There
is no one book or course that will answer all of your questions. Our
sites have been built and updated as we have continued to learn over
the last few years. It will take time to learn all the nuances of successful
web design and marketing but success will come to those who never stop
learning and growing. We do use many more books and tools than are listed
here and these are the most important ones we have found.
There
are many great books on writing business proposals, we have reviewed
many of them and you will find what you learn from any of them will
be applicable when using our Proposal Pack materials.
Proposal
Writing Books:
The
Zen of Proposal Writing - This book offers a different way
of looking at proposal writing. It offers a lot of real-life examples
of the problems people get into and get stressed about, all of which
can be avoided if managed differently.
Persuasive
Business Proposals : Writing to Win Customers, Clients, and Contracts
- This book was written by a highly experienced proposal writer.
Targeted mainly at large deals and dedicated sales teams you will
learn the basic structure of a proposal and how to make the right
pitch to the right person at the right time. This is a good book to
use hand in hand with the Proposal Kit content.
Handbook
for Writing Proposals - This
is a great primer on the fundamentals of writing a proposal. You will
find many of the Proposal Kit and Proposal Pack templates fit very
well with the material in this book. This a good reference on how
to go about managing the process of writing a proposal, when to and
not to pass on a proposal, making client presentations and more.
The
Consultant's Guide to Proposal Writing - This book is designed
for the consultant and has been revised to incorporate Internet marketing.
Much of the structure of the proposal guidelines can also be used
with the Proposal Kit and Proposal Pack templates.
Writing
Winning Business Proposals : Your Guide to Landing the Client, Making
the Sale, Persuading the Boss - This is a not a proposal book
for the beginner. It is a very technical discussion on creating proposals
best suited for complex and large projects. If you are just getting
started stick to the books above. If the books above are to basic
for your needs and you have the bases covered, check this one out
to fine tune your approach.
Internet Legal
Self-help Books:
The
Internet Legal Guide - This book offers a wide variety of
topics on copyrights, cross country contract issues and more regarding
business conducted on the Internet. The book does have a few pages
of actual contact samples however it is very sparse and does not even
compare to even our "starter kit" Contract Pack Web Freelancer.
It is an excellent resource however for general Internet related legal
issues. We highly recommend reading this book and using it in conjunction
with our Contract
Pack documents.
Proposal Packaging:
Lockhart
Industries - World Class quality firm identity and presentation
materials. Lockhart is a supplier of quality binding solutions, cover
sets and stationary products for your proposals.
Graphics
Software Tools:
Adobe
Photoshop and ImageReady - We use a number of Adobe products
(including Illustrator) for building our web sites. Since we also
do a lot of photography related services the capabilities of Adobe
Photoshop are well worth it. Use it in conjunction with Macromedia
products and virtually all of your graphics and web development needs
will be covered.
Document Management
Software Tools:
Adobe
Acrobat - Adobe Acrobat PDF files are the standard for documents
on the web. Use Acrobat in conjunction with your word processor to
create PDF files you can post on your web site.
Microsoft
Word and Excel - The Cyber Sea Proposal Kits are developed
with Microsoft Word using it's mail merge features. Excel can be used
as the data source for the mail merge data. Pro kits also can use
Excel for the estimate spreadsheets. The Mac version supports Mac
Office.
Government Resources
US
Copyright Office
- If you do not register your intellectual property all the copyright
notices you stamp on your site and documents will not do you much
good. It generally is not worth pursuing copyright infringement when
your work is not protected. You works must be registered with the
US Copyright Office prior to an infringement to get the most protection
and ability to recover damages (consult a copyright attorney or other
legal resources for details). All Cyber Sea, Inc. documents, computer
programs, scripts and web sites are registered prior to being released
to the public. Protect your rights as well by filling out the Form
TX and submit it with the $30.00 payment and 1 or 2 copies of your
work as required.
Appendix of Resources
