In a prior article we tied you into some Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) sites you can visit to help you get an edge on the competition. Here are some more links that can help you in your proposal development efforts. If you know of any more, drop us a line and we'll post 'em.
General Procurement Sites
State and Local Procurement Jumpstation (http://www.fedmarket.com/sales_resources/bids/state_local.html ). This site is exactly what it says: a jumping off point for Web sites posted by state and local procurement agencies. Some sites contain general info only, while others have searchable databases of procurement opportunities. A few even include solicitation documents you can download. And you'll find tons of other links. This is a good site to visit.
Federal Procurement Assistance Jumpstation (http://www.fedmarket.com/sales_resources/bids/federal.html ). Same as above, but for federal agencies. A very complete site.
Loren Data Corporation ( http://www.ld.com/cbd.html ). This site offers free CBD plus, a searchable archive back to 1995. Of all the CBD sites, this is the best.
Office of Federal Procurement Policy (http://www-far.npr.gov/OFPP.html). OFPP’s charter is to direct the procurement policy and provide leadership in developing procurement systems for Federal procurement activities. You should take a look here to get a handle on how the feds conduct their procurement activities.
Federal Acquisition Regulations On-line (http://www.arnet.gov/far/). If you do business with the feds, you have to know about the FARs. Well, here they are, in a variety of formats-bureaucratic writing at its numbing best. So, take a deep breath and dive on in. And make sure you come for air every now and again; a person can drown in that stuff.
Other sites that can help as you write your proposals
On-Line English Grammar (http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar ). A good site to go to if you have questions about the rules of English usage. A nice feature: examples used in sentences (though not necessarily proposal oriented; you can extrapolate).
Dictionary.com (http://www.dictionary.com). Want to look up the meaning of a word? How about a stroll through Roget's thesaurus. Or maybe you want to see if you are committing some of the English language's most common errors. If so, go here. You can even find a guide to the terms of classical and renaissance rhetoric. Now that ought to set those proposal evaluators hummin'.
