7 Techniques to Turn Your Business Proposal into a Best Seller

7 Techniques to Turn Your Business Proposal into a Best Seller Summertime is when a lot of people grab a book, plop down in a lawn or beach chair and blissfully enter a vivid world that some novelist created. You may think that the way a novelist weaves the web of story is different from the way you write a business proposal, but maybe you should think again. After all, novelists have to solicit business (convince you to read the whole book), state the problem (present the main story conflict), present a solution (resolve the conflict) and show credibility (create a convincing world). Isn’t that what a proposal does? Here are 7 tips from novelists that will help you write a best-selling proposal: #1: KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS Novelists will often write character studies, making lists of attributes for each main character. They include things like what kind of clothing the character wears, how much they eat, what music they listen to and what they love or hate in their relationships. Most of this detail will not make it into the finished novel, but a deep understanding of each character allows the novelist to write the story in a way that has readers empathizing with these fictional people. So, too, will a successful business proposal show the depth of knowledge you have of the target company, their industry and the challenges they face. Do your homework on the client before sitting down to write the proposal. A good business proposal focuses fully on client needs and wants. It's not about you. #2: REMEMBER WHO THE MAIN CHARACTER IS Have you ever started a novel that focuses on one character, only to find out later that he or she has a bit part in the overall plot? That is a failing on the part of the novelist, who should make it clear right up front who the star of the story is. The equivalent of this mistake is when a proposal starts with an â€Å"About Us† segment that describes your company, the services you offer and the great projects you have completed. Your company is not the main character in this drama- the client is. Your best-selling business proposal focuses on the client, their problem and how you propose to solve it. Your qualifications come later and are supplemental to the main plot of the proposal. #3: HOOK ‘EM FAST â€Å"Start the piece where the trouble starts.† - Adair Lara Novelists are prodded to go straight to the conflict at the heart of the story. This is referred to as In medias res- Latin for â€Å"in the middle of things.† A reader wants to get right to the action with no throat clearing or long set-ups. Your proposal also should waste no time in getting to the action. Capture your reader’s attention by moving quickly to a statement of the client’s problem, and how you propose to solve it. #4: SLOW DOWN AT THE POINT OF GREATEST COMPLEXITY Have you ever read a novel where the author rushed through a scene right at the height of the action? Or worse- did he use the â€Å"old fade to black† routine? What was your reaction? You probably felt cheated and clapped the book shut. The same thing will happen if you use fuzzy language or rush the reader of your business proposal through the â€Å"How We Will Help You Solve Your Problem† section of the document. This is the "action scene" where you slow down and give the reader a lot of detail. Clearly explain exactly how you will help the client. Do not use over worked terms such as value-added, optimize, best practice, or leverage. Avoid industry jargon or acronyms your potential client might not understand. #5: CHOOSE THE RIGHT LANGUAGE â€Å"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. - Mark Twain Language is the tool in a novel that sets scene, portrays emotion, creates mood and brings the story alive in the reader’s mind. Successful proposals contain the right language for the client: specific to their industry, free of jargon, and above all, clear. For help with this step, review our Guide to Clarity in Business Writing. #6: MAKE EVERY WORD MATTER â€Å"Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.† - Elmore Leonard You know you’ve done it- jumped ahead in a novel to get to the good parts, skipping long descriptions, redundant characterizations, etc. Your clients are also good at skimming. They have to be in order to save their time and sanity because so many business documents are long and convoluted. Take a cue from the writers of page-turning novels and make each word of your proposal crucial. Set a quick pace in your narrative, provide headings for ease of reading and leave plenty of white space. #7: FIND A REALLY GOOD EDITOR â€Å"Writing can be like folding a banquet-sized tablecloth; you can do it yourself, but it’s a lot easier when you can find somebody to help.† - Ted Kooser Good novels are the result of collaboration. The successful novelist has received both instruction and critique to hone his writing skills. He also takes advantage of the services of a good editor to make sure the novel is ready for publication. Writing a proposal is often a team effort. Information and data are pulled together from various sources. The proposal goes through several drafts and different people look through the document before it is ready to send off to the client. If you are the sole person writing and reviewing the proposal, be certain to let it sit for 24 hours before you edit it. You're too familiar with the material and format to objectively improve upon it, so let a little time pass so you can view it with fresh eyes. Review ourproposal writing course. This is a practicum course with individual coaching, which guides you through an actual work proposal: Your instructor will review key incremental exercises, guiding you to a perfect final proposal. Learn the planning and writing process required to write a proposal that wins business. Receive coaching on the organization, sequencing, and language of your proposal. And, receive one-on-one live proposal coaching, via WebEx, to ensure all of the proposals you write win business.

Free Essays on Huck Finn Essay

Huckleberry Finn Essay The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, tells the story of Huck’s travels down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Huck lived in a small town with his biological father, Pap; a drunk who had caused him many problems. However, in the novel, the character of Jim is portrayed as the â€Å"true father† of Huck. Because Jim acts as a role model and a mentor to Huck along their journey down the river, he proves to be more of a father figure to Huck than his biological father Pap. A father teaches his son lessons. Jim taught Huck many lessons both intentionally and indirectly. Jim shows Huck that slaves are real people, just like himself, despite the different color of skin. Huck gained a greater amount of respect for Jim when he talked of missing his family. Jim also shared with Huck that he remembers beating his little four-year-old girl once. Jim told Huck he regretted his actions and was overcome with sadness, and of how he misses his family towards the end of the novel. Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not different because of color; they have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as much as whites. Sharing this compassionate side of Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not completely different simply because of color. Jim allows Huck to see that slaves have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as white folk would love theirs. Jim cares for and protects Huck, just as a father should. When Jim and Huck went exploring in the two-story house, Jim would not let Huck see the dead man in the house. â€Å"’Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face- it’s too gashly’. I didn’t look at him at all. Jim throwed some old rags over him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jim covered the man so Huck wouldn’t have to look at him. The dead man was his Pap. Jim did not want Huck to have to see his father’s face and be upset. Jim was l... Free Essays on Huck Finn Essay Free Essays on Huck Finn Essay Huck Finn Essay People say that God gives us friends and family to make up a part of us that we lack. In so many Jim and Huck’s pap balance each other out to create a messy father figure for Huck. Throughout the whole book Huck is not alone and has someone for him to look to. Even though he’s not always in the safest situations with them, he always has someone to turn. In a quote from Huck on page 27 he talks about the up’s and down’s he has with his pap,† I reckon I was scared now, too; but in a minute I see I was mistaken-that is, after the first jolt, as you may say, when my breath sort of hitched, he being so unexpected; but right after I see I warn’t scared of him worth bothering about.† Huck’s pap is hardly ever around. When he is around Huck he is usually in a drunken state or on his way. Page 37 describes pap in a semi-dangerous drunken state,† He chased me round and round the place with a clasp knife, calling me the Angel of Death, and saying he would kill me, and then I couldn’t come for him no more.† Throughout the beginning of the book Huck’s pap pops in and out of his life, constantly making trouble and endangering Huck. Through events such as Huck’s pap kidnapping him, Huck must come to terms with the relationship he has with his father. Through the years pap has become and angry and selfish man, willing to use his own son’s money to spend how he pleased. Huck finally realizes that the situation he is in with his father isn’t the best after spending a large amount of time locked in pap’s cabin. When he finally understands that pap may be his father, but can’t give him what he needs, Huck decides to leave and create a life for himself that his father can’t give him. After leaving pap, Huck’s journey with Jim begins. Unexpectedly, Huck creates a friendship with Jim that runs deeper that any other friendship he has with an adult. Huck grows to understand Jim and to respect him. His... Free Essays on Huck Finn Essay Huckleberry Finn Essay The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, tells the story of Huck’s travels down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave. Huck lived in a small town with his biological father, Pap; a drunk who had caused him many problems. However, in the novel, the character of Jim is portrayed as the â€Å"true father† of Huck. Because Jim acts as a role model and a mentor to Huck along their journey down the river, he proves to be more of a father figure to Huck than his biological father Pap. A father teaches his son lessons. Jim taught Huck many lessons both intentionally and indirectly. Jim shows Huck that slaves are real people, just like himself, despite the different color of skin. Huck gained a greater amount of respect for Jim when he talked of missing his family. Jim also shared with Huck that he remembers beating his little four-year-old girl once. Jim told Huck he regretted his actions and was overcome with sadness, and of how he misses his family towards the end of the novel. Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not different because of color; they have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as much as whites. Sharing this compassionate side of Jim teaches Huck that slaves are not completely different simply because of color. Jim allows Huck to see that slaves have feelings, emotions, and love their families just as white folk would love theirs. Jim cares for and protects Huck, just as a father should. When Jim and Huck went exploring in the two-story house, Jim would not let Huck see the dead man in the house. â€Å"’Come in, Huck, but doan’ look at his face- it’s too gashly’. I didn’t look at him at all. Jim throwed some old rags over him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jim covered the man so Huck wouldn’t have to look at him. The dead man was his Pap. Jim did not want Huck to have to see his father’s face and be upset. Jim was l...

Tourism and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism and Development - Essay Example Regrettably, many environmentalists seem unaware of this fact. This once again points to the necessity, for policy makers, managers, and scholars alike, to subscribe to an integrated systemic approach. Within this integrated approach to the development system are the three critically important and interdependent subsystems: economy, environment (conservation), and culture (including society). Taken together, the expanded system illuminates and in practical terms largely equates with the total environment, the total ecosystem, or more precisely the human environment, as an operational system (Gartner 1999, 117; Smith & Eadington 1992, 92). To think narrowly of the human world order in terms such as the "natural environment perturbed by human agencies" omits so much, is unrealistic and artificial, destroys an integrated approach, and by its restrictiveness all but denies sustainability in its non-fundamentalist new sense (West 2004, 307). At the other extreme, to think narrowly in terms of tourist management concerned only with tourism supply, demand, infrastructure, and consumers, in other words "the industry," is to sadly misinterpret today's realities. To view development in the matrix of the development system does not dilute attention to the economy or natural environment; rather, it adds significantly by acknowledging previously missing elements. Under contemporary circumstances, the natural environment is being looked at much more seriously than before, but in a considerably wider context. In developing countries1, it is understood that long term survival means the conservation and enhancement of the resource base in a closely knit milieu of cultural needs and economic aspirations. I term this element in this context "conservation," but conservation in its widest sense. Poverty is considered a major element in environmental degradation in some countries (for precision in the use of the term "degradation," see Butcher, 2002, 80). Attempts to prevent poverty in some places, and in others to prevent degradation from other sources and to restore degraded landscape while maintaining acceptable living conditions, require both development and redevelopment to take new and more benign directions. Large numbers of the elements of more conventional development may remain, but they may not be extended as far as previously and they might now explore new directions while others are being reassessed (Butcher 2002, 45). The removal of negative externalities where serious environmental and social impacts exist would normally become an expected cost of production, and higher consumer costs would be a tradeoff for a nondeteriorating, overall human environment (Farrell 1992, 27). The use of higher priced, chemical-free meat and vegetables, perceived by numbers of tourists as already worthwhile, or higher room rates associated with lower tourist densities on environmentally sensitive land would be examples. But for the tourism operator, all would not be lost by any means. What might appear a setback in one area can be an unexpected surprise in another. Interesting tradeoffs may arise, such as specialized eco-tourism (Mowforth & Munt 2003, 112). Other examples include tourism protecting or reinforcing the protection of wildlife in Kenya, gorillas and chimpanzees in Zaire (World Wildlife Fund-Conservation Foundation 1988 cited in Smith 2003, 33), harp seals in Labrador, wetlands in