When you think of a white paper, what comes to mind?  Is it a boring, descriptive, overly-professional document that you’ll struggle to get through in the hopes of learning something?  Would you ever voluntarily read a white paper with a boring title from a company you don’t know?  You’re not alone.

Hence, the ebook.  I’m not talking about books you can download on a Kindle.  I’m talking about short (5-20 pages) documents that have the goal of educating and enticing without all of the stuffiness.  Just as the use of social media is the cool and “in” marketing tactic to create content people are attracted to instead of interrupted by, the ebook is the new, hip document that people create with the goal of educating others via a document that they actually want to read.  The reasoning behind it is that people can learn something for their job and enjoy what they’re reading at the same time.  There is no longer the major dichotomy between Personal=fun/enjoyable to Work=buttoned up/boring.

A great example of an ebook that stepped away from the standard educational information of the industry and increased market awareness for the business is “Healthy Smile, Healthy Sex!:  How Your Oral Health Affects Your Sex Life” by Dr. Helaine Smith. 

Let’s start with the title.  Even when you’ve been sitting in your dentist’s waiting room for an hour with nothing to read, did you ever want to pick up an educational brochure?  Me neither.  And that’s when you’re a captive audience.  Yet, this ebook has been downloaded thousands of times by people nowhere near a dentist office and educated them on things they need to be concerned about regarding dental hygiene and how it can impact other parts of their lives…some may say the most important part of their lives.

Then there’s the content.  I have never read any dental white papers but I’m fairly confident none of them are aimed at me, the patient, and discuss sex, pot smoking, pregnancy, and aging all in a quick, entertaining, and informative manner on topics that matter to me.   I don’t need to know the deep, technical stuff.  That’s for the dentist.  I just need to know enough to educate me and help me understand what I can do on my own and why going to a dentist regularly is important.

Finally, a good ebook will have calls to action. In the ebook, Dr. Smith let’s people know her background and how to contact her for speaking engagements as well as sign up for her newsletter and blog.

The white paper is not dead and there are some out there that do it right, however those creating content for their marketing endeavors should probably go with writing an ebook.  They’re more enjoyable for everyone involved and have the ability to attract many more prospects.

Have you written an ebook for your business?  Please feel free to share how it went.

One of the things we’re asked all of the time by companies is “Why should I take the time to list my business solutions on your site?  Even if it is free.”  And while we discuss the benefits such as:

• Amplifying your company’s word-of-mouth by letting customer refer and rate your solutions
• Compete based on your quality and not marketing budget
• Increase your opportunities to be found by prospects that have never heard of you
• ….and more

One of the best reasons to list your company and solution on our site is to immediately improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and inbound marketing. 

By adding your company and just one of your business applications or services to our site, you’re increasing the number of external web pages your company name and solution name are mentioned in and have inbound links in 15 pages. 

Every other solution added adds another eight quality pages explaining your solution to prospects and improving your SEO and SEM. Adding content such as white papers, case studies, presentations, and videos also make a direct impact on your SEO.  In addition, adding relevant tags to your content and solutions also go through as keywords on search engines.

Once again, the goal of our site is to be the central place for businesses to find and promote business information, applications, and services.  We want to connect buyers and sellers in Small to Mid-Size Businesses (SMBs) as efficiently as possible by using the same practices we’re all used to in our consumer lives to help our businesses.  As more and more companies join our site, the more value we add for everyone.  We built this site to help people, not search engines.

But in a day where the majority of traffic comes from search engines, every bit helps.  Listing on FYIndOut not only builds your brand and reputation with prospects, it also builds your SEO.

Rick Burnes at HubSpot posted a great article today titled “Inbound Marketing and The Next Phase of Marketing On The Web”.  In the article he discusses the recession and the value that inbound marketing will bring to companies over the past outbound marketing practices.

In addition to defining inbound marketing, Rick discusses the three key components to the most successful inbound marketing campaigns;

1.      Content

2.      Search Engine Optimization

3.      Social Media

He also points out why inbound marketing makes sense in a recession;

1.      It Costs Less

2.      Better Targeting

3.      It’s an Investment, Not an Ongoing Expense

Take the time to read Rick’s article.  It’s well worth it.