One of many greatest strikes a contract author could make to earn extra is to maneuver into better-paying kinds of work, like white paper writing jobs.
Whenever you go from, say, writing $20 weblog posts to writing white papers that may pay $1,500-$10,000, it’s a giant leap.
However simply how do you could that leap? How precisely do you get into writing white papers? The place do you even discover white paper writing jobs? And what are some errors to keep away from alongside the best way?
That’s what we’re about to find. Maintain studying.
What’s a White Paper?
A white paper is a cross between {a magazine} article and a company brochure, sharing a company’s often-complicated message in an easy-to-understand, formal, and persuasive method.
Most shoppers wish to learn the academic journal article a part of the white paper to seek out out the options to their issues—however the persuasive brochure a part of the white paper does its job too, and convinces the readers to purchase the product or use the service.
How A lot Can You Make on White Paper Writing Jobs?
The distinctive balancing characteristic of the white paper—to each educate and promote—makes it one of the highly effective advertising and marketing instruments. That is the explanation why shoppers are able to pay $1,500-$10,000 for a six to 14 web page doc.
It’s an effective way to earn a living writing!
The massive upside of writing white papers is why we did a complete coaching bootcamp on the subject over on the Freelance Writers Den. You may entry this whole four-week bootcamp plus over 300 hours of different trainings by changing into a Den member.
Methods to Get White Paper Writing Expertise
If you know the way to write down articles or advertising and marketing supplies, you need to be capable to discover ways to write white papers with just a little effort and observe.
The very first thing it’s worthwhile to do is learn all you may about writing white papers from books, blogs, articles, and so on. That additionally means finding out examples so you already know what’s anticipated (take a look at this instance). An increasing number of corporations are posting white papers on-line to construct their authority—obtain just a few and provides them a learn.
Now begin writing…
After you be taught the method of writing white papers, you can begin working towards your talent on a hypothetical or actual firm. Select a business-to-business firm, as B2B tends to fee extra white papers than B2C. They normally have sophisticated choices and must persuade enterprise house owners to buy their services or products.
One other thought: create a white paper to promote your writing, about how companies profit from utilizing freelance writers. Publish it in your web site as a free obtain for prospects.
Sharpen your abilities by writing white papers as typically as you may. As soon as you are feeling that you simply’re prepared, begin on the lookout for shoppers.
The place to Discover White Paper Writing Jobs
- Let your present shoppers know what white papers are, how they work and why their enterprise wants one. Present them the samples you’ve created. In case you can persuade them that they want a white paper, you can be in your means
- Search for enterprise house owners who’re getting articles or brochures written. Clarify what a white paper is and why it’s higher than an everyday article or brochure. Suggest potential matters that may be acceptable to their enterprise. Hopefully, it is possible for you to to entice them into asking you to write down one
- Write one for much less. If it’s your first job, then it doesn’t matter if you happen to cost much less. Perhaps you’ll not earn sufficient for all the trouble you place in, however you’re going to get a pattern that may enable you to land profitable jobs sooner or later
Upon getting just a few samples in your portfolio, you may search for higher jobs.
The most effective factor is to promote your companies as a white paper author via your web site, chilly calling, and different advertising and marketing strategies. Search for corporations which might be concerned in fields like expertise (cloud computing, CRM, content material administration, IT healthcare), or finance (insurance coverage, banks, re-insurance).
After all, you may as well search for white paper jobs on websites like LinkedIn.
White Paper Writing Errors to Keep away from
Whilst you’re gaining expertise, there are some important errors you need to attempt to keep away from as you enter this market.
Listed below are some errors Carol Tice, founding father of Make a Residing Writing, made on a white paper writing gig:
Mistake 1: Not vetting the shopper
When a writer-friend tells you, “Hey, it is a likelihood to work with an incredible finish shopper that’s a Fortune 500,” I don’t find out about you, however I are inclined to get stars in my eyes.
It turned out that I’d be working circuitously with this shopper, however with one among their accepted advertising and marketing companies. The man who headed it was a former workers speechwriter and advertising and marketing author at this F500. As soon as once more, I used to be wowed.
“Man, this man should know *precisely* what he’s doing,” I assumed.
What I didn’t discover out? He’d only in the near past stop the corporate and arrange this company…and had no expertise working an company. He’d by no means had writers working below him earlier than. He hadn’t written white papers both.
That turned out to be one thing he sucked at. In the middle of my mission, everybody he had employed as a “staffer” for his little company stop.
He would have his workers minions give assignments to the writers—and guess what? It was like a giant sport of phone.
Virtually each single factor I used to be instructed, from deadlines to wordcounts, turned out to be fallacious. A variety of frantic rewriting ensued.
Takeaway: If I’d requested round about this man, I might need realized he was a legendary prima donna—and would have bother delegating writing work.
Mistake 2: No direct shopper contact
The whole lot I did on this white paper writing job got here down secondhand. I couldn’t even have instructed you who on the large firm this company reported to.
I’d obtain phrase trickle-down fashion, about who to interview about what. Then, after I interviewed them, I’d be instructed I didn’t ask them the fitting issues, or that I wanted a distinct supply. These sorts of miscommunications are an epidemic in companies that maintain their shoppers near the vest.
In his efforts to maintain us from poaching the shopper work (not even potential with this firm, since they solely used just a few accepted companies), he would parcel out components of tasks to totally different individuals. You by no means knew who else may be touching totally different components of your similar elephant. The consequence: chaos.
Takeaway: I ought to have gotten readability off the bat on who I’d be reporting to for this white paper writing job, who was on my mission, and who I’d be capable to entry.
Mistake 3: Skipping the analysis
I mainly labored with what I used to be handed, as a substitute of doing my very own analysis to be taught extra in regards to the kinds of charity packages I used to be documenting. I might need had higher backup concepts for interviews, or packages to match it (favorably) to, if I’d taken the time.
Greater than as soon as in the middle of the mission, I used to be sitting round for days on finish, after which having to do a rush job on an interview, the place I most likely might have extra rapidly discovered sources by myself and simply requested for approval.
Takeaway: Don’t sit together with your fingers folded ready for information out of your shopper—do your personal legwork, so that you’ve got extra to work with.
Mistake 4: A key query omitted
One large query I actually want I’d requested is, “What’s your writing course of like?”
In any case, I’d by no means written a white paper earlier than. So I didn’t understand that I wanted just a few key issues:
- Approval of every of my sources from higher-ups
- A signed launch from every of my interview topics
- To let every interview topic learn their copy earlier than turning it in
- To acquire inventory photographs from my topics
Lengthy after a few of my interviews, towards the tip of the mission, I used to be all of the sudden requested to “flip in my releases.” To which I replied, “What releases????”
I’d by no means been given a type or instructed my interviews needed to fill it out…however all of the sudden, I regarded like a clueless idiot. It had been weeks since a few of my interviews, and it was further work to dig a few of them again up and get them to log out.
Takeaway: Discover out what *all* the weather are which might be your “deliverables” within the mission—and make certain you get them as you go. Don’t depart paperwork to the tip.
Mistake 5: Operating in circles
One of many issues that was dangled in entrance of me on this white paper writing job was the concept of overseas journey. Their program is world, they usually have been together with some tales from different international locations.
When it was strongly hinted that I’d snag one among these assignments, I turned my life the wrong way up to expire and get an expedited passport. Which, in fact, turned out to be a complete waste of time. Actually, I by no means left my home, even.
Takeaway: Don’t chase phantoms on a gig. If somebody’s hinting you may must do one thing for the mission, get extra particulars and discover out if it’s actual, earlier than losing time.
The excellent news is that the mission did ultimately get completed…and it got here out actual good. I bought an important clip out of the deal. It was undoubtedly price doing, regardless of all the issues.
However I want I’d taken a extra thorough angle to scoping this out earlier than I dove in. Then, I might need had a smoother highway and ended up getting extra white paper writing gigs for this shopper, as a substitute of getting a relationship that went down in flames.
Because it labored out, it was a very long time earlier than one other white paper writing job alternative got here round.
