August 31, 2004
Website Update
At last I've gotten around to updating my main site at proposalwriter.com. All of the updates are shown on my What's New Page. But sadly, I've come to the realization that I can't continue to update my Searchable Database. It is just too time-consuming. Not only that, but I am very unhappy with it. The database is hosted on a portal that is outside my main site. When I set it up several years ago, it worked well. But then the portal people got into some kind of trouble with the search engines, and my pages can no longer be found in them.
The portal people also added outside search results to my own search results, making it all the more difficult for people to discern which are my results and which aren't. Finally, it is too difficult to make changes on the page templates, which are supplied by the portal. So all the page templates show my old site design. I'm going to leave the database there, since a lot of people use it. If I ever get the time, I'm going to try to set up a new database. But I have no idea when that will be.
C'est la vie.
Posted by Deborah at 9:03 AM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2004
The Importance of Resumes
I got into the proposal writing field quite by accident. I was an Administrative Assistant with an international consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area. Like most such firms, my company spent a lot of time preparing proposals for federal contracts. Because I had always enjoyed writing, I hounded my boss to let me participate in the proposal preparation process. He finally agreed, and I got my first assignment: preparing resumes. It wasn't really what I had in mind -- after all, writing a resume wasn't "real" writing and it didn't seem to be a very important aspect of the proposal process. It wasn't until a long time later that I realized how important it really was.
A lot of organizations don't spend much time dealing with resumes for their proposals. They pull the resumes of their staff members and consultants out of a folder and stick them in the appropriate sections of the document. Or if the individuals they are proposing for the project don't have resumes, they quickly write them up. This is not the approach you want to take if the bid you're preparing is important to you.
Resumes are like every other section of a proposal: they have to be tailored to meet the specific requirements detailed in the RFP or RFA, and/or tailored to meet the specific requirements of the project you are bidding on. This often means that the resumes you are submitting with your proposal will have to be re-written -- sometimes extensively. Your objective in doing this exercise is to demonstrate that each proposed individual meets (and hopefully exceeds) the qualifications required for the job. Does he/she have the appropriate or required educational background? What work has he or she performed that is similar to the work that he/she will be doing in conjunction with the proposed project? If you have ever applied for a job yourself and have tailored your resume to meet the position requirements or have written a cover letter describing your qualifications for the position, you will be doing pretty much the same thing for the resumes that will go into your proposal.
To get the information you need for the resumes, you may need to conduct in-depth interviews with the personnel you are proposing. Or you can give them a list of specific RFP/RFA requirements or project task descriptions and ask them to tailor their resumes to those requirements. However you choose to get a good resume prepared, you need to take into consideration the time it will take to do it. Depending upon the state of the original resume you are working with (if one exists), it can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a day or more to get a resume in shape. The time you spend on each resume will also depend on the importance of the position and the proposal evaluation criteria. Typically, you will spend more time preparing resumes for the Project Director and other managerial personnel than you will for lower-level positions.
The qualifications of your proposed personnel -- and the way in which these qualifications are presented -- can make or break a proposal. And that is why the tailoring and preparation of resumes plays such an important role in proposal development.
Posted by Deborah at 5:50 AM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2004
Too Many Problems
I realized this morning that I am really getting behind on various problems that I need to address. Some of these center around this blog. Apparently, I didn't pay any attention to some of the lessons I thought I had learned from my website development fiasco, and just jumped into creating a blog without really figuring out what I was doing. So I need to do some research on blogging and especially how to promote my blog. I've got to get started on this pretty soon.
I am also having a problem with the subscription thing. People sign up for the blog subscription but then they don't activate it. I'm not sure why, but it might have something to do with the activation e-mail. People with aol and maybe other e-mail addresses can't click on the link that comes with the activation e-mail -- they have to copy and paste it, and that can be a pain. So I've been adding these subscribers manually. I may need to start looking for another subscription program that doesn't require activation.
I've got some software problems to deal with. Something is causing IE to shut down periodically -- "Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close" or whatever the error message says. I thought this might be fixed after I installed SP2, but it still happens. Also, when I boot up the computer, some of my program icons don't always show up in the taskbar even though the programs are running. Sometimes they show up; other times they don't. Why would this be? Whatever it is, it is really bothersome when I need to access a program that is supposed to be in the taskbar. I have to shut it down from the task manager and then start it up again manually.
Then there is my laptop computer. The problem is that I hate it. It's a Sony Vaio. There are some things I can do to make it act more like the way I want, but I hate using it so much that I don't even want to turn it on. I need to look into getting a new laptop, maybe towards the end of the year so that I can take a tax deduction.
Of course, I have work-related problems. All my current clients have given me stuff all at once and everything is due around the same time. So it looks like I'll need to put in quite a few hours this weekend.
Enough said.
Posted by Deborah at 7:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2004
Today's Work - A Mixed Bag
I'm sitting around early this morning waiting for the garage door company to come and fix my garage door that broke yesterday. It's not actually the door that broke, but the mechanism that makes it go up and down. The motor runs, but the door doesn't move. So I'm hoping that it's not some major (expensive) thing that needs to be repaired. Haha, dream on...
Other than that, I have a mixed bag of stuff to do today. First off is the (expletive deleted) workplan. I am just not sure that I want to continue with this assignment. It's been almost a month since I first met with my client about it. Nothing happened for three weeks because they weren't ready. Then they called and asked me to come in last Friday for a meeting, which I did. They scheduled a follow-up meeting for last Monday, but when I got there, the people that I was supposed to meet with were off doing something else. So I came home. The client promised to reschedule that meeting, but I haven't heard from them. Another meeting, which was pre-scheduled as part of the meeting last Friday, is scheduled for tomorrow. I can do some preparatory work for this meeting, but I'm not sure it's actually worth it. In addition, I still don't have a contract. I know that they will get one to me eventually, but this whole affair is getting pretty tiresome. End of workplan rant.
So, I will just continue on with an assignment that I recently received from one of my best clients. They are doing an international proposal for DfID, which is the UK Department for International Development. As always, they send me pieces of their proposal for critical review and substantive editing. The I often end up putting the whole thing together for them. So today I have to review the RFP and start looking at the first two draft pieces they sent last night.
I am also waiting to receive an RFP and other information from the client that I worked with last week on the Iraq base operations bid. They said they would send it yesterday, but it hasn't arrived. I know they are very busy with a couple of other bids -- they had asked me to assist them with these, but I just didn't have the time. So perhaps they will send the info today or tomorrow, or whenever they get around to it.
I may also have a conference call with a former client who contacted me yesterday. I did a proposal for this client several years ago and haven't heard from them since. They sent me an e-mail, but didn't say what they wanted, except to talk with me. I need to e-mail them back and let them know whether to schedule the call for today or Monday. I haven't decided yet.
Finally, I have got to get around to updating my website. It's been about six weeks since my last update, so the time has come.
Posted by Deborah at 6:48 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2004
Reviewing a Government RFP/RFA
Many people who are new to government contracting/government grants find themselves overwhelmed when they receive their first few RFPs or RFAs. These government proposal packages can be quite large -- some containing hundreds of pages of densely written text. It's no wonder that I often hear new or potential clients say "I just don't know where to start."
First off, it's important to recognize that RFPs/RFAs contain two types of content: (1) boilerplate, and (2) substantive information.
Boilerplate is the stuff that you'll find in nearly every RFP/RFA. It typically consists of contract clauses that are either referenced or written out in full, as well as standard government forms that may have to be filled out and submitted with your proposal. While these are important, you don't need to read them right away. So right there, you've eliminated about 2/3 of the material that you need to look at during your initial review.
What you want to do is to start off looking at the following substantive information which is usually presented in discrete sections of the proposal package:
The Cover Sheet (often called Section A) or Cover Letter. This will tell you:
- Type of solicitation (RFP, IFB, RFQ, etc.)
- Due date and time
- Submission address
- Number of copies required
Cost and Pricing Data (often called Section B): This will tell you how your pricing should be presented and the items/services to be priced.
Statement of Work (often called Section C). This may contain:
- Description of the project that you will be bidding
- Project background information
- Work to be performed (requirements)
- Duration of project
- Personnel requirements
Instructions to Offerors/Bidders (often called Section L). Here, you may find instructions for formatting, organizing, and submitting your proposal. For example:
- Page limitations
- Page layout (margins, fonts, page sizes)
- Media (paper, disks, CDs etc.)
- Technical proposal outline and section contents
- Business proposal outline and section contents
- Number of copies required
- Packaging instructions
- Submission instructions
Evaluation Criteria (often called Section M). This will tell you how the government evaluators will "grade” your proposal:
- Scoring method
- Scoring weight of each section
- Evaluation process
By approaching your review in this manner, things may not seem quite so overwhelming as they seemed at first glance.
Posted by Deborah at 6:28 AM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2004
Programs That Make My Life Easier
Occasionally, people e-mail me to ask what proposal automation software I use. The answer is easy: I don't use any. There are several of these programs on the market -- you can find them by doing a search on "proposal software." I've fooled around with the demos of some of them, but have found that they're not really suited for my type of work. They seem to be more suited to large companies that generate many proposals, and not to a consultant who has many different clients.
But as a proposal writer, I use several programs that I'd have a hard time doing without. Below I've listed a few:
File Box Extender: This is a fabulous little program that puts a little icon on Windows Explorer. You can list and access all the folders that you use frequently, as well as those you are working with at the present time. It makes it a lot easier to open, save and find your documents.
Yankee Clipper: I really couldn't work without this program. It automatically saves everything that you copy, including text, pictures, whatever. You can keep as many items as you want and access them any time from your task bar.
WordWeb: This is a wonderful little thesaurus and dictionary that integrates with Word. It sits in your task bar until you need to look something up.
FirstCap: Another tiny program that will stop you from leaving your Caps Lock key on accidently and TYPING A WHOLE SENTENCE IN CAPITAL LETTERS.
iBackup: I've been using an online backup service for quite a while because I can access all of my important files from a client's office or anywhere else.
ShortKeys: ShortKeys is a text replacement utility similar to Autotext in Word.
Microsoft Project: In my opinion, you can't beat MS Project for making Gantt charts. The problem is that most of my clients don't have it, or if they have it, they don't know how to use it. It's also very expensive. But the charts look soooo professional.
PowerDesk: PowerDesk is a replacement for Windows Explorer. It has a lot of features, but the ones I use most are the file viewer (view your files without opening them), color coding of files and folders, and making notes about the contents of your files and folders.
Know of any others? I'd love to hear about them.
Posted by Deborah at 4:11 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2004
Sunday Scoreboard - August 22, 2004
Here's the scoreboard for the past couple of weeks. I haven't been doing too well on keeping up this scoreboard. And when too much time passes, I sometimes forget what I have been doing. When I get really busy, things tend to run together in my head. So for what it's worth:
Projects in Progress: After laying dormant for a few weeks, I will be forging ahead with my workplan project. Things kind of stopped for a while because my client wasn't quite ready to give me all the information I need to prepare a complete plan. But last Friday I met with them to get things going again. They gave me some more reading material, and I have a series of meetings set up this week with various people who will be providing me with some of the specifics. They want me to have the plan completed right after Labor Day.
Completed Projects: Over the past couple of weeks I've worked on two projects: the first involved a review of an NIH SBIR grant application. The second, which I just finished up on Friday, was a proposal to provide base operations services in Iraq. Both of these were done for new clients. The Iraq client has asked to talk with me this week about some other upcoming projects.
Inquiries: Also last Friday, I got a call from one of my established clients who asked if I would be available to assist with a proposal that is due around September 10. They are not sure right now that they will need my assistance, but they wanted to alert me to the possibility. We'll talk more in the next week or two. I received several other serious inquiries, and I need to call one person back on Monday. Unfortunately, I had to tell the others that I wasn't available.
Posted by Deborah at 8:02 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2004
Just Incredibly Busy
Too busy the past couple of days to take the time to write anything here. I've been spending long hours working on a proposal for a new client. The proposal is due today and will be sent via e-mail. I've just sent the final version to the client for their review and changes. Now I have to get ready for this afternoon's meeting with my workplan client to see what's going on with that.
Hopefully I will be able to write something tomorrow that is a bit more substantive. Right now, I just don't have the time or energy to do much of anything.
Posted by Deborah at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2004
Will You Work for Free?
Like most freelance grantwriters, I am frequently asked if I will write a grant proposal on a contingency, commission or percentage basis. In plain language, these people are asking me to spend many hours, days, or weeks working on a proposal for which I will get paid only if the grant is awarded. How would you like to go to work each day, put in your full eight (or whatever) hours, and have your boss tell you that you might get a paycheck in two or three months, but only if five conditions are met -- and you only have control over one of those conditions? I suspect that most people would find another job FAST! Who wants to work for free?
That is the case with grants. The grantwriter has control of one thing -- writing a good grant proposal. And this is assuming that the grantwriter receives all the information that he/she needs to prepare a good proposal. The grantwriter has no control over the many other factors that are considered by funding organizations in determining whether or not a particular grant will be awarded.
In addition, many people and organizations think that once they receive a grant, they will be able to use part of the grant money to pay the grantwriter. But this is exceedingly rare. The government won't let you do it, and neither will most non-government funders. So where are these organizations going to get the money to pay the grantwriter who has already done the work? If they didn't have the money to pay the grantwriter then, where will they get it after the grant is awarded? It's almost certain that it won't be from the grant.
I get asked to work "for free" so often that I've included the following on my Frequently Asked Questions page:
We can't pay you now, but when we win the grant/contract, we'll pay you a commission or a percentage of the amount.
This is called "working on a contingency basis," and it's something that I don't do. That is, I get paid at the time that I do the work, whether or not my client wins the grant or contract. The primary reason for this is that a proposal is only one of several factors in an award decision. Many excellent proposals do not get funded despite everyone's hard work and best efforts. And although there seem to be many rumors to the contrary, in actuality there are very few proposal writers who will agree to work on a contingency basis. With Government contracts, you cannot include the cost of proposal preparation in your budget as a direct cost -- it must be part of your company's overhead or it must be paid out of your profits. With regard to grants, most foundations and other grantmaking organizations will not permit you to use grant funds to pay a grantwriter.
Yesterday I came across an excellent article on this very subject. It's written by Goodwin Deacon, Ph.D., founder of the Puget Sound Grantwriters Association. The title of the article is Percentage Fees: The Troll Under the Bridge. In my opinion, this article should be mandatory reading for anyone who is considering asking a grantwriter to "work for free."
Posted by Deborah at 7:47 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2004
Evolution of a Website
I recently came across a review of my website that someone had done in 1998, when I first created a site. It got me to thinking about how my website has evolved over the past six years.
In 1998, I decided I wanted a website. I didn't have any reason to want a site -- I just felt that I should have one. Since I didn't have the foggiest idea of how to create a website, I hired someone to design one for me. And, since I really didn't know why I wanted a site, I told the designer that I wanted it done in bright, bold colors so that it would stand out and attract attention. This is what I ended up with -- I was so proud! (See the entire page here.)
I finally had a website, even though I didn't know why. I wondered why no one came to visit it, and why those that did didn't hang around very long. So I solicited reviews of the site. I got a few reviews that were polite and somewhat wishy-washy. But one reviewer really stung me with her comment: she said that it "looked like the circus was coming to town!"
I decided to get serious. In mid-1999, I contacted Rebecca Game of Digital Women, who is a wonderful designer. I still didn't know what I wanted, but I knew what I didn't want: bright bold colors, flowers, cartoons, cutsey stuff. I told Rebecca that I wanted it to look "professional." And this is what I got:
I begin reading about website promotion. I submitted my site to search engines, directories, and anywhere else I could find. I taught myself HTML. I added more pages and wrote more stuff. The result was astounding. People started visiting my site. Other sites linked to it -- universities, libraries, government agencies, non-profit organizations, commercial firms. My site rose to the top ten in the major search engines for my key words. And, I began getting business!
After four years, I started getting tired of looking at my own site. The design seemed old and stale to me. Plus, the individual pages were getting longer and longer with each update. I wanted something new, but I was afraid that if I made a major change, my search engine rankings and visitor numbers would drop. Finally, I decided to take the chance. Hello again, Rebecca -- I need a new design, something new and fresh-looking. She came through for me once again with a new look.
So, live and learn, as they say. I'll be forever grateful to whoever it was that gave me that blunt feedback on my first attempt at a website. If she hadn't, it might still look like the circus is coming to town.
Posted by Deborah at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2004
Responsibility With No Responsibility
I spent a few hours this week doing a proposal review for a new client. I thought they might be a little upset when I told them that, in my opinion, the proposal needed significant reworking because the focus was wrong. Happily, they took it in stride. We had a conference call to discuss issues and next steps, and they immediately began to plan and schedule the work that needed to be done to transform the proposal. I liked their "can do" attitude.
Compared to my other proposal-related activities, I don't do a lot of proposal reviews and critiques. But I like doing them because I can usually fit them into my schedule and I often find them to be quite challenging. I also like doing reviews because, in most cases, my responsibility ends once I have completed the review and have given my comments (written and/or verbal) to the client. From that time on, it is the client's responsibility -- not mine -- to determine if changes to their proposal are necessary and, if so, to make those changes.
On occasion, a client will ask me to assist in making revisions to their proposal based on my comments. But most of the time, they do this work themselves. So for me, these types of assignments are short and sweet.
Posted by Deborah at 9:57 AM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2004
BWIA?
When I was working in the Caribbean, I frequently flew on BWIA, which (Ithink) is or was an acronym for British West Indies Airlines. But everyone joked that BWIA really stood for "But Will It Arrive?"
Talk to anyone who has done a number of government proposals and you'll probably find a horror story about proposals that don't or almost don't arrive. I've had clients who have shipped their proposals via overnight courier services (e.g., FedEx, UPS) and the packages got lost in the system or arrived at the government agency after the specified deadline. I've heard of companies whose personnel have gotten stuck in traffic jams while on their way to deliver a proposal. Then there are those who have made airline reservations so that they can hand-carry their proposals to an agency in another city, and have found their flights delayed. A couple of years ago, one of my clients was up all night trying to submit their proposal via an online system that didn't work properly. And then I had a client whose printer broke down in the middle of the night and they had hundreds of pages to print and assemble before the due date the following morning. Think it couldn't happen to you? Think again.
I always advise my clients to have a back-up plan for proposal delivery in the event they will be working very close to the deadline. Back-up arrangements can include:
Sure, making these plans may involve some time, trouble and expense. But just think how you would feel if all the time, trouble and expense that went into preparing your proposal turned out to be a total waste because it didn't arrive on time.
Posted by Deborah at 5:20 PM | Comments (1)
August 12, 2004
Outright Lies
I was reviewing a proposal for a client yesterday, and a question arose about what to do about a resume that was lacking a specific date. The person whose resume was in question could not be reached. So my client wondered if it was OK to make an educated guess about the date. I advised her that I thought it was OK because: (1) the date in question was about 15 years ago; (2) the date was not critical to the resume, since it did not relate directly to the individual's work experience (it was a date during which the individual had served as president of a local association); and (3) it was, in fact, an educated guess based on other information in the resume.
This got me to thinking about an experience I had earlier this year. I was working on a proposal for a client that involved submitting detailed resumes and qualifications for about 35 specialized personnel for a DOD project overseas. Due to the immediacy of DOD's needs, the contract was to be awarded very quicky, and the personnel proposed for the assignment had to be available to depart the US within a week of award. In addition, the RFP specified that all proposed personnel must have secret clearances.
My client was very experienced at recruiting personnel quickly, and had a number of other government contracts. They were able to identify the required number of personnel needed for this project and obtain their resumes. But when all the resumes were rewritten and organized for inclusion in the proposal, my client found that there were several specialists who did not possess the required secret clearances. At that point, it was too late to find replacement personnel.
So what did they decide to do? They decided that they would indicate that every person they proposed had a secret clearance. They put this information at the top of each resume so that it would stand out prominently. Although they didn't say so to me, I believe their thinking was that -- in between the time that the proposal was submitted and the contract awarded -- they would be able to find other personnel with secret clearances to replace the ones who didn't have them. But guess what? They weren't able to do that.
My client was not awarded this contract because their price was too high. But suppose they had been the successful offeror? At some point, the personnel they proposed would have had to produce documentation that verified their secret clearances. And if they couldn't? There is a good possibility that DOD would have cancelled their contract for non-performance and awarded it to another bidder. My client's name and reputation with that particular department within DOD would have been ruined, with their chances of winning a future contract from that same department practically nil.
A bit of exaggeration is one thing, but outright lies -- if they are serious enough -- can get you in big trouble. And as far as the date in the resume is concerned: well, they could always claim it was a typo.
Posted by Deborah at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2004
Does My Company Really Need a GSA Schedule?
Something new today -- a guest blogger! I've asked my colleague, Patrick Suarez, to write up a short introduction on GSA Schedules. Pat is President of Suarez Associates, which specializes in GSA schedule proposal preparation, training and consulting. Here's what he has to say:
A great deal of confusion exists over the need for a GSA schedule, also called a GSA contract.
For those unfamiliar, a GSA schedule (or contract) is a negotiated, multi-year, publicly available agreement between the federal government and your company. The contract contains the start and end dates of the contract,a list of your goods and services, the maximum rate that a government agency can expect to pay for your goods and services, some information about how to contact your company and some legal jargon. Once you post your GSA schedule information to the GSA's general store, www.gsaadvantage.gov, government agencies may order your goods and services directly from you via the GSA Advantage website and skip the bureaucracy of protracted negotiations.
Countless small businesses, including some with experience as subcontractors to prime contractors on federally funded projects, ponder the need for acquiring their own schedules. Do we need a GSA schedule? Why do we need one? Can we get federal work without one?
A company can, indeed, find paying work without a GSA schedule. But, having a schedule gives your company a very major leg up on those without schedules. Your advantage is two-fold: Because the GSA posts its requests for proposal (documents that describe the government's need and the conditions under which it does business) publicly and many companies respond to them and then sign contracts based on them, the legal requirement for competition is satisfied. Also, because the GSA negotiates "best customer" prices with those companies that earn GSA schedules, the requirement for a "fair and reasonable" price is satisfied.
Companies without GSA schedules do not have the GSA's seal of approval (competition and best price satisfied), so the government and its prime contractors have an easier time in awarding to those companies with GSA schedules, bypassing those companies without schedules.
For more information or to contact Pat about helping you with your GSA Schedule needs, please visit his website at www.gsaproposal.com. Let him know that you heard about his services from Deborah's Proposal Writing Blog.
Posted by Deborah at 9:45 AM | Comments (0)