Give Me 5 Webinar: Capability Statements – Do’s and Don’ts for Success

Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) is hosting a Give Me 5 Webinar on Wednesday, September 12th at 3 pm ET. The webinar is titled, “Capability Statements – Do’s and Don’ts for Success.” Capability Statements are a must-have for anyone trying to work in the federal government marketplace, and there are many factors that can improve Capability Statements and therefore improve the chances of being awarded a contract.

Capability Statements are mandated in the federal government marketplace and represent the very first impression of your company that a prime contractor or an agency will receive. The importance of well written Capability Statements cannot be overstated.

The instructor for this webinar is TargetGov President Gloria Larkin, an expert in the field of marketing to the federal government. She understands how valuable a great Capability Statement can be and will share important information about writing a powerful Capability Statement that gets noticed.

Attendees to this webinar will learn:

•    Five essential key elements for each statement
•    Targeting the statement to a specific audience
•    How to avoid commonly made mistakes
•    Omissions that can hurt a business’ chances
•    Tips that assist in getting a foot in the door

The primary goal of this webinar is to give the audience the skills necessary to craft a Capability Statement that will receive recognition and put the company’s best foot forward. Starting off on a positive note can shape the tone of the entire contracting process.

Click here to learn more about this invaluable webinar and be prepared to gain new insights on Capability Statements and learn how to make them work.

Want to Get Noticed in the Federal Government Contracting Maze? Learn how at the National HUBZone Conference.

The National Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Conference, being held in Washington, D.C. on September 5-7 by the HUBZone Council, will feature a presentation by TargetGov President Gloria Larkin titled, “Getting Noticed in the Government Contracting Maze.” Her presentation is on the second day of the conference (September 6th), and will start at 2:10.

Her talk will focus on the maze that is federal government contracting and how to navigate it successfully and effectively.

A sample of the topics included in the presentation:

•    Good general practices for getting noticed
•    Locations that will help visibility
•    How to focus on a specific target and opportunity
•    Information about Capability Statements
•    Key elements to getting noticed
•    Common mistakes to avoid

With this presentation attendees become better informed on how to get noticed in the crowd that forms around federal government contracting. Gloria Larkin helps businesses discover ways that make them stand out among the numerous lists of potential government contractors.

The HUBZone Conference is held annually and features many helpful features that inform attendees like in person private-match making sessions with federal agencies and prime contractors as well as talks from expert speakers. This year’s event is being held at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel.

Click here to learn more about HUBZone and the HUBZone Conference.

Gloria Larkin Moderating a Seminar at the 2012 Hispanic Business Conference

On Tuesday September 4, 2012 the Hispanic Business Conference will commence. TargetGov’s President, Gloria Larkin, is moderating a seminar titled, “Reducing Marketing Costs Utilizing Social Media and Using Social Media as a B2B & B2G Networking Tool.” The seminar will last an hour and start at 10:05 AM.

The panelists chosen for the event are:

•    Kristina Bouweiri, Reston Limousine President & CEO
•    Jessica Primanzon, Deltek Senior Manager
•    Dawn Arteaga, Novelli Digital Strategist
•    Alex Ytuarte, American Express Senior Manager

Everyone participating in the seminar has been chosen based on referrals that indicate they are experts in their arenas. The seminar’s purpose is to instruct business people in best practices for using Social Media to stimulate sales and revenue while reducing marketing costs.

Topics covered in the seminar include:

•    Public relations successes and failures
•    Product and service research and development
•    Business match making
•    Web site analytics
•    Online ad/produce placement
•    Effective salesmanship
•    Online target market segmentation

The Maryland Hispanic Business Conference is the foremost Hispanic Business event in the Washington, D.C. area. It services more than 20,000 Hispanic Businesses in Maryland, and has been growing since its inception in 1997. The event is a join collaboration of the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and government agencies that support business and economic development.

There will be a variety of workshops, training and business sessions that will assist participants from all industries create opportunities and promote businesses relationship building. Attendees will have the chance to meet with top Hispanic entrepreneurs and increase visibility in the Hispanic Business Community.

Click here to learn more about the 2012 Hispanic Business Conference!

Gloria Larkin Speaking at CyberMaryland 2012

CyberMaryland 2012 is a two-day conference that features national thought leaders, showcase business opportunities and provide outstanding networking. Companies, businesses, leaders, students, professionals, policy makers, elected officials and entrepreneurs that deal with technology are encouraged to attend. The conference is scheduled for October 16 and 17, 2012 at the Baltimore Convention Center and Four Seasons Hotel.

Concerning the conference, Governor O’Malley said, “The eyes of the intelligence and information security community will be focused on Maryland during Natural Cybersecurity Awareness Month as we showcase industry innovations, recognize cyber pioneers and groom the next generation of cyber warriors.”

Gloria Larkin, President of TargetGov, is giving a presentation titled “Accelerating Entry into the Federal Cyber Market” which will focus on the cyber-related spending done by the federal government. It will help attendees gain new insights on the government marketplace and how they can enter it successfully.

Topics covered include:

•    Funding trends
•    Contract vehicles
•    Positioning to win market share
•    Federal cyber decision makers
•    Fast-track tools for success
•    Guaranteeing decision-maker meetings

As a nationally recognized federal contracting business development expert, Gloria is specially qualified to talk specifically about the government’s cyber needs. According to a recent Bloomberg Government Report, in the past five years defense spend $8.8 billion, or 58 percent of total federal cyber security spending and nondefense agencies accounted for 42 percent, or $6.3 billion.

Cybersecurity is a growth market amid federal budget reduction, but there is a significant time investment for trying to work with the government and reach a point where you’re seeing revenues for your efforts.

Early bird registration rates are still available, but prices go up after September 5th.
Click here to register or get more information about the CyberMaryland 2012 Conference.

Gloria Larkin’s Second of Two Presentations for the Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step at The American Legion Convention, “How to Guarantee Decision Maker Meetings”

The American Legion’s annual national annual convention is the largest meeting for the organization. This year’s convention is taking place in Indianapolis, Indiana and will be held August 24-30. The convention will be joined by American Legion members from across the world. The Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step is a series of events at the convention that will focus on women involved with the military.

Gloria Larkin, President of TargetGov will give two presentations for the Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step at this year’s convection. The second of which is titled, “How to Guarantee Decision Maker Meetings.”

This presentation will provide attendees with the tools they need to get those all-important decision maker meetings with the federal government. It will teach you how to schedule a capability briefing with the right kinds of people, the people involved directly with the decision making process and are actually authorized to make purchases for products and/or services.

The topics for the presentation include:

•    Identifying the Three Layers of Federal Decision Makers
•    How to Find Specific Decision Makers
•    Types of Capability Briefings
•    Purposes of a Capability Briefing
•    How to Request (and get) a Capability Briefing
•    5 Common Mistakes to Avoid
•    Preparations for a Capability Briefing
•    Who Should Attend a Capability Briefing

Without knowing how to arrange a capability briefing you are stifling your chances to enter into the federal marketplace. The right capability briefing with the right person can lead you on a path to success. Even if you’re confident in your abilities to market to the federal government, this presentation can help you discover ways to market more effectively and gain new insights into that can really help you verses those who cannot help you at all.

As a companion to this year’s Annual American Legion Convention, the Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step is offering two days of workshops, books signings, mentoring and speed coaching for women in and involved with the military.

The Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step was founded when Sue Malone and Andrea March recognized the need for a special program for women in the military that would show them how to transfer their military training to the job market or in launching their own business.

To learn more about the convention: click here.

Gloria Larkin’s First of Two Presentations for the Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step at The American Legion Convention, “Exploring the $500 Billion Hidden Market: Selling to the Federal Government and Military”

The largest meeting for the American Legion is the annual national convention. The convention is held in a different city every year. This year’s convention is taking place in Indianapolis, Indiana and will be held August 24-30. The Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step is a series of events at the convention that will focus on women involved with the military.

Gloria Larkin, President of TargetGov will give two presentations together at this year’s convection for the Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step. The first of which is titled, “Exploring the $500 Billion Hidden Market: Selling to the Federal Government and Military.”

This presentation will help demystify the complicated and unique U.S. Federal Government marketplace system. It has its own process, procedures, language and acronyms. Not having a complete understanding of this process can hamper any attempts to break into the $500 billion contracted out every year.

Topics covered in the presentation include:

•    Does the government buy your services or products
•    Understanding government procurement jargon
•    Registration – what’s needed as a government contractor
•    Certifications – an effective business development tool
•    Purchase process
•    Purchase vehicles
•    Finding your exact target market: who buys what you sell
•    Finding contracting opportunities

This is an important presentation for anyone who is interested in entering the federal marketplace as many of the topics covered are essential to getting into government contracting. Even if you’ve successfully done business with the government before, this can help increase your overall effectiveness. Anyone who wants to improve their chances for success should attend this presentation if they have the chance. You don’t want to pass up an opportunity to hear from an expert speaker.

In addition to Gloria Larkin’s presentations, there will be two days of workshops, book signings, mentoring and speed coaching from the New Jersey and California based Military Women Exchange: Operation Next Step. The exchange was founded by Andrea March and Sue Malone when they recognized the need for women veterans to have special programs designed and executed by women to transfer their military training to the job market. To this end, the American Legion has recognized a similar need for women in the military and launched this event to coincide with its 94th annual convention.

For more information about the convention, click here.

"Cybersecurity and FedRAMP: A mandatory Combination." an Article by Gloria Larkin

The fact that cybersecurity is mandatory in the federal marketplace has, until now, been a widely held belief, but without a specific process or policy to guide the federal agencies who are moving to cloud-computing services. This deficit has been corrected with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).

According to the General Services Administration (GSA), FedRAMP is the result of close collaboration with cybersecurity and cloud experts from GSA, NIST, DHS, DoD, NSA, OMB, the Federal CIO Council and its working groups, as well as private industry.

These federal agencies collaborated to develop FedRAMP as a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring for cloud-based products and services. In the past, each agency incurred the costs to independently manage its own security risks, assess Information Technology (IT) systems and deploy improvements. This process proved to be inconsistent, duplicative, expensive and inefficient, and often failed to incorporate a focus on real-time threats and identify mitigation processes quickly.

The anticipated agency benefits include reduced costs, standardized security assessments and continuous monitoring, as well as quicker adoption of cloud-based services and products and bottom-line agency confidence in the security of cloud-based systems.

GSA further stated that “FedRAMP is mandatory for federal agency cloud deployments and service models at the low and moderate risk impact levels. Private cloud deployments intended for single organizations and implemented fully within federal facilities are the only exception.”

This is great news if a company is one of the “approved cloud service providers” that can prove that their products and service implement the required security controls needed to meet the security requirements outlined in FedRAMP. The bad news is that if a company is not on the “approved” list, there is little to no chance of seeing business in the federal cybersecurity market.

More information can be found at www.gsa.gov/portal/category/102371.

A Message from TargetGov President Gloria Larkin

Greetings!

We have some good news and we have some bad news. Which do you want first?

OK, the bad news: SAM is a bust, at least, so far. While the initial roll out of the new System For Award Management (SAM) incorporates only the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) data, the new web site has suffered constant crashes, failed searches and exports, and various other problems.

As of the timing of this newsletter, there is even a disclaimer on the SAM web site that states "SAM is still experiencing some performance issues, which may result in a slowness of page loading or maybe even a web page error." While this may seem to be a small detail in our busy lives, it is a critical issue for the end of the fiscal year business market. This failure is negatively impacting large and small businesses alike who want to connect with other businesses to bid on federal work. At the busiest time of the year.

I hope that IBM and GSA are working overtime to rectify the situation-this will hurt all businesses until performance issues are totally corrected.

OK, now for the good news: Sources Sought Notices are turning into gold for companies large and small who know how to use these ubiquitous announcements and turn them into contracts. One year ago, the monthly average postings were about 60; as of today, over 1,100 new opportunities are posted every month. It is a bona fide flood of doors opening to millions in contracts. Check out our upcoming webinar for practical steps to taking advantage of these new and useful notices.

Here's to your success.

-Gloria Larkin, TargetGov President

Gloria Larkin Speaking in GovWin’s Webinar, “Differentiate Your Business: 5 Strategies You Need for Success

On August 21, 2012 GovWin from Deltek and TargetGov will be teaming up for a complimentary webinar, “Differentiate Your Business: 5 Strategies You Need for Success.” The webinar will take place Tuesday, August 21, 2012 starting at 11:00 am PT, 12:00 pm MT, 1:00 CT, and 2:00 pm ET. It will last for about 45 information-packed minutes. You will learn the five strategies you need to successfully differentiate your business.

Highlights of the webinar include:

•    The most effective differentiators
•    How to determine your company-specific differentiators
•    Two key differentiators important to prime contractors
•    Resources used by primes when looking for small business
•    Best practices when completing your profile
•    How to connect with primes and gain access to their private, unpublished opportunities

Gloria Larkin’s role in the webinar will be to help define differentiators, identify what is important about them, and how you can view differentiators through the eyes of the federal government. Differentiators are a key component of the Capability Statement and often the most difficult section to fill out.

Join TargetGov and GovWin while they present this webinar so you can improve your business and help you differentiate effectively for the federal marketplace.

Click here for more information and to sign up for the webinar!

Gloria Larkin Speaking at the APTAC Fall 2012 Training Conference

TargetGov President Gloria Larkin will be speaking at the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) Fall 2012 Training Conference. The conference will take place November 5th through November 8th in Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill Hotel, Washington, DC.

The theme of this year’s conference is “The Responsiveness Requirement: Advising Clients How to Be Responsive.” All discussions and presentations will be tailored to this specific theme. It is essentially a training conference for everyone who trains government contractors.

The topic that Gloria will be discussing is concerned with marketing effectively with the media, in particular internet and new media. She will help attendees identify appropriate social media and networking sites, how to reach targets through these same sites, and managing business time spent on each site. She will also identify best practices for media marketing and practices to avoid.

The workshop is designed to clarify the murky and confusing world of social media as well as help plan effective practices that will help in public relations activities.

“Very few business people understand the new world of social media or how press releases have evolved in the internet age. We will cover new trends and the tactics that mean success through electronic marketing,” said presenter Gloria Larkin.

APTAC is the professional organization of and for the 93 Procurement Technical Assistance Programs (PTAP). This program was authorized by Congress in 1985 to try and expand the number of businesses able to enter the Government Marketplace and is administered by the Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).

TargetGov’s August Webinar, “Responding to Sources Sought and RFIs”

On August 23rd, TargetGov’s President Gloria Larkin will host a webinar titled, “Responding to Sources Sought and RFIs.” This webinar will focus on identification of Sources Sought Notices who fit your company and responding effectively to notices and Requests for Information (RFIs).

Preview of the topics covered in the webinar:
•    Sample listings
•    25 point Implementation Plan
•    Importance of Market Research
•    How to do Market Research
•    Sample Verbiage
•    Far References

Responding to Sources Sought Notices and Requests for Information is important for any company with a desire to market effectively to the Federal Government. Many Sources Sought Notices go unnoticed by the same small businesses the Federal Government would like to award contracts. The information covered in this webinar will improve your responses and help you see results.

“The dramatic flood of Sources Sought Notices has opened the door to new contracting opportunities but most companies do not realize just how important it is to respond to them and how to be effective when responding,” said Gloria Larkin, “savvy business people use this tool to create real contracting opportunities tailored to their specific abilities.”

Who should attend this webinar? This webinar is valuable for contractors just entering the Federal Marketplace and those who are already seeing some success but want to see more. Executives, contract administrators, business managers, business developers and just about anyone who wants to understand more about Sources Sought Notices and Requests for Information.

Included with every TargetGov webinar is an exclusive TargetGov Toolkit© to help attendees follow along with the presentation and keep as a complete guide for future reference. This toolkit will contain the specific information that is included in the full presentation and is available for unlimited use by registrants.

Every attendee will be able to download the audio for the webinar and have access to the video.

Date: August 23, 2012
Time: 3:30 Eastern (2:30 Central, 1:30 Mountain, 12:30 Pacific)
Where: Your desk – the webinar is broadcast live
Cost: $105 per individual

Click here to register!

Gloria Larkin Speaking in MDOT’s First Friday Classroom Series

TargetGov President Gloria Larkin will be presenting a class titled, “Designing a Capability Statement that will Open Doors” as part of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s First Friday 2012 Summer Classroom Series. The presentation will be given Friday, August 3rd at 1:00 and last for two hours.

Capability Statements are a must-have for government contracting; this class will help attendees learn the absolute requirements for writing powerful capability statements. She will provide the tools for making a statement that reflects your core competencies, past performance, and differentiators in a concise, easy to read, manner.

The First Friday 2012 Summer Classroom Series is part of the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Office of Minority Business Enterprise. It is a collection of four classes to help any businesses who are interested in working on a government contract, held on the first Friday of every month this summer.

Unfortunately, the class has been fully booked. You can still receive help from TargetGov with Capability Statements on this page, as well as a free grading of your own personal statement by a TargetGov professional.

A Message from TargetGov President Gloria Larkin

Greetings!
 
Many of us have been compelled to watch Team USA in the 2012 Olympics-are you as amazed as I am with the caliber of athletes? Over 10,000 athletes are expected to participate in the games and we have already seen the unexpected: "sure things" that were not, upsets, new world records and unbounded joy. Watching the athletes perform is tense enough, watching their parents roller coaster through their own emotions is even tougher!

When we inspect our lives we see the same rollercoaster-just thankfully, not as fast nor as public.

One of the roller coaster rides we are seeing in the federal marketplace is the issues of sequestration-will it or won't it happen? And in either case, how does it affect our business?

If you are a large, small or mid-sized business, a non-profit or in academia, we will all be affected and not in a positive way.

Sequestration will reduce our options dramatically and not just because of reduced budgets. The psychology of loss, of confusion and the lack of dependability will affect every person in the US. Our elected leaders are responsible for this debacle, please tell your congress members what you think of their inability to work together to keep our country moving.

In the meantime, you know that I will make every effort to keep you and your business moving forward. That is one thing you can count on!

Here's to your success.

-Gloria Larkin, TargetGov President