The proposal writer's bumper sticker

Designing effective proposals

Most proposals get about as much design attention as the old generic beer cans got. Sometimes less. The reasons are many - ranging from the need to get the thing out of the door quick to the thought that the words speak for themselves. Either way, most proposals could use a bit of help visually.

Mel Lester, of The Business Edge, wrote an instant classic article on Rain Today. The article, Beyond Pretty: How To Design An Effective Proposal, offers a few design tips to "distinguish your proposals, not just in terms of their visual impact, but also in their ability to clearly convey your message(s) to your prospects." The high points:

• Study The Design Of Top Mainstream Periodicals


• Understand How The Client Handles Your Proposal & Design It Accordingly


• Present Information At Two Levels: Skim & Read


• Highlight Your Key Messages At The Skim Level


• Always Include An Executive Summary


• Don't Dilute Your Proposal With Too Much Text


• Arrange content in a logical step-by-step fashion, describing a work process or ordering points according to importance.


• Illustrate the work process with simple flow diagrams, described in associated text.


• Consider adding at least one graphic element (photo, table, figure) to each page.


• Present most information in bullets, with bold summary statements followed by supporting text.


• Keep tables and figures simple.


• Prepare your tables and figures first, before writing the associated text.


• Always include captions with your pictures.


• Use the inverted pyramid design throughout.

Read the full article here.

Recent Reading Roundup 2

I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Michael Stelzner’s book, Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged.

I found out about Michael’s book when he spoke on the Guerrilla Marketing Association’s weekly conference call. I immediately visited his website and blog and found out that he would give anyone who mentioned his book on their blog a free copy. Being a lover of books (especially those of the free variety) I jumped on the chance. (See my entry here.)

After a few days, it occurred to me that Michael did not have my address! I felt duped! So I sent a somewhat terse note saying something to the effect of, “I cannot be duped!” Michael wrote back, I am sure after editing out some expletives meant for a person that would call him a duper, asking for my address information and, if memory serves, pointing out that I did not have any way for him to contact me through this blog.

The book came straight away. It took me awhile to read it but once I did I realized that Michael is the Tom Sant of white papers. (Please note that I have often called Tom the Michael Jordan of proposals so…). Michael Stelzner provides a comprehensive textbook that covers every aspect of white paper creation and marketing.

Michael starts off by confirming what anyone who has ever been around white papers knows: writing white papers is difficult.

He goes on to say that white papers differ from other types of marketing materials because they specifically appeal to such decision makers as engineers, business executives and other key decision-makers. White papers are generally produced for one of three reasons:

• Lead Generation – Using a web, print ad or direct mail strategy, many companies produce white papers to generate leads for their business.
• Thought Leadership – White papers are a good opportunity for a company to introduce into the marketplace theoretical or demonstrate a view into a future vision.
• Close Sales – Usually targeted at both the influencers and the decision-makers. Quite frequently used as lead generation documents as well as during the sales process.

The book goes through the four types of white papers: Technical, Business Benefits, Hybrid Technical/Business Benefits, and Government and what constitutes an OK white paper and what makes a good white paper.

Although I do not want to give away too much of the book (you should really buy it), the ten-step process to writing white papers is “a proven model” that will greatly reduce the pain and agony you otherwise might experience when writing your white paper. The steps are:

1. Clarify the topic
2. Identify your ideal reader
3. Decide on an objective
4. Develop an outline
5. Interview the experts
6. Research
7. Write the first page first
8. Write the title
9. Write the core
10. Hire an editor

One of the best aspects of the book is the discussion of features versus benefits. All white papers can and should address benefits. As you know, benefits differ from features in a few significant ways:

• Features are a description of a tangible attribute of a product or service such as a GPS locator in a mobile phone.
• A benefit is an advantage of a feature. The benefit of GPS might be the ability to quickly locate a person or place in case of an emergency.

Although I know you know this, the advantages of clearly stated benefits are:

• Persuades your reader
• Demonstrates you have considered your reader’s needs
• Provides tangible reasons to work with you and your company
• Explains why your solution matters
• Arms readers with information to help them persuade others

Other sections discuss how to marketing with white papers and how to use Google properly. (More on that last part later).

I highly recommend Writing White Papers to anyone that writes, or wants to write, white papers. If you are looking for a rookie white paper writer, give me a shout. I think Michael's book has put me up to the task! I really do!

Michael, sorry for thinking ill of you.

Editing your own work is hard to do

The biggest complaint proposal and technical writers have (tied with five others) is how difficult it is to edit ones own work. It is particularly difficult when you only get three minutes between the last edits the team has and when the proposal is due.

Do a quick Google search and you will see how many people have thoughts on how to edit your own work. To me, the most interesting come from Anna Goldsmith's guest post on Copyblogger. Her post, Five Easy Steps to Editing Your Own Work advises:

1. Just walk away and leave your draft for awhile — I like to leave it for a day if I can.
2. Imagine you’re not you — Instead imagine you’re your intended audience. Does it make sense, will the reader understand what you’re trying to say, does it hold your interest, is all the information there?
3. Is your writing PHAT or FAT — Trim long sentences, slim down words and add some white space.
4. Listen to your high school English teacher (except when it’s best to tune her out) — Make sure it is error-free, check for the correct use of homonyms, confirm that all names are spelled correctly, avoid the passive voice (good luck here!), check your margins, use of spacing and consistency in style of headings — font, bold or not bold, capitalization, etc
5. Now clean it up and read it again. Out loud — Yes, that's right. Those around me have certainly heard me reading aloud. It works. Usually I also start on the last page...

Be sure to read Anna's full post here.

Tom Sant has some great points on editing in generally, which I wrote about in Proposal editing? No really, proposal editing!

The most cryptic post ever

One of my Google alerts picked this up. If you know what it means (or are the author) please let me know:


Shopping is hard to do …November 7, 2007 on 3:20 pm In Uncategorized
Had a killer day at work today with 2 proposals due this week it was non stop proposal writing all night. We finally got everything done and ready for submittal but I just knew we were forgetting something but just couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it hit me. When I overheard some people talking about 301 the light bulb went on and I remembered what I forgot. Good thing too, or all that work would’ve been for nothing.

Comments are closed.

From http://norsk101.com/fun/date/2006/02/

Odd.

What if RFPs were treated as a request for a relationship?

RFP should be a request for relationship!

It's a wedding day surrounded by family and friends. The couple can't wait to start their new life together. Vows are exchanged and the celebration goes well into the night.

When the two are finally able to catch a moment alone together, the groom looks at his bride and says, "Hi, my name's Steve. It's so nice to have a chance to talk, because I could just tell by your application that this is really going to work out between us."

This scene brings to mind a familiar occurrence in the advertising industry, only the anticipated "wedding day" is the launch of a new campaign, "family and friends" are anxious consumers and the "event" is one between an agency and a potential client: The request for proposals.

Filled with information easily gleaned from any agency's Web site, the RFP disastrously skips over qualities that are crucial to the success of any relationship, business or otherwise like true compatibility or chemistry -- traits that can only be gauged after meeting someone face to face.

One of the most intimate relationships a company will ever have is the one with its agency -- a partner who uses the very way a client thinks, operates, creates and succeeds to determine how best to meet needs, and whose sole purpose is to keep the client's interests at heart.

Put this theory to the test, and it's realized that Nike's "swoosh" wasn't inspired by an account executive no one got along with, and "You deserve a break today," wasn't the brain child of a marketing executive who never returned a phone call.

So why does the industry reduce the agency/client relationship to numbers on a spreadsheet, arguably the most negotiable aspect of the entire process?

While pricing is flexible, what will never change is an agency's ability to turn a tight deadline, its willingness to pour its soul into a branding campaign or its aptitude for producing creative in unexpected ways. Place more importance on the RFP response than this, and get ready to walk down the aisle with the equivalent of a blind date gone awry.

Yet, companies are relying on this impersonal form of matchmaking to help them find the agency, marketing firm or strategic communications company that's right for them: a call for compatibility that by its cookie-cutter nature dictates an equally cookie-cutter response.

It leaves little room for the real reasons an agency should be chosen in the first place, such as its ability to inspire, its level of dedication or the amount of attention it can give to a client's needs.

What if RFPs were treated as a request for a relationship? Then companies would get to know three agencies instead of 15. Agencies would deliver honest responses instead of canned answers to canned questions.

In the end, it's the request for a relationship that delivers more than any new logo or under-budget bid can. It delivers the opportunity to get to know the agency and produces a partner whose compatibility cannot be measured in numbers, found in a word document, or garnered from a presentation. And finds the right agency with which to build a future.

Kristy Sexton is founder and president of The Adcetera Group, a Houston-based communications firm.