Ok folks…

Take a look at the picture here.

Your task: Create a killer caption for this image.

I would like to reward the person who comes up with the best caption by giving him or her a free copy of my book Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged in e-book format.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

Congratulations to Jim Lodico.

His winning caption is:

After months of study, scientists finally prove that when thrown from an airplane, failed banking CEOs accelerate at the precisely the same rate of speed.

Honorable mention:

Stephanie Tilton, “This year’s salary cap is being modeled by former Bank of America exec John Thain, Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein, and Citigroup director Robert Rubin.”

Great contributions EVERYONE!

The word’s out, I’m seeking an apprentice. And I’m only looking among the participants in the upcoming White Paper Success Summit 2009 that starts next week.

Here’s the cool part. This is a PAID apprenticeship. If you’re chosen to become my apprentice, I’ll not only pay you $3000 to teach you my techniques, I’ll also promote you to my tens of thousands of followers, giving you a phenomenal platform to grow your freelance business. This is an opportunity to create a real white paper (with me) for one of my real clients. (more…)

When thinking of purchasing a product or service, what do people search for when they use search engines or visit the company website?  A new study reveals the kinds of things people are looking for and the important role of white papers.

A joint study by Google and TechTarget, called the The Google/TechTarget Research Project, examined the search patterns of information technology professionals during the purchasing process.  While this is specific to technology professionals, much insight can be applied to other professions.

Here’s what you need to know:

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How do I know if I have achieved success?  Am I there yet?  What do I need to do to help my journey?

These are great thoughts to ponder.  Frankly, I ask myself these very questions.

My good friend Bob Bly has published a great list of secrets to success.  If you do not know Bob, he’s written about 70 books and for sure has achieved success.  Pay attention to his wisdom as I paraphrase his list:

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When opportunities start drying up, businesses focus their marketing efforts on creating valuable content.  This was recently affirmed in a new study by Junta42. And, it turns out white papers are still an important marketing tool.

The study conducted last month found the following, “Even in tough economic times, money is still flowing into content marketing initiatives… More than half (56%) of marketing- and publishing-decision makers plan to increase their content marketing spending for 2009 (31% increase significantly, 25% increase slightly). Only 13% plan on decreasing their content marketing spending (9% decrease slightly, 4% decrease significantly)” (more…)

Social media can be such a confusing thing, can’t it!

To better get a grip on social media, there’s a new industry survey taking place right now.  It’s called  the 2009 Social Media Marketing Industry Survey.

If you are currently, or plan to use social media for your marketing efforts, would you please take a brief moment and participate in this industry survey.

Go here now: http://tinyurl.com/8yhneh

All participants will get a free copy of the results.

By now you’ve heard the buzz about White Paper Success Summit 2009. I’ve got some important information for you, but first let me share the story that led to this event (and why this means a great opportunity for you).

THE REASON I WORKED THROUGH CHRISTMAS…

A few months ago, I taught hundreds of freelance copywriters how to market their services at a big online summit. The response was shocking. So many folks wanted to know how they too could make thousands of dollars writing white papers. I didn’t hide the fact that I make $7500 per paper and usually run four projects each month. I know many freelance writers were surprised that even half that much could be made writing only 6 to 8 pages of content.

I had this big plan to offer a white paper event for freelancers in the spring. But the economy caused me to rethink things. Nobody could have imagined how many businesses would end up suffering from the recent economic fallout.

So I Ran Into a Little Problem

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