business writing « We Write For You

Never Underestimate the Power of a Proposal’s Appendix in Getting a Grant

November 3, 2009 | Posted in: Competitive Writing, Fundraising, Grantwriting, Nonprofits | Tags: business writing, grant writing, Grantwriting, nonprofit, not-for-profit, proposal attachments, proposal exhibits, proposal scores, proposal's appendix, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, winning grants |

A good proposal appendix can win you the grant. I was giving a little talk yesterday about writing grant proposals when something slipped out that surprised even me. I said, “I think I was successful in my last grant competition because of the strong appendix I attached.”

I did a mental double take. Did I just say I won a competitive grant with the appendix to the proposal? I thought further: I did a good job writing the body of the proposal. And I always corroborate staff qualifications in the appendix.

But this grant paid for “capacity building” (training in running a nonprofit), and we were quite experienced and very well-qualified. So I used the appendix for more than verification. I took advantage of the extra pages to demonstrate in detail all the ways my organization had “been there and done that.”

One of the most convincing documents had to be the table of contents from a capacity-building manual we used when training nonprofit groups throughout the state. I also listed the dates, places and the participating nonprofits.

In addition, I supplied a list of dates and topics each of our staff members provided to their constituencies. Training topics addressed by our partner for the grant were also appended.

I showed how we were ready to hit the ground running with results of a recent survey we conducted asking nonprofits what types of training they needed.

In all, I included nine optional attachments each identified by a letter from “A” to “I.” The letters helped draw attention in the proposal’s table of contents and served to identify each attachment in references made within the proposal.

After yesterday’s talk, I remembered another successful proposal. Much of the data in it came from a door-to-door survey. Naturally, a summary of the complete survey was appended to the proposal. Hmmmm . . . maybe that appendix won us the grant.

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Persuasive Writing: when “more” is “less”

August 28, 2009 | Posted in: Competitive Writing, Fundraising, General Writing, Grantwriting, Public Relations, Resumes and Cover Letters | Tags: brochures, business writing, compete, competition, copywriting, document, editing, funding, Fundraising, grant writing, Grantwriting, marketing, persuade, persusive writing, private donors, proposal, proposal scores, Public Relations, resume, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, winning grants, writing, writing tips |

Most of the time, persuasive writing is used in competitive situations.

It is the resume, when you compete with others to get the job. It is the grant proposal, when you compete with others to get funding. It is any time you compete with peers to get donors, votes and even “your way.”

More is less in persuasive writing when you use words that say the same thing. For example, “Our approach is economical, efficient and frugal, freeing up manpower, materials and money for other uses.”

It is obvious to the reader that your plan will save money. In fact, it is obvious over and over and over. The reader tunes out when statements include unnecessary words; and worn out by the repetition, gives little attention to the rest of your statements.

Imagine the sentence above being followed by “Think what we could do with the resources this method saves our organization.” When your sentences repeat the message, you suggest to the reader that you (in a resume) or your plan has no other good qualities; that much of the document is really filler.

In conclusion, when you write a resume, proposal or sales document, don’t use unnecessary adjectives and redundant sentences. Let each unique point you make stand out.

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Now, that’s an embarrassing typo: AP Stylebook edition

August 7, 2009 | Posted in: General Writing, Old School | Tags: AP, AP style, AP Stylebook, AP Stylebook 2009, business writing, editing, editing tips, FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions, grammar, proofreading, style guides, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, writing, writing tips |

If you’re ever uncertain about how to spell a word, it’s always worth the time to look it up. As we mentioned in this earlier post, it takes only seconds to look up a word on an online dictionary.

By the same token, if you write quite a bit, it’s definitely worth the $15 to get online access to the AP Stylebook, the best go-to guide for proper usage. It’s a phenomenal resource you can check out here.

However, a visit to the site’s Frequently Asked Questions page reminds you that anyone can make a mistake. The FAQ’s second item reads:

Is the 2008 Associated Press Stylebook available? No, it has sold out and is not going to be reprint. The ISBN number is 978-0-917360-52-7

The obvious goof here is that “reprint” should be “reprinted.” But if we’re going to be picky (and you just know we are), the answer also is missing a period at the end.

And that’s not simply a “style” consideration, ironic as that would be. All of the other answers in the FAQ (including another that ends in a series of numbers) end with a period.

Again, we strongly recommend a subscription to the AP Stylebook to anyone who writes professionally on a regular basis (rest assured, we don’t receive a commission or anything else from the Associated Press).

But we have given the AP a heads-up about the FAQ goof, and we’re curious to see how quickly it gets fixed.

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Can you find all 14 writing mistakes?

August 3, 2009 | Posted in: General Writing, Spell Check is Not Your Friend | Tags: business writing, copywriting, editing, editing emails, editing tips, grammar, proofreading, proper usage, spell check, spell checker, spellcheck, spelling, usage, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, writing tips |

Here are some basic mistakes that do not get flagged by a spell checker. Can you spot all the errors?

I consider people talking loudly on there cell phones in public to be offense of. They should of taken care of business at home or at there work sight. Do they have more rite to be herd in public then others?

I mite just go up to a loud cell talker and say, “Are thoughts could be as important as yours. We cant here them because your so loud. You deserve an Olympic mettle for rudeness!”

There are 14 words used mistakenly in context. Did you find this type of writing to be a turnoff? One friend told us, “When I read something like this, I die a little inside.”

As we’ve said before: you must review and edit everything you write.

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Spell check is not your friend: discreet vs. discrete

June 20, 2009 | Posted in: General Writing, Spell Check is Not Your Friend | Tags: business writing, editing, editing tips, grammar, proofreading, spell check, spellcheck, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, Word, writing, writing tips |

Here’s the first appearance of another new segment at the wewriteforyou.com blog: Spell check is not your friend.

Sure, spell check can be a useful utility. But it is not necessarily your friend. Because as soon as you start to rely too much on your spell checker, it will toss you under the bus.

That’s because spell checkers do a fine job of recognizing words from non-words, but they’re still a long way (mostly) from knowing whether you’re using the right word.

Today’s case in point: the homophones discreet and discrete. With growing regularity, we’re seeing writers using discrete when they mean to use discreet. (We almost never see it the other way around.)

Discreet means “prudent” or “tactful” — many people also use it to mean “subtle,” which we suppose is okay. Discrete, however, means “distinct or “separate.” For example… (more…)

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The Best Writing Tip Ever: Speaking of dos and don’ts — what’s the deal with apostrophes?

June 5, 2009 | Posted in: General Writing, The Best Writing Tip Ever | Tags: apostrophe, business writing, dont's, dos, ghostwriting, grammar, grant writing, Grantwriting, plural, plurals, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, writing, writing tips |

Since we used the phrase “dos and don’ts” in the last post, we thought it might be a good time to quickly address that phrase.

My, that's a cute apostrophe.

Sometimes in writing, you have to wrestle over the choices of going with what’s technically correct versus what looks best. Again, this depends on your audience and what you’re looking to accomplish.

For the most part, it’s best to err to the side of proper grammar. That’s why we use “dos and don’ts.” Yes, “dos” looks weird. It looks like it the Spanish word for two, pronounced like “dose,” instead of what it is, which is the plural for do, which sounds like “dooze.”

In general, you should never use an apostrophe to make something plural. Even people who would never write “we have banana’s for sale” will still add an apostrophe to some plural acronyms: DVD’s, TV’s, etc. The apostrophe is not needed. “DVDs” and “TVs” is correct.

If they look strange, look at it this way: if we can get everyone to start writing them correctly, they won’t look strange anymore!

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Dos and Dont’s: A few critical resume basics you might not know

June 2, 2009 | Posted in: Resumes and Cover Letters | Tags: business writing, email, marketing, resume, wewriteforyou.com, writing tips |

We’ve been getting a little more resume work than usual lately, which is not surprising given the economy.

The right resume is the key to getting the interview.

What is surprising, however, is how few people understand even the very basics about what makes an effective resume. We often see resumes from professionals with 20 years of experience and several degrees, yet they have no clue how to market themselves in their resumes.

That’s what a resume is: a marketing document. It is not simply a list of the stuff you’ve done and the honors you’ve achieved. It’s the most important thing to remember.

We’ll get into some more specifics in later posts, but I promised you a few important basics for now. Here you go:

DO include your email address in your resume. This one might seem obvious, but we still see quite a few resumes that omit this.

DO make sure your email address sounds professional. If you’re still using partygirl420@yahoo.com, that reflects poorly. Get a new, free email (from Google, MSN, or others).

DON’T include contact information about Facebook or Twitter. It will just be confusing to non tech-savvy employers, and you never know how they’ll interpret what they find if they do look you up.

However, DO make sure that if you’re looking for a job and you do use Facebook or Twitter, there’s nothing on either that reflects badly on you. If a hiring manager simply Googles your name, your Facebook or Twitter often will come up. So will blog posts and comments, so keep that in mind too.

We’re out of time today, but we have tons more to tell you about resumes. Keep checking back to the We Write For You blog to learn more.

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The Best Writing Tip Ever Part II: The BWTE Strikes Back

May 28, 2009 | Posted in: Competitive Writing, General Writing, The Best Writing Tip Ever | Tags: Best Writing Tip Ever, business writing, editing, editing tips, grant writing, Grantwriting, marketing, resume, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, writing, writing tips |

If you're not separating the wheat from the chaff, you're obscuring your point -- and testing your reader's patience.

“Just give me the time; don’t tell me how they made the watch.”

Translation: Get to the point! And when you get to it, stay on it, don’t stray from it, and don’t camouflage it with a bunch of unessential information.

This relates to virtually every form of business communication, and yet the vast majority of writers consistently ignore it: leave all of the non-essential information, especially non-relevant background materials, out of your main piece.

If you have information that supplements your document well, but it drags down the readability because it’s too long or bulky, include it in an appendix. Or use footnotes. Or provide it separately.

Remember, today’s readers don’t want to waste a lot of time. They want to know what you’re getting at and how it relates to them. If you want to impress them with your bona fides, stick to those that are the only most important and relevant. No one cares if you have 10 years of field work in geology if you’re applying for a grant to open a day school.

If the background is not necessary to achieving your core purpose for writing the document, you should leave it out.

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The Best Writing Tip EVER.

May 23, 2009 | Posted in: Competitive Writing, General Writing, Public Relations, The Best Writing Tip Ever | Tags: Add new tag, annual reports, brochures, business writing, copywriting, cover letter, freelance writing, Fundraising, ghost writing, grant writing, marketing, PR, Public Relations, request for proposal, SEO, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, writing tips |

Okay, we’re just kidding with that title. Actually… kidding isn’t quite right. We do have a great writing tip for you today. And it is one of the best writing tips ever. To certain people–maybe even you–it might well be the best writing tip ever.

We’ll have many more writing tips for you to check out if you read this blog regularly. But if we had to choose a Top Ten, this would be in there. It’s probably in the Top Five. And though it sounds obvious, this is the one big rule we see people screw up all the time:

Write with your audience in mind.

It rather sounds simple and obvious, but writers botch this one constantly. All we’re saying is that for whatever you’re writing, you need to identify who comprises your target audience. Then, make sure everything you write is focused on connecting with that type of person.

This is true in virtually every type of writing. It’s true in business writing (sales letters, website copy, news releases, blog posts and plenty more) and in creative writing (manuscripts, screenplays, treatments, outlines, query letters and plenty more).

Yes, it's a rather generic audience shot. It's not always easy coming up with images for a writing blog, you know. At least it's more exciting than the "hyphen" image from the last post, right?

It’s even true in personal writing (emails, thank-you letters, love letters and–you guessed it–plenty more).

If you’re writing for an audience more likely to be compelled (to action, to understanding, or whatever you’re going for) by a warm, lighthearted tone, don’t write in a cold, clinical style.

If you’re writing to a CEO you know has little time on her hands, don’t waste time with a cutesy introduction–get to the point.

Want to sell something to people who are given to purchase luxury items? Make sure the tone of prestige and class informs everything in your sales copy. Targeting buyers on the other end of the spectrum? Focus on the themes of value and high return on investment throughout.

Remember, it’s up to you to orient your writing to the reader’s needs–not the other way around. People don’t have the time or the patience to jump through those hoops; they’ll move on to something that grabs their interest without any extra effort. Be that writer, and reap the benefits.

Check back here at the We Write For You blog (wewriteforyou.com) for more Best Writing Tip Ever installments.

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Don’t get held back in Old School

May 18, 2009 | Posted in: General Writing, Old School | Tags: antonyms, business writing, editing, editing tips, Merriam-Webster, Microsoft Word, Old School, Old School Dave, Roget's Thesaurus, synonyms, thesaurus, Thesaurus.com, We Write For You, wewriteforyou.com, Word, writing tips |

We have a buddy we’ll call Old School Dave. (Yes, names have been changed to protect the guilty.) He’s a great writer, but it’s been a Herculean effort trying to get him to adopt even the simplest technological advances.

For Dave, the electric typewriter had too many bells and whistles. If he could do so profitably, he’d probably write with a quill.

Good for propping up your monitor... and not much else.

So leave it to Dave: the other day he asks to borrow our Roget’s Thesaurus. For anyone unfamiliar with the book, it’s the world’s most-widely used compendium of synonyms and antonyms.

It’s also, in the 21st century, largely obsolete. If you have a dedicated connection to the internet, as even Dave has, just go to Thesaurus.com, where you can easily input a term and get synonyms and antonyms in seconds.

Also, if you just need a couple of quick options and you’re working in Microsoft Word, just highlight the word and right-click: the software provides several synonyms (for most common words), and if none of those work, you can open Word’s internal thesaurus from there.

Several other word processing applications also have internal thesauruses. And there are other good online thesauruses at Merriam-Webster and The Free Dictionary, among others.

As for the big Roget book, we haven’t tossed it in the recycling bin yet. It’s still quite handy–mostly for squashing bugs.

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