Brainstorming the Blank Proposal Page

Brainstorming the Blank Proposal Page

The Catch-22 of Government Proposal Graphics Too often, the central graphic that supports the benefit and the win theme of a proposal section is the last thing the author thinks about. Why? Proposal managers and volume leads might not regard themselves as visual...
3 Ways to Become a Better Federal Proposal Writer

3 Ways to Become a Better Federal Proposal Writer

A proposal is a sales document. It’s not a technical paper, a white paper, or a point paper. When you create a proposal, you must convince your client to buy from your company. A professional proposal writer needs to demonstrate mastery of knowledge, expertise, and...
How to Effectively Read a Request for Proposal (RFP)

How to Effectively Read a Request for Proposal (RFP)

As the saying goes, “well begun is half done”. Reading an RFP effectively is crucial to the rest of the proposal development process to eliminate sections rewritten over and over, omitted requirements, and ultimate lost of a proposal.

A Great Proposal Kick-Off = Smoother Proposal Development

A Great Proposal Kick-Off = Smoother Proposal Development

I have a proposal horror story that involves a late and unprepared kick-off: When I was working in a corporation, we got a sudden “you must bid” directive from upper management. At a so-called kick-off, we sat in a room together reading the RFP, with senior people calling all of their contacts, trying to gather last-minute teammates to patch up holes in our strategy, and figuring out who was going to write what section. This was well after the RFP had dropped, with only two weeks left before submission.

Focusing on Proposals For the Q3 & Q4 Spending Spree

Focusing on Proposals For the Q3 & Q4 Spending Spree

We’re approaching the Federal Government’s spending rush that comes in the last two quarters of every fiscal year. In 2018, the Federal Government obligated roughly $560 billion to contractors. However, the government obligated roughly $144 billion (26%) in Q3 and...
Scaling the Government Proposal Development Mountain

Scaling the Government Proposal Development Mountain

Climbing a mountain for the first time can be just as unnerving to an inexperienced rock climber as tackling your first solicitation can be if you’re a proposal newbie. Scaling the government proposal development mountain process may seem paralyzingly-scary at first,...