“Wow, that’s a smart company.” Is that what you want your reader to take away from reading your white paper? There’s nothing wrong with that.

Hire someone to write smart business copy. They’re around. They do good work.

Some companies want and need to put out white papers to make them look smart.

But for those entrepreneurs who would be just as happy with a phone call, a click, or a sale instead of just impressing them with your braininess, beware of sounding too smart.

(Even if you are.)

Being smart is NOT a negative. You want to show you’re competent, knowledgeable, and current with trends and technology related to your industry. People expect it.

But if the focus is on showing all that you know at the expense of the one reading your words then you’re shooting your entrepreneurial foot.  Sounding smart for its own sake delivers short-lived results and rarely fosters engagement with buyers. 

All you end up doing is making the case for a product or service, and lose the actual sale to someone else… someone who shows a human side and a genuine willingness to work with their customers.

When your copy merely informs, you only help your more personable competitor close the sale you helped groom. As that salesperson receives that contract, they’ll thank you for educating their new client for them. (One less thing.)

Most products and services don’t just sell themselves. Consumers need a little background and education about why they need it, why it’s important to their job, life, family’s happiness, health or well being.

A white paper is a great place to lay it all out. Injected with a spark of, well, YOU (and/or your company’s culture), and some seriously friendly follow up; that white paper does its job of educating an interested prospect.

As long as you remember…

People feel good about doing business with companies they like.

They remember them, they open their emails, and they trust them.

But first they have to like something about them. It’s personal. You could say it another way; they need to feel like you’re on their wavelength.

Authority is one thing. It gets you a lot of respect. Maybe even a lot of subscribers and a readership. But authority without warmth hardly nudges the needle.

Authority WITH warmth embodies charisma people want more of. And that’s crucial if you’re a business that serves clients over the long term with relationship services, coaching programs, products requiring service contracts, etc. If the idea is that you’ll be seeing a lot of each other, then your copy will need to gently (if you’re shy) or overtly (if you’re not) express your true colors.

Use a voice; the one that comes easy. Put some heart into it. Information is practically free these days, almost worthless without a personality behind it. So it’s okay to show at least a little of yours.

Relationships, now there’s the value. Liven up your copy with friendliness and authority. Here’s a thought…Smile while you write. It works on the phone; why couldn’t it work as you write? Try it and see.

Then…be sure and ask for the next action. Ask your reader to download something, ask for the sale, ask for feedback or comments…ask for something.

Which reminds me. Will you join me on Facebook today? Head over there right now if you want to chat about copywriting for the web, social media, anything related to making connections with people, human behavior (all these weird things that make us tick) and some other stuff I can’t predict yet. You just never know.

See you there.