It's All Marketing

Hope Jahren writes How to Turn A “Good” Proposal Into An “Excellent” Proposal in Eight Admittedly Arduous Steps. Though intended for an academic or non-profit audience, much of her advice applies equally well to business--in fact in any milieu (except romance!) where one person wants to persuade another.

The "arduous", common-sensical steps, each of which she expands upon:

1. Do the Math
2. Be Specific
3. Be Quantitative
4. Tell Me Why Oh Why
5. Consider The Funder’s Objectives
6. Write it Well
7. Gird Your Loins
8. Don’t Lose Hope

Boiling it down further, give the funders reasons to trust you, meet their (not your) needs, and prepare for rejection. In other words, it's all marketing. © 2014 Stephen Yuen