Resources

HOW TO CREATE
GREAT CONTENT

Responsible for creating a large volume of outstanding B2B marketing content each year? Read the Content Bureau’s tips and tricks for developing high‑quality B2B marketing assets.

More Resources

How to Overcome Writer’s Block (Works for Me, At Least)

The deadline approaches, but words won’t dislodge and tumble onto your screen. You’re juiced up on caffeine and your favorite writing music has been playing for hours. The sum total of three hours of “work”: one crappy sentence. Oh dear, what can you do? I can only...

How to Write an Edgy White Paper

Ho-hum. Another white paper. Most clients struggle to turn this staple of the high tech industry into something exciting, engaging, and most important, actually read. An edgy white paper is refreshing. Challenges your thinking. Shows true zeal. We’ve written hundreds...

Keep Your Favorite Assets Evergreen

A recent B2B copywriting project began with our client sending me an array of white papers, case studies, and brochures as background material. She called particular attention to one white paper as a great benefits overview. Indeed, the paper does provide a very clear...

How to Ghostwrite a Great Conference Blog

Your annual user conference starts in two weeks. You’ve packed glossy brochures in cozy boxes. Printed thousands of badges. Reserved buckets of ice for your nightly foot-soaking. And to chronicle the big event on your company blog, you have your very own ghost eager...

Good Web Housekeeping

Most companies’ websites are a lot like closets. Everything’s dumped in them: data sheets, press releases, brochures, webcasts, and podcasts. Sure, a website is a great way to get your message out to your customers and prospects—the problem is that we leave all these assets out there in cyberspace and forget all about them. That’s why it’s critical to do a bit of tidying up every so often.

How to Write a Great Blog Post

The trouble with writing blog posts is you need to unlearn some of the skills for creating polished written communication that have taken you years to hone. A sense of casualness, or a bit of an “I just dashed this off on my way to a meeting” mood, is what readers...

Field Note #3: Put Your Content to the Test

In previous posts, I wrote about aligning your content with field objectives. But while your sales team should be the voice of your customers, they can’t determine why your target audience might respond better to the nuances in one headline over another, or which...

How to Write a Great Sales Playbook

Like cars and movie stars, different types of marcom assets fall into and out of fashion. Really long white papers? They’re so Hummer. Customer case studies? A perennial favorite, like Harrison Ford. Sales playbooks? Very hot at the moment. Why? In a tough economy,...

How To Write a Great (Sexy) White Paper

White papers get a bad rap. Dull. Long. Overly-complicated. Anything but sexy. But they’re still one of the highest-impact marcomm assets you can create. Give your customers what they yearn for—variety, visual interest, and bold content—and they’ll fall in love with white papers (and your company) all over again.

How to Write a More Readable Marcom Asset

When we’re aiming for highly readable text, we should use words with fewer syllables and write sentences that don’t ramble. Here’s how to follow the stats to top readability.

How to Conduct a Great Interview

Terry is the consummate interviewer. As marcomm professionals, I think we can all take a page from Terry’s book to help us conduct great interviews.

How Do I Create a Corporate Style Guide?

Your Highness: I work in marketing at a midsized technology firm. My boss tells me we need a style guide. Yesterday. And I’m just the person to produce it. While I do some writing as part of my job, and I can put commas where they belong—OK, most of the time—I’m not a...

How to Write a Great Customer Quote

At their best, customer case studies provide compelling proof points that support your message. And at their worst, they read like messaging documents sprinkled with stilted quotes. Yawn. So how can you make sure your customer case studies compel—not repel—readers?...

Making Your Case: A Guide to Compelling Customer Case Studies

I recently took a stroll down memory lane—and tripped and fell. The occasion was a look at some of the first customer case studies I ever wrote, way back in 1992. Rereading those pieces, it turned out, was not exactly a pleasant excursion—more like visiting an...