"Your introduction is one of the most important sections of your white paper," says Jonathan Kantor in a post at the White Paper Pundit blog. "The degree that your introduction engages your reader serves as the 'make or break' point for the rest of [the] paper." How do you create an engaging introduction that increases the likelihood that your whitepaper will be read? Kantor offers these tips for making a great first impression:

Don't call it an introduction. Use a more precise title for the introductory section, Kantor suggests, such as A Decade of Growth: The Evolving Outsourced Services Industry. "With a heading that is directly related to the content, your reader will be able to anticipate key messages," he explains.

Add a sidebar or callout. "The sentence you choose for your callout should be directly related to the introduction and one that will build credibility with the reader," he says.

Tie the heading to the callout. Using the sample title above, a callout that validates how the industry has grown over the past 10 years would be right on, he notes.

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