Business Internet - Marketing
Government Contracts
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Congressional law mandates that 23% of federal contract dollars be awarded to small businesses they are falling below that target. Action in the SBA and federal government are pushing to correct their deficiency.
Five steps to winning a government contract:
1) Explore: At www.b2gmarket.com, the Government Market Web Site is a searchable database of goods and services that the federal and state governments regularly buy. At www.sba.gov/gc the SBA has details on programs that help small firms gain a leg up on contracts.
2) Register as a contractor: The government's central contractor registration site is, www.ccr.gov
3) Look for opportunities: The federal Business Opportunities Web Site, which lists upcoming contract announcements, is www.fedbizopps.gov
4) Partner with a larger firm: One way to track down a partner is to go to the www.b2gmarket.com site and pay $30 a month to search a contract history database to see which companies have landed contracts or are bidding on contracts in our industry.
5) Learn the ins and outs of RFPs: For insight into handling RFP's visit the SBA site www.sba.gov/gc or www.captureplanning.com
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Auction Web Sites
Small businesses can use the following sites to hawk products, unload excess inventory or buy hard-to-find merchandise. Many companies, mostly those with three or fewer employees, specialize in using these sites to sell large volumes of items.
eBay
- On-line Store: $15.95/month
Overstock.com
- Pegged at 50% below eBay's monthly charge for an on-line store
Yahoo
- $0.75 for items that cost $50 and more, plus transaction fees starting at 2% of the closing price.
Amazon.com
- $39.99 per month for unlimited listings on its zShops site. Closing fees start at 5% of the sale price
Others
- Onlineauction.com, charges a flat $8 monthly listing fee.
- Classified buyers.com, offers free listings, but sellers must pay a transaction fee after each sale.
Swaps
- You can list items for free on Swapthing. Site charges a buck of any items swapped or sold.
Publish & Sell your Masterpiece
- Self-publish on Lulu.com for no up-front fee and no minimum order. just upload a word processing document and follow a wizard to choose book's size, format, cover art, and price or commission. Lulu takes 20% of the cover price.
- If you order copies for yourself, you pay only the binding and printing costs - around $8.50 for a standard 200page paperback.
- Sell your book via LuLu, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble.
