The solicitation posts. The contractor needs a proposal firm this week.
Proposal work is hired on a deadline, so the firm that is already known gets the call. Be known before the solicitation posts, and easy to find the day it does.
Proposal work is bought under a clock. A solicitation posts, the owner reads the instructions, counts the pages and the volumes, and realizes nobody on staff has the time. The decision to hire a firm is made in a day or two, usually from a short list of names the owner already knows or whatever comes up in search. The firm that was not on the list or in the results never hears about the job.
Why the clock shapes the marketing
For non-commercial purchases above the simplified acquisition threshold, FAR 5.203 gives offerors at least thirty days to respond. For commercial products and services the rule is only a reasonable time, and quote requests can run shorter. A letter that arrives after the solicitation posts is competing with a deadline, and usually loses.
So the work divides in two. Before the solicitation, correspondence puts your firm's name in front of the contractors likely to bid. Once it posts, search catches the ones who decide they cannot do it alone.
Reaching them before it posts
The government tells the public a solicitation is coming. A notice has to be published at least fifteen days before most solicitations issue, and agencies post sources-sought notices, draft solicitations, and annual forecasts. Each names the work, the NAICS code, and often the set-aside category.
That narrows the likely bidders to a short list: the incumbent, other firms with awards in the same NAICS code at the same agency, and registered small businesses in the set-aside category. Their award history is on USAspending.gov. A letter goes to the owner or the business development lead and cites the notice and why their record puts them in the field.
A second group is the firm that bids often. USAspending shows a company winning several awards a year, and the proposal load that comes with that. A firm winning six awards a year is writing proposals constantly and may not have a standing relationship with anyone who helps. That firm is a retainer client.
The referral side is the same as elsewhere on this hub: GovCon attorneys, accountants, and APEX Accelerator counselors, who watch clients fall behind on bids before anyone else does.
What the search looks like
This is the practice where search matters most. The owner types proposal writer for government contracts, federal proposal consultant, RFP response help, or government proposal writing services, usually on the day the solicitation posts or the day after. The Visibility Program covers that with Google Ads built around those queries, a website that shows what a proposal engagement involves, and LinkedIn placements aimed at referring professionals.
The page has to answer the questions a rushed owner has. What do you take on, what do you need from us, how fast can you start? A site that makes the owner call to find out loses to one that tells them. Say what capacity you have only when it is true.
Proposal writing versus capture
Capture is the work before the solicitation. Proposal writing starts when it posts: reading the instructions, building the compliance matrix, drafting each volume, organizing reviews, handling production, and submitting. The buyers overlap and the timing does not. A capture client may hire a proposal firm later, and a proposal client who lost may come back wanting capture. Each practice has its own letter.
What the contractor asks
We write our own proposals. Many do, until two solicitations land in the same month. The firm that has already introduced itself is the one called on that month.
Will it win the award? No consultant controls that. Good writing makes the proposal easier to score. The page should say so.
Is this cheaper than a lost bid? Often, but do not say it unless you have the numbers.
A rule on fees
FAR subpart 3.4 and the contingent-fee clause at 52.203-5 restrict contractors from paying for help in obtaining a government contract on a contingent basis. A proposal firm that offers to work for a percentage of the award can put its client in violation of the contract it just won. We do not write offers framed that way. Our own share, where it applies, is a share of your consulting revenue, not of any contract award.
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What is not included
ROI Wire does not write proposals, review them, or submit them. We put your firm in front of the contractor, either by name or when they search. The writing is yours.
Billing
Proposal engagements range from a single response to a standing retainer, and that variety suits both models. Retainer fits firms with steady volume. Revenue share can fit where the average engagement is large. Search spend is paid to Google and LinkedIn directly and our retainer scales with it. Details are on the revenue share, retainer, and Visibility Program pages.
Who we turn away
We do not take firms that promise to win, or that price themselves on a share of the award. We do not take firms that cannot start a new engagement within a week, since search sends the rushed buyer. And we do not take firms that will not keep client work confidential, since owners hand over pricing.
Program pages
Visibility Program
The full model: what you pay, what we bill, and who this actually fits.
Paid search
The mechanics behind the click: keywords, spend, and a retainer that scales with it.
Online profile development
What a buyer checks after the click and before the call: directories, bios, and reputation.
How the Program Runs
- Discovery
One call, 45–60 minutes. We learn the practice economics, the buyer profile, what triggers an engagement, and whether your buyer needs to be reached directly or is already searching.
- List Build and Keyword Research
For correspondence: built from SAM.gov registrations and USAspending.gov award records, filtered to your practice, with excluded and oversized firms removed. For the Visibility Program: keyword and audience research built around the specific trigger your buyers search on. You review a sample list or the keyword set before anything sends or launches.
- Copy Development
Correspondence copy and ad or landing page copy, both written after the research, specific to your buyer, your state, and your fee structure. One review round each. Nothing sends or goes live until you approve it.
- Launch
Direct mail and email for the correspondence track, batched over one to two weeks to protect deliverability. Google and LinkedIn ads for the Visibility Program track, live within a week of approval. Whichever combination fits your practice runs on its own clock.
- Monthly Coordination Call
What responded on each track, what it means, what changes next cycle. Every recommended adjustment explained before it happens.
Proposal work is hired on a deadline. The firm already known gets the call.
Correspondence reaches likely bidders before the solicitation posts, and Google and LinkedIn reach the owner who searches the day it does.
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