Book excerpt: The James Guide to Developing a Federal Marketing Plan represents a unique tool for small and large businesses planning to do business with the government. The book offers practical information for the everyday small business owner unfamiliar with the world of government contracting. It also provides insight to larger organizations in the process of developing marketing objectives for more than one agency. The James Guide is four-part, beginning with an introduction to government contracting. This part of the book is central to the novice contractor just entering the field. Part One is comprised of five chapters, beginning with Chapter 1: The Federal Procurement Process. The first chapter explores and defines key terms central to understanding how the federal government functions as a purchaser of commercial goods. Chapter 2: Becoming a Government Contractor and Company Readiness prepares the new company for government contracting. In this chapter, you will learn how to register and prepare your company for this new industry. This chapter provides a Company Readiness Questionnaire to guide you through the preparation process. Chapter 3: Contracting Methods and Types provides an exploration of multiple types of contracts used in the purchasing process. With this in mind, Chapter 3 is the longest chapter of the book; it is a necessary tool for new contractors who are unfamiliar with contracts used by the government. Chapter 4: Understanding GSA Schedules introduces the idea of establishing long-range planning goals. The last chapter of this part of the book provides an overview of contract financing. Chapter 5: The Role of Contract Financing ultimately prepares the reader to consider costs associated with developing marketing objectives.Part Two of The James Guide offers insight into the research process. Researching previous awards will help to develop both short-term and long-range marketing objectives. It is important to understand the federal market. Therefore, Chapter 6: Researching the Market helps you to establish research objectives by examining data from multiple free and fee-based outlets. Part Three: Marketing the Company offers practical tips for making your products and services known and available for purchase to the government. Chapter 7: Creating a Marketing Plan is the last chapter of the book. It provides insight into how to target your products to one or more agencies, how to plan based upon your company's marketing vision, and how to develop a brand of products. The chapter introduces different marketing materials necessary to create a marketing kit. The chapter also offers tips for creating advertising objectives. The last part of the book offers sample worksheets and checklists.The James Guide includes a Sample Marketing Plan created by Gregory James of Federal Contract Intelligence Service. It serves as a culmination of the ideas put forth in this book. Thank you for reading the book.