By Kim Rogers
Copywriting and internet marketing techniques work hand in hand to create a quick, intense, straight to the point document to stir the reader to action with as few un-necessary words as possible, and in the shortest amount of time.
A person marketing a product or service on the Internet realizes they have about three and a half seconds to get and keep your attention before you click off their site, maybe even forever!
Since capturing your attention is the paramount first step to keeping your attention, copy writers are worth their weight in gold.
What do they know about getting money that you don’t?
1. How to get to the point Right Away!
The longer you’ve worked for the government, the more times you should underline this sentence! I knew I’d worked for the government too long when I realized I could understand, read, and write, “bureau-babble” fluently. I’d become part of the “Establishment”. Remember when you were in high school and you vowed never to become part of the Establishment . . .
When you’ve gotten your proposal to the point where you’re reviewing the almost final draft, edit out at least 20% of the words! That’s Right. We as bureaucrats tend to over-write a subject sometimes. This exercise will eliminate un-necessary vocabulary, and force you to make a valid point, or eliminate the excessive sentence altogether.
2. Define your project and its predominant benefits
Refine it and refine it until it can be expressed in twenty words or less, and presented in about thirty seconds!
3. How to create more projects with less effort and increase program dollars
Ninety-nine per cent (99%) of the grants written today are written because we have an idea or project, and we’re looking for money. We look for funds for an existing project or idea, instead of finding a pool of available money first, and then creating a project around it. In essence, we cut our own funding opportunities by 50% because we lack creativity. It’s a whole lot easier creating a project for money that begs to be given away!
4. How to get Publicity!
Get your name, your department, or your company out there in the public eye as often as possible! Write and submit articles, reviews, opinions, and the occasional “blurb” in newsletters, trade publications, and other magazines pertaining to your specific field.
Writing on a regular basis will refine your communication skills, present your vision and project ideas to a like-minded community, and establish you as an expert in your field, so that your names becomes recognized, and your reputation precedes you.
When your name then appears in connection with a grant application, it will be recognized and respected. As quiet as its kept, funders will want to fund your project because it will be like funding a celebrity.
5. Your USP (Unique Selling Position) – Know what it means, and know what it is!
Your USP is your “unique selling position;” that thing which makes you different, better, and worth funding! This is that definition that you’ve refined (#2), and can present in twenty words or less, and thirty seconds or less, because you never know when you will have the opportunity to do so. If you’re smart, you’ll be prepared.
6. Do you have a “Killer App”?
A “killer app” is defined by the Tech community as a “product or service that changes the method of delivery,” like WORD Perfect. When Bill Gates developed WORD Perfect and made it available for all computer applications, he created a killer app.
Even though this is a description of a killer (tech) app, a killer app can be developed in any area there’s a need for a better solution to a problem that effects a specific group or community, provided it’s a solution that will set a precedent for future solutions.
7. Why you should Write Your Own Copy!
Why pay for something you can do yourself? No one can sell you ideas or proposals the way you can if you truly believe in your product or service.
Furthermore, I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been offended paying consultants to write proposals created with information they’ve gleaned from my staff. I’ve never understood why companies and organizations subsidize consultants to produce work with their existing staff that they’re paying a salary to already.
Also, consultants swap secrets and shop talk, so if you have a project that going to be funded on creativity or originality, it’s in your own best interest to write it yourself.
Lastly, consultants have no vested interest in your project. They get paid whether your project gets funded or not.
8. Change your titles and sub-titles into HEADLINES!
Everywhere you have a title, sub-title, heading, sub-heading, write a headline that calls attention to some benefit being provided by your proposal.
Just a hint here, brainstorm 20 or so headlines on a separate sheet of paper covering every benefit you can think of. Some of them you’ll use, and some you won’t, but plug them in wherever you get a change. A basic headline formula is this one:
Greatest Problem x Greatest Benefit
9. Write in an “Over 40″ Font!
If you’re not 40 yet, just take my advice here; if you know someone over 40 whose job it is to read and write for a living, get a second opinion if you like. Nevertheless, submit your proposal in fonts sized 11 or larger. Omit all the pretty scroll and cursives!
Ariel, Tahoma, Verdana, good ole’ Times New Roman – just make sure it can be comfortably read!
About the Author
She has over 25 years experience working for serveral branches of the government.
Her passion however is sales and marketing of which she has over 20 years experience.
You may visit her websites at the following url’s:
www.KimRogersOnline.com www.101TheKRCoChristianPublishers.com www.SoundSmarterNow.com
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Technorati Tags: non profit grant, Proposal, Writer
