Let’s say the idea vault is looking pretty empty.  No one at your company has really contributed any new thoughts in ages.  Does it ever make sense to ask your key players to contribute white papers, outlining new ideas for corporate growth?

This is the essence of a question submitted by Jason, working for an international organization:

I am working for a international high tech company and they have planned a management meeting with the 80 top managers (R&D, Engineers, Sales, Marketing, Finance). They will spend a week together, working on different issues. The outcome of the week must be that everybody has the same mindset and the same goals.

There will be presentations of the CFO, CEO etc. and there will be discussion about how and what technologies the company must develop. To structure the discussion we want to set up a workshop.

Is it a proven technique to give everybody the assignment to write a white paper for the company? From their point of view, and with clear guidelines of how to write it of course.

Here’s my response: (more…)

There’s some serious gold here folks! With literally hundreds of nominations pouring in, this year’s 4th annual competition was intense.

The 27 finalists have been carefully examined, with the greatest weight on the quality of their content.  What follows are the top 10 blogs for writers for 2009/2010.

If you’re a writer, you’ll find daily doses of inspiration and discovery at these excellent blogs: (more…)

Wow! I called for nominations for the top 10 writers blogs AND nearly 300 came in!

Here are the finalists for the top 10:
(more…)

I’ve got some exciting news.  I’ll be debating Peter Bowerman (Well-Fed Writer author) in a live (and free) event next week called: Generalist vs. Specialist: Which Is Better for Writers in a Tough Economy?

I think you know which position I’m coming down on as a white paper writer.

Are you a specialist or a generalist? Is the need for more work forcing you to reconsider your writing focus?  Are you contemplating developing a writing niche?  Or maybe you’ve decided it’s time to be a generalist again?

Come hear the debate and make an informed decision.

By the way, the tickets to this online event are totally free.  But we can only accommodate 1,000 people.  And by the looks of it, we’ll fill up in the next few days.

Go here to learn more about the debate and reserve your free seat: http://www.whitepapersource.com/debate/

Hope to see you there!

By the way, I have a confession… It’s been more than 20 years since I’ve debated anyone.  Unlike my college debate days, this is going to be a lot more fun (Peter and I are actually good friends)!  Be sure to join me.  Just go here: http://www.whitepapersource.com/debate/

Successful writers share one common trait — they market themselves using very easy-to-implement tactics. Yet even as demand for writers is skyrocketing, many freelancers would rather spend their time walking the dog or washing the dishes.

“What we’ve got here is a major disconnect. Never before in the history of words has the demand for freelance writers been so high. Yet I constantly hear from copywriters, journalists, technical writers and copyeditors that ‘marketing’ is a four-letter word,” says Michael A. Stelzner, one of America’s top-paid freelance writers.

There’s plenty of work for the taking. According to a recent Junta42 study, 6 in 10 businesses are spending more for content production. The need for case studies, ebooks, newsletters, articles, websites, white papers and press releases is growing at an unprecedented rate.
For the writer who applies a few simple techniques, work is plentiful and money is good.

To land more work from higher-paying clients, Stelzner and nine other top-billing freelancers suggest the following easy-to-employ tactics: (more…)