Ever watch the Apprentice? I enjoy waiting for Trump to pull the trigger and give it to them. ‘You're fired!’ It’s nice to watch this from the safety of our sofas. We’re involved but also separate from it. And we can switch off. In the real world, it’s not so cosy. Sometimes you’re the one that … [Read more...]
Blah! Blah! Blah! Is that how your Business Proposal really starts?
October 12, 2010 by
I evaluate Business Proposals. I do this every week. In the last fifteen years, I’ve seen hundreds of business proposals ranging from the large Consultancies to one-man/women businesses. Part of evaluating a proposal is checking that the numbers add up but also to see if the project in question is … [Read more...]
6 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Deliverables
October 1, 2010 by
The next part of the Business Proposal to write is the Deliverables section. The Deliverables section should be simple to understand but many Proposal Writers fall over themselves here. Where to start with Deliverables Let’s play good cop, bad cop for a minute. In the Request For Proposal, it … [Read more...]
How To Guarantee Consultants Meet Their Goals
September 30, 2010 by
So far our Proposal Writing Course has looked at two things. How to create a central hub (the table of contents) and define your first pillar (the Exec Summary). Next up we'll go through each section and 'satisfy' the folks who published the RFP that Yes, we do know what we're talking … [Read more...]
6 Ways To Write a Better Executive Summary
September 28, 2010 by
This is part 2 in our Proposal Writing Course. Yesterday, we looked at why you need to make the Table of Contents that central hub from which all information flow. Today, we'll go a step further and examine the Executive Summary. Most Proposal Writers are intimidated by the Executive Summary. … [Read more...]
Why The Table of Contents Is The Heart of Your Business Proposal?
September 26, 2010 by
This is Part 1 of a 20 part series on writing Business Proposals. What we’ll look in this course is how to get started, format the proposal, and submit it. Once we’ve done this, we’ll look at how to improve your chances of getting the bid accepted, for example, by giving presentations to the … [Read more...]
How to Analyze the Buyer’s Mindset When Writing Proposals
September 24, 2010 by
One of the most difficult challenges for any Proposal Writer is to figure out what the buyer is really interested in. Is it cost? Is it value-for-money? Is it innovation? Maybe it's a combination of factors. Think of each RFP as a set of requirements that you, the bidder, have to answer for … [Read more...]
The Warren Buffet Guide to Persuasive Business Writing
September 20, 2010 by
“For more than forty years, I’ve studied the documents that public companies file. Too often, I’ve been unable to decipher just what is being said or, worse yet, had to conclude that nothing was being said. If corporate lawyers and their clients follow the advice in this handbook, my life is going … [Read more...]
How to Fix Corrupt & Damaged Microsoft Word Documents – Part 2
September 8, 2010 by
Last week we showed you how Bullet Lists can crash MS Word. We outlined some techniques to reduce the file size, mostly by creating pre-formatted bullet lists in advance. But what happens if you're given a User Guide that's already bloated to massive proportions. It's too late to create new styles … [Read more...]
4 Step Formula for Better Business Proposals
August 30, 2010 by
One of the secrets to writing successful proposals is to write the proposals backwards. Ok, I don’t mean line by line backwards. What I mean is identify the problems first and then write the proposal to address these problems. I've been reading Business Proposals for a client all week (I assess … [Read more...]