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  • Getting feedback on your writing – The ‘Big vs. Little’ Picture
  • How to write an article for your marketing purposes
  • Press Releases and Search
  • Using White Papers in other industries besides Tech
  • White Papers and Offline Marketing

The editing of a white paper takes some time. And patience. Especially when you are getting feedback.

Everyone wants to give you feedback on what you’ve written. Whether it’s the headline, your phrasing, or the content overall, someone always finds a way to comment. But not all feedback is created equal. You need to know when to draw the line and move on with the paper.

In my time as a white paper writer I’ve come to recognize two types of feedback from people – those who focus on the little picture and those who focus on the big picture. Big picture people always edit your work from a conceptual level. They say things like – “Is this the best feature of the product?”; “What is the real benefit for the user?”; and “We need to position the product as a luxury product, not a commonplace one.” Little picture people focus on the details of your writing – grammar, syntax, punctuation, and phrasing. They are the ones that love the Track Changes feature in Word.

When you are writing a white paper, you need both types of reviewers. Feedback is always welcome. (and encouraged…) I consider myself a marketing strategist, so I have a tendency to focus on big picture items and often overlook the little details. So I welcome all feedback on grammar, phrasing, and syntax. But I’ve been surprised a few times when I’ve gotten quite insightful feedback that related to the big picture.

Here are some ways to recognize and move past big and little picture reviews:

Big Picture Symptoms- These discussions will often get philosophical and will use high caliber marketing words like positioning, angle, hook, benefit, etc.

Big Picture Remedy – You have to make a decision and go with it. Philosophical discussions have no end. I personally believe that as a writer, you should have the final call. But, if you don’t have a dominating (or obnoxious) personality, then you should just find a reasonable common ground, make the changes, and move on.

Little Picture – These discussions will often get into small details and minutia. You’ll find people commenting on things like, “This sentence should say, xxxxx” or “You used  this word, but I think this word will go better.”

Little Picture – Unless you specifically crafted a phrase a certain way, you’ll be better off limiting your battles on this one. Some writers feel slighted when people correct their grammar. They feel they are the writer and they know better than the reviewer. In reality, it just a minor difference of opinion. You can push back in some situations (I have..), but for the most part don’t fret over it unless it a vital part of the piece, like the headline or a sidebar.

The prevailing mentality for beginning content producers is that it is hard writing articles.

Some don’t know where to start.Others think that there isn’t enough content to write about. They believe that at some point, you’ll run out of ideas or that you completely exhaust a topic. Rarely does that happen. Ironically, even if that were true, the benefits of article marketing completely outweigh this fear.

Article marketing helps in spreading the word about your market/company and can also provide some traffic to your site. As people read the article, those who want more information will visit to your site.

The same people who complain about running out of ideas are the same ones who don’t have a process. When you follow a system, you reduce your writing time and you also don’t hurt your brain as much. The folks who don’t know how to start can use this method also. Here’s my process.

Create a basic outline:

1. Introduction for article

2. Supporting Main Point A

3. Supporting Main Point B

4. Supporting Main Point C

5. Conclusion for article

When you consider it from this angle, suddenly things don’t seem so complicated.

Let’s consider the length of each section. If you simply write 60-70 words for each section, then you’ll quickly reach a article length with some substance.  With each section at 60-70 words, you’ll reach a total article length of 300-350 words. Simply increasing each section to 100 words you’ll have a 500 word article in no time.

Yes, this is the same outline that your 3rd grade teacher taught you. I didn’t say it was new, I said it was the one I used.

It’s simple once you are reminded of it.

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