Part of Government Contracting? Want data to help you win contracts? Want it to be succinct and in plain English? Join The Pulse today! The Pulse is an online publication that caters to Government Contractors and their business development needs.
We provide contract status/analysis of impactful opportunities. Through our research we provide historical storytelling resulting in "Context-as-a-Service" so that you can bid with intent.
The Basics: Department of State (DOS)
The United States Department of State (DOS) works to protect U.S. citizens at home and abroad. This is accomplished through a close relationship with the United States Agency for International Aid (USAID) since the two’s goals are similar. As DOS goes through a phase of restructuring and expansion in the upcoming years, meeting small and disadvantaged business (SDB) participation goals will be a key focus.
Looking to understand the basics of the State Department? Learn here about DOS's purpose, organization, and procurement trends.
09/27/2021
Thrilled to see The Pulse of GovCon’s article, “Using Predictive Analytics in Bid No-Bid Decisions and Source Selection Analytics to Unseat an Incumbent” printed in the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) magazine! Special thanks to David Gill for approaching us with this truly unique way to leverage data!
What is a "team"? What are the different teaming arrangements? What does the #FAR say about teams? Why would I ever go through the trouble of teaming up for a federal bid? The Pulse of GovCon's intern, Roxanne Reinhardt, teamed up with Koprince Law LLC to bring you the ultimate #GovCon #Teaming Resource Guide. Part I: Joint Ventures is available for free download now. And be on the lookout for Part II: Prime/Subcontracting Teaming!https://thepulsegovcon.com/article/federal-teaming-arrangements/
Mastering the federal teaming arrangements process is essential for contractors to establish a winning strategy. This free resource guide explains the ins/outs of these arrangements.
05/11/2021
Look at this newsletter. 😍Every Friday The Pulse of GovCon sends you a hand curated listing of #GovCon news, contracts, and events, pulled from over 80 different sources. theInsider members get this and four other #businessdevelopment modules for $125/month. Month-to-month with no long term commitments. What are you waiting for? https://thepulsegovcon.com/member-portal/
"One of the most frustrating things in Government Contracting is a vendor’s inability to identify, contact, and connect with their federal buyers."
Janet Waring sat down with The Pulse of GovCon and shared how to reach federal buyers through a hyper targeted outreach strategy based on audience research.
Similar to any effective federal bid strategy, a successful marketing and communications plan in Government Contracting starts with research.
02/23/2021
People say #GovCon is B2G. We say it's B2H - business to human. Since we started The Pulse of Government Contracting in 2017, we have discussed the importance of the human element in GovCon. Everything we've preached for 3 (working on 4) years has focused around the notion of using story-telling as a lens to view data.
Government Marketing University, Federal News Network, Steven Watkins and Lou Anne Bradley Brossman gave us an hour on their program, Market Chat, to talk about how there's a story behind each contract that begins well before the period of performance starts. Listeners will learn how to:
🎙️Use free, open-source data to identify the 4 P’s of storytelling critical to competitive intelligence
🎙️Empower your team to both understand and act on data through the power of context
🎙️Leverage your research to create a data story that can influence and drive change
People say #GovCon is B2G. We say it's B2H - business to human. Since we started The Pulse of Government Contracting in 2017, we have discussed the importance of the human element in GovCon. Everything we've preached for 3 (working on 4) years has focused around the notion of using story-telling as a lens to view data.
Government Marketing University, Federal News Network, Steven Watkins and Lou Anne Bradley Brossman gave us an hour on their program, Market Chat, to talk about how there's a story behind each contract that begins well before the period of performance starts. Listeners will learn how to:
🎙️Use free, open-source data to identify the 4 P’s of storytelling critical to competitive intelligence
🎙️Empower your team to both understand and act on data through the power of context
🎙️Leverage your research to create a data story that can influence and drive change
Did you miss The Pulse of Government Contracting at the Summit Insight webinar yesterday? Well they were kind enough to upload the whole thing here! Check out as we overeagerly steamroll through WAY too much content for the hour block :) . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lMwr7vH9RY
How will GovCon contract opportunities impacted by the new administration, and how to identify who is buying what you are selling, building an actionable com...
01/27/2021
The Pulse of Government Contracting was thrilled to be referenced in The Washington Post this morning! Check out the cited article and more on our website thepulsegovcon.com
The Pulse of Government Contracting was thrilled to be referenced in The Washington Post this morning! Check out the cited article and more on our website thepulsegovcon.com
Thank you to WashingtonExec for highlighting The Pulse of Government Contracting and our newly formed #GovCon Training initiatives! Training on the foundational concepts of Government Contracting is really important to us, and was a natural byproduct of what The Pulse is all about. Our training methodology is where data meets discourse.
https://youtu.be/I03uDch2beY WashingtonExec’s Rachel Kirkland sits down with Amber Hart and Lisa Shea Mundt, co-founders of The Pulse of GovCon. The three
The Pulse is happy to support our client Alethea Group - a company that protects organizations from the deliberate spreading of falsehoods, otherwise known as, disinformation. Check out their recent report on vaccine disinformation!https://14ed461d-cb57-414f-a4b7-6e72361febb1.usrfiles.com/ugd/14ed46_4744561469114ae1bed2a86cdd49dffe.pdf
The relationship between the IC and #GovCon has always been complicated. We know playing in the IC is an artful game as information and opportunities are organized, funded, and “classified” differently. So how do you, the Government Contractor, develop business within the IC?
The Pulse of Government Contracting sat down with Jessica King, CEO of GeoSISU, LLC, to learn more.
The relationship between the IC and GovCon has always been complicated. We know playing in the IC is an artful game as information and opportunities are organized, funded, and “classified” differently. So how do you, the Government Contractor, develop business within the IC?
When discussing the federal proposal management process, government contractors will often talk about positioning, competitive assessment, and the financial components of a bid. Enter Price-to-Win – where these components converge into a science. Price-to-Win is such an enigma to us at The Pulse, so we sat down the experts at Richter & Company to put their technical know-how to the test to better understand exactly what it is and the logistics of performing this work as an outside hire. https://thepulsegovcon.com/article/what-is-price-to-win/
What is Price-to-Win and why is it an important concept in your proposal development? Find out how Price-to-Win is more than a number.
Thank you to all who attended our "Protest Proof Your Proposal Part 2" event this afternoon. The Pulse was lucky enough to sit down with protest attorney, Elizabeth Jochum. Sometimes compliance horror stories can feel like the boogeyman - scary, but are they real? By examining real case law examples you're given justification to prevent these common proposal strategy pitfalls. Watch the webinar here!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCPREwzYllk&feature=youtu.be
Common Technical Proposal Issues (That Could Lose You the Award in a Protest)
In August 2020, The Pulse noticed how many open Government Contracting job requirements were being posted across the marketplace. It felt like people were asking everyday where they could find a young, up-and-coming, GovCon superstar. Why were people having such a hard time filling these roles? Where were all the market entrants? Turns out, the Government Contracting industry is starved for talent. Junior personnel weren’t being trained on how the procurement life-cycle works within a Government Contractor. The Pulse wanted to do something about it, so we created, presented, and recorded GovCon 101: Teaching the Basics to Market Entrants.
Our favorite industry lie is “You need to pay for Government Contracting intelligence”. Folks would have you believe that this information is shrouded in mystery, otherwise unattainable outside their paywall and expertise.
Wrong. The origin of this intelligence is free…you just need to know where to look. Check out our four tangible ways to capture market intelligence online. BD without the BS.
Government Contracting data is free - you just need to know where to look. The Pulse has provided four tangible ways to capture this intelligence online.
A few weeks ago, The Pulse teamed up with Public Spend Forum in a virtual training event aimed to assist startups + small businesses seeking a foothold in the government market. Check out the recorded workshop where The Pulse of Government Contracting conducted a deep dive into reading + responding to government solicitations.
For startups and small businesses seeking a foothold in the government market, this series teaches you how to put your company in the best possible position ...
Latest news and information on the business of delivering technology and services to government including government contractors, the integrator community, technology case studies, and mergers and acquisitions.
How to Protest Proof Your Federal Proposal: Part 1
How do I “protest proof” my federal proposal? Short answer - you can’t. However, there are concepts and tactics Government Contractors can use to better arm themselves against a protest lost on compliance and technicalities. To find out what Protest Attorneys look for in acts against compliance, and how you can use this as armor and rationale in your next protest, The Pulse sat down with Elizabeth Jochum of Smith Pachter McWhorter
Although federal agencies and their corresponding source selection boards work hard to create processes and procedures to evaluate bids fairly and objectively, at the end of the day they are translating qualitative data into quantitative scorecards…and they’re only human. However, there are conc...
SEO and Government Contracting: Optimizing the Search Engine in Your Favor
It’s no marketing secret that content is king when it comes to your company’s brand recognition and online relevance. If you’ve ever been responsible for writing a blog post or a white paper, you know developing organic, relevant, and helpful content is hard work and time-consuming – and you also know that good content isn’t always enough to get your company noticed. Cue the magic of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)!
To discuss how you, the Government Contractor, can leverage SEO to attract federal buyers, The Pulse sat down again with Google SEO expert, Janet Waring, from ModelB, a modern digital marketing agency.
Government Affairs without Breaking the Bank – How to Use Congressional Intel in GovCon:
Government Contractors have a lot to juggle. They are tasked to find opportunities on beta.SAM, make sure they are up to date with cost accounting standards, and monitor the ever moving target of their socio-economic classification. Yet there is one more less-discussed avenue Government Contractors need to monitor to stay ahead of the curve – publicly available Congressional documents.
To discuss some best practices on deciphering these documents and how to use this information to better situate your company to win work with the Federal Government, The Pulse of GovCon sat down with Mike Hettinger, founder of Hettinger Strategy Group.
Government Contractors have a lot to juggle. They are tasked to find opportunities on beta.SAM, make sure they are up to date with cost accounting standards, and monitor the ever moving target of their socio-economic classification. Yet there is one more less-discussed avenue Government Contractors....
The sideshow of CMMC and just how significantly it will impact the DIB has us all watching, holding our breath - so we decided to send out our advance team before the big tent comes to town. We sat down with Mr. Alexander W. Major from McCarter & English to discuss what exactly we should b
1) Pipeline Playbook: a downloadable excel file, which includes:
+ CANCELLED BIDS
+ PRE-SOLICITATION BIDS
+ ACTIVE BIDS
+ AWARDED BIDS
+ UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS
+ PAST INDUSTRY EVENTS
2) Individualized Pipeline Development (consulting services)
3) Research articles on industry trends and analysis
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Videos
Amber and Lisa do all their own stunts! Thank you to all who attended our event last night!
Picture it - two twenty-somethings in a love/hate relationship with GovCon.
Our journey began with an internship, a mutual love of online shopping, and too many long weekends responding to Federal Government RFPs ...or RFQs, RFIs, Sources Sought's, White Paper's - all that good stuff. What started as “this is only temporary, proposals won’t be our life” rapidly escalated into “wow - proposals are so great, this is our career”.
We clicked as colleagues and friends with complementary styles. Those who know us will say we’re two sides of the same coin – completely different, but more or less exactly the same. From there, it didn’t take long for The Pulse to launch from a couch at Topgolf in Ashburn, VA.
Federal procurement, acquisition, and proposals are our passion, and they fuel our competitive drive. The fascinating dynamics of the GovCon industry and the professionals that support this machine capture us beyond your nerdiest dreams. Because of this, we find ourselves knee deep wading through procurement data on FPDS.gov at 3:00 AM, and serve as the go-to source for colleagues who seek our geeky, long-winded outlooks on current GovCon happenings.
After spending over a decade in this ecosystem we begrudgingly realized something: the GovCon industry, enterprise, sector (whatever you want to call it) is perceived as bland, bloated, and boring. And maybe some current GovCon players like it that way–engorged, cumbersome, exhaustive– when really it’s anything but. We knew it was time to shake it up.
Federal contracts are the lifeblood of the GovCon World. So why isn’t there more honest discussion about what is going on with active solicitations? Why isn’t there better tracking of what opportunities have been canceled and for what reasons? Why is that one opportunity slipping out a year from what your pipeline predicted?
We have many opinions on the answers to the “whys” – but we aren’t here to throw stones at the past.
This is now. This is us. We created The Pulse to try and facilitate a more open and honest discussion about Federal contracts while providing you with easily digestible information that you can use in your day-to-day GovCon life.
We invite you to join us on this journey, so sit back, relax, and let’s see where this goes!
