RFPs are often hidden under hundreds or thousands of specific search results. Agency staff time is too valuable to spend days looking for them.
Most agencies have technical and creative staff that they need to keep busy. So how can you save time finding project leads? —Signing up for an agency lead service or an RFP site, right? But what's the difference between them?
In general, lead-gen sites provide leads for agencies by cold-calling and cold-emailing. This is laborsome and clumsy, and the leads are usually lukewarm at best. The advantage of an RFP (Request for Proposals or Request for Information, Request for Qualifications, and Request for Quotes) is that it's a HOT lead. That is, there's an established need, budget and specification... even if it's not a complete one. So which RFP site is the best for web design agencies and marketing/PF firms? Here's an overview of the top ones, ranked in order of our favorite.
#1.
Cloudcaller RFP Central
Posting RFPs is free on this site, which is specifically for web agencies and ad/PR firms. It has mostly US RFPs from companies, institutes and foundations, cities, counties, universities, nonprofits and municipal divisions and departments. Simple chronological format with direct links to current RFPs and no junk to wade through.
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#2.
RFPmart
RFPMart is for "Government RFPs, Tenders, Solicitations, Bids, Contracts, RFQs, RFIs, RFTs and Procurement documents."
Known by a variety
of names and domains, this site has all kinds of RFPs for all kinds of vendors, mostly from government entities. Several news ones appear
daily and you can search by country, but it's pretty sparse pickings for web agencies.
Visit >>
#3.
RFPDB
Users contribute RFPs to access others. Recently acquired by MyGovWatch, RFPDB includes specific categories for web development and marketing agencies:
Technology
Data Management, E-commerce, Geographic Information Systems, Hosting Information Technology, Legacy Programming, Quality Assurance, Security, Software Ticketing, and Web Development.
Users can earn credits by submitting RFPs sourced from other databases. Those credits can then be used to access RFPs.
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#4.
Find RFP
FindRFP.com has
Federal, State & Local Government RFPs, Bids & Contracts by Industry, including RFPs for everything from tree trimming services to
architectural work. The site allows you to customize your search and save favorites, which is cool.
Visit >>
#5.
MyGovWatch
MyGovWatch has been a government contract bid website since 2007. MyGovWatch uses "proprietary AI" to find leads from more than 200 industries, from professional services to construction to finance and technology. There's a limited "free" plan and a free 14-day trial.
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#6.
BidNet
BidNet is for government RFPs, either state or federal. It's not particularly for web agencies, but it has a broad
category of "Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services" with a fairly good sorting ablity. You have to sign up
for annual membership/subscription.
Visit >>
#7.
BidPrime
BidPrime's database contains leads from across the United States and Canada, including state agencies, cities, counties, schools, universities, utility districts, etc. In addition, the Large Region and US Nationwide plans offer leads from SAM.gov and the US Military.
Pricing is by custom quote based on the number of regions selected and other criteria.
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#8.
DesignRush
DesignRush is expensive ($450/mo at the time of this post), which give you "Top "Ten" ranking, access to bid on projects and
"insights on potential clients' search intent."
It's free to sign up, but they will charge you for most competitive slots like any other "ranking" site. Reviews of this site aren't great.
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#9.
Hubspot
Not exactly an RFP siote, HubSpot is a platform for marketing, sales, customer service, operations, and content management features.
HubSpot is expensive (charge per "seat" up to $890/mo for 3 seats), but may be the most universal platform for enterprise marketing department management.
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#10.
RFPalooza
RFPalooza mostly has RFPs marketing, advertising and public relations services. On this site, you pay per RFP view rather than access all of them.
Visit >>
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