Used in business as a marketing or sales tool, a white paper is a fancy name for a report that addresses specific issues or problems and educates readers on how to solve them.

Business white papers are typically written to advocate a specific solution for a particular problem and are used to generate interest in a product and influence the decision-making processes of prospective customers.

Many online businesses use white papers or free reports as incentive to generate leads and get people into their sales funnel.

For example, as someone interested in Internet business opportunities, you've probably already signed up for a large number of these ‘reports' or white papers that promise to answer your questions regarding some aspect of Internet marketing.

But you can also create your own downloadable white papers / reports to generate leads and promote products as an affiliate for hard goods such as beauty supplies, electronics, cameras and almost any other product that you sell.

However, making sure that your white paper doesn't come across sounding like a sales pitch takes skill. To learn how to generate sustaining, long-term sales by using white papers, I recommend that you read Attracting Leads with White Papers – which is a FREE chapter from Michael Stelzner's new bestselling book, “Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged“. Please note that this is available only to residents of Canada and the U.S.

In “Attracting Leads with White Papers” you'll learn to:

• Generate a steady stream of quality leads with white papers
• Soft-sell by educating readers
• Write white papers that engage readers
• Stand out from the crowd
• Grab eyeballs with words

“Attracting Leads with White Papers” is made available through NetLine Corporation, a premier online lead generation services provider for B2B marketers. Netline is offering this excerpt in partnership with the book's author, Michael Stelzner.

Browse Netline's extensive list of FREE Small & Medium Business magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills and interests. Topics include SMB technology, small business management, entrepreneurship and franchising. All are absolutely free to professionals who qualify.