midlifejourney.com

Doing well in today’s economic climate is a challenge. Guest author, Jeanne Yocum of Tuscarora Communications, Ltd has some wise advice for the savvy boomer business owner.

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Writing Proposals That Win Business

By Jeanne Yocum

Tuscarora Communications, Ltd

Ratcheting up your organization to pursue new business as the economy recovers (hopefully!) is invigorating. The good news is that revenues finally may start growing again. The bad news is that bringing new business in the door may require writing proposals, a time-consuming activity that many business people would rather skip.

Increasingly, savvy business owners are requiring proposals to ensure that they get the best possible solution at an attractive price; learning how to write great proposals to increase your win rate is a must. Once you are confident in your ability to compete on paper, proposals will become less of a necessary evil and more of a sure-fire way to gain a competitive edge.

Here are tips for making sure your business proposals are winners:

•  Begin by demonstrating knowledge of your prospect. Establish from the get-go that you understand the prospect’s objectives and challenges as they relate to the product or service you wish to provide. This may seem like you’re telling them things they already know, but in reality prospects want to be certain you understand their situation and needs. Briefly state the problem before launching into your solution.

•  Clarity is essential. Simple, concise writing is a must. Avoid long-winded paragraphs and use bullet points wherever possible. Don’t be overly technical and steer away from jargon or catch phrases. You never know who might be on the decision-making team, so write for a general audience instead of assuming that only people with your level of technical expertise will read the proposal. Have someone else give your first draft a test read to make sure it is easily understood.

•  Beware of boilerplate. It’s tempting to keep recycling portions of previous proposals; the “copy and paste” functions are definitely time-savers! But be careful about relying too much on boilerplate material. The last impression you want to give a prospect is that your proposal is the same “off-the-shelf” response you give to everybody. Again, this is part of convincing the prospect that you understand his/her specific situation and are offering a tailored solution.

•  Avoid an 11^th hour sprint. Many of us made it through college by finishing every term paper an hour before it was due. Carrying that habit over to your business proposal writing can be dangerous. Rarely does anyone do his/her best writing when the clock is ticking down the final minutes before a deadline. Start writing as soon as you can and plan to finish at least a day ahead of time. This gives you time to sleep on what you’ve written and to read it thoroughly with “fresh eyes” on a new day.

•  Looks do matter. Great ideas and appropriate pricing are important but even those things won’t help your proposal rise to the top of the competitive pile if it looks sloppy. Choose a readable typeface, an appropriate page layout, and good quality paper. If you are submitting your document electronically, be sure to use formatting commands that will display well on different computers and screen sizes. If you’re unclear about what that means, check with someone who knows the ins and outs of word processing or use a PDF file. Check with the intended recipient to ensure software compatibility and whenever possible, follow up with a printed copy. Include graphics where feasible to break up the text and make the whole thing more readable. Your goal is a professional looking proposal that conveys your attention to detail.

•  Proofread. And then proofread again. All other things being equal, who would you hire–the company whose proposal was error free or the one whose proposal had typos or grammatical errors? Relying on spellcheckers is perilous. Also, it’s hard to do a great job proofreading something you’ve slaved over for several days, so recruit some fresh eyes for the job. And then proofread it one more time. Pay special attention to headlines, a spot where typos are often overlooked.

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Jeanne Yocum, president of Tuscarora Communications, Ltd., has over 20 years’ experience in planning and implementing corporate communications and public relations programs. She also writes book proposals and ghostwrites business books. Her Web site is

http://www.yourghostwriter.com and she can be reached at Jeanne@yourghostwriter.com.

Author: Ajay R

Women finding themselves at the stage labeled “midlife” (read 40 and up) may be in a tumultuous period of transition that can be confusing and scary. Menopause, empty nest syndrome, divorce, aging parents, downsizing, etc. can come hand in hand with yet another transition: a career challenge.

Midlife women should first realize that they are not alone. The MacArthur Foundation study “Midlife in the United States” found that 36% of women have experienced a midlife crisis by age 50. Many of them are looking to new careers as part of their solution to how life is unfolding at this time.

Divorce often adds to the need to find a career because of distressing financial realities. The MacArthur study found that the divorce rate for women in their 40s is higher than that of those in any other age range. And if they have spent years at home raising their children these women find themselves without “marketable” skills and are likely to panic.

Another reason women change careers at midlife is because they are looking for fulfillment. Continue Reading »

…career/life Coach Develops 6-step Bridge Process to Shorten Job Search by Up to 50%

Author: Joe D’Eramo

NORFOLK, MASS…

With the latest surge in the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, more Americans are out of work than ever before. While that figure carries many economic implications, it also means that more Americans are looking for work than ever before. According to Career /Life coach Dawn Quesnel, that presents even more of a challenge for those newly unemployed.

“There’s a good portion of people recently unemployed who may have not been in the job market for quite some time or at least never been in the position of being forced to look for work. What they’re going to learn is that finding a job in this kind of market takes a more focus, directed approach—probably more so than any other time in most people’s lifetimes,” Quesnel, a certified personal coach and owner of Career Life Balance.

To combat the new lay of the job market, Quesnel, an executive recruiter prior to starting her coaching practice six years ago, developed a common sense approach to not only finding a job, but finding one you want. The six-step process, which forms the acronym of B.R.I.D.G.E, includes:

Become clear on the type of position you’re looking for. Instead of staying, “I am looking for a Project Manager position,” be as specific as possible. For example, “I am looking for a Project Manager position in the advertising industry, working on healthcare accounts.” The clearer you are, the more you are to find what you’re looking for. Continue Reading »

This afternoon I am off to a business networking event on the golf course. 18 holes, followed by a business after hours event. Should be fun.

Networking should always be fun. The focus on promoting your business in the most subtle of ways.

Rule #1: You never bring up business on the course itself, at least not directly. Subtlety is key. You can mention the work you do if it comes up in conversation, but you don’t start listing all the projects you are working on, unless it’s relevant to the conversation. In fact, focus on the other person’s interests, find out what they are about, what they do, who they might know. And be quiet, for heaven’s sake if it seems your golf partner would rather not talk. Some golfers prefer silence to banter. And there is nothing worse on the golf course than a babbler.

Rule #2: Once the game is done, networking can begin. A celebratory drink, or a few minutes in the club house can be an opportunity to share business information and leads. But remember, focus on the other fellow. See how you might be able to solve his or her needs, not your own… and by so doing, you accomplish both.

I dont know about you, fellow midlifers, but I find keeping up with all that is new a pretty daunting task. The discipline of constantly updating, and learning new skills, is exciting yet overwhelming. After 10-12 hours a day on this computer, I just want to chuck it in and veg in front of the TV for a few hours. Thanks to OnDemand and HD-TV Recorders, all my programs are recorded and waiting for me to view (fast forward through commercials, of course) when I finally step off the computer merry go round.

One of the best ways to keep up with everything is an online service I discovered not too long ago: lynda.com. They have experts who present online tutorials on just about every software package out there. It’s worth a look.