is the primary audience? What industry are you targeting? What job titles describe your readers?

2. What is the desired length of the paper?
Most Hoffman white papers are between eight and ten pages in length. Some clients request a concise, five-page, white paper brief while others require 15 to 20 pages to explore a complex topic. Just make sure you include enough information to adequately cover your topic but not so much that you bury your reader in unnecessary details.

3. What is the white paper’s objective?
Will the paper be used to create sales leads or as a reward to someone who emails for more information? Will you distribute the white paper to press and analysts to create buzz or use it to educate your salespeople about a new product? Define a clear objective to help guide the content you deliver.

4. What is the white paper’s primary topic?
What is the focus of this white paper project? What information will you provide to ensure your white paper delivers true value to your reader?

5. What tone will the paper adopt?
How do you want to approach your readers? Will the paper be informational, using a credible third person tone (recommended) or a more familiar, “friendly” tone using first or second person?

6. What challenges will resonate with your reader?
What business or technical challenges do you want to address in the white paper? These are the problems that your products or solutions help solve. Do you have current statistics, relevant data, industry stories, or customer examples to underscore the difficulty of these challenges?

7. What primary messages will the white paper share?
What are the top three to five primary messages you want to leave with your reader? What memorable lessons can you share?

8. What supporting information can you provide to the writer?
What supporting documents and illustrations can you provide for additional content? Assemble sales presentations, marketing collateral, videos, previously written papers, news articles—anything to quickly bring your writer up-to-speed.

9. What is the schedule for completion?
What is the deadline for completion? Do you need the white paper for a new product launch, trade show, or a press campaign? Establish important milestones during the kickoff call such as the dates for outlining, first draft, and revised drafts. Also, allow enough time for design, layout, and printing.

10. What is the writer’s scope of work?
Will your writer provide writing services only or is design, illustration, and layout also included? If you are using different vendors for writing and design, make sure all parties are aware of the schedule.

11. Who are the key contacts at your organization?
During your initial white planning meeting, provide your writer with the names, titles, email addresses, and phone numbers of subject matter expert(s), reviewers, and a financial contact.

Sit down before the interview and answer the above questions. Being well prepared will shorten the interview time and ensure you start your project off on the right foot.

Mastering the Art of the 30 Minute Content Interview

The best content evolves from the best interviews. Follow these tips for a streamlined interview:
1. Before scheduling time with a writer, ask for an outline or a question list to help you prepare and provide the foundation for a solid interview.
2. Before the call, jot down a few notes and make a list of important points to cover or issues or questions that you want to address.
3. Send background information to your writer ahead of time such as existing product literature, white papers, press releases, sales presentations, and links to web pages that might be helpful.
4. Choose an interview location that is conducive to talking freely and being heard—close the office door and turn the telephone to voice mail.
5. Telephone interviews are just as effective as in-person interviews, especially when they provide the flexibility for you and your writer to be anywhere.
6. Consider non-traditional times for interviews—such as time spent commuting or while you wait for a flight.
7. Suggest use of a digital call recording service so you can speak quickly and the writer can fill in their notes later.
8. Stay on topic as much as possible—beware of tangents that crop up when you share too much information or when you discuss issues irrelevant to the materials you are creating.
9. When multiple people are involved, appoint one person as “interview leader” to keep on target.
10. If an interview goes into overtime, regroup and schedule another meeting—a better option than keeping the interview going when attention is waning and smart minds are growing tired.

How Good Companies Succeed in a Bad Economy

Some companies are feeling the sting of the recession, but many of our clients are faring better. That’s because at Hoffman, we help our clients understand the value of keeping brand awareness high during times of economic trouble. Smart companies know how important it is to stay in front of customers even when times are bad. If they don’t—their competitors will! And white papers are a cost-effective way to stay top-of-mind.

Marketing budgets are tight in a recession, so spend your marketing dollars wisely—invest in a white paper. Exhibiting at conferences, designing fancy brochures, placing high-profile ads, or sponsoring events can be expensive. White paper development is less costly, yet the paper produced can reach an even larger audience and can be distributed in many venues. Post it on your web site, use it as an enticement to build registration-based prospect lists, post it on white paper library web sites, send it as an attachment in an email in response to a prospect inquiry, email it to analysts and press contacts, and hand it out at conferences. Stay in front of your customers and they will remember you when the economy rebounds.