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My readers at SoftwareCEO.com are busy people,
with companies to run.
That's why our articles are all in the "tips" format. They work.
In fact, I figure I've written or edited close to half a million words in the "tips" format
for C-level software executives.
I've also written many white papers in the "tips" format.
Here are 16 tips and hints on writing tips that I've learned over the years.
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Don't worry. Everyone likes to learn, everyone needs help, and just about everyone loves tips. Here's why.
For one thing, tips resonate with our can-do spirit. Tips give us hope that we're not alone, that we can avoid the mistakes others have made,
that we can triumph over our challenges.
And tips appeal to today's readers, who have a natural tendency to skim, scan, and skip.
If the tips are summed up in a list at the start,
a reader can skim the list to see if anything sounds useful.
Once into the document, a reader's eyes can quickly scan from one tip to the next.
And if a reader hits a tip they think is useless, or not applicable,
they can quickly skip to the next.
So this type of article appeals to readers by offering help, inspiration, and an easy read.
That's why I firmly believe the "tips" type of white paper/article/special report is here to stay.
When you write in the tips format, you get an immediate start for your title, for example:
"7 tips on..."
This is a guaranteed attention-getter in a list of search results.
Hint: Even if you're using a style guide that says to spell out all numbers under 10, this is one time to break that rule.
Most people's eyes prefer seeing the numerals 6, 7, 8 or 9 than reading those words in a list.
After the number, follow up with a promise, the key benefit. What are the tips all about? That could give you something like:
"7 tips on selecting a netbook..."
And then round off your title by touching directly on your target audience. Who will this document help?
What is their role? What sector do they work in? How big is their company?
That may yield a working title like this:
"7 Tips on selecting a netbook for your one-person consulting business"
Always spend a minute tweaking your working title to make sure it stands out in a list,
and appeals to your target readers.
You can't afford a long, rambling introduction.
Give them two or three paragraphs, maybe one screen, and then get into the tips.
Ideally, a reader should see the first tip on the first screen.
If you must include some introductory blah-blah, try to move these thoughts down into a tip.
Anything to get moving with the main attraction.
It's probably best to format headings like this:
Do this, do that, do the other;
don't do this, don't do that, don't do the other. (This is called the imperative mood.)
But what if you're prescribing something conceptual?
In that case, it's OK to use verbs like analyze, count on, remember, study, understand.
But don't use more than one or two. Get back to true action verbs as soon as you can.
Hint: This approach also makes all your tips run parallel: a nice element of style that helps unify your whole document.
Don't water down the strength of the tips format by being long-winded.
If one tip runs for a page or more, see if you can break it in two.
The more granular each tip, the more effective.
But each tip doesn't have to be exactly the same length. If the content justifies it, feel free to vary the lengths of your tips.
Just don't let the long tips run away with you.
Give each tip its own beginning, middle and end. Here's how:
Start with a sentence that "tells them what you're going to tell them."
In the middle, "tell them."
At the end, use a final summary sentence to "tell them what you told them."
Repetition helps build understanding, so there's no reason not to use a little repetition...
especially for a longer, more complex tip.
I learned this from a seasoned newsletter editor, who learned it from his editor.
I'm not sure who invented the phrase, but the point is this:
Never write a tip that's so obvious the opposite is never true.
Example of a tip that fails the test: If it's raining, take your umbrella.
No one would ever say: If it's raining, don't take your umbrella. Or, if it's sunny, take your umbrella.
In a business context, no one needs to hear obvious chestnuts like: Watch your cashflow. Hire smart people. Invest in success.
That's like telling someone to walk by putting on foot in front of the other.
No tip should ever be so obvious, so banal, that it goes without saying.
Whether they know it or not, readers crave logic. So try to arrange your tips in a logical sequence.
Here are some organizing principles to pick from:
Chronological from first to last
Priority from most to least important
Frequency from most to least common
Size from biggest to smallest
Familiarity from most to least familiar.
For instance, if you're discussing how to get the most from a new enterprise software system, you might arrange tips in
chronological order, by how to evaluate, purchase, install, configure, and then customize the system.
Or if everything else is equal, consider putting the strongest tips at the start and the end.
Tuck any weaker ones in the middle. That's because items at the start and end of a list generally have the most impact.
Hint: In this article, I arranged the tips more-or-less in chronological order, from planning to writing to editing
to publishing a set of tips.
Let's face it, David Letterman owns the Top 10 list in just about everyone's mind.
So any set of "10 tips" sounds too pat and pre-fabricated... and life's not that tidy.
Instead, use a less-round number like 7, 8 or 9. It still sounds thorough, without being a long read.
For a longer piece, avoid using 15, 20, 25, or 30 for the very same reason.
What do you do if you end up with 10 tips? You can often break one tip in two, or combine two together,
or drop the weakest one, anything to push your total to a more convincing number.
Hint: Although this is just a personal quirk, I prefer odd numbers to even... somehow "5" or "7" sounds
more real to me than "6" or "8." You may not agree.
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I've written lots of white papers organized as a set of tips.
But I seldom call them white papers.
The "white paper" label suggests a certain level of formality, or a certain scope of coverage that your tips may not match.
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Why use a label that gives readers the wrong expectations?
You can call it "a special report" or even a "tipsheet" instead.
Or don't call it anything at all, and let your title tell the whole story.
Think about reusing your tips in a trade publication or a blog.
If your tips are genuinely helpful, useful and applicable to the audience of a certain trade publication or website,
this is probably the easiest type of article to place.
Editors love them, readers love them, they're short and snappy, and they can do a lot to build your company profile.
Just ensure that your company name and website appear somewhere in the last few sentences.
For example, if the publication wants to put a byline on the piece, this is an ideal place to insert your company name, as in:
by Joe Blow, CTO, ACME Technologies
A typical credit line of the end of an article reads something like this:
Written by Joe Blow, CTO of ACME Technologies.
To find out more about [the main benefits of your article] visit www.acmetech.com.
Hint: You may want to use the piece on your own website or send it to your own list first, and then try the trade publications
a month or two later. Just check their editorial policies, or have your PR firm do that for you.
And good luck writing your tips!
To repost this article on your Web site, please e-mail a request to
Gordon@ThatWhitePaperGuy.com.
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