The Introduction of your white paper is one of the most important sections of a white paper. In this section, your goal is to present valid background and industry-specific circumstances that are causing the primary business challenge in the white paper.

Validating your business case in the Introduction can be accomplished in three different ways:

1. Industry Specific Analysts/Media/or Spokespeople - such as news articles, websites, white papers, and statistics.

2. Popular Opinion - polls that demonstrate a majority agree with your stated perspective.

3. Mini Case Studies - an actual testimonial or business story that validates your claim.

Items #1 and #2 are fairly straightforward which have used quotes, statistics and graphs, but item #3 is a completely different approach that has a greater impact for the reader.

Mini case studies use preferrable one, but not more than two paragraphs which are taken from a news articles or other industry-specific media that shows how a business or individual was impacted by the circumstances outlined in your Introduction. Typically these mini case studies show the negative impact by a company that either did not have a solution in place, or used a competing solution that was ineffective.

For example, if you were selling a data encryption solution for computer hard drives, a mini case study in the Introduction might read:

“An Idaho Power Company found itself in an uncomfortable situation as it attempted to track down several unscrubbed disk drives that had been sold on eBay. The drives contained confidential employee information, correspondence with customers and memos that discussed proprietary company information. The company said it hired an outside contractor to recycle about 230 SCSI drives. The contractor had sold 84 of those drives to 12 different parties using the online auction website. ”

Adding mini case studies such as this example at the very beginning of your white paper not only builds the case for your subsequent business challenge section, but also differentiates your white paper from the typical crowd of statistical sameness that is all too often used in the Introduction.

You can find stories like this via Google and/or searching industry specific magazines and media. Finding the best case study or news story may not occur after your first search, but if you alter your search terms eventually you will find one that fits your argument.

Try it for your next white paper and you’ll find that your reader will notice and enjoy the change.