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Take it from Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson; the word “proposal” strikes fear into the hearts of many. In a well-written and illuminating Customer Flypaper entry, our esteemed co-blogger Ian Farmer explains how proposal writing gives many business prospectors a severe case of writer’s block. Lurking at the heart of Ian’s post is an implicit and important question that could keep even Shakespeare stumped: to propose or not to propose?

Much of the apprehension surrounding proposals arises from another, more frequently asked question: am I wasting my time? Most of us have better things to do than design and deliver a masterpiece filled with compelling sales points, only to have the treasured document ignored, or even worse, deleted or placed into the circular file.

But it doesn’t have to end this way—by following some simple rules you can put your proposals in the spotlight, where they can convert prospective customers into committed clients. Here are my TOP 3 REASONS YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT WASTING YOUR TIME ON A PROPOSAL…

1.    You’re Sure You’re Sending the Proposal to the Right Person, in the Right Place

Have you pre-qualified the recipient of your proposal? Before letting your fingers hit your keyboard, verify that the potential client has a serious interest in what you’re selling, and that your pitch will reach the appropriate decision-maker. Sometimes this determination is easy. For example, the prospective customer might distribute a request for proposals or bids. More often it’s considerably less obvious, and you’ll need to base your conclusion on facts gathered through a direct sales call, internet research or your network of business contacts.

2.    You Can Clearly Communicate How You Meet the Customer’s Wants and Needs

You already know plenty about your product or service. Your task as a proposal writer is to learn everything you can about the potential client’s wants and needs, then highlight all the meaningful ways your product or service will satisfy them.

3.    You’re Recycling

With proposals, recycling is good for more than saving trees and making you a better citizen of the Earth. As you send out submissions, take the portions you find yourself using over and over again, and weave them into a template you can quickly and easily tailor toward specific clients. Your business routine might even call for 3 or 4 different templates for a range of typical customers or situations. Ultimately, you’re seeking to construct a system that leads to a significantly more painless and efficient proposal production process.

Once you’ve taken care of these top 3, you’re ready to start planning and writing. Stay tuned.

________________________________________ 

Reneisha Black Ferguson is Founder and Managing Director of Proxy Prose (www.proxyprose.com), a commercial writing and editing firm where compelling content creation combines with years of project management experience.

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Memo from Owee Bag-O-Consumption (My personal version of the Joey Bag of Doughnuts caricature):

All around me, I am surrounded by these recurring and exaggerated themes that the Consumer, has packed their highly leveraged bags and abandoned the economic scene.  So let me set the record straight on one consumer’s whereabouts.  I am alive and well.  I have not abdicated my responsibilities to the economic marketplace and I will be back.  The last 18 months have compelled me to realize that my old spending patterns just were not delivering “the goods” for me.  Now I look at the stuff that I’ve accumulated and the gadgets that I have bought and you know what…I figured out it’s time for a new value proposition.  The great news for the marketplace…”My new value proposition (my new spending trigger) is really all about going Back To The Future.”  

Here is just a one of the ideas that I’ll be consistently shopping or buying during this Age of Stimulus and some tips on the types of packaging that will attract me:  

1. Products and services that deliver expanded intellectual knowlege, capacity - What is obvious to me…the work ahead will require individuals that are capable of organically growing their knowledge base.  I am interested in products and experiences that burnish my life-long learning capabilities.  The Successful Sell or “packaging” sounds like this:  Our product or service will quantitatively expand your problem-solving capabilities or improve your ability to share resources within your network. 

1.  SendoutCards Subsciption - I rolled my eyes when my Sister-in-Law introduced me to this multi-level marketing product because normally mlm’s are an “about face” proposition for me.  That is, when I’m propositioned with them, I do an “about face” and quickly raise the “no purchase” flag.  That being said, I made minimum purchase of $22 and chalked it up to family support.  Five months later, this online tool for delivering customized cards is a valuable tool in nurturing business and personal relationships.  We’ve saved money, maintained connections, and solved a problem that has haunted us for years (remembering important dates in the lives of our extended family).  This buy gets a three “O Buy rating” from me…earning an O for Value (Price consistently beats store bought  cards delivered price), an O for Delivery (Card customization and presentation deliver a cool “Wow” factor for the card recipient), and an O for Creative application (Online tool allows Card sender to organize contacts, notes, key dates, and reminders with ease).  OOO rating means that this tool has unlocked my wallet lock and WILL be purchased again.  This product prompted the following thought, “if the I Phone were offered via Multi-Level Marketing would it be any less ingenius and captivating to those who appreciate it’s ingenuity?”…Now after my interaction with the Sendout Cards product, I THINK NOT.  Try it and chime in with your thoughts.
2. GoFreelance.com Membership - Under the category of embarrassing is where this one should be filed.  Looking to turnover new opportunities to create revenue on the web, I joined this community of Freelancers on a trial membership that has morphed into a $35-a-month leech job.  Soon after joining the community, I learned of Guru.com (a free community that offers more robust tools for those looking to target online opportunities for Freelancers).  At a minimum, exploring Guru will help meto either cost justify the GoFreelance.com opportunity or motivate me to coat my wallet in salt in an effort to rid my GoFreelance.com-Leech experience.  The GoFreelance.com purchase has earned a single O rating because the community feels like a ghost town…E-M-P-T-Y.  After submitting two bids and receiving no response, I have my doubts about how robust this online market for service providers is.  The single O is awarded for the site’s email newsletter “TheFreelanceJobreport” which yielded useful links in the following areas: Books for Bloggers, Creating Clever Business Cards, Freelance Jobs from Around the Web and most enjoyably 5 Tips to Improve Your “About Me” page (hint: Your “about me” page is never realy about you, it’s about giving you client the knowledge they need to make a hiring decision).  O rating, as in one O = “NO” to further purchases or recommendation of this product - I’m anxious to screen Guru, Sologig, Sunoasis, and Project4Hire because my GoFreelance.com experience has not been an effective tool for exploring viable virtual work experiences on the web. 

 Sooo those are the first two entries into Owee’s Bag of Consumption.  Both them falling under the general category of expanding knowledge, network, and problem solving capabilities.  These types of purchases help me stay connected, relevant, and active in the economic and social marketplace of ideas.    While this is just one of the five sells that I’m buying in today’s marketplace, it is the most important of the five sells because buying great products in this category will expand my ability to grow my social and economic networth naturally.    

Throughout 2009, you will occasionally get my thoughts on this.  In this age of consumer-generated-media (CGM), it is one consumer’s take…as I navigate the Age of Stimulus.  As you chart your course and assess your state in the current economic climate, The Customer’s Take wants to know, “What are you buying?”  Drop some wisdom-breadcrumbs for the Tribe and let us know what you’re buying and why you’re buying it? 

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There has never been a more appropriate time to look at using an Interim Manager - CxO For Hire, VP of Sales for Hire - whatever term you are using in your market.

I don’t normally blog about “me” but this interim topic keeps coming up.  I have 30 years, international sales, marketing and general management experience including board and non executive (advisory board) posts, doing start ups and turnarounds.  Many companies especially SMEs, simply do not have the budget for the salary that this level of experience commands.

However, if they looked at an interim CxO - even a few days a month - they would get the experience they desperately need but not the salary bill. Furthermore, an experienced interim will fit in and pick up the reins quicker than you would believe. I have being doing interims for 20 years, I can bring experience of succeeding in market conditions that many of today’s “younger” managers and business owners have simply never seen before and don’t know how to handle.

The added bonus of an interim (that people forget) is the up to date, market intelligence that your interim brings - it is priceless. I ran a sales team for a Fortune 500 during a merger, I managed the team 3 days a week, I was out in here market the other two days and bought an invaluable view that an internal person would not get. I also delivered $14m in sales against $12 target in a down market.

Don’t dismiss interims and CxOs for hire - you are missing a big opportunity.

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When the market is tough and leads are few and far between, sales opportunities cannot be wasted and you need the right sales people on board.  This week the best damn sales blog has got a best damn sales tip and a best damn management tip!

Take two sales people - sales person A has 10 years experience, sales person B has 1 years experience they have used 10 times!  You might want to read that again.

Are you hiring A’s or B’s.

As a sales manager or a sales person are you thinking and acting like  A or B?  - if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got.

Sales people aren’t all born they can be trained, but even the “naturals” keep learning - otherwise they become salesperson B.

So when you are hiring you need to be on the look out for evidence of real experience not just time in the job.  What training has the candidate attended, how do they keep up to date, how open minded are they to continuing professional development?

There is lots of help, support and insights out there (you are reading one source).  Sales person A always puts the effort in to pick up and learn new ideas and techniques.  Sales person B - they just do the same pitch but on a different day.

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Charlotte Chamber of Commerce holds a monthly “after hours” network meeting - great to meet loads of people, outside of normal working hours and not eating into prime time.

In my last blog,  point number 6,  I suggested following up with people you meet - regardless of how valuable a contact they seem.

At an “after hours” last week an attendee, who was a grant writer, was there looking for work.  They had no business cards and a hefty resume, that did not reflect what skills they had,  a copy of which I declined to take - sorry I am not hiring, not a recruiter and I did have a lot to carry already.

BUT  I did spend time with the person - what’s 10 minutes between new acquaintances and I was not entirely sure what a grant writer did so I learned something.

After a few minutes I asked “are you on Linkedin” - response “no”.  I continued “are you using any social networking media - response “no”.

My reply - “OK, drop me an email with your details and I will keep an eye out for you”.  For those of you that know me this was not an idle promise.

Well, I have heard nothing.  No email, no follow up, no “thanks for your time”.  Guess what, I have found someone that wants …………. you got it ………….. a grant writer.  But I have no way to contact the “networker”.

The lesson from this story - don’t waste your time networking if you are not going to get prepared, not going to make it easy for people to network with you, not going to follow up OR if you are expecting instant results.

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Have you recently served as a keynote speaker at an event? Or, has your business received a special award or recognition? If so, don’t just sweep these accomplishments under the rug. Submit this news to the "business notes" section of your local newspaper or business journal.

More often than not, the business section of your local newspaper has a weekly "business notes" or "business briefs" section that lists short blurbs about businesses from your area. These mentions, submitted by businesses, range from recent media coverage to book releases and website launches. If you’re operating on a small marketing budget, business brief submissions are an easy to execute, cost-effective tool that will keep your business in the public eye.

You would be surprised at how many people regularly peruse the business briefs section to stay in the loop about business news, stake out possible partnerships, and generate talking points for networking events. To get started, all it takes is a call to the news desk at your local newspaper to secure the appropriate submission contact and a few minutes to craft your submission. Your submission should be a short, succinct paragraph that lists the basics about your topic. Remember, you can create a business brief about a variety of areas, including:

• Recent media coverage
• Conference/event keynotes
• Website launches
• Awards/recognitions/designations
• Board appointments
• New hires/promotions
• New product/service launches
• Community partnerships

Another great thing about a business brief submission is that it can still be used in conjunction with other PR tools such as press releases and media pitches to extend the life of your story.

————————
About Kristina Hill

An expert in marketing communications, Kristina Hill provides integrated marketing consulting services to small and mid-sized businesses through MarComm Creative Group, LLC. The business offers an array of services, including: public relations and media relations; advertising planning and placement; integrated marketing plan development and execution; and writing services.

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Difficult economic times create an ironic and frustrating challenge for your charitable efforts: as the needs expand, the available funding shrinks. With less cash to go around, the already vigorous competition for grant money heats up. But as they say, when the going gets tough…

Scarcity of resources makes your consistent and creative use of fundamental grant writing principles more critical than ever. Here are just a few:

Only If You Build It Well, Will They Come

Savvy granting sources shower their dollars on real projects targeting real needs, using a realistic strategy. On that note, let’s keep it real—even the best grant writing won’t do much good for an activity or organization that exists primarily to pursue grants. But some carefully crafted words can work wonders for a project that combines passion with a purpose and a plan. So don’t go putting your lipstick on pigs; save it for a meaningful mission.

Color By The Numbers

Before you put fingers to keyboard, read everything you can about your granting source, its general policies, and especially the specific guidelines covering the grant you’re seeking. Then lather, rinse and repeat. The last thing you want is to deprive your worthy cause of much-needed support by providing only 10 copies of your application, instead of the 12 clearly required by the rules. Unfortunately, many overwhelmed granting sources are looking for reasons to weed your submission out of a large, intimidating stack of funding requests. Don’t make it easy on them by coloring outside the lines.

Let Your Passion Shine Through—Without Creating A Glare

Your enthusiasm for your endeavors can be a powerful ally in winning commitments from donors. At its best it’s contagious, triggering an almost spontaneous eagerness in granting sources to get behind your project. However, the flames that warm will also consume, and in the absence of well-established facts, figures and methods of measuring outcomes, unbridled passion may come across as impractical idealism. Use your excitement wisely, to add punch to your executive summary or breathe life into your budget narrative, and it will reward you.

The Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love

Assembling a successful grant application isn’t just another writing assignment, it’s more like a short term small business operation. Setting timetables, collecting information from multiple sources, and interpreting or even creating budgets will almost certainly be part of your job description. Build time into your production schedule for the necessary writing and non-writing work, as well as the inevitable delays you can’t control. Prepare yourself by drawing on valuable online tools like The Foundation Center.

In the best of times, grant money doesn’t grow on trees. But with a solid grant writing strategy, despite a challenging economic environment you can make sure the bucks stop with you.

 ____________________________________________________________

Reneisha Black-Ferguson is Founder and Managing Director of Proxy Prose (www.proxyprose.com), a commercial writing and editing firm where compelling content creation combines with years of project management experience.

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Only three more days until we elect the 44th President of the United States. Although I’m more than ready for November 4th, it will be hard to adjust after all the hoopla surrounding the election comes to an end. I’ve been deeply engrossed in the race for the White House for the past year – carefully monitoring every news source to learn the latest moves by the candidates. It will be an interesting adjustment after all this is over.

As I sit back and watch the major cable news networks hit us with some of their final thoughts on the election, I started thinking about all the marketing strategies and tactics I’ve seen in action on the campaign trail – and there have been many. As we prepare to put another election cycle in the history books, here are a few observations about what has played out:

• Message Is King: A strong message is the foundation of any worthwhile marketing campaign. It has to reflect and communicate the attributes of the brand and resonate with the intended target audience. I’ve been intrigued by the “Change We Need” and “Country First” messages communicated by the Obama and McCain campaigns. We’ll see which one comes out on top.

• The Groundswell Is Real: Whether you like him or not, Barack Obama has forever changed the way political campaigns are run in this country. He used the unifying aspects of social media to introduce himself to the nation; communicate his “change” message and political platform; build a core group of supporters; reel in young people; give his social media followers tools to bring other people into the fold; and of course, raise a boatload of money. I think we have only scratched the surface of what social media can and will accomplish.

• Pictures Say A Thousand Words: We’ve all seen images of candidates kissing babies, standing on stage in front of thousands of adoring supporters, sitting across from world leaders, and spending time with family. Pictures are strategic tools that say a lot (good or bad). As I’ve said before, pictures really do say a thousand words.

• PR Rules: Public relations has had the leading role in this election. Each candidate has skillfully used public relations strategies and tactics in an attempt to control the news cycle and as a result, have the media tell their story for them. There has been lots of PR jockeying during this election, but the more memorable move goes to John McCain for selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate. Everyone has their own personal opinion about whether or not this was the right choice, but she sure had everyone’s attention for a few solid weeks and translated this attention into a jump in poll numbers for the McCain campaign during her early run.

• Endorsements Are Game Changers: On a personal level, getting influential people to say good things about you is a huge plus, and it was no different in this election. Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama was a fourth quarter score for his campaign.

• Hit Your Target, Expand From There: Every business has a target consumer that they are trying to reach. However, in order for most businesses to grow, they need to expand their customer base. It’s been exciting to watch each campaign try to win support beyond their base – tightening messages, using buzz words, running commercials in “battleground states,” and beefing up community outreach efforts and direct mail distribution. The person who wins this game will probably take the election.

• Customers Always Rule: Any successful business knows that it’s all about you and me – the customer. The presidential candidates know it, too. We’ll see which one prevails in what is the ultimate battle of meeting customer demands – the race for the White House.

I’m sure that I’ll have a few more thoughts to share as Election Day draws closer. In the meantime, what other marketing observations can you share from the 2008 presidential race or even a local election in your area?

————————
About Kristina Hill

An expert in marketing communications, Kristina Hill provides integrated marketing consulting services to small and mid-sized businesses through MarComm Creative Group, LLC. The business offers an array of services, including: public relations and media relations; advertising planning and placement; integrated marketing plan development and execution; and writing services.

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What’s your guilty pleasure? Dancing With the Stars? Wife Swap? Do you secretly own every episode of Fear Factor? Well come on out of the closet, because watching this type of programming yields powerful, hidden benefits. To prove my point, here are 5 reality television techniques that can work wonders for your writing.

1.    Make the “Scripted” Look “Unscripted”

Reality TV producers have mastered the art of “structured spontaneity”, using a carefully crafted format while leaving ample room for unexpected results. This strategy can also generate captivating written content. Try telling a true story about your product or service pulling a customer out of a pinch in an unusual way. Be sure to preserve the element of surprise, by waiting until the last minute to reveal how your business saves the day.

2.    They Don’t Call It “Reality TV” for Nothing

Even as you’re cooking up a true-to-life tale of your company’s heroic accomplishments, maintain authenticity in your writing. Reality television involves plenty of manufactured moments, but the characters are everyday folks, not actors. That’s why so many of us identify so strongly with their struggles and successes. With that in mind, keep your writing focused on actual people dealing with real dilemmas.

3.    Tackle Tough Topics

Whether producer or participant, reality television is not for the timid. Neither is good writing. Fearlessly make bold, attention-grabbing proclamations like I Hate Your Dancing Website, especially in your headlines. Besides, what your customers want most is help with the problems that keep them awake at night, and these problems tend to be unpleasant. Don’t shy away from telling them that some employees steal, or that even the best software malfunctions. As long as you let them know you can assist them in overcoming these challenges.

4.    Leave Something On the Cutting Room Floor

For every prime time hour of reality TV, producers must edit reams of raw footage. Once you feel like you have a nice piece of written work, edit it. Then have someone else review it. Then you edit it some more, until only the most compelling content remains. ‘Nuff said.

5.    Anybody Can Be A Star

The reality spotlight can transform a “never-heard-of” into a “next big thing” overnight. Through the wealth of easily accessible, free online publishing and social media tools, you can achieve a similar effect. Create a blog. Or Become An Expert Author. Then employ Google Analytics to track visits by your adoring fans. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but take it a step at a time and you’ll make it happen.

So all that time watching Supernanny wasn’t wasted after all. Who knew?

____________________________________________________________

Reneisha Black-Ferguson is Founder and Managing Director of Proxy Prose (www.proxyprose.com), a commercial writing and editing firm where compelling content creation combines with years of project management experience.

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Pity the poor print brochure. How can it keep up with websites, blogs and the rest of the cheaper, sexier attractions available on the web? Where does it fit in with its more popular direct mail cousins, the postcard, flyer and sales letter, which typically produce more customer conversions for your promotional dollar? And why even bother putting together a glossy tri-fold when you can invest that time and money into an online brochure? Well believe it or not, while print brochures have become more side dish than entrée, in the proper place on your marketing menu they can really hit the spot.

As with any writing project, seek out some guidance from an expert or two before you get out of the gate on creating a brochure. Don’t forget that the regular “know your audience” and “know your purpose” rules apply. Finally, for those of you still actually paying attention, read on for some relatively random ramblings on the timeless appeal of the print brochure.

The Joys of Instant Gratification

If you spend lots of time at trade shows, conducting seminars or in other situations where you’re face-to-face with folks who are already interested in your product or service, nothing beats a carefully constructed brochure. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t figured out how to put a website or a blog into a prospect’s hand after shaking it. Or onto a conference room table in front of each participant in a formal presentation to a major potential client. In these situations, sending an internet address to a customer’s cell phone or PDA just doesn’t have the same impact.

Avoiding File 13

After spending a pretty penny on print brochure production, one of your greatest fears is that the fruit of your blood, sweat and tears will go from your prospect’s hands and into the trash can in record time. Never fear, with the right approach your brochure will bypass the circular file and stay at the top of a stack on your customer’s desk instead. Incorporate unique information or valuable tips and your readers will refer back to the pamphlet until it’s worn and faded.

And The Winner For Best Supporting Marketing Tool Is…

A print brochure is no longer the centerpiece of an effective marketing effort. Yet you’re not feeding your audience a full meal of promotional materials without one. If you’re committed to a comprehensive marketing program for your business, product or service, make sure there’s a brochure on your plate.

___________________________________________________________________

Reneisha Black-Ferguson is Founder and Managing Director of Proxy Prose (www.proxyprose.com), a commercial writing and editing firm where compelling content creation combines with years of project management experience.

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