This book is the businessperson's guide to influencing government decisions without incurring the cost of a professional lobbyist, at a time when those decisions are, increasingly, a key to survival.

When big corporations want to influence the government, they hire pricey lobbyists. But little guys have been on their own-until now. Equally useful to entrepreneurs and established owner/managers, Be Your Own Lobbyist: How to Give Your Small Business Big Clout with State and Local Government is a businessperson's guide to getting heard by government decision-makers by using the same tactics professionals employ.

Readers will learn how to lobby in a compelling, sophisticated way through a comprehensive approach that will work at any level, but the book is especially suited to state and local government where routine decisions can mean life or death for small- and medium-sized businesses. The book not only explains the building blocks of advocacy-targeting, tools, and tactics-but also applies them to specific, common challenges like seeking a variance or fighting an ordinance. Packed with examples and easily adaptable models, Be Your Own Lobbyist shows how even a small business can get a fair shake in the halls of government.

• Real-world advocacy examples
• Tip sheets, including How to Work a Public Meeting, Setting Expectations for Your Lobbying Effort, and Don't Waste Your Money
• For Example sidebars, such as Time-Wasters and Turnoffs and The 5 Biggest Mistakes
• You Try It exercises
• Model advocacy materials, including letters, emails, scripts, testimony, press releases, and more
• Sample laws, policies, and forms
• A Learn the Language glossary decoding some of the key jargon used in local and state government
• Resource guides for small businesses seeking government contracts