In the federal market space, despite all the rules and procedures, people ultimately make the buying decisions. Therefore, finding the right people in the government, hearing what they need, and telling them how you can help them, is essential, but not easy. It becomes a greater challenge for small businesses that are wanting to do this on what could be termed a federal mini-budget, however the good news is it can be done.

The advantage for firms comes once they have built those relationships and become a trusted vendor. Similar to normal business, each and every sale becomes easier. However, in the federal space you have already built the bridge over the barrier and that bridge then becomes an asset to your firm.

I am going to go over various marketing activities. These range from inexpensive and easy to pull off, to more expensive, requiring greater amounts of effort.

Low Cost / Low Effort

Subcontract to build relationships within the agencies in which you are working, and then use those relationships to become a prime contractor. Oftentimes this can be achieved by going through the process of registering with large prime contractors.

Low Cost / Medium Effort
Call the office(s) listed and engage with them directly
• Introduce yourself and your business. 
• Provide your business card, a capabilities statement and your business website. 
• Give buyers another opportunity to see who you are and what you can do.

Low Cost / Medium Effort
Monitor Federal Request for Proposals and attempt to bid on applicable jobs for your company.

Low Cost / High Effort
Team with other entities to build a complete solution.

Medium Cost / Medium Effort
Networking 
• Attend traditional tradeshows. 
• Attend agency events. 
• Attend pre-bid conferences. 
• Submit an invitation for bid.

High Cost / Low Effort
Hire an experienced government “marketing” executive. Have someone lead your government sales efforts who knows their way around your target agencies.

Small Businesses wanting to get into the federal contracting space that have a budget of under $25,000 and wanting to expend a limited amount of time should focus on Low Cost and Low to Medium Effort marketing tactics. Once these tactics have provided payback to the firm, the money can be reinvested later into higher cost and higher effort marketing tactics.

If you are interested in providing your small business with a boost in the Low Cost / Low-Medium Effort federal marketing channels so that you can get your feet wet in the federal marketplace for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, I recommend contacting an industry expert such as Fedvital. They can be reached at (859)360-1320.