Government Marketing Best Practices 2011- 2nd session!

Does your marketing program pay dividends for you company? Is it aligned with sales goals? Are you leveraging web 2.0 tools and tactics and integrating them into your overall marketing efforts?

If you need some guidance on these or other business-to-government marketing issues, you need to attend Government Marketing Best Practices 2011!

The second session of government Marketing Best Practices 2011 is on March 22 at the Mason Inn on the campus of George Mason University.

On March 9 we kicked off our partnership with the School of Management at George Mason University with our flagship seminar, Government Marketing Best Practices. All attendees and speakers were delighted with the seminar.

We will feature several industry experts (see below) for our second session on March 22. The agenda for the 22nd is (see below for discount code):

7:30-8:00 Registration, continental breakfast & networking
 
8:00-8:15 Welcome & introduction

8:15-9:00 Panel- Challenges facing the B2G marketing: budget issues, evolving web 2.0 tools, social media policy and use, and more. (Mark Amtower, moderator, Mark Meudt, & 2nd panelist tba)

9:00-9:45: B2G marketing tactics that are working today- PR, white papers, events, blogs, podcasts, video, webinars and more. (Mark Amtower)

9:45-10:00: break & exhibits

10:00-11:00: PR/Press panel - how to get more than your fair share of press (traditional & virtual) and air time. (Kevin Young, David Hubler, Francis Rose, Michael Ponticelli)

11:00-11:45: Aligning sales & marketing. (Fred Diamond)

11:45-12:45: lunch

12:45- 1:30: Content as a marketing tool. (Marc Hausman)

1:30-2:15: Web 2.0 panel- how to select & deploy the tools- blogs, social networks, webinars, podcasts & more. (Mark Amtower, Marc Hausman, Joyson Cherian)

2:15-2:30: break & demos

2:30-3:30: Networking panel- virtual and face-to-face. Where & how to build relationships that pay dividends. (David Powell, Jeff White, Guy Timberlake, Tim Moran)

3:30-4:30: Twenty-one tactical tips form the front lines, action items you can use today. (Amtower, Joyson Cherian, Guy Timberlake)

4:30 Adjourn
 
You can register here:  http://som.gmu.edu/gmm
 
And use this code for a $50 discount: AYGMM



Speakers:

Mark Amtower: www.FederalDirect.net. Amtower is a veteran government marketing consultant, author of 3 books and over 100 articles. He has advised many of the most successful companies, large and small, in the government market in his 27 years managing Amtower & Company. He is the Co-Director of the Government Market Master program.

Joyson Cherian: www.w2comm.com  Joyson Cherian has diverse public relations experience in telecommunications, network and Internet security, open source, software and wireless communications. With a passion for social media, Joyson creates strategies and implements communications programs for clients using Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and Delicious. By leveraging these tools, Joyson is able to track client-specific news and insight, develop relationships with key industry influencers, media and analysts and provide counsel on the best ways to leverage social media to tell a story.




Fred Diamond: www.FredDiamond.com  Fred Diamond, principal of Diamond Marketing, is the leading go-to-market strategy consultant in the mid-Atlantic region for high-tech and professional services firms. His background at Apple and Compaq have given him the tools and experiences to help dozens of companies in many industries formulate winning and successful marketing strategies that help accelerate getting to the next level. His catchphrase, “Marketing that does not lead to revenue is a waste of time and money” has become a mantra of the leading sales and marketing executives in the mid-Atlantic region.

Marc Hausman:  www.gotostrategic.com
Marc is President & CEO, Strategic Communications, advisor to many top tech companies on all facets of web 2.0 marketing. his Strategic Guy blog is a must read: http://strategicguy.blogspot.com/

David Hubler: www.Washingtontechnology.com 
Veteran technology journalist and Associate Editor, Washington Technology.
dhubler@1105govinfo.com

Mark Meudt: www.GDIT.com Mark Meudt is Vice president, Communications, for General Dynamics IT. He previous hel the same position at Anteon.

Tim Moran: www.carrollpub.com  Tim has been and industry technology sales professional for the past twelve years in the MD/VA/DC region. Since 2007, he has consulted Fortune 1000 companies for Carroll Publishing. He works with CEOs, CIOs, CTO’s, Sales Directors, Marketing Directors and Business Development VPs to incorporate Carroll’s web-based FedSearchSuite solution into their ‘go to market’ strategy and boost public sector (or insert Fed) revenue higher than ever! Tim said recently, “More than ever before, C-level professionals are realizing the need for a robust database of key decision makers beyond what the traditional federal bidding database provides…that is how Carrolls can impact the ‘bottom-line’.”

Mike Ponticelli: www.Bisnow.com Michael is the Publisher of Fed Tech Bisnow, a daily email newsletter covering federal technology personality news, and Associate Publisher of Bisnow Media, a national provider of niche business and industry news operating in 19 national markets with over 300k daily readers. Michael manages advertiser relations, strategic relationships with industry partners, marketing, circulation, product development, and event production. Fed Tech Bisnow produces over 20 government contracting events per year and Michael oversees an event production team that creates ideas, keynote recommendations, speaker invitations, ticket promotions and sponsorship sales. He lives in Adams Morgan, loves the DC nightlife, and finds B2G and B2B marketing absolutely stimulating.


David Powell: www.FBCInc.com  David Powell is the Chief Operating Officer for the Federal Business Council, or FBC as it iscommonly known. In this role, David Powell and FBC President, Mike O’Neill (with the help of many talented FBC team members) are responsible for the production and delivery of FBC’s full schedule of federal conferences and industry expositions. Since 1976, FBC has produced over 5,000 conferences and expositions for the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community and Civilian agencies. Each year FBC works with over 18,000 individual sales people and federal marketers from 7,000+ companies, holds 180 event days and hosts over 60,000 federal personnel as attendees at its events across the country. FBC's government clients include all federal agencies, the Intelligence Community and the Department of Defense. FBC's industry clients include most of the top federal contractors as well as medium and small businesses. Events such as the Infantry Warfighting Conference, theFBI IT Exchange Conference, the NSA Outreach Program, the National Labs IT Conference, the OSDBU Procurement Conference and others put the government and industry together in a face-to-face format that builds community, relationships and solutions.”

Francis Rose: www.FederalNewsRadio.com. Francis is host of the popular mid-day (1-3 PM) In Depth with Francis Rose. He also offers audio interview services for government contractors.  

Guy Timberlake: www.theasbc.org  Guy Timberlake entered the government contracting marketplace over twenty years ago providing business and mission operations support to agencies of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Just prior to launching The ASBC with his business partner (and wife) Margaret, Guy was the successful Capture Manager for a multi-year $70M task awarded under GSA CONNECTIONS in support of U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC). As co-founder and visionary, Guy has played a key role in the successes realized by member companies to include direct and subcontract awards exceeding $5B since 2004, the year The American Small Business Coalition began serving the government contracting community.

Jeff White: www.GovWin.com  Jeff White is the VP and founder of the GovWin Network – the only online professional network and business platform built by government contractors for government contractors. Leveraging the latest SaaS technologies, govWin, a Deltek network, has grown to over 28,000+ members. GovWin transforms how organizations and professionals collaborate to secure new business, get idle consultants billable, and become more discoverable to potential teaming partners. Prior to Deltek’s acquisition in December 2009, GovWin was mySBX. In two short years, mySBX was able to launch the platform, secure more than 5,000 companies as members, and land large clients such as Lockheed Martin, CACI, Serco, ManTech and others. With over 19 years of launching and leading businesses, Mr. White has founded several companies and led them to successful exits. As the founder of Blue Canopy in 2001, Mr. White led the company to receive two Inc. 500 awards for being one of the Top 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. The lowest growth year in the company was 98%, and in 2007 led the successful sale of Blue Canopy to a private investment group.

Kevin Young: co-Director, Government Market Master program

kevinpyoung@earthlink.net or kyoung6@gmu.edu
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinpyoung

Isolated incident or shape of things to come? Applications for Schedule 75 (Office supplies contract) suspended…

Schedule 75 new applicants suspended – A GSA Sponsored BPA awarded to less than 5% of Schedule 75 vendors- here’s a link to the story:

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?sid=2060341&nid=35&_hw=GSA

GSA is looking for ways to leverage its buying power, apparently without considering ramifications for companies that have spend time and money getting Schedules. The award itself (to me) appears flawed, in that planned “levels” of discounts will not be supported by all of the BPA awardees.

Will this experiment be extended to other product categories? My guess is that it will, and probably not far down the road.

Please share your thoughts.

This and other topics will be addressed at the 7th Annual Summit on Selling Products to the Government –

http://www.federaldirect.net/sellingtothegovernment.html

Word on the street- INPUT has been sold

There has been lots of speculation the last few months about Input actively seeking a buyer, but the current word on the street is that they have been sold.

Further, the unverified word is the buyer in Bloomberg/BGov. I have heard this from mulltiple sources near both parties, but nothing fom inside either.

If that is accurate, there will be a significant shift in the contract information landscape over the next several months.

Stay tuned!

Why LinkedIn, Why Now

Are you leveraging social media, or are you still on the sidelines?

If you listen to my radio show or have heard me speak in the last three years, you will know that a significant part of my message has been the growing use of social media and web 2.0 tools for B2G marketers. Among the tools I have been advocating are webinars, podcasts, video, and various social networking tools, especially LinkedIn.

Last year Market Connections (http://www.marketconnectionsinc.com/) released the 2009-2010 Federal Media and Marketing Study which touched on the use of 14 social media tools. According to the now year old study, the top five social media tools were Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, My Space and Twitter.

Fast forward to the just released Market Connections 2010 Social Media Study. This study (available for purchase at the above mentioned web site) indicates a rapidly growing acceptance and use of social media tools by both industry and government. Government is lagging behind, but they have more restrictions for everything. However the study indicates use of social media by 29% of Feds and 55% of contractors.

The main uses of social networking by contractors are marketing and sales (60%), event information (59%), press releases (51%), job postings (44%), white papers/case studies (38%), presentations/speeches (35%), videos/pictures (28%), and product demos (23%). There are more findings, but these are the major ones.

The finding in this study that shows the biggest change from the 2009 study is that LinkedIn has emerged as the most popular social networking site with 36% of the responders using it. Facebook was at 26%. It my interview with John Kagia of Market Connections (http://www.federalnewsradio.com/) he indicated that the use of these networks continues to grow.

So why is this important to you?

LinkedIn has over 70,000,000 users worldwide, with the majority are in the U.S. - and it continues to grow. My research indicates the Washington Technology Top 100 are all here, in significant numbers. Rarely do I find a significant government contractor that is not on LinkedIn.
If you put "government" in the search box and search on "groups" you will find (as of 6/20/10) 4,197 groups having something to do with government. In the top 100 of the government groups there are 20-25 that focus on some aspect of government contracting, including one of my groups, Government Market Master (with almost 1,400 members).

So again, why is this important to you?

According to the Market Connection study, only 19% of the companies using social media have a strategy or social media policy in place. With no strategy or policy, there will be little or no way to measure the effectiveness of what you are doing, what messages are going out, and what image of your company is being presented.

If you devise a proactive social media strategy (with an intelligent policy behind it), you will be able to use some measurement tools, set some goals, and start measuring the effectiveness of various platforms.

Nowhere in the Market Connections study did it mention one of the major uses for LinkedIn for small businesses: differentiation. All businesses need to differentiate themselves, but for small government contractors, it is closer to a 'life and death' situation- differentiate or die a slow death.

For any small business not currently using social media, or using it only in a limited way, you are missing the major low-cost marketing tool that can truly help you stand out in the crowd.

Here's what you can do right now:

Over the next six months I will be hosting a coaching group for companies seeking to grow their businesses by the intelligent, proactive use of social media, focusing largely on LinkedIn.

During the six months of the program, we will host 2-3 teleseminars each month (all will be recorded and be available for replay) and there will be monthly one-on-one coaching with each company. Each company will also get an initial tele-planning session with me to create an action plan that suits your needs.

By the end of the program, you will end up with an audio library of 15+ hours of training you can use again and again. And you will be light years ahead of where you are on LinkedIn now.

Each tele-session will focus on one topic:

- social media policies
- developing benchmarks
- differentiation
- building personal profiles that attract customers and partners
- finding and managing your company profile
- finding and joining groups that can help you grow
- how to reach out to potential partners and customers and build your network
- selecting LinkedIn applications that will work for your company
- publicizing your company and events
-using Q&A, recommendations, defining your area of expertise and much more.

After each session you can do Q&A with me via email, and use your monthly session to tie this into your custom program.

And all participants will get my 3-CD set, The Ultimate Jumpstart Program for Social Networking – Maximizing LinkedIn.

If you are interested in seeing the details, email me at mark (at) FederalDirect.net or call me at 301 924 0058.

Why me, why Mark Amtower?

I have been on LinkedIn since February 11, 2004. My "membership" number is around 225,000 - out of 70,000,000. Currently I have nearly 2,700 connections (primarily in the government market), belong to 50 groups (primarily B2G in focus), and have gained national recognition for my use in social media (one of the top 7 LinkedIn profiles in the 2009 Rock the World with Your Online presence contest) and being profiled for using LinkedIn as a thought leadership tool at MarketingProfs. I have also done about 25 media (radio and print) interviews on using LinkedIn. The FedTech Bisnow newsletter called me "the Lord of LinkedIn" (11/10/09, http://www.bisnow.com/washington_dc_tech_news_story.php?p=6007 ).

Everywhere I go in the arena of doing business with the government, people know me because of my use of LinkedIn. Take a look at my profile and see why.

Then call me and sign up so you can get the same results.

BtoB and looking at B2G?

Are you targeting or growing Government Business for 2010 and beyond? Or do you want to understand where your company might fit and what it will take to 'get in the game'?

The government market remains one of the bright spots in the current economy. Regardless of what you sell, the government probably buys it.

According to Onvia, here is what the government spends:

$5.5 trillion a year
$105 billion a week
$15 billion a day
$625 million an hour
$10 million a minute
$175,000 a second.

Spending by federal, state, and municipal governments now represents almost half of total U.S. GDP, and some expect it to increase in the coming years. If you sell a business product or service, the odds are that the government is a potential or current customer. Companies that ignore the government sector are significantly disadvantaged.

If you are interested in pursuing government business for the first time, or growing your current government business, please read on-

Over the past few years there has been a tidal wave of renewed interest in the Business-to-Government (B2G) market by companies selling virtually any legitimate business product or service. The Federal government remains a dependable income base for savvy companies. When B2G is worked properly, it is almost a recession-proof market.

However, if it is not worked properly, it will devour your time, money and effort and leave you with less than you started. There are many ways to start down the wrong path, including attending events that promise and don't deliver, or hiring the wrong consultant.

Every year of the thousands of companies that enter the government market, most leave after a short time, as they had grossly inadequate preparation on what is required in terms of infrastructure, marketing and overall expectations. Unrealistic expectations, a poor market entry strategy and the wrong advice will kill any effort.

You need to set attainable goals, develop an action plan that gets you there, and set a realistic timeframe to accomplish the goals. You need to understand the resources needed along the way. Doing the research to determine the goals and the action plan is one of the areas where I can help.

The B2G market requires both a different knowledge base and a different set of skills than B2B. Without the knowledge and skills, your market entry and growth is doomed to failure, or at least very slow progress. Further, the more “niche” your product or service, the more your market approach needs to be targeted precisely to that niche. Your market entry program must avoid a formulaic approach. To start properly you need insight, research and you need to start developing and managing your B2G network.

If you are already in the market and you are not maximizing results from your marketing and sales programs, you may also need some outside help.

If you want to discuss what I can do for you, simply send me an email and we can set up a time to talk - Mark@FederalDirect.net. If I can help, I will say so and explain how. And if I can't help I will direct you to someone who can and help you get in touch.

And if I can help, you and I will design a program that fits your needs and your budget.


Why discuss this with me?

Since 1985, I have advised over 250 companies on successful market entry and growth. My clients include manufacturers, publications, catalogs, resellers, integrators, seminar and event producers, educational institutions and many others. I have advised clients in a broad range of product and service categories and have been successful in helping each company willing to act on my advice.

Over the past 26 years in the government market Amtower & Company has developed a reputation for excellence that is unparalleled. My successful clients represent both market approaches: contracts (GSA and other contracts) and open market (no contracts). Many of these companies have remained Amtower clients for several years. Check out my LinkedIn profile to see some of the over 200 recommendations I have from current and past clients, and from my peers.

My advice has been used by large and small companies, novices and B2G professionals, to sell billions in products and services both through contracts and via open market.

I only take on clients where I can truly add value. So send me an email so we can set up a time to talk- Mark@FederalDirect.net

Have a successful 2010- and beyond!

Mark

Are You Selling to Your Favorite Uncle (Sam)?

This economy has driven many companies to the government market in the hopes of getting some of the stimulus package, or just a piece of the annual Two Trillion plus spent by federal, state and local governments.

For those new to the government market, you must understand that this market is very different from BtoB and BtoC, and you have to understand these differences and other market nuances to succeed. If you enter the market without experienced guidance, you will be severely handicapped.

For those of you doing credit card/transactional business, you may already doing business with your favorite Uncle. Credit card orders may not look like government orders, but they certainly can be. Government credit card activity can give you an idea about the potential you have in the government market.

On the federal level, there is a simple test- run the prefixes that only federal credit cards have. Federal Visa cards will begin with either 4486, 4614 or 4716 and federal MasterCard cards will begin with 5568 or 5565. These prefixes are reserved for federal government credit cards.

The federal SmartPay card (aka small purchase card) accounted for $20 billion in activity in federal FY 2009. Purchases made via the SmartPay credit card under $3,000 (the official micro-purchase level for federal spending) require no contracts which is why you may be doing business with the feds without knowing it! A federal cardholder can make a purchase from any legitimate business via the credit card. We know most state and local governments have similar programs, but there are not current statistics on usage.

Many companies want to learn how to start or grow their government business. So far this year I have had about 15-20 inquiries a month regarding either market entry or questions on how to expand existing government business.

In response to the demand, I have re-launched my Government Market Master consulting group. Since the early 1990s, I have advised over 200 companies on growing their government business and several companies still use my consulting services.

If you are interested in entering the government market or growing the government portion of your business, contact me today about the program I am putting together for 2010-2011. Mark@FederalDirect.net

This is a year-long program designed to help any company enter the government market successfully and help those already in the government market grow their government business.

Each member company will have an action plan customized to meet their specific needs in this complex market. This is the plan we will work from during the course of the year-long program.

This program will have a limited number of openings, so contact me now for details and to schedule a time to discuss your needs. There is no obligation on your part for the initial call. It is simply to determine if this program can help you.

So contact me me today- Mark@FederalDirect.net.

This program is designed to be affordable even for smaller companies. The information provided to each member can have a dramatic impact on your ability to grow your government business.

Bloomberg enters B2G, Input enters Wall Steet - take 3

Among others, Talking Biz News reported in January that Bloomberg was preparing to launch a competitor to Congressional Quarterly (aka CG, not to be confused with GQ, if that is still around). The other publications in that arena is the National Journal, The Hill and Roll Call.
http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=13043

Each of these news services/publications is quite expensive, so the circulation base (# of subscribers) was never huge.

CQ is currently owned by the Roll Call Group. I had the opportunity to consult with the original owner, Congressional Quarterly, on the waning circulation of the publication several years back. When I went to my first meeting there, they were trying to grow the circulation base for the publication while it was shrinking. The web was providing much of the news previously not available to the general public. This was several years back: factor in now the use of all the web 2.0 tools and news sources and the ability to get the info without the expensive publications is very real.

My advice back then was to shore up the base rather than to look for new subscribers. The logic was simple: after many years of publishing, they had exhausted most of the sources for new subscribers. The best use of the marketing funds was to keep those who were already subscribers and try to get those back who had recently cancelled. These publications, while fun and interesting, are difficult to sell on a one-to-one basis.

The market for exclusive information sources is shrinking because the "exclusivity" of the information is disappearing - there are literally hundreds of web-based sources that are free or cheap providing similar information.

The key is adding value for the subscriber. Bloomberg will certainly be able to add value considering the number of information sources it has to draw on, including BusinessWeek and the other Bloomberg sources.

In the meantime, Input has not been idle. On February 8 they announced the launch of Government Investing Advisor (GovIA). Quoting form the press release, Gov IA is "a new research offering designed to deliver unique data and insights to the investing community on government spending and contractor activity. Available immediately to subscribers, GovIA provides hard-to-find information and insight on the largest, publicly traded companies serving government, as well as government market data, spending analysis and forecasts."

To focus on this market Input hired Julie Santoriello Chariell as Vice President of Financial Services. She is a financial industry analyst formerly of Morgan Stanley.

Federal Sources is not sitting and waiting either. In a conversation with Ray Bjorklund Friday afternoon, he indicates Federal Sources is focusing on the core business of making their clients successful in their pursuit of government business. Sounds like a good move.

Reading more than is there

Sometimes you can read between the lines and get something others might miss.

I got a call the other day from someone I had advised a few years back. They had just read an article in the Wall Street Journal (Feb 2) entitled “Funding for Education Would Get a 9% Increase.” The article came with a chart of “Winners and losers” in the federal budget (the federal agency winners and losers).

The call was in reference to the increase in the Education budget and my friend wanted to know how much more they should focus on the Department of Education and the education market in general.

The article focused on the Obama plan to revise the Bush “No Child Left Behind” program, which has operated with very mixed reviews since its inception. This means the money would be going out in the form of grants to local jurisdictions predicated on meeting some new criteria (not germane to our discussion).

So I asked my friend these questions:

· How much of your business is the education segment?
· How many of the 13,506 school districts do you currently sell to?
· How are you planning on reaching the decision makers in each of those districts who are interested in what you sell?
· What makes you think that increase will be spent on what you sell?
· Would this mean you will spend less money marketing to the agencies that spend more with you?
· Now, do you still want to increase your marketing to the education segment?

I don’t know what my friend will end up doing, but here are the real issues:

· A 9% increase for the Department of Education translates into $4.5 billion, pocket change in terms of the federal budget.
· Even if the money is divided equally amongst the districts (which will not happen), the increase will not amount to a large pot to go after.
· If you have a limited marketing budget (and most companies do), you are better off making certain current customers are better served first before going after new customers.

Sometimes there is something to read between the lines, and sometimes there isn't.

GWACs Demand Leads! What new B2G Lead tactics will you be using in 2010?

Contrary to the belief of some GSA Schedule holders, GWACs do not automatically cause an influx of qualified inquiries. There is a common misconception on the part of new contractors that GWACs sell themselves. If you have any GWAC (SEWP, GSA Schedule, ECS, etc) you need to generate leads.

Some traditional lead generation methods may still work, but are probably more expensive than they used to be. For example, direct mail was popular from the 1970s through the early 2000s, but the price has skyrocketed.

So, what still works?

Trade shows, in-agency & other events: Events, when properly selected to match what you do with what the attendees buy, are still among the top performers. If you select the wrong event for what you offer, you waste both time and money. Speaking as well as exhibiting allow prospects to find you. Simply attending offers a much smaller opportunity to be found. Caveat: there are a number of events that promise much and deliver little. Do your homework, ask questions, and check the pedigree of the event producer.

White papers: White papers have been around a long time, and they continue to produce qualified leads. The white papers can be placed at your web site, on the web sites where prospect traffic will occur (like Government Computer News, Federal Computer Week or Washington Technology), or they can be promoted in other ways.

Email: Email remains a productive way to get messages to targeted audiences as long as you remain well inside the “do not spam” rules. Federal agencies were among the early adopters of spam filters and black lists, and many people choose to ignore this and email away with any list they can get their hands on. Simply having an email address is not permission to use it.

eNews programs: e-Newsletters or ezines are another popular way to share information about your company, products, services and general industry information. Done well, these are excellent customer and prospect communication tools.. While it may take a while to build a subscriber base, the “opt-in” nature of these is a major part of what makes them work. Another facet of this are news releases sent direct out through the web, using tools like PRNewswire


Webinars: Among the fastest growing of all marketing tools is distance learning – sharing information through platforms like webinars. Several things are appealing about webinars. You can attend without leaving your desk, you can ask questions if you attend the ‘live’ version (KZO Innovations offers a tool where attendees of archived webinars can ask the questions), they are available ‘on-demand’ and they are much less costly to produce than live events.

Social networks: Among my favorites are social networks like LinkedIn, TFCN and GovLoop. LinkedIn has over 55,000,000 business professionals as members, and among these are tens of thousands of federal, state and local government officials. If you learn how to use these valuable platforms properly, prospects will begin to find you. TFCN and GovLoop are both under 20,000 members but are focused exclusively on government.

Blogs: Blogs are a great way to share your expertise with the world, get higher web rankings, attract partners, prospects and gain recognition. Done well these are more than worth the time and effort, Done so-so or poorly, and you can destroy your reputation.

Podcasts: Podcasts are usually 8-15 minute audio programs addressing a single topic. Think of them as audio white papers and the value should become apparent. People digest information in different ways, and fewer people seem to be reading as much. Make your information available in as many formats as necessary to reach the broadest possible portion of your niche.

Videos: YouTube has gained enormous popularity and many businesses (including B2G) are suing pithy videos to gain attention.

Too often senior management is reluctant to try anything but the “tried and true” methods with which their business was built: space ads, events, face-to-face networking at association meetings, etc. While these are still valid, the new methods of PR and marketing are surpassing the older ways rapidly. Marketshare can be gained or lost by not reaching those most likely to want your products or services in the ways they prefer to receive information. You don’t generate leads by wishing yesterday’s methods still worked.

Mark Amtower can be reached atMark@FederalDirect.net

this article appeared at www.WashingtonTechnology.com

Amtower Off Center turns 4 (and Amtower & Company turns 26!)

Amtower Off Center turns 4! After completing 3 years at WFED, Federal News Radio – Amtower discusses his twenty-six years in the market as Amtower & Company (January 2010 starts his 26th year as Amtower & Co.- a double anniversary show). In an interview on In Depth with Francis Rose, Amtower talks about the dynamic nature of the government market, why B2G is different form B2B, common missteps companies make entering the market, the difference in the problems facing small, medium and large companies, what marketing methods can works, how market share can occur, the importance of differentiation, best marketing practices in the market, why ongoing education is critical in this market, why and how social networking is becoming a critical element in marketing programs, -all this plus classic Amtower anecdotes and more in a lively discussion with Francis Rose.

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=17&sid=1868948

2010 forecast for THE FEDERAL, STATE, and MUNICIPAL MARKET- free webinar

This will provide great info for companies either in the government market, or those seeking to enter the government market in 2010. Real information from two experts Michael Balsam of Onvia and me) - and it is free.

https://onviaevents.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/register.pl?activity_id=vxbtzmt&user_id=

Here are the dollars:

$5.5 trillion a year.
$105 billion a week.
$15 billion a day.
$625 million an hour.
$10 million a minute.
$175,000 a second.

Spending by federal, state, and municipal governments now represents almost half of total U.S. GDP, and that percentage is expected to increase in the coming years.

Companies that ignore the government sector are significantly disadvantaged.

The Next Economy: 2010 Government Market Outlook Report and Webinar will give you the insight your business needs to capitalize on the enormous opportunity in the government marketplace.

Register to get industry insight on:

-Government investments in Infrastructure, Energy, and Information Technology - from regional health information networks and intelligent transportation systems to smart power grids
-Continued impact of Economic Recovery funding
-Subcontractor and supplier opportunities due to lower barriers of entry
-and much more

https://onviaevents.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/register.pl?activity_id=vxbtzmt&user_id=

SmartPay! The Federal Credit Card Program ROCKS!

I have been a huge fan of the federal credit card program since it started in 1989 (IMPAC in the 1990s, SmartPay since 1999) . I have written about it, spoken about it, even did the lunch speech at the MasterCard Government Financial Summit for the card program a couple years back.

The SmartPay program encompasses the purchase card, travel card, fleet card and the integrated card (a card which can do 2 or all 3 of the above functions).

In FY 2009 the Federal government spent $30 billion through the SmartPay program, with two-thirds of that going to the small purchase card - $19.9 billion. There were approximately 25,100,000 micro-purchases made with the SmartPay card.

The SmartPay program is great for many reasons.

First, it allows front line government personnel (civilian and military) to purchase goods and services when they need it without the painfully slow procurement process. The per-purchase limit (micro-purchase) is $3,000, so these people are not out there buying cars, buildings, etc. They are buying stuff they need to do their jobs. This actually ends up saving the government money (a cost-avoidance situation) because paper-based procurement costs mount up in personnel time used to do the procurement. The use of the SmartPay card avoids those costs.

Second, because of the total volume the government spends, each agency gets a rebate from the issuing bank.

Third, it allows companies without government contracts an opportunity to get some government business, including direct marketing companies, catalogers (especially BtoB catalogs), and even small-town main street type stores.

Any purchase under the $3,000 per-purchase limit (micro-purchase) does not require a government contract. And the SmartPay card can be used for the ARRA (stimulus) program.

I have consulted with over 50 open-market (non-contract) companies since the early 1990s about going after open market government business, and the results have been extraordinary. Several companies were able to ramp up to seven-figure annual business via the open market targeting micro-purchases. At least one company went into the eight-figure annual open market sales arena. My track record in this niche is unparalleled.

I have an article in a recent DM News on this you can read here:http://www.dmnews.com/government-credit-hasnt-dried-up/article/160372/


Two things: if you want to discuss what I can do for you, simply send me an email and we can set up a time to talk. Mark@FederalDirect.net

or here's the deal for companies that don't currently sell to the government but want to, and for companies that are selling to the government and would like to fine tune their efforts.

We will:

1) review your product/service category to determine the spend, see who the competition is, and determine how much each competitor is making;

2) define who the actual buyers are and how to best reach your target audience (direct mail, web-based activity, events, etc) with specific recommendations targeted to your niche, prioritize the agencies and offices to target;

3) determine if there is an opportunity for you under the stimulus program, and what it will take to pursue the stimulus funds;

4) discuss in realistic terms the resources you will need to successfully pursue government (Federal, state and local) business, including staff, training and other outside resources;

5) our recommended step-by-step action plan for your company, including the information you need for your web site to attract online government buyers;

6) include a one-year membership at http://www.governmentmarketmaster.com/ (an Amtower & Company web site that provides ongoing education on the government market; $499/yr value) - in effect a year long graduate course in B2G;

and as a bonus I will include my 4 CD set, The Ultimate Government Sales Jumpstart Program (priced separately at $195). And of course a signed copy of Government Marketing Best Practices, the best selling book on doing business with the government.

This is not boilerplate stuff - each report and action plan is customized for the client company. It will be delivered via a taped 60-90 minute teleseminar (which you will be able to download) with both a written report with a recommended action plan and a PowerPoint to use during the call.

The investment for this a one-time only special is $4,995, prepaid.

This is a "first-come, first scheduled" offer.


Get in touch with me ASAP if you want to take advantage of this. The anticipated response will fill my calendar for the next couple months.

And we do take credit cards.

Email me @ Mark@FederalDirect.net or call me @ 301 924 0058
to schedule your customized B2G research project and reference this blog post.


May you have a successful B2G 2010!


Mark

Twitter, and Blogging and LinkedIn – Oh My! Why to leverage social networking tools for smarter, faster and cheaper B2G marketing.

The basic goal of marketing is to get attention from a targeted audience, then to influence that audience in some positive (positive for you) way. If your job includes growing your pipeline and growing your business, gaining and retaining customers, growing your overall influence in your niche, and do so in a cost effective way – you need to read on.

If your job is to make sure you keep pace with your competitors or set the pace for your niche, you need to read this.

If you could reach key people in your niche, at least in part, with readily available tools that you can use yourself, would you seriously consider using the tools?

Oh, and did I mention they have a minimal cost?

LinkedIn, blogging and Twitter each represent low-cost and no-cost tools that allow you to reach and interact with targeted audiences.

While there is no doubt that social media has changed the marketing landscape, there are still many doubters and very slow adopters. And even for many of those who have adopted one or more of the social networking tools do not use them to anywhere near the full capacity.

In fact, many sign up and then sit and wait for something to happen.

I still have conversations with people who still maintain that LinkedIn is only for those seeking work, that blogging is for those who have way too much extra time on the hands and that Twitter is for Twits. These people, and their companies, are way too busy for peripheral activities like LinkedIn, blogging and Twitter.

As other media venues stagnate or shrinking, each of us still needs to reach key audiences. The information gathering habits of many in our market have changed and we must change with them.

I am only highlighting 3 tools here but there are many others in use and some just coming along. Webinars, podcasting, web radio and video, FaceBook, GovLoop, TFCN and many others are out there offer good-to-great value for those who leverage them properly.

Being on LinkedIn is no longer simply a ‘nice to have’ activity. If you are not there, you are in a rapidly shrinking minority. LinkedIn is a great venue for identifying key government influencers and those trying to sell to them- resellers, SIs, manufacturers and others. The entire roster of the top 100 contractors (the Washington Technology list) is represented on LinkedIn, as are most of the top GSA Schedule contractors. Overall there are over 50,000,000 professionals on LinkedIn. While not all are overly active, there is enough activity to merit your active participation.

In order to begin to use LinkedIn properly, your profile needs to be filled with enough information to get the attention of those who view it. I will address this at my December 7 B2G Social media event – see the link at the end of this post.

As of today (11/27/09) there are exactly 3,100 groups that have something to do with ‘government’ on LinkedIn. Aside from those, there are niche groups covering all manner of subject matter from various technologies, products and services. When you identify the right groups to join, you can share your thoughts, do research and otherwise participate in the discussions germane to your niche. Participation here raises your overall visibility in your niche and display an area of expertise.

Cost of participating on LinkedIn? $0. While there are paid levels for those wishing to use more tools, basic participation is free.

According to blogging diva Debbie Weil, blogging is different from conventional web sites because blogs are interactive, conversational in nature, created via an instant publishing platform (no IT staff required), offer an involvement factor that web sites lack, and can create a thought leadership position for the blogger. Web 2.0 thought leaders David Meerman Scott and Chris Brogan lead with their blogs. They post regularly (and intelligently) and both have developed massive followings as a result.

Blogs also allow you to truly position yourself as a niche master or thought leader in a specific niche. This occurs not by regurgitating information from other sources but by evolving your own thoughts on the niche and commenting on the positions of others as necessary.

Cost for blogging? There are both free and paid blogging tools, but even the paid ones are not expensive. Select the one that best suits your needs.

The one I personally have the hardest time with – Twitter is becoming clearer to me all the time. Chris Brogan’s blog on Twitter is a great place to start: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/ .

The first issue with Twitter for B2G is ‘are there really enough people in the government market using Twitter to make a difference?’ While open for debate, perhaps the best answer is the number continues to grow. The publications, service providers, many thought leaders and government contractors are officially tweeting on a regular basis, as are many government agencies.

Following some of the publications (WashTech and others) on Twitter allows you to get instant news updates, calendar reminders and more.

Twitter is becoming more and more widespread in B2G marketing and it can no longer be ignored.

Cost for tweeting? Twitter is free.

So why should you bother to engage in using these social networking tools? If your job includes growing your pipeline and growing your business, gaining and retaining customers, growing your overall influence in your niche, and do so in a cost effective way – you need to start using these tools on behalf of your company.

If your job is to make sure you keep pace with your competitors or set the pace for your niche, you need to be here.

If you need to know more, please consider attending our upcoming event on December 7 in Tysons Corner, Virginia:

http://www.governmentmarketmaster.com/events.html

Small Biz, Web 2.0 & B2G

Citibank commissioned a study, reported by Reuters, that concludes that most small businesses are not yet using social media. "Few U.S. small businesses have adopted social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter for business uses, according to research released Thursday" according to the beginning of the Reuters article.

The article continues: "Three-quarters of small businesses say they have not found sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn helpful for generating business leads or expanding business in the past year, according to a survey conducted for Citibank Small Business of 500 U.S. businesses with fewer than 100 employees....Also, 86 percent said they have not used social networking sites for information or business advice. Ten percent said they have sought business advice and information on expert blogs."

This is not an indictment of social media. This is a lack of understanding of the value of social media for businesses of any size. part of the blame lies with the social media, and a part of the blame lies with the businesses themselves. Education has to be a component, largely self education. Businesses need to try the various social media to see what it can do for them, and the platforms themselves have to create outreach and education programs to attract more businesses.

In order to attract more businesses to each social media platform, the value proposition has to be explained in terms that make sense to the businesses. For a platform like LinkedIn this should be easier than a platform like Facebook or Twitter.

Was I surprised at the findings of the Citibank study? No. Even in the B2G market the vast majority of contractors have a long way to go to maximize the value that social media platforms can bring to the table.

On December 7, there will be a seminar on how both government and the contracting community are using social media. Find out more at
http://www.governmentmarketmaster.com/events.html

"Does your company have a social media strategy? Leveraging LinkedIn

In the Monday, Oct 19 Washington Post (pages C1 and C8), an article entitled "Worldwide ebb" reports on multiple discussions about the pending demise of the mega social networking site Facebook.

The issue is nothing new when it comes to the web: nothing is wrong with Facebook except that it too big and too successful, if not at making money, at least in attracting users. The issue is that it is trying to be all things to all people, and as a business plan that doesn't work.

Facebook was built for college students. Everything after that was kind of a retrofit, especially the ability to be a platform for B2B professionals.

Facebook is not a B2B platform.

Enter LinkedIn. Here is a social network that was designed for business professionals. (Thanks, Reid!)

I remember getting several invitations to join LinkedIn, probably like you. My invitations came in January of 2004 and I joined on February 11, 2004.

Then I did what most people did: waited for something to happen. I should be embarrassed to say I waited 3 years for something to happen. And nothing did. Well, not "nothing" but after three years I only had about 150 connections and was a member of maybe 2 groups.

In early 2007 several things came to my attention and I took a much closer look at LinkedIn and what it could do for me - if I used it. Then I got busy.

Today (as of 6:03 PM EDT 10/19/09) I have
- 1,910 connections (which links me to 12,145,200 professionals)
- belong to 50 groups and 10 sub-groups
- "own" 5 groups and several sub-groups
- manage 3 groups/sub-groups for others
- have over 200 peer and client "recommendations"
- and have 17 "Best Answers" in 11 different categories.

I have some visibility, and the visibility has a focus. And I get lots of comments about "being all over LinkedIn," in fact I get more comments about LinkedIn than I do about my weekly radio show.

Most of my efforts are focused on being highly visible in the government market, where my visibility is already good.

So, what does this have to do with a social media strategy?

This is what it has to do with it: every individual, every small, medium or large business on LinkedIn or using any social networking tool, needs to understand how the network (tool) can be used, how it is currently used, what it can do (good and bad) to your business, and how you can plan and manage a basic approach to using LinkedIn to your advantage.

My first webinar at http://www.governmentmarketmaster.com/ went over this briefly, along with other elements of getting started (building your profile, getting connected, selecting groups, engaging in Q&A and more). our second webinar is coing up on 10/26 (all webinars are archived for replay).

But a detailed, well-thought out strategy for leveraging LinkedIn is not something you can learn through a webinar. You need to match your business goals and needs with the capabilities of the social networking tools, see where that fits and works with your overall marketing and sales plans and make sure each element become mutually supportive.

Here's a short list of things LinkedIn can help you with:

- identifying government buyers and influencers (federal, state and local) - yes, many are on LinkedIn;
- identifying business partners (trying to get the attention of a company that owns a specific contract - see if any are in your network);
- looking for competitor information - look here first;
- looking for a good small business partner?
- looking for a subject matter expert?
- looking for good employees or references on someone who is applying?
- oh, and get clients (make money!)

And the list goes on.

Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn was built with one focus - to facilitate business. And it works.

I have seen a number of people offering advice, consulting and seminars on using social networks for business and when I look them up on LinkedIn, only a few look like they actually know what they are doing.

I know what I am doing on LinkedIn - take a look -http://www.linkedin.com/in/markamtower

And if you need some help, give me a call - 301 924 0058, or drop me a line - mark@FederalDirect.net

In the meantime, go to LinkedIn and have some fun learning.

WSJ - Why Email No Longer Rules

WSJ reporter Jessica Vascellaro wrote on Oct 12: Email has had a good run as king of communications. But its reign is over.In its place, a new generation of services is starting to take hold—services like Twitter and Facebook and countless others vying for a piece of the new world. And just as email did more than a decade ago, this shift promises to profoundly rewrite the way we communicate—in ways we can only begin to imagine.

This is not news to many, but apparently it still is with a variety of companies, even those in the government market. It should not be news here as the way President Obama was elected was heavily influenced by social media, and many new administration policies are designed to increase the use of social media by and for federal agencies.

While the article focuses on the growth of Twitter and the response by traditional email suppliers (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, etc), it does reeference other social media. Many government agencies (NASA and others) use Twitter to keep people abreast of what the agency is doing. While this is not used to transact business, it does illustrate the ability of an agency to create interest and even excitement regarding governmetnal actions - like the NASA satellite that was intentionally crashed into the moon.

There are a myriad of social media platforms attracting niche markets - including government contractors, aka B2G. For example, on LinkedIn when you search "groups" using "government" as the search term, there are 2,856 results as of 12:29 PM today (10/14/09). Now these groups cover all facets of government: federal, state and local, lobbying, compliance issues, grass roots movements as well as contractors. When I ran this same search earlier this year there were just over 2,000 groups.

There is a considerable presence of contractors and government officials (federal, state and local) on LinkedIn. I am directly connected to 1,900 professionals via LinkedIn and I have a 2nd degree network of about 555,000. Within 3 degrees I have over 12,103,600 registered people in my network. LinkedIn has over 45,000,000 business users at this time and it is growing.

I use LinkedIn to build a broader, deeper network, then stay in touch with that network. If you need to learn more about how i use LinkedIn and how it may benefit you, go to
http://www.governmentmarketmaster.com/webinars.html

We also have specialized groups like TFCN and GovLoop. And even on Facebook I am connected to some very senior federal and industry people.

I don't see a significant Federal community (feds or contractors) using Twitter....yet. But it is coming, and we have to be prepared.

The way we communicate is changing rapidly and it is critical to stay current with those changes to maintain ANY competitive advantage.

END OF FY - Beginning of FY and the Myth of the Level Playing Field

I am not certain I have seen a stranger year ever, across the board.

With the advent of ARRA (TARP, stimulus), there was a media and event rampage on getting into the government market, bringing your wheelbarrow down to the Capitol and going home with a couple million for your pet local project. Ain't gonna happen.

I'd just as soon buy some magic beans and wait for the beanstalk. The odds are better.

But, as usual, the government contracting world marches on in the only (nearly) recession-proof market in the world - Global One - selling to our favorite Uncle.

For the truly initiated, this market is recession-proof. The government needs contractors, it needs the products and services we bring to the table. And I hope you (the truly initiated) had a great FY and are ramping up for another.

But this year, especially because of the economy and the stimulus program, many companies came into the B2G market because of the rumors and out-right lies perpetrated by a few about how "easy" it is going to be to get some of that stimulus money, or to nab a contract. One pitch claimed "You are a phone call away from a $200,000" government contract. One company offering seminars on how to make that call apparently seeded the audience with employees and others who claimed to have done it.

I am not here to rehash that topic or to beat up of the seminar company. I am here to remind the gullible that NO market is easy to break into, especially the government market.

In the government market there are terms and conditions that you would never agree to elsewhere.

In the government market the GSA or DCAA can show up on your doorstep without advance warning and audit your books.

In the government market the contracting agency can terminate your contract "for convenience".

In the government market there are already people and companies doing whatever you do.

In the government market there are companies that do nothing but government, and do it well. While they may not have the best product or service, they have a track record of performance and a bid team with experience.

In the government market - there is no level playing field.

Not that I have an opinion.

Unrealistic Offers from Questionable Sources

When you hear claims like "one phone call to the right office can land you a $200,000 government deal," or that a seminar can provide the "formula" for winning TARP (ARRA) stimulus $ in 60 days, you should be hearing the robot from "Lost in Space" -

"Danger Will Robinson! Danger!"

In my 2nd book, Why Epiphanies Never Occur to Couch Potatoes, I call the sucker pitch the "shiny rock syndrome" and use a quote from the broadway musical, Guys and Dolls:

“On the day I left home to make my way in the world, my daddy took me to one side. ‘Son,’ my daddy says to me, ‘I am sorry I am not able to bankroll you to a large start, but not having the necessary lettuce to get you rolling, instead, I'm going to stake you to some very valuable advice. One of these days, a guy is going to show you a brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken. Then this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of this brand-new deck of cards and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, you do not accept this bet because, as sure as you stand there, you're going to wind up with an ear full of cider.’”

The government market is not now, nor has it ever been "easy" to break into. It requires education from legitimate sources - sources with a strong background in the B2G market (PTACs and SBDCs are always good places to start). It requires dedication and significant resource investments by the company wishing to become a government contactor. It requires a deep understanding of the client agency, the budget process, the contracting process, and more.

There are a variety of good sources for this information and more than a few bad sources. Do your homework before you invest your hard-earned money.

Persistent Government Marketing Myths

My google alerts program brings me news of the good, the bad and the ugly daily. One of my alerts is set for "marketing to the government", and today it took me to a 20 slide presentation by an obvious novice at a site called http://www.docstoc.com.

Now most of us have heard a number of myths about the federal market over the years. I occasionally do a lunch speech call "Ten Myths from the Federal Market" (written a decade ago) which you can listen to here: http://federaldirect.net/speaker.html (scroll to the bottom of the page).

BUT these myths persist, and some of them show up in this presentation, which is supposed to help companies get into the government market.

Here are a few of the more egregious examples:

Slide 3: contact your US Rep, whose staff might be able to help you identify opportunities or agencies. These people will tell you to go the the SBA web site or the agency web sites. That is not help.

Slide 3: develop relationships with people at big contractors and the agencies. This is good advice, but it is immediately followed by "your contacts will point you to new opportunities, put you on the short list for RFPs. While the referral part might happen, there is no short list for RFPs, and making "friends" with major contractors is not easy.

Slide 4: check out new listings on GSA Schedule. While this might be good advice, it is not a simple matter of going to www.GSA.gov . Finding new listings is a rather esoteric skill, and one that will not necessarily lead to useful market information.

Slide 5: "Tip – end of FY is a great time to get contracts" because of use it or lose it! NO NO NO - unless you have laid the groundwork carefully over the course of the year 9or longer), you cannot show up and find unused federal funds on the floor waiting for you to pick them up.

Further along the presentation says to send snail mail post cards and email postcards to procurement offices to inform the buyers, oblivious to the spam filters set tight at federal agencies and the mail threshold issues in most mailrooms.

The presentation also uses sample ads that have absolutely no relevance to the government market - an ad for martial arts uniforms and an ad for shoes (with Santa Claus and a child).

And my favorite - right out of "Ten Myths" - send press releases to print and broadcast "for inclusion in their pages or broadcasts at no charge." This is so naive that I will let it speak for itself.

There was some fair information, especially about the importance of relationships in the government market. But overall this is a bad presentation with many misleading tidbits.

I bring this to light not to make fun of the author but to remind people that there are legitimate sources of B2G information and not-so legitimate information sources.

The B2G Institute was declared a fraudulent operation by the Texas Attorney General as reported in Courthouse News ( www.courthouse news.com ) on Sept 22. I have written about them before and have heard from multiple sources that this organization.

From Courthouse News:
The company gives the false impression that winning government contracts is easy: "Just a phone call could win you a contract for up to $200,000," one ad claims. The company uses the workshop as a forum to sell its $4,995 program, using "employees" to represent themselves as students, and give testimonials about how easily they made money, Abbott says. During its workshops B2G also use the tactic of "taking a few attendees aside to convince others," Abbott says. "This is accomplished by an 'employee' of the defendants asking for volunteers, taking those few volunteers out into the hallway, and showing them the process in a simplified manner on the computer. The consumers then return to the group relating to others that the process is fast and easy."

The B2G Institute is not alone in providing questionable or outright bad information. Do your homework - check the credentials of the information provider. If you can't find anything on your first couple of Google inquiries, you should suspect all is not quite right.

Government Market Master

The government market is changing – again!

To stay valuable to your company you need to know more, be able to do more, and stay at or near the edge.

How are you staying current?

Government Market Master is designed to contribute to the ongoing education of all professionals in the government market, experienced and novices alike, line managers and CEOs. In a market as vast and complicated as doing business with the government, the ability to stay ahead of the curve is predicated on accessing the best and the brightest which is what we have done in the selection of the experts who share their knowledge at Government Market Master.

By providing cost-effective online, on-demand education, with new material every month, Government Market Master is the premier site for your B2G continuing education. It is designed to deliver useful information from professionals who are from the front lines (like you) of the government market in multiple disciplines – sales, marketing, bid & proposal, business development, management, operations, and more.

It is also designed to deliver information when you want it and in ways that make it easy and inexpensive for you to invest in yourself and in your company.

Regardless of the size of your enterprise – small, medium or large business – Government Market Master will provide information to help you and your staff get to the next level.

If you want to migrate from the second or third tier to the top tier in the government contracting community, then Government Market Masters is for you.

If you are new to the market and your company is interested in selling to the federal government, landing more government contracts and GSA schedules, developing critical procurement contacts, connecting with decision makers within the government and the contracting community, and learning the essential government best practices that can make you a viable player — even against much larger, more experienced companies, then Government Market Masters is for you.