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VETS26
May 28, 2026 | Events
Most people prepare for a conference by charging their phone and hoping for the best. That is not a strategy. That is a coin flip with a lanyard. On Monday, June 1st, we are running a pre-conference workshop at NVSBC #VETS26. 7 Operational Tactics for Conference Success. Seven specific moves. Before, during, and after the event. The kind nobody puts on the agenda. Walk in with a plan, and a conference stops being a hallway full of small talk. It becomes a pipeline. While you are there, swing by @RSM Federal in Booth 703. Good people who know this game.…
WEASEL CHARGES SMALL BUSINESSES FOR FREE SAM REGISTRATION, CALLS IT A “MEMBERSHIP”
May 28, 2026 | The Less Formal Debriefing
One firm discovered the federal portal costs nothing. So it built a business on the fear that it doesn’t. THE REGISTRATION QUEUE. The registration is free. Grifter found a way to charge for it anyway. Grifter the Weasel does not consider this a scam. He considers it a service. The service is sending you an email that looks like SAM sent it. SAM did not send it. Grifter sent it. From a laptop. In a folding chair. He has built an entire business on the gap between what SAM costs and what people will pay out of fear. His…
How Smart Companies Win Government Contracts Reaches #1 on Amazon
May 21, 2026 | Company News
The book hit #1 in its category on Amazon in its first week. I wrote it because the book I needed 20 years ago did not exist. No shortcuts, no theory, just the strategy, positioning, and execution that actually wins federal contracts. Built on 20 years of real wins and real losses. Thank you to everyone who bought a copy, shared it, and told a friend. You made this happen. The announcement was picked up by EIN Presswire and syndicated nationally. You can read the full release here: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/914071452/earnest-s-how-smart-companies-win-government-contracts-reaches-no-1-in-its-category-on-amazon If you have not grabbed your copy yet, here is where…
LOCAL SQUIRREL REFRESHES SAM.GOV FOR EIGHTH HOUR AWAITING 8(a) PROGRAM HE IS NOT IN
May 21, 2026 | The Less Formal Debriefing
Dash Capital pursues seven set-asides it does not qualify for, ignores 200 it does THE SET-ASIDE LINE. Dash the Squirrel of Dash Capital was observed Tuesday at his desk, refreshing the SBA certification portal once every forty seconds, waiting for the 8(a) Business Development Program to start approving new applicants again. He has been doing this since August. He is not in the 8(a) program. He has never applied. Dash’s desk is buried under printed sources sought notices, sorted by no system anyone can identify, each one stickered with the phrase “HOT LEAD” and a date in 2024. “I just…
LOCAL PORCUPINE INFORMS SAM HE WILL NOT BE QUOTING A PRICE, NOW OR EVER
May 13, 2026 | The Less Formal Debriefing
Quillby, 61, says new fixed-price rule is “a personal attack on my entire filing system” THE PROPOSAL ROOM — Quillby Pemberton, a porcupine and longtime owner of a three-person professional services firm registered in SAM since the second Clinton term, was found Tuesday on top of a filing cabinet, glaring at a printed copy of an executive order he refused to acknowledge by name. The order, signed April 30, makes fixed-price contracts the default when selling to SAM. Cost-reimbursement contracts now require written justification. The administration cited $120 billion obligated on cost-reimbursement consulting contracts last year as the reason. Quillby…
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗵𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻.
March 13, 2026 | Comic
Yes, proposals take effort. Deadlines are tight. But when every submission turns into a three-day caffeine marathon with pizza boxes and someone muttering at Microsoft Word, the problem is not the proposal team. It is weak capture, late strategy, and opportunities showing up two weeks before the deadline. That turns proposal writing into emergency response. Strong positioning makes proposals focused and manageable. If your proposal room looks like a disaster relief site for government contracting, it might be time to fix what is happening upstream.
Color team reviews are helpful. But they are not magic.
March 10, 2026 | Uncategorized
A red team can fix grammar. A pink team can tighten messaging. A gold team can polish the story. A chartreuse team can verify that the vending machine on the 3rd floor still has Flamin' Hot Cheetos and that someone remembered to order the good coffee for the debrief. What none of them can do is fix weak positioning. If the agency does not know you, trust you, or see you as the logical choice, no amount of proposal editing will save it. It is like trying to fix a bad first impression with better punctuation. Winning starts months before…
March 9, 2026 | Uncategorized
Proposals rarely fail at submission; they fail months earlier. They flop when the agency has never heard of you, like a magician without an audience. They stumble when you skip talking to the program office, good luck winning charades without knowing the rules! They struggle when you miss the real problem behind the requirement, akin to fixing a leaky faucet with a hammer. By the time the RFP is released, buyers already know their preferred solution and who they trust. If you’re relying solely on your written response, you’re already behind the eight ball. Winning starts long before the proposal…
If you rely on proposals to persuade,
March 6, 2026 | Uncategorized
you already lost. In government sales, persuasion does not start at submission. It starts in conversations months before the RFP is written. It starts when you understand the agency’s mission, build relationships with program stakeholders, and communicate measurable value early. By the time a solicitation is released, the buyer should already know who you are and what you bring to the table. The proposal is not where you convince them. It is where you confirm what they already believe. Are you building influence before the bid, or hoping your writing skills save you?
Adding more SINs to fix a sales problem is like buying a bigger fishing net when you haven’t put your smaller net in the lake you’re already standing in.
March 3, 2026 | Business Development
Picture it. You're standing knee deep in a lake. Fish everywhere. You've got a perfectly good net in your hands. But instead of putting it in the water, you're just standing there. Waiting. Hoping the fish figure out what you're selling and swim directly into your hands. They don't. So your solution is to buy a bigger net. That's exactly what happened on a call last week. A prospect wanted to add SINs to their GSA Schedule. Here's where they stood: $0 in Schedule sales. Base year expiring in less than 12 months. Zero wins in the SINs they already…
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