Hi, I'm Brian, and if you can give me about a minute, I'm going to tell you how to write a white paper in four easy steps. Step number one, come up with a subject that your prospects really care about. And I mean, this has to be either something they aspire to accomplishing, something they really, really want, or something they're really afraid of, something they really, really don't want to happen, something that keeps them up at three in the morning.
Step number two, write a detailed outline. And I don't mean an outline for a white paper that's just going to be a laundry list of things that you list. But do an outline that takes your reader from the title through the argument all the way through and to the conclusion that you want to make. And within that outline, to make it especially powerful, you should address reasons that are counter to what you're proposing. Number three.
For every major assertion you make, back it up with a quote from a reputable source. And it can be something like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., a book that's been published on the subject. It could even be from a podcast where an expert is quoted or a blog post. Just so that it's not your opinion. It's somebody else making the point for you.
And number four. When you write your white paper, write it in what I call the white paper voice, meaning have the tone of a report. This is almost like you're a journalist reporting on your issue, and it's going to make your argument so much stronger.
Don't make it like a blog post that's really folksy, or a press release where you're quoting yourself and your people and you're selling your product a lot. Make it like a report from a neutral party. And even people that don't want to do business with you will spend the time to read your white paper. If you need to write a white paper right away, you can get my book that's called How to Write a White Paper in One Day. It's on Amazon Kindle and on paperback.
Or you can find my course on Udemy, which is also called How to Write a White Paper in One Day. Thanks. Was that more than a minute?