Page 26 RAIN September/October 1985 reader an informed and rare look at what goes on behind foundation doors. —Stephen Schneider Stephen Schneider is the director of the Centerfor Urban Education. FROM: Direct Mail on a Shoestring Direct Mail on a Shoestring, by Bruce P. Ballenger, 1984,24 pp., $7.50 prepaid from; Northern Rockies Action Group 9 Placer Street Helena, MT 59601 This excellent booklet, the latest in a series of NRAG Papers, was written by a self-confessed "junk mail junkie" who has worked on direct mail campaigns for numerous grassroots groups. Direct Mail on a Shoestring is designed for the novice who hopes to explore the potential of direct mail to raise funds for small nonprofit organizations. This guide was written specifically for groups with limited budgets and limited access to professional assistance. The guide consists of "Five Principles to Ponder," which offer a framework for considering direct mail's potential for an organization and "a few hints" about direct mail technology; a lengthy exploration of "the nuts-and-bolts of direct mail, including tips on developing mailing lists and designing your appeal"; and a final section on how to design a program that will maximize an organization's direct mail fundraising potential. Throughout the guide are "Shoestring Tactics" that grassroots groups have used successfully. This is the best introduction to direct mail that we've seen. —AL ACCESS: Small Business Management Workbooks for Self- Employed People, by Gerard R. Dodd, 1984, set of 5 wdrkbooks, $18 from: Dodd-Blair & Associates Box 644 Rangely, Maine 04970 Ten years ago, 60,000 new businesses started in this country. Last year 600,000 started—and the number is expected to reach 1 million per year in 1989. America's economy is in the throes of an entrepreneurial explosion of unprecedented proportions. More and more people of "alternative" persuasion seem to be finding a respectable home in the business world these days, too, but in small rather than large businesses. Are you in or thinking of starting a business? You must know then that the would-be entrepreneur faces a number of obstacles: competition in an increasingly crowded market, finding capital, and getting the attention of today's jaded consumers, to name only a few. The greatest barriers to success, though, often prove to be internal: an unwillingness to ask for assistance and to place value on thorough advanced planning are the negative side of a good businessperson's necessary drive and self-confidence. If you can't overcome these internal barriers, all the management workbooks in the world won't insure your success or prevent your failure. With this caveat in mind, these workbooks from Dodd-Blair are thorough, easy to understand and use, and will appeal to those put off by more traditional presentations of business basics. An open layout, cartoon graphics, and ample areas for notes and ideas make the manuals accessible and inviting. But don't let the easygoing format fool you. Inside the covers lurk hard-nosed, common-sense business techniques, like how to write your business plan, prepare cash flow projections, deal with loan officers, identify and target your market, and hire and supervise employees. It is surprising how much good, useful information and just plain common sense is squeezed into each 50- to 60-page workbook, and how simple some of the nastier tasks of running a business (bookkeeping, for example) are made to seem. Authors and publishers are responding to America's entrepreneurial explosion, and there is no shortage of small business management texts and workbooks these days. This series of five workbooks. though, fills an important gap in that they are short, accessible, interactive, and still complete—all at a very affordable price. As Dodd stresses repeatedly, good planning is the key to business success, since it enables you to "work smart, not hard." Dodd-Blair has done its work in giving you some useful tools to do this. The series takes at most two hours to read. The question now is: Will you take the time necessary to actually work through the manuals and use them to insure your venture's success? —Bruce Borquist Bruce Borquist is the director of the Business Center of Clackamas County. FROM; Management Workbooks for Self-Employed People, illustration by Tim Sample
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