Some of our clients need to draft business proposals to perspective clients and they come to us to help with that task. We've written before about crafting a book proposal and in some ways the process is similar. You need to have a clear idea of who your audience is who will read the proposal and how your idea or book fulfills a need. 

For example, one client (we'll call her Marcy to protect her privacy) was doing part-time work for a company as a contractor and the company asked her to write a job proposal for what the role might look like if it was a full-time employee role that included not only the work she was currently doing but expanded to be a type of coordinator role that would need to communicate with and work with not only current company employees but also three different levels of external stakeholders. The CEO of the company told Marcy to justify the expansion of the role in the proposal (even though he suggested this possible change in the first place). 

Marcy asked us for advice. Jill said to her that she should start the proposal with a short introducation and by talking about the challenge the company is currently having because of the current structure, hourly limits, and roles. Then Marcy was instructed to talk about the value that creating this new position would bring to the company. Next, for section three of the business proposal, it was advised that Marcy list the job duties (what the position would do and for how many hours each week). For section four of the business proposal, Marcy talked about her qualifications in detail and why she was the most qualified person to fulfill the position if/when it was created. In section five of the business proposal, Marcy covered her history of working with the organization since she has almost ten years of history with them.

Lastly, March wrote an actual proposal for the new position including what the position would like and the proposed salary range. This part can be a stand-alone document of the job description, the kind that would be housed in HR. 

None of the sections of the business proposal had to be long but they did need to be long enough to provide levels of detail so that the reader wouldn't have more questions than were being answered by the business proposal. 

While this example was specific to a contractor being asked to write a proposal for a full-time employee position, much of the advice can be used in writing a business proposal for other means. If you are writing a business proposal to get investors or funding, then you also will need to include marketing plans as well as budget, as Jill explains in this article that was published by SCORE LA.    

Patti DeHoff released her first book, Picture This! A collection of heartwarming sights, a compilation of photgraphs of found hearts. DeHoff explains, "Over the years I kept seeing hearts everywhere so I started taking pictures of them since they brought me so much joy." She shared some of the photos with friends and family members and they enjoyed them so much that they encouraged her to create a tangible product of them. 

Since DeHoff had never written a book before and was unfamiliar with the publishing process, she talked to some colleagues about her plans and that she needed some guidance and one of those colleagues introduced her to us. We are grateful to have gone on this journey with her and watch this book come to life. 

Picture This! makes a lovely engagement, wedding, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or just because gift; it's great for any occasion where you want to give love to someone. And a portion of all book sales will be donated to the American Heart Association. 

Picture This! can be purchased directly from Heartwarming Site and DeHoff is in the process of creating a line of found-heart photography greeting cards, calendars, and other gift items to continue spreading joy and love. #hearts #love #photography #giftbook #newbook #weddinggiftidea #engagementgiftidea #AmericanHeartAssociation