Graham - White papers for dummies®

White Papers For Dummies

Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com

Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport .

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com . For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com .

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013932119

ISBN 978-1-118-49692-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-49704-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49705-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-49707-4 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Author

Gordon Graham is an award-winning writer who has worked on close to 200 white papers for well-known companies, like Google, Rackspace, and Oracle, plus many smaller firms with big dreams. Gordon wrote his first white paper in 1997, and by 2001, he decided to specialize in this unique form of content. His versatile experience as a journalist, technical writer, marketing executive, and independent copywriter helps him look at white papers from all different angles: as a reader, a sponsor, and a creator.

Gordon finds most white papers not nearly as engaging or persuasive as they could be, and he thinks thats a shame. He continues to do research, write articles, and give presentations to professional marketers and writers on how to make their white papers more effective. His website, ThatWhitePaperGuy.com, is top-rated in Google, thanks to the dozens of how-to articles available on his site.

Gordon has taught writing at two universities and given more than 50 workshops, including in-house training at Cisco, Ericsson, and Sprint. As a freelance journalist, he wrote close to 1,000 magazine articles on technology for everyone from accountants to woodworkers. And for five years, he was the editor of SoftwareCEO.com, interviewing dozens of software executives on the secrets of their success.

Unlike most writers, Gordon has first-hand experience as a marketing executive. He served as the vice president of marketing for a wireless startup, where he helped grow sales from $250,000 to $14 million and then sell the company in three years. He did this, in part, by sponsoring white papers that helped his firm eat the lunch of much larger competitors.

Gordon lives with his family and two ginger cats a few steps from the shore of Lake Huron in northern Ontario, Canada. In the summer, he likes to run, paddle, and cruise the river on his boat, The Thessalon Queen. In the winter, he is happy to confirm that you can get high-speed Internet in an igloo.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wonderful partner, Angie Gallop, the woman I dreamed of since I was a teenager. Her love, insight, and sense of humor are a constant delight to me and all who know her. And to our daughter, Cassidy Rain, who helps us welcome every day with a toothy smile and a strong desire to go oudside.

Authors Acknowledgments

It takes a village to write a book, even if only one persons name is on the cover. This book took a village of colleagues, creatives, and clients over the past 15 years to come into being.

Thanks to my fellow white paper writers Michael Stelzner, who blazed the path with meteoric brilliance, and Jonathan Kantor, with whom I spent many intriguing hours discussing the past, present, and future of white papers. Thanks to Manny Gordon for your ongoing wit and wisdom, not to mention working together on our first-ever white papers, lo these many years ago. Special thanks to Louise Audren for the design and cover, and to Britt Brouse, Elizabeth Creith, and Jonathan Kantor for helpful reviews of the original version of my ice cream report. Thanks to Jef Keep for keeping my website humming along smoothly. Extra-special thanks to Steve Matthews, who designed the logo and website for That White Paper Guy and helped set all this in motion. And many thanks to my brother, Greg Graham, who helped research the global market for white papers and has been a fine coconspirator in the world of self-employment.

Thanks to all my colleagues at Wiley, starting with acquisitions editor Stacy Kennedy, who glimpsed the need for this book; to project editor Vicki Adang, who coaxed, cajoled, and inspired me with brilliant suggestions on how to reorganize and refine the manuscript; to technical editor Russell Willerton, who made many wise suggestions and helped me remove my foot from my mouth in a few notable places; and to copy editor Jennette ElNaggar, who made hundreds of eagle-eyed comments on how to improve the text. And, of course, thank you to my agent Carole Jelen from Waterside Productions for all your cool-headed advice.