What We Learned About Proposals

What We Learned About Proposals 

Below I will be covering what we learned about informal and formal proposals. How they should be set up and the length they should be, and how they help you achieve your goal. 

Proposals are written to solve problems, provide services, and sell equipment or products. 

        Internal Proposals are to evaluate options and make recommendations. 

        External proposals sell equipment and products and generate income. 

Proposals are similar to sales letter for many reasons. 

·     They emphasize benefits to the reader 

·     They detail expertise and accomplishments 

·     They make it easy to understand and respond to 

The biggest difference between Informal and Formal proposals are the length and format.

Informal Proposals 

·     Their length is (2-4 pages) 

·     Includes Introduction, background, proposal, staffing, budget, and authorization request. 

·     Briefly explain the reason for the proposal 

Formal Proposals 

·     Their length can be between 5 and 200+ pages 

·     Organized into many parts and can include six informal proposal sections 

·     Companies prefer online proposals over printed ones

·     The proposal can include Abstracts/ executive summaries, table of contents, and appendices

Overall, we learned several key topics for proposals. We learned that there are two types and one is lengthier than the other one. These proposals can help in getting funding for your proposal. Proposals also give you a game plan and help you stay organized, to achieve your end goal. 

Evaluation of proposal submission

Evaluation of Proposal

I am going to take the time to talk about the group proposal we created for class. As we all know, we were to write to Kickstarter for the purpose of having our fundraising project approved and listed. The proposal consisted of several pieces such as an introduction, the background, a proposal, staffing options, our budget, and last our authorization request.

The introduction explained what exactly we were marketing and why we thought it was important. Next, the background addressed our problems and then concluded with our goals and an overall purpose. Then we dove into the proposal itself where we discussed the details of our campaign, such as category, launch date, how long we will run, what we are trying to accomplish, and should we be approved. After that, we discussed the staffing section which explained who was all involved and where in the project to coordinate everything. Next, we discussed our budget which is exactly how much money we wanted to raise and where the money would go. Finally, we concluded with the authorization request, which was asking Kickstarter for approval and given a valid date.

The group proposal was very interesting. I didn't realize until doing this project what all a proposal consisted of. After doing so, it made a ton of sense and showed how important a proposal can be for a company. After figured out what all needed to be addressed in the proposal, I came to the conclusion that the hardest section was trying to figure out an accurate budget for our product. It was very tough not actually having a real company and staff and trying to figure out good prices and what we needed within us. We ended up coming up with a budget price that was way too low.

Proposals (Links and Examples)

Link and Examples of Proposals

Business proposals, which can be formal or informal, describe how a company will solve prospective clients’ problems or meet their needs. Informal proposals are usually much shorter than formal ones, and they are typically used to win smaller projects.

How to write a business proposal?

How to write an informal proposal?

http://professionalwritingservices.net/informalproposals.html

Example of informal proposal

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/what-is-example-informal-written-proposal.html


How to write a formal proposal?

https://www.dartmouth.edu/~osp/resources/manual/pre-award/format.html

Formal proposals are very similar in style to informal ones, but they differ in size and format. Formal proposals can be much longer and can have a table of contents and appendices. They can be from 50 pages to 200+ pages.

Collaborative Writing by Pat Schipani

Introduction

After further diving into the in class reading in our book on collaborative writing, I have uncovered a lot of new information I was not previously aware of.  a jumping off point the surprised me is that professionals of all kinds often write in teams or groups.  all the way back in 1982, Purdue University scholars surveyed 200 professional people about on the job writing. the survey would go on to sow that even at this time, 73.5 % of these professionals wrote collaboratively on the job.  however, despite this early survey, there is not a lot of focused information on collaborative writing out there. It actually takes further examination of written documents to see how writers and business people collaborate on written works. Many times it is not clear cut on wether or not multiple writers collaborated on a work project, but after further examination one can usually find that multiple people worked on said body of writing.

Forms of Collaboration

Collaborative writing comes in many forms. many times in which people collaborate on work it starts with researching. It is often very helpful to research topics with multiple people. This strategy of collaborating can really ensure the best information is gathered and then gone over before writing about the topic. a study was conducted to view this point ad found that most business professionals assigned with writing important documents often research in groups to determine the best possible information can be gathered and used.
Another common form of collaborative writing is team writing. In this, groups or teams of people break up information and focus on singular parts to write about. This method helps focus the points of a body of work, and ensures information is not repetitive through out different parts of the paper, letter, project, etc.
Also, peer review is a very common form of collaborative writing we are all almost positively familiar with. Peer review allows for others to read, and even edit your work. This form of collaboration can greatly improve the quality of a pieces of work. Often through peer review typos are found and edits are noted that can be made to improve the work. Another person can often find mistakes, or ways to improve the work that the original author did not see or did not think of themselves.

Multiple studies have shown that collaborative writing is very common in the business world and in common writing practice. the way the group works, the information recovered, the edited information, and writing potential is all raised by collaborative writing, and is an exceptional way to improve your writing as a college student, professional, or average writer.

Amazon Blog Evaluation

For today's blog I have chosen to do Amazon because they are one of the most successful and efficient organizations in the world. I figured with how diverse they are as an organization with product, there would be tons of great information on their company blog.

This is the official home page for Amazon's blog. Not a whole lot going on, but their blog in loaded with tons of information. Not a lot of color but as you scroll down it is a very colorful, detailed blog with tons of explore tabs.

To the far left is the drop down box where you can pretty much find anything you'd like to know about Amazon. It is broken down into  a few main sections such as about the company, news, rewards and recognition, job creation, and investment.

To the left is a pretty neat tool where each day it shows what is popular or trending on the blog. Each day it will list 5 trending topics on the page.

As you scroll down, you'll see a page of more general topics such as books/authors, entertainment, transportation, and innovation. You can click on all of these and read tons of articles. As you click on an article, there are tons of pictures and videos and at the very bottom you can meet the author and get a little background. It will then also suggest similar posts. Overall a very simple, interesting blog.

At the very bottom you'll see more about the company as well and like most websites you'll see privacy and conditions of use. You can also find Amazon offices here and apply for careers.


Overall, Amazon has a great blog. They provide a wide variety of information for all of its users and is very easy to navigate. There are tons of pictures and colors that will really grab someones attention. It demonstrates great ability to provide its users with anything they need to know so they don't have to listen to outside sources.

https://blog.aboutamazon.com/

Blog Evaluation and Reflection- Cover Letters

Hello everyone,


For this part of the assignment, I decided to take a bad and good cover letter and compare the two. Cover letters are very important when it comes to finding a job. When having a cover letter, there should always be a resume. Without a resume there is no cover letter.

A good cover letter includes what type of job you are looking to apply for.

Example:

A bad cover letters are non persuasive, and most people would just write a summary of what was all on their resume and not include any detail.

Example:

For our in-class assignment, we were assigned to create a cover letter from our resume that assigned us to write to the "career" that we wanted to pursue post after college. This assignment is for the class to get an understanding of knowing what

To reflect on this assignment, it is good to make sure that everything is done the right way. Especially, with resumes, cover letters is basically what are on the resumes but a summary. They are designed to make the career a person is searching for and make sure that they are hired.

This assignment was a good way for individuals to improve on their letter and resumes. Especially, when your a college student you need to have a well put together resume before a company even thinks about reading yours. Knowing that millions of people are applying for the same position should have you wanting to do better so you do get chosen.

What We Have Learned: Cover Letters

The last chapter that we covered was on the use of cover letters and how to make it effective. I’ll be quickly covering the quick tips of effective cover letters and what I have personally learned from this section.

Quick Tips:

·       Address the letter to a specific person or the position name of the person what will be interviewing you. Do your research on who this will be beforehand!

·       Say exactly what their company is and what exact position you are applying into. This will help them know exactly what you want.

·       Talk about what you can do as much as possible. This is the part where you will tell them in a different way what skills you have and how that will benefit them.

·       Give them an easy way to contact you. Write in a phone number and/or an email that you use.

·       Thank them for considering you. This takes up their time, so be polite and courteous.

·       Put Sincerely, then your name at the end of the letter.

·       It should be no longer then a page, but not much shorter then a page either. Be brief, but do not be scared to sell your skills more if you need bulk.

·       Do NOT use words like “I hope”. It shows that you doubt that you can fill the position which will make them doubt that too.

What I Have Learned:

I have learned that cover letters are not an optional thing when you are applying for a job in most cases. I was told that it was just something that I could do and not something I should do. I also learned that cover letters need to have specific information for the company that you are applying to. It makes sense when you think about it, but I had assumed that it could be a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. I learned that a cover letter is a platform to show a perspective employer your strengths in a new way.

Cover Letters - Examples and Links

Cover Letters - Examples and Links

Hello, having difficulties writing a cover letter that will stand out from the rest? Then you came to the right blog post, this post will show you what a cover letter is, why you should create one, how to write it powerfully, and finally how to properly format it so you will be ready to make a statement when leaving your resume at to your next employer.

What is a cover letter?

A cover letter is a single-page letter written to the person or organization for a job you're applying for. A well-written cover letter should introduce you and encourage the person reading it to read the resume. Writing a cover letter should be part of every job application you make unless there are clear instructions not to send one. 

Why you should have a cover letter.

• Introduce yourself
• Mention the job  you're applying for or looking for
• Show your qualifications and prior experience
• Encourage the reader to read your resume     
• Finish by asking for a future interview

How to write a powerful cover letter - YouTube

Benefits of writing a cover letter.

1. Though you may not have a strong resume, a cover letter can provide information promoting a person that can give an advantage on someone with a well more built resume.
2. It allows one to sell themselves and must be well worded to promote a person. Future employers only want the best individuals for the job and want someone with confidence, which can be found in the cover letter.
3. In conclusion employers like employees that can read and write, so writing a cover letter can help you promote yourself through your literature skills and as well show that you took the time and research while looking into the job.

Formatting a cover letter.

Examples: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/cover-letter-format-2060205

Evaluation of class reading: Audience Analysis

In this post, I'll be analyzing the class reading Audience Analysis by Mathes and Stevenson. I'm sure analyzing your audience isn't something you keep in mind when writing that essay for university at one in the morning, when you submit that paper for a scholarship, or when you have to write something for work. But the authors of this essay tell us it is a very important and often disregarded aspect of writing, especially as it pertains to the business world.

I know when I write an essay, I only expect the professor to read it and nobody else, which often is the case in college. (Or a teacher if you're in primary school.) But in the job world, things are very different. You not only have to know who you're writing to as a primary audience, but also consider who may read it casually because of proximity, who you will refer your paper to, who needs to be able to translate it to then successfully perform THEIR work, what decisions will be made because of the information you gave, and so on. 

Let me give you an example, because that probably didn't make a crazy amount of sense. I'll use the the example they gave in the essay. I'll also try and keep this as painless as possible, so stay with me here.

Imagine you're an engineer for a car manufacturer. You know all of the technical jargon associated with the job, the basic in's and out's of your role, etc. It is RELATIVELY safe to assume that the other engineers in your department also know what you know, but do not trust that fully. (I'll explain why later.) It isn't them you have to worry about when writing a briefing or report. It's those not related to the engineering role, such as design, marketing, HR, finance, and others. If you have to write a report about a problem you've encountered, you have to be aware of who is going to read it and how they are going to use and interpret the data, as well as their knowledge of engineering. 

If you use big engineering words, is someone in finance who MAY read the report going to have a clue what you're talking about? Well, the less you take others into consideration, the harder of a time they'll have understanding. Even someone within your department may have been out of school for fifteen years and vaguely remembers a bunch of what they learned, whereas you remember it all because you just graduated six months ago.

Not taking your writing into consideration isn't just a burden for those reading whatever you wrote. It could also cause problems or miscommunication of all sorts, which is also what you don't want. 

Mathes and Stevenson gave us some points to remember for when we're writing.

   1. It is false to assume that the person addressed is the audience.

   2. It is false to assume that the audience is a group of specialists in the field.

   3. It is false to assume that the report has a finite period of use.

   4. It is false to assume that the author and the audience always will be available for reference.

   5. It is false to assume that the audience is familiar with the assignment. 

   6. It is false to assume that the audience has been involved in daily discussions of the material.

   7. It is false to assume that the audience awaits the report.

   8. It is false to assume that the audience has time to read the report.

These are what you should take into consideration when writing something of any kind in the business world that isn't explicitly private or for a single person. 

The authors also offer a systematic way of gauging what audience members you'll have, as well as their technical knowledge of your department and how they will use the information you gave them. 

Step 1: Prepare an Egocentric Organization Chart

Create a chart similar to the one above with you at the center and add in other people as you radiate outwards based on what they know/how familiar they'd be with your work, ideally using the four rings in the picture, with "audiences in own group" being other engineers, "audiences in close proximity to your group" being software engineers for the cars computer systems, "audiences elsewhere in the organization" being the people in finance, labor relations, and the vice president, and "audiences outside the organization" like maybe an average Joe reading your report after it was shared through a news outlet by the head of your factory.

Step 2: Characterize the Individual Report Readers

This is done after you get a good idea of who is around you from the chart, it's time to characterize each person within your chart. Know their names, level of education, degrees, and background in the organization. The authors suggest following three kinds of characteristics to determine: operational, objective, and personal. Operational characteristics will take into account what the daily duties are of each person and how they'll use the knowledge of the report, below if they can understand it in the first place. Objective characteristics will include stuff like their education, experience, etc. Personal characteristics being age differences (that can inhibit communication sometimes), how often the name changes of that role, and personal concerns that could alter their reactions.

Step 3: Classify Audiences in Terms of How They Will Use Your Report

Consider how each member of your audience will use your report. Will someone in Human Resources care that a piece of the door frame isn't welding on for a correct fit? Probably not. So, the chances are high that they will not use your report at all. They may read it, but that doesn't meant they'll use it. They could simply be an immediate audience member, or someone who will transmit the information along the route to the primary audience, who will be making decisions and whatnot based off of said information. Also take into account secondary audience members, who are affected  by the decisions or actions of the primaries based off of your report. How will their job change because of how the primary audience viewed and used your report? Make sure what you want to get across is exactly what you want to get across. Any miscommunication could have consequences, severe or not.

You don't have to go through this rigorous process literally for every single report or memo you write. But it is important to have a general knowledge of who could view your report, why you should write it a certain way, and what the consequences will be. Don't just write it for you, write it for everyone. Keep these things in your mind every time you write something something for your job, and you'll be good to go.

Corporate Blog Evaluation: Bowers & Wilkins

Hey everyone,

The blog I chose to evaluate was Bowers & Wilkins. Their blog is still relatively new and should be expanding soon but as of right now it still has some great information on what the company is and their products. The blog is very user friendly and uses pictures to showcase products and other things they are talking about.

The blog has different sections ranging from announcements of key people in the company, new products, album reviews, different speaker setups, headphone reviews, and many other things.

These are some of the other examples of things they post. This blog is a great way for people to understand more about the company and their products, it can also help you learn some things about some of the software and technology they use in their products. In conclusion, this blog is pretty good now but when they add more content it will be even better for the users.

Link to blog: https://www.bowerswilkins.com/blog

evaluation of class reading

Blog assignment

Rahzyaunna Jordan

Our Class Reading: Should you bring your mom or dad to your office

By: Anita Hofschneider


In the reading there is information regarding Millennials that stuck out to me.
Some of us like bringing our parents to work. That many of us have helicopter parents and that we were babied more than previous generations. Some companies took notice to this and have since implanted days for our over bearing parents. Using these days to attract more employees and boost morale. I find this interesting because many of my friends aren’t close with their parents. I want to know where this information came from honestly.

In the reading it lists key companies that want to get the parents involved.

· Northwestern mutual, the managers say, “that parents influence their children’s career.”
· Google holds a “take your parents to work day”, 2,000 + parents came to their second annual event.


Next, in the reading it compares parental involvement in other countries to the United States. Globally parents influence their children’s career and these adults want their parents to receive documentation of their successes.

· US 2% of young adults want their parents to receive information their success
· Globally 8% is the average

The information in this reading continues to draw back to parental involvement. With some companies not knowing how involved parents should be in the work place and in their child’s career decision process.

This concludes with another perspective on the parent’s involvement. A student says, “if a company gave her a letter to take home to her parents, I would feel like I’m back in high school.” I related mostly with the end of the reading. Parental involvement isn’t for everyone. It shouldn’t be required it should be optional.


Rhazy Jordan

corporate blog: journey (coca-cola)

The corporate blog I chose was Journey by Coca-Cola. Their blog involves around the company and the community. It states their vision and what they hope to accomplish.

They have many different sections about the company and what they do. One of the important one is their mission and vision of what the comapany wants to do.

Their blog has so much on it from their history to how they plan the company's future. They have information on the company and what they do that you can look at. They have all their products and new products release. They even have a news letter you can sign up for if you wanted.

Coca-Cola Journey is a company blog especially if you like thier products and want to know more about the company. It is rather easy to navigate and look for what you want. I don't drink soda but this is a good blog to look into and read.

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/

resume examples

examples was posted on wrong blog https://trinityharris1.blogspot.com/

Assignment Reflection - Resumes

Hey everyone!

            I wanted to take some time to talk about our resumes that we made for class. Resumes are designed to share our work experience, skills, awards, etc. that are relevant to a job we are applying for. They give a quick overall of what we have to offer and, if done right, can lead to an interview or job opportunity. 

            There were two different resumes (chronological and functional) for us to complete. Chronological focuses on your detailed experience as the order of when you would have done it and functional focuses on your experience and doesn’t highlight when it was completed. 

            For our assignment, we were asked to find a job that was interesting to us, but also was relevant to our field that we are studying. I choose a marketing internship at a local technician company.

            As a reflection, I found that I really enjoyed the chronological resume more because it had more style to it and seemed to be easier to read. I think if an employer were to read it, they would have been able to see my skills and work experience easier because of the formatting. This original resume also had some color to it, so it was able to catch someone’s attention easier. I also realized that I should go outside of my “habitat” to gain some new experience and be able to share that on my resume(s). I did notice the work I have been able to do and the accomplishments I have been able to make because of it. Overall, it was a great learning experience for me.

            I think this was a great assignment because it heavily relates to making the right impression the first time. Whenever an employer gets a resume from you, you want to make sure that it looks professional and like you have put time in it. Resumes can really speak for themselves and a great resume can lead to some great future opportunities. 

overall reflection: resume

As part of group three, we got the section on resumes. This section was very insightful considering when we graduate, we will be sending these out to our potential employers. We learned about the two mains kinds a resumes and that is what I will be discussing.

The first type of resume we covered in this section was chronological resumes. These resumes are typically the most common format for resumes people submit. These are generally for people who have experience in the field they are applying for. These resumes show your current work experience which is why people who have had jobs in the field they are applying for use it.

Another type of resume we covered was functional resumes. These are mainly used for people with breaks between their previous jobs or for other people who are changing careers. This is not as prevalent as chronological resumes but they are more or less used for entry or first time resumes as there is not always as much experience.

Outside of covering these types of resumes, we also learned stuff they involve. It talks about styles and what all we should be including in each of these resumes. Along with that, we discussed the lengths it should be and how we can best set it up. This included the size font to use, which is between 10 and 14 as well as the one inch margins to make it look less cluttered. Lastly, while you are including all of your information, you are to use a neutral color such as white or egg shell. This is essentially what we covered, thank you.


Christian Keither

Links and Online Examples- Bad News Letters

Hey,

The topic of the chapter was bad news letters. Giving someone bad news is not the easiest thing to do. The goal is to try to get the point across in the best way possible.  Examples are always nice to look at so I will include examples of bad news letters with this post, along with online examples.

There are two types of  bad news letter:

Indirect:

• Sent when you want to be less aggressive or sensitive being more nice with the information.
• Commonly used when bad news is personally upsetting,  bad news will provoke a hostile reaction, bad news threatens customer relationships, bad news is unexpected

Direct:

• Sent when you want to be more aggressive or tough being more direct with the information.
• Commonly used when bad news is not damaging, the receiver may overlook the bad news, the organization or receiver prefers directness,  firmness is necessary

Online Examples

• https://johnnorland.com/bad-news-indirect-letter/
• https://www.instructionalsolutions.com/blog/deliver-bad-news-in-writing
• https://toughnickel.com/business/How-to-Write-a-Bad-News-Business-Letter