Jan. 19, 2026
How Solo PR Pros Can Use RFPs To Land New Business - Episode 330
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How Solo PR Pros Can Use RFPs To Land New Business
Episode 330
Episode SummaryIn this new year, many independent communications professionals are often looking for ways to make some noise and grow their businesses. For some, that path may lead to the dreaded Request for Proposal (RFP). In this episode of That Solo Life, Karen Swim, APR, and Michelle Kane tackle the topic we all "love to hate." While RFPs can sometimes feel like a heavy lift for a solo practitioner, they remain a vital avenue for securing work with corporations, government entities, and nonprofits.
Karen and Michelle break down how to stop fearing the process and start strategizing for success. They discuss the importance of discerning which opportunities are worth your time, how to humanize a sterile bidding process, and why relationships often trump qualifications on paper. Whether you are looking to streamline your proposal workflow with an asset library or wondering how to use AI as a thinking partner, this episode offers practical tips to help you turn the RFP process from a burden into a winning business strategy.
Episode Highlights- [00:01:26] The Necessary Evil: Introduction to RFPs as a topic and why they are a valid pathway to new work in the current business climate.
- [00:03:24] decoding the "Cattle Call": Distinguishing between different types of RFPs—from government contracts to open calls on PR sites—and determining which are worth the effort.
- [00:04:51] The Human Element: Why you should always try to move beyond the document to have a personal conversation or "discovery call" before submitting.
- [00:05:37] Red Flags and Alignment: How to spot budget mismatches early and decide if a prospect aligns with your values before you write a single word.
- [00:09:32] Streamlining the Workflow: Tips for building a "library of assets," including case studies and testimonials, so you never have to start a proposal from scratch.
- [00:10:15] AI as a Strategist: Using artificial intelligence to perform SWOT analyses on prospective clients to demonstrate big-picture thinking in your response.
- [00:14:47] Standing Out Visually: How to use creative elements, visuals, and even audio/video to showcase your personality and brand alignment.
- Solo PR Pro Blog: How to Evaluate RFP Opportunities
- Solo PR Pro Blog: Succeeding at Business Development in a Tough Year
- Episode 313: Strategies for Securing New PR Business
- Join the conversation and share your own RFP success stories (or horror stories) with the community.
That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, founder of Words For Hire and President of Solo PR, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and advice for solo PR pros navigating today’s dynamic professional landscape.
Ready to take your solo business to the next level in 2026?
Don't navigate this journey alone! Subscribe to the Solo PR Pro Youtube channel for That Solo Life episodes and actionable tips and insights. If you found value in today’s discussion about RFPs, please leave us a review and share this episode with a fellow communication professional.
How Solo PR Pros Can Use RFPs To Land New Business
Episode 330
Michelle Kane [00:00:18]:
Hello and thank you for joining us for that Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers, all sorts of communicators who work for ourselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters, and my wonderful co host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro, which, if you're new to the podcast in this new year, is the place to be for all people who do this thing on their own, like us. How you doing, Karen?
Karen Swim [00:00:43]:
Hi, Michelle. I am doing okay. How are you?
Michelle Kane [00:00:46]:
Yes, I'm doing okay. You know, I think we're all quietly tiptoeing into 2026.
Karen Swim [00:00:52]:
Absolutely.
Michelle Kane [00:00:54]:
Don't make any noise. But we do want to make noise because we want to grow our business this year even more. And we're excited that you, our listeners, are with us for this ride of just, you know, making a living in a way that. That fulfills us and is of service to others, which is kind of what Comms Pros are all about. But I'm excited about the topic today, even though it's the thing we love to hate. We're going to dish a little bit about RFPs.
Karen Swim [00:01:26]:
I love the sound effects. I. I don't necessarily love RFPs, but I also am really excited to talk about this.
Michelle Kane [00:01:34]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:01:35]:
Because, you know, after last year and the business climate was just so weird last year.
Michelle Kane [00:01:40]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:01:41]:
A lot more solo PR pelts are like, okay, what do I need to do? What new avenue should I be looking into?
Michelle Kane [00:01:48]:
Right.
Karen Swim [00:01:49]:
And, you know, RFPS comes up because they do exist. And, yeah, it is a pathway to work.
Michelle Kane [00:01:57]:
It is, it is. Yeah. And, you know, I think a lot of times as solos, we feel like it's a big ask for us as an entity, and it can be. And a lot of times we are reluctant to go through it, but, I mean, it's. In many ways it's. It's really your entree anyway. And, you know, you're going to do a lot of this work in your proposal anyway, so. I agree.
Michelle Kane [00:02:28]:
It's a 50. 50. Honestly, I think it's evaluate each one as it comes, to be honest, because some are just so grand and you think. But I think for many of us, it's. It's a good pathway to land new business. So really the first step is to figure out, well, am I even going to respond? Is this worth my time? What goes into that?
Karen Swim [00:02:50]:
You know, And I think, you know, that that is the first step, RFPs. So we know government does RFP. So if you are in government contracting, you can't get away from the RFP process. But if you are not working with government entities, nonprofits are also big on rfp. So there are certain industries that really use these. Healthcare does a lot of RFPs. There's different kinds of RFPs, though. There are the RFPs that show up on PR sites where they'll post their RFP.
Karen Swim [00:03:24]:
And it's just an RFP. It's not. And so it's open to lots of people. So you may have 200 people going after the same piece of work. Then there are those RFPs that you may be invited to. And I, a lot of, a lot of agencies just say no to the big cattle call RFPs because they think that it's a waste of resources. I tend to shy away from those two, but I want to share that you can actually bid on those and how to evaluate whether it's worth it or not.
Michelle Kane [00:04:02]:
Right, Yeah, I agree. And sometimes it's an entity that, that's what they know. As far as, oh, this is how we go about engaging someone, let's issue a formal rfp. And in the past I have just turned that around and said, well, rather than answer these questions you've presented that may not get us where you need to be, can I just give you a proposal? Can we just talk for a half hour? Let me figure out what your pain is and, and propose something. And for people who operate the way we do, sometimes that's a win. And in fact, I've, I've gotten a win or two from that approach. But if that's not an option, go for it. Just figure out the best way to go for it for you.
Karen Swim [00:04:51]:
Yeah. With RFPs, you always want to inject humanity into every single part of the process. And what I mean by that is don't just take that RFP request and think that's all that you have to work with. So, number one, you definitely want to read the rfp. Do the alignment. And what does that mean? Are they aligned with what your company does? And do you believe that it's winnable? Is it aligned? Are the budget and the expectations aligned? If they're way off, that could be something that you put in the red flag category and go, I don't know. They want, you know, $50,000 a month of work and they set a budget of 10,000. That's a red flag.
Karen Swim [00:05:37]:
Now, it doesn't necessarily mean a hard no, but it's something that you want to research deeper. I also think go research the company that put out the RFP before you decide to engage. Is this somebody that you really would want to do business with. Does the work excite you? Because I'm all about going for the big swing. If it excites you and you're like, I would love to do this work. So that. That's a difference. And then once you know the company, try to discover if you know someone there or know someone connected.
Karen Swim [00:06:16]:
You always. Relationships are always going to trump everything, I promise you. We talk about this in sales conversations all the time, and we have for years. And it is true. People that you know and like you are always willing to give a shot over somebody that's unknown. You could not know somebody or not like somebody, and they might be the most qualified person in the room, but you'll choose someone that's known to you and that you like over that person. Because there are some things that you can train, there are some things that you can develop, but if you don't like somebody and they're just not known to you, there's. Why would you make that effort? So try to discover that and develop a relationship.
Karen Swim [00:07:01]:
And it goes back to what you said of, can we have a personal conversation? Sometimes during an RFP process, they offer that up, take advantage of that. It's so important. You can ask questions, you can get clarification. You might bring up things that lead them to issue an amendment. I've done that before, too, where you point out things like, you know, you have this. But that's really a whole different kind of, you know, scope of work. And so you can point out things and it could help to clarify the RFP process. So don't be afraid to do that.
Michelle Kane [00:07:38]:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because you, you may learn things because, let's face it, it's a case of they don't know what they don't know. And certain things may come to light, as in, you know, we had that case of, well, we've got a new CMO coming on board. Well, wait a second, that might change the whole game. So maybe we should, you know, maybe this whole process should be paused. And you're not going to know that if they're just thinking, okay, we need to solve for X, so we need to do the RFP and then we'll figure the rest out. It's not that they're, you know, it's not that they don't know what they're doing. It's just that they're not as familiar with our side of things.
Michelle Kane [00:08:20]:
You know, it's not where their expertise may specifically lie. So, yeah, trying to get someone's ear and Delve a little deeper is always key and so helpful, and it's worth.
Karen Swim [00:08:34]:
It because it can save you time and effort and it could put you in a stronger position if you do decide to respond. Now, some RFPs take a lot of work.
Michelle Kane [00:08:45]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:08:46]:
So you really have to decide, do I have 100 hours to spend to put this together with just myself, or am I going to work with a team that. That is important. Some just are a Herculean effort. And yeah, I did a lot of those kind of RFPs when I worked in health care, and they're not impossible. For every rfp, I'm going to give you a tip. Have a library of assets that you can always pull from and personalize. So obviously you want to have your capabilities, you want to have case studies that you can customize to the rfp, because not every case study has to be, you know, a couple of pages. It can be a paragraph.
Karen Swim [00:09:32]:
That's really succinct. So you want to have that stuff ready to go. You want to have testimonials, you want to have visual assets and things that you can quickly like, okay, we have this for this customized by industry. It'll save you some time. And these are things that you should have for your proposal process anyway, because these days, proposals do require a little bit more work, but you can streamline that process by having your own library of things that you can just grab immediately and be ready to respond. You want to make sure that you tailor and personalize your response to the company. Here again, it's worth it. Same on proposals on any proposals.
Michelle Kane [00:10:15]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:10:15]:
Use AI to do a little SWOT analysis of their industry and of the company so that you can demonstrate through your response that you understand not only what they're asking for, but you see the bigger picture. I cannot tell you how much this will set you apart. It is a game changer when you can show clients that you can think like they do and you can speak in their language and that you understand the problems that they're facing and how this scope of work will fit in as a solution.
Michelle Kane [00:10:54]:
So true. So true. And honestly, I think that's how we're all wired anyway, because we like to get in there and, and figure out how, you know, as specifically as we can to solve the problem that pertains to the potential client. So in many ways, these are a lot of work, and you have to decide that. And you also have to decide, you know, you know, there's also the notion of, well, I'm, I'm delivering product in essence, with this proposal. So that is another trade off. You have to, you know, decide for yourself. But at the same time, there are times where it could certainly be worth it.
Karen Swim [00:11:39]:
I mean, I think that one of the key questions is, can I win this? Do I, Do I have the expertise needed to do the work? Could I do it with excellence? Is this something that really is a win if it's something that you love to do and you know, there's no way, because the requirements are far beyond what you could do even with a partner, you know, be realistic about those things if you don't have any relationships there and, you know, it's a big cattle call and it's a huge stretch. That's something to think about. Now, I, I'll also say that there was a year that we did on a few RFPs that we love the work and we knew that we could do the work, but we knew that there was a good chance we wouldn't win them. But we used it as a strategy. It helped us to get a lot better at our proposals and we created these assets that we could repurpose and utilize in other ways. And we did develop some relationships along the way and got far down the process. So for us, it was a strategy that we used because it wasn't like they were taking 200 hours of work.
Michelle Kane [00:12:52]:
Right, well, right, exactly. Yeah. I mean, you need to make that trade off for yourself and think of it as, you know, when, when we were employees, you know, I, I know sometimes I took interviews just for the experience. Yes, no, and, and sometimes that takes the pressure off as well. If you see something that's like mid stakes.
Karen Swim [00:13:11]:
Yeah.
Michelle Kane [00:13:12]:
And you're like, well, you know what, let me try an RFP again. Not saying you devote 200 hours to something you don't really want.
Karen Swim [00:13:20]:
No, please don't. I love a little bit of work. Because proposals are going to take you work these days. You really, you can't just throw out this generic proposal and expect to win business. You really are going to have to dig in now. Always, always. You should always aim for some personal contact, some meeting via phone, via Zoom, in person if possible, to get to know that person and to be able to ask questions, whether it's a proposal or whether it's an rfp, because that's going to help inform your response and, and it's going to help you to do a much better job. You know, I, I really am not a huge fan of just throwing something out there without doing any of the work or if there's an opportunity to talk to someone from the other side because it does lower your chances of winning the work.
Karen Swim [00:14:15]:
Because you don't want to just be one of the herd.
Michelle Kane [00:14:18]:
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Karen Swim [00:14:21]:
So, and then don't forget, like, creative and visual tips. Like, yeah. I can tell you that some of the things that have been in our winning proposals, I get a little crazy because I like presentations and I like polls. I put music into my presentation. I've done video clips. I mean, I do. I go a little while. Because you do want to showcase how you think.
Karen Swim [00:14:47]:
We always add some creative element. So, yeah, this company sees what it would be like to work with these. This crazy group of practitioners that's really smart and knows research, so let your personality shine. But also you can use your visuals to subtly tie back to their branding. So think. Inserting their logo in strategic places, using their name, color schemes that align with their color scheme. All of those things are subtle ways to say, hey, we're perfect.
Michelle Kane [00:15:25]:
Yeah, yeah. And. And subliminally, it's funny as. As you're saying that that that's the torture I put myself through every time I do a proposal. Because not only am I putting together a plan for, you know, outline of a plan for someone, I'm also showing them, okay, well, this is how I'm thinking about you. This is how deeply I'm going to care about you. Because let's face it, we tend to imbibe these clients in a way that, you know, we become their champion. So, yeah, anything that can help make you stand out in those unique ways, we say go for it.
Michelle Kane [00:16:02]:
So.
Karen Swim [00:16:03]:
And you can use AI as your thinking partner. So, I mean, let's not, you know, I know that we're so sick of talking about this, but it's true. You don't want it to do the work, but you absolutely can streamline your time by using AI as a thinking partner. Again, in your SWOT analysis, you know, you can throw out some ideas and then, you know, use AI to help you refine your thoughts. So there are ways to do this without spending a ton of time. And you know what? Don't shy away from this process that, you know, as Michelle says, that we love to hate because one of our current. And it's been our client for a while now, but one of our current clients was won through an rfp. And they're fantastic.
Karen Swim [00:16:50]:
I could not say enough great things about them. Their company culture, the people like, it's just been a complete delight. And so RFPs can be a good thing and they can lead you to really terrific clients but you just have to be discerning and assess whether it's the right RFP for you. But I bet there's a good one out there for all of us and we want you all to have more work this year. We want you to grow and scale and be delighted in the work that you do and be able to use those fabulous skills that you have and those smarts because we're happy when we're serving people right. So we want you to have the people, the amount of people that you want to serve this year.
Michelle Kane [00:17:34]:
We are exactly. So we thank you for joining us for this episode and you know, share your RFP successes or even your horror stories with us@soloprpro.com we would love to share them with the audience and you know it's all about learning from each other. So thank you for listening and until next time we'll see you on That Solo Life.
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Episode 330
Michelle Kane [00:00:18]:
Hello and thank you for joining us for that Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers, all sorts of communicators who work for ourselves. People like me, Michelle Kane with Voice Matters, and my wonderful co host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro, which, if you're new to the podcast in this new year, is the place to be for all people who do this thing on their own, like us. How you doing, Karen?
Karen Swim [00:00:43]:
Hi, Michelle. I am doing okay. How are you?
Michelle Kane [00:00:46]:
Yes, I'm doing okay. You know, I think we're all quietly tiptoeing into 2026.
Karen Swim [00:00:52]:
Absolutely.
Michelle Kane [00:00:54]:
Don't make any noise. But we do want to make noise because we want to grow our business this year even more. And we're excited that you, our listeners, are with us for this ride of just, you know, making a living in a way that. That fulfills us and is of service to others, which is kind of what Comms Pros are all about. But I'm excited about the topic today, even though it's the thing we love to hate. We're going to dish a little bit about RFPs.
Karen Swim [00:01:26]:
I love the sound effects. I. I don't necessarily love RFPs, but I also am really excited to talk about this.
Michelle Kane [00:01:34]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:01:35]:
Because, you know, after last year and the business climate was just so weird last year.
Michelle Kane [00:01:40]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:01:41]:
A lot more solo PR pelts are like, okay, what do I need to do? What new avenue should I be looking into?
Michelle Kane [00:01:48]:
Right.
Karen Swim [00:01:49]:
And, you know, RFPS comes up because they do exist. And, yeah, it is a pathway to work.
Michelle Kane [00:01:57]:
It is, it is. Yeah. And, you know, I think a lot of times as solos, we feel like it's a big ask for us as an entity, and it can be. And a lot of times we are reluctant to go through it, but, I mean, it's. In many ways it's. It's really your entree anyway. And, you know, you're going to do a lot of this work in your proposal anyway, so. I agree.
Michelle Kane [00:02:28]:
It's a 50. 50. Honestly, I think it's evaluate each one as it comes, to be honest, because some are just so grand and you think. But I think for many of us, it's. It's a good pathway to land new business. So really the first step is to figure out, well, am I even going to respond? Is this worth my time? What goes into that?
Karen Swim [00:02:50]:
You know, And I think, you know, that that is the first step, RFPs. So we know government does RFP. So if you are in government contracting, you can't get away from the RFP process. But if you are not working with government entities, nonprofits are also big on rfp. So there are certain industries that really use these. Healthcare does a lot of RFPs. There's different kinds of RFPs, though. There are the RFPs that show up on PR sites where they'll post their RFP.
Karen Swim [00:03:24]:
And it's just an RFP. It's not. And so it's open to lots of people. So you may have 200 people going after the same piece of work. Then there are those RFPs that you may be invited to. And I, a lot of, a lot of agencies just say no to the big cattle call RFPs because they think that it's a waste of resources. I tend to shy away from those two, but I want to share that you can actually bid on those and how to evaluate whether it's worth it or not.
Michelle Kane [00:04:02]:
Right, Yeah, I agree. And sometimes it's an entity that, that's what they know. As far as, oh, this is how we go about engaging someone, let's issue a formal rfp. And in the past I have just turned that around and said, well, rather than answer these questions you've presented that may not get us where you need to be, can I just give you a proposal? Can we just talk for a half hour? Let me figure out what your pain is and, and propose something. And for people who operate the way we do, sometimes that's a win. And in fact, I've, I've gotten a win or two from that approach. But if that's not an option, go for it. Just figure out the best way to go for it for you.
Karen Swim [00:04:51]:
Yeah. With RFPs, you always want to inject humanity into every single part of the process. And what I mean by that is don't just take that RFP request and think that's all that you have to work with. So, number one, you definitely want to read the rfp. Do the alignment. And what does that mean? Are they aligned with what your company does? And do you believe that it's winnable? Is it aligned? Are the budget and the expectations aligned? If they're way off, that could be something that you put in the red flag category and go, I don't know. They want, you know, $50,000 a month of work and they set a budget of 10,000. That's a red flag.
Karen Swim [00:05:37]:
Now, it doesn't necessarily mean a hard no, but it's something that you want to research deeper. I also think go research the company that put out the RFP before you decide to engage. Is this somebody that you really would want to do business with. Does the work excite you? Because I'm all about going for the big swing. If it excites you and you're like, I would love to do this work. So that. That's a difference. And then once you know the company, try to discover if you know someone there or know someone connected.
Karen Swim [00:06:16]:
You always. Relationships are always going to trump everything, I promise you. We talk about this in sales conversations all the time, and we have for years. And it is true. People that you know and like you are always willing to give a shot over somebody that's unknown. You could not know somebody or not like somebody, and they might be the most qualified person in the room, but you'll choose someone that's known to you and that you like over that person. Because there are some things that you can train, there are some things that you can develop, but if you don't like somebody and they're just not known to you, there's. Why would you make that effort? So try to discover that and develop a relationship.
Karen Swim [00:07:01]:
And it goes back to what you said of, can we have a personal conversation? Sometimes during an RFP process, they offer that up, take advantage of that. It's so important. You can ask questions, you can get clarification. You might bring up things that lead them to issue an amendment. I've done that before, too, where you point out things like, you know, you have this. But that's really a whole different kind of, you know, scope of work. And so you can point out things and it could help to clarify the RFP process. So don't be afraid to do that.
Michelle Kane [00:07:38]:
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because you, you may learn things because, let's face it, it's a case of they don't know what they don't know. And certain things may come to light, as in, you know, we had that case of, well, we've got a new CMO coming on board. Well, wait a second, that might change the whole game. So maybe we should, you know, maybe this whole process should be paused. And you're not going to know that if they're just thinking, okay, we need to solve for X, so we need to do the RFP and then we'll figure the rest out. It's not that they're, you know, it's not that they don't know what they're doing. It's just that they're not as familiar with our side of things.
Michelle Kane [00:08:20]:
You know, it's not where their expertise may specifically lie. So, yeah, trying to get someone's ear and Delve a little deeper is always key and so helpful, and it's worth.
Karen Swim [00:08:34]:
It because it can save you time and effort and it could put you in a stronger position if you do decide to respond. Now, some RFPs take a lot of work.
Michelle Kane [00:08:45]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:08:46]:
So you really have to decide, do I have 100 hours to spend to put this together with just myself, or am I going to work with a team that. That is important. Some just are a Herculean effort. And yeah, I did a lot of those kind of RFPs when I worked in health care, and they're not impossible. For every rfp, I'm going to give you a tip. Have a library of assets that you can always pull from and personalize. So obviously you want to have your capabilities, you want to have case studies that you can customize to the rfp, because not every case study has to be, you know, a couple of pages. It can be a paragraph.
Karen Swim [00:09:32]:
That's really succinct. So you want to have that stuff ready to go. You want to have testimonials, you want to have visual assets and things that you can quickly like, okay, we have this for this customized by industry. It'll save you some time. And these are things that you should have for your proposal process anyway, because these days, proposals do require a little bit more work, but you can streamline that process by having your own library of things that you can just grab immediately and be ready to respond. You want to make sure that you tailor and personalize your response to the company. Here again, it's worth it. Same on proposals on any proposals.
Michelle Kane [00:10:15]:
Yeah.
Karen Swim [00:10:15]:
Use AI to do a little SWOT analysis of their industry and of the company so that you can demonstrate through your response that you understand not only what they're asking for, but you see the bigger picture. I cannot tell you how much this will set you apart. It is a game changer when you can show clients that you can think like they do and you can speak in their language and that you understand the problems that they're facing and how this scope of work will fit in as a solution.
Michelle Kane [00:10:54]:
So true. So true. And honestly, I think that's how we're all wired anyway, because we like to get in there and, and figure out how, you know, as specifically as we can to solve the problem that pertains to the potential client. So in many ways, these are a lot of work, and you have to decide that. And you also have to decide, you know, you know, there's also the notion of, well, I'm, I'm delivering product in essence, with this proposal. So that is another trade off. You have to, you know, decide for yourself. But at the same time, there are times where it could certainly be worth it.
Karen Swim [00:11:39]:
I mean, I think that one of the key questions is, can I win this? Do I, Do I have the expertise needed to do the work? Could I do it with excellence? Is this something that really is a win if it's something that you love to do and you know, there's no way, because the requirements are far beyond what you could do even with a partner, you know, be realistic about those things if you don't have any relationships there and, you know, it's a big cattle call and it's a huge stretch. That's something to think about. Now, I, I'll also say that there was a year that we did on a few RFPs that we love the work and we knew that we could do the work, but we knew that there was a good chance we wouldn't win them. But we used it as a strategy. It helped us to get a lot better at our proposals and we created these assets that we could repurpose and utilize in other ways. And we did develop some relationships along the way and got far down the process. So for us, it was a strategy that we used because it wasn't like they were taking 200 hours of work.
Michelle Kane [00:12:52]:
Right, well, right, exactly. Yeah. I mean, you need to make that trade off for yourself and think of it as, you know, when, when we were employees, you know, I, I know sometimes I took interviews just for the experience. Yes, no, and, and sometimes that takes the pressure off as well. If you see something that's like mid stakes.
Karen Swim [00:13:11]:
Yeah.
Michelle Kane [00:13:12]:
And you're like, well, you know what, let me try an RFP again. Not saying you devote 200 hours to something you don't really want.
Karen Swim [00:13:20]:
No, please don't. I love a little bit of work. Because proposals are going to take you work these days. You really, you can't just throw out this generic proposal and expect to win business. You really are going to have to dig in now. Always, always. You should always aim for some personal contact, some meeting via phone, via Zoom, in person if possible, to get to know that person and to be able to ask questions, whether it's a proposal or whether it's an rfp, because that's going to help inform your response and, and it's going to help you to do a much better job. You know, I, I really am not a huge fan of just throwing something out there without doing any of the work or if there's an opportunity to talk to someone from the other side because it does lower your chances of winning the work.
Karen Swim [00:14:15]:
Because you don't want to just be one of the herd.
Michelle Kane [00:14:18]:
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Karen Swim [00:14:21]:
So, and then don't forget, like, creative and visual tips. Like, yeah. I can tell you that some of the things that have been in our winning proposals, I get a little crazy because I like presentations and I like polls. I put music into my presentation. I've done video clips. I mean, I do. I go a little while. Because you do want to showcase how you think.
Karen Swim [00:14:47]:
We always add some creative element. So, yeah, this company sees what it would be like to work with these. This crazy group of practitioners that's really smart and knows research, so let your personality shine. But also you can use your visuals to subtly tie back to their branding. So think. Inserting their logo in strategic places, using their name, color schemes that align with their color scheme. All of those things are subtle ways to say, hey, we're perfect.
Michelle Kane [00:15:25]:
Yeah, yeah. And. And subliminally, it's funny as. As you're saying that that that's the torture I put myself through every time I do a proposal. Because not only am I putting together a plan for, you know, outline of a plan for someone, I'm also showing them, okay, well, this is how I'm thinking about you. This is how deeply I'm going to care about you. Because let's face it, we tend to imbibe these clients in a way that, you know, we become their champion. So, yeah, anything that can help make you stand out in those unique ways, we say go for it.
Michelle Kane [00:16:02]:
So.
Karen Swim [00:16:03]:
And you can use AI as your thinking partner. So, I mean, let's not, you know, I know that we're so sick of talking about this, but it's true. You don't want it to do the work, but you absolutely can streamline your time by using AI as a thinking partner. Again, in your SWOT analysis, you know, you can throw out some ideas and then, you know, use AI to help you refine your thoughts. So there are ways to do this without spending a ton of time. And you know what? Don't shy away from this process that, you know, as Michelle says, that we love to hate because one of our current. And it's been our client for a while now, but one of our current clients was won through an rfp. And they're fantastic.
Karen Swim [00:16:50]:
I could not say enough great things about them. Their company culture, the people like, it's just been a complete delight. And so RFPs can be a good thing and they can lead you to really terrific clients but you just have to be discerning and assess whether it's the right RFP for you. But I bet there's a good one out there for all of us and we want you all to have more work this year. We want you to grow and scale and be delighted in the work that you do and be able to use those fabulous skills that you have and those smarts because we're happy when we're serving people right. So we want you to have the people, the amount of people that you want to serve this year.
Michelle Kane [00:17:34]:
We are exactly. So we thank you for joining us for this episode and you know, share your RFP successes or even your horror stories with us@soloprpro.com we would love to share them with the audience and you know it's all about learning from each other. So thank you for listening and until next time we'll see you on That Solo Life.
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