Taking the Mystery Out Of White Papers

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Taking the Mystery Out Of White Papers

• Israel STC Convention
• March 7, 2005

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Todays Agenda

• Introduction
• Working definition
• Who creates them
• Success factors
• Marketing Writing Tips
• Benefit statements
• The Five Cs
• Presentation Considerations
• Typical Contents

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Different Flavors

• Technology Guide emphasis on value of underlying
  technology may not mention a product
• Position Paper advocates a standard, trend or
  technology may not mention a product
• Business Benefits why potential customers need
  or want the product
• Competitive Review positions and differentiates
  product from competition
• Evaluator's Guide thorough explanation of
  product's features and functionality

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A Working Definition

• Pre-sales document with how it works
  explanation
• Shows expertise credibility while reinforcing
  positioning branding

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Importance

• Generates leads (registration before download)
• Education leads, internal
• They are read!
• Influencers read mainly technical sections and
  pass up to decision makers, who read mainly
  business sections

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The Team

• Project manager owns and drives the project
• Content providers technical and marketing
• Writer concise, convincing prose technically
  savvy marketing orientation
• Editor and proofreader clarity, continuity
• Production illustrations, layout

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Success Factors
Content
Process

• Objectivity, credibility
• Appropriate technical detail
• High-quality writing
• High-quality presentation

• Clear owner/sponsor
• Clear need/timeframe
• Teamwork
• Access to SMEs

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Benefits vs Features
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Benefits vs. Features

• Feature characteristic of system
• Benefit what feature does for client

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Effective Benefit Statements

• Should be major point of section
• Conclusive, factual, quantified, brief
• Stimulating

In this section we will discuss how the
AppSwing-generated web application adapts
automatically to changes in your source
application. Once we have configured our
rules-based engine for your application, any
changes you make to the Windows application GUI
on the server will appear in the web browser the
next time the user accesses the application.
These changes include adding or removing window
controls, rearranging window controls, changing
colors, etc.
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High-quality writing
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The Five Cs
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Client-focused

• Stress benefits (over features)
• Show how solution/product meets client needs
  (case studies)
• Consider different papersfor different sectors

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Compelling

• Stress benefits (over features)
• Clear themes
• Good flow (transitions)
• Active voice
• Effective graphics

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Convincing

• Stress benefits (over features)
• Stick to the facts
• Always be specific
• Differentiate from competition

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Concise

• Simple, natural language
• Optimal sentence length
• Be specific
• Stick to outline

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Consistent

• Quality
• Focused message
• Themes-driven
• Topic sentences
• Industry standards

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A few words on high-quality presentation
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High-quality presentation

• Readability
• Headings, white space
• Font size, line spacing
• Side bars
• Graphics
• Tables, charts, diagrams
• Cover
• Spot color
• Production
• Hard copy usually black and white
• But PDFs (common deployment) are color

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Typical Contents
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Contents

• Cover (branding, slogan)
• Table of contents
• Introduction/abstract (write this part last!)
• The challenge (business-oriented)
• Available solutions (historical, current)
• Which solution is best and why (company's
  credentials)
• How does the best solution work?
• Success stories, case studies, applications
• Technical specifications
• Summary

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Contents

• Typically 6-10 pages long
• Estimate 3 hours/page to write content

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Group Exercise

• To what extent do our samples conform to the
  guidelines just discussed?
• What other insights do they give us?
• Focus on layout good and bad examples
• Focus on content good and bad examples

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Questions?
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Thank you!
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Contact information Tina Ornstein 052-536-0313 ti
na-o_at_words.israel.net