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Tag: Creative RFPs

Stay Ahead: How to Track PR, Marketing, and Video Production RFPs in One Place

Posted on by John Hudson

Introduction

In the fast-paced world of PR, marketing, and video production, securing new contracts is essential for business growth. But with countless RFP released daily across multiple platforms, keeping track of the best opportunities can be overwhelming. Missing a RFP could mean losing out on a lucrative project. So, how can creative professionals ensure they stay ahead of the competition?

Creative RFPs is the ultimate solution. It simplifies RFP tracking by bringing all PR, marketing, and video production opportunities into one convenient platform. Whether you’re a freelancer, agency, or in-house team looking to expand, this tool will help you stay organised and win more work.

The Challenge of Tracking RFPs

RFPs for creative services are published across various sources, including government websites, private sector listings, and industry-specific portals. However, tracking them manually presents several challenges:

  • Time-consuming process– Searching multiple websites daily eats into valuable working hours.
  • Missed opportunities– Without a structured tracking system, RFPs can slip through the cracks.
  • Information overload– Sifting through irrelevant RFPs is frustrating and inefficient.
  • Complex eligibility criteria– Understanding the requirements for each RFP can be difficult without centralised insights.

With these obstacles, creative businesses often find it hard to consistently secure new contracts. That’s where an efficient, all-in-one RFP tracking platform like Creative RFPs makes a significant difference.

How Creative RFPs Streamlines the Process

1. Centralised RFP Listings

Creative RFPs aggregates all relevant RFPs into a single, easy-to-use platform. This eliminates the need to search multiple websites and ensures that you never miss a potential opportunity.

2. Industry-Specific Filtering

Unlike generic RFP portals, Creative RFPs is tailored specifically for PR, marketing, and video production professionals. You won’t have to wade through irrelevant contracts—just the ones that match your expertise.

3. Real-Time Alerts

Imagine receiving instant notifications for RFPs that align with your services. Creative RFPs sends timely alerts so you can act quickly and submit proposals before deadlines.

4. Detailed RFP Insights

Each listing provides clear eligibility criteria, deadlines, budget estimates, and submission guidelines. With this information at your fingertips, you can determine which RFPs best suit your business.

5. Save Time and Boost Efficiency

By automating the search process, Creative RFPs frees up time for you to focus on crafting compelling proposals and delivering high-quality creative work.

Who Can Benefit from Creative RFPs?

Freelancers

If you’re an independent consultant in PR, marketing, or video production, Creative RFPs gives you access to projects that align with your expertise, helping you secure consistent work.

Creative Agencies

Agencies looking to expand their client base can quickly find and apply for lucrative contracts, giving them a competitive edge in the market.

In-House Marketing Teams

Businesses with internal marketing teams can leverage Creative RFPs to identify partnership opportunities and secure outsourced work.

Startups and SMEs

For smaller businesses, winning RFPs is a great way to establish credibility and scale operations. Creative RFPs levels the playing field by providing equal access to opportunities.

Best Practices for Winning PR, Marketing, and Video Production RFPs

To maximise your success with RFPing, follow these proven strategies:

1. Understand the Requirements

Before applying, carefully review the RFP documentation to ensure you meet all requirements, from qualifications to budget constraints.

2. Showcase Your Experience

Highlight past projects, case studies, and client testimonials that demonstrate your expertise and success in similar work.

3. Provide a Clear, Tailored Proposal

Avoid generic responses. Instead, tailor each proposal to the client’s specific needs, outlining how your approach aligns with their objectives.

4. Be Competitive with Pricing

While pricing isn’t the only factor, a well-structured, competitive bid increases your chances of winning. Consider offering flexible pricing models or value-added services.

5. Submit Before the Deadline

Late submissions are automatically disqualified. With Creative RFPs’ real-time alerts, you’ll always have enough time to prepare and submit your proposal.

6. Follow Up

After submitting your bid, follow up with the client to express interest and address any questions. This proactive approach can set you apart from competitors.

Why Creative RFPs is the Best Choice for Your Business

Exclusive Focus on Creative Sectors

Unlike general RFP portals, Creative RFPs is designed specifically for PR, marketing, and video production professionals. This means you get access to high-quality, relevant RFPs.

User-Friendly Platform

The intuitive dashboard allows users to filter RFPs, track deadlines, and manage applications seamlessly.

Time and Cost Efficiency

Instead of spending hours searching for RFPs manually, Creative RFPs delivers the most relevant opportunities straight to your inbox, saving you time and effort.

Regularly Updated Listings

New RFPs are added daily, ensuring you always have access to fresh opportunities.

Proven Track Record

Many businesses and freelancers have successfully secured contracts using Creative RFPs. It’s a trusted platform that delivers real results.

Final Thoughts

Staying ahead in the competitive world of PR, marketing, and video production requires a smart approach to RFP tracking. Creative RFPs simplifies the process, giving you instant access to opportunities, real-time alerts, and a streamlined application system—all in one place.

If you’re serious about growing your creative business and winning more RFPs, now is the time to take action. With Creative RFPs, you’ll never miss an opportunity again, ensuring your business thrives in a competitive marketplace.

Make RFP tracking effortless—let Creative RFPs help you secure more contracts today!

Now powered by askabidwriter.com

Posted on by John Hudson

Hudson Outsourcing are thrilled to announce that Creative RFPs is now powered by askabidwriter.com

Combining our cutting-edge consultancy technology with the efficient, time-saving features of Hudson Discover, Creative RFPs is a bidding portal like no other.

With askabidwriter.com, not only will you continue to have access to the incredible sector-specific opportunity tracking technology you’ve come to rely on, but you’ll also have a team of bidding experts at your disposal, available 24/7.

What’s included?

  • Ask our bidding experts any sector-specific bidding questions you have.
  • Access to our extensive learning library, full of helpful resources such as video and audio masterclasses, downloadable PDFs, and various templates to assist you in perfecting your bid submissions.
  • Quick search sector-specific bidding opportunities, making it simple for you to find available opportunities for your business.

With askabidwriter.com, our goal at Hudson is to revolutionise the bidding world and put the power of bidding success into your hands.

Art and Culture RFPs: Where to find them, and how to win them!

Posted on by John Hudson

6 tips to help you win art and culture RFPs

In this blog, we’ll share our top tips for finding and winning art and culture RFPs.

So, you’re looking for art and culture RFP opportunities? This blog will show you how to easily find art and culture RFP opportunities. Our expert Bid Writers have 6 quick tips to help you create a winning bid! If you want to know more, keep reading…

Where can you find art and culture RFP opportunities?

When looking for art and culture RFP opportunities, most businesses will go straight to a search engine. They might use Google, which will find hundreds of websites with opportunities available. However, it will take hours to dig through each website looking for suitable contracts.

Additionally, you may find that the opportunities just aren’t suitable. They may omit key details, leaving you to read the lengthy RFP documents just to find out you’re not eligible! Or, the deadline date is very soon, and you won’t complete the bid in time. This process is not only tedious but can be very frustrating. Luckily, there are better solutions available…

Creative RFPs simplifies the process of finding RFPs. Using this portal, you’ll be able to easily find art and culture RFP opportunities. The portal displays key information for each RFP, such as:

  • RFP location
  • Deadline date and time
  • Budget.

This information will help you decide whether the opportunity is right for you!

To make the search even easier, you can use filters to narrow down your RFP search. Doing so means you can select a budget, location, and other keywords to help find the right opportunity for you. The portal is updated every day by our Opportunity Trackers. They search for opportunities manually, without using CPV codes to find RFPs either. This vastly reduces the possibility of missing opportunities we don’t reply on these often incorrect codes. Government sites use CPV codes, and as such, can be much less accurate.

Winning art and culture RFP opportunities

 Now that you’ve found art and culture RFP opportunities, the next step is winning work! To help you achieve this, our expert Bid Writers at our sister company, Hudson Succeed have six tips for you:

  1. Don’t go over the word count! By ignoring this instruction, you will lose marks.
  2. Try not to use too much technical jargon as this may confuse the buyer.
  3. Ensure your bid response is clear, concise, and easy to read. This will help the buyer understand your ideas and will keep them engaged.
  4. Make sure you proofread and edit your bid before submission. Any mistakes left in your response will make you look unprofessional.
  5. Consider using bid management tactics to stay organised, helping reduce stress and making the whole process easier.
  6. Hire a Bid Writer to manage the entire process for you. Be assured that they have the experience and the knowledge of what makes a winning bid!

Still have questions about art and culture RFP opportunities? Why not contact us? Our team are always happy to answer any questions you may have!

Upgrade to Discover Elite and never miss an opportunity

If you want to take your RFP search one step further, look no further than Discover Elite. By signing up to Discover Elite, a dedicated Account Manager will search for live bids for you! You’ll have weekly phone calls to discuss opportunities, which is especially helpful for those with busy schedules. By upgrading to Discover Elite, you’ll make sure you never miss another RFP opportunity.

Discover Elite offers:

  • An annual subscription for up to two of our Discover portals.
  • Up to five or seven bid breakdowns per month, depending on the package you choose. This will help you decide which bid is right for you.
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss RFP opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notice monitoring.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and accessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Some of the RFPs have previously sources on our portals include:

Programme Development – North-West – £ 48,000

Council seeking qualified and experienced individuals/consortiums/organisations to help develop their Art and Culture Programme.

Support Services – West Midlands – Budget: undisclosed

The Council requires a supplier for the provision of focus groups.

PR – North-West – £80,000

To provide renowned museum with PR services in the lead up to the opening a new museum.

Too busy to write a bid response?

If you lack the resources or time to dedicate to writing a winning bid, you could always outsource it! Hudson Succeed, our sister company, has an 87% success rate and over 60 collective years of bidding experience. You have the choice of four bid writing packages, ensuring you can always find a service that suits you. Whether you’re new to RFP, or just need someone to check your response, Succeed can help. Their packages include:

  • RFP Writing – if you’ve found the right RFP for you but don’t know where to begin, we can help. Just send the specification to us and our Bid Team will take it from there. They’ll let you know what you need via a breakdown, and even submit on your behalf. This gives you more time to focus on your business.
  • RFP Ready – this programme is designed for those who have no RFP experience. Over the four-week programme, Succeed will work with you to ensure you have everything in place for a successful RFP.
  • RFP Improvement – this programme is for those who are currently RFP but are struggling to see success. Bid Writers will assess your previous work and supporting documents, giving feedback and guidance on how to improve.
  • RFP Mentor – have you written a RFP and need someone to proofread it? RFP Mentor is for you! A Bid Writer will review your work, making sure your grammar and spelling are correct, and it meets the specification.

For more information about any of these packages, please get in touch.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative RFPs to see how we can help your business grow.

Why not check out some of our other blogs? 

Acing Your Website Design RFPs – What You Need to Know

Posted on by John Hudson

Learn what it takes to win website design RFPs

Website design RFPs represent a core cog in the wheel of creative procurement. In our modern life, a website’s design is highly important to digital footfall, so there’s no shortage of demand. So, what does this mean for you? Well, it means serious financial potential. There’s a wealth of profitable website design opportunities through RFPs. In this blog, we’ll walk you through where to find RFPs, and tips to skyrocket your RFP success.

Where can I source website design RFPs?

Running your own business takes up a lot of your time. The last thing you want to be doing is trawling hundreds of websites, searching for website design RFPs. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Enter…Creative RFPs.

Creative RFPs is an easy-to-navigate, centralised portal hosting live creative RFP opportunities from across the UK.

Below are 5 past examples of website design RFPs sourced on our portal:

Website Designer/Developer Aden Country Park
Aberdeenshire Council – Scotland – Budget: £7,500

Website Design
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust & Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £90,000

PQQ Website Replacement

Dublin Bus / Bus Atha Cliath – Republic of Ireland – Budget: £500,000

Development of a Standardised Website Within the South West Region GP Practice Estate
NHS South Central West SCU – South West Budget: Undisclosed

Invest South Tyneside Web Design/Development
South Tyneside Council – North East- Budget: Undisclosed

A subscription to Creative RFPs can offer your business:

Access to all exclusive, public and private sector website RFPs in the US.

  • An on-hand Account Manager is available to answer any questions you may have about RFPs for website design work. They can help you understand the procurement process and answer any questions you have about the RFP process in general.
  • A daily email bulletin is sent straight to your inbox when new, sector-specific opportunities are uploaded.
  • Discounted support from Hudson Succeed, our bid writing division.
  • 20-minutes of free consultancy with one of our Bid Consultants each month.

3 tips to help you succeed with website design RFPs

1.  Read all the questions!

We’ve seen too many suppliers rush through an Invitation To Tender (ITT) without fully digesting the material…and it costs. Simply put the buyer knows how much you’ve invested into a bid, and irrelevant answers can be a red flag. So, when you’re working on documents, make sure that you’re reading through the documents properly. Your response will be more relevant, and you’ll convey professionalism. Like most RFPs, website design RFPs deserve a close eye.

2.  Organise your crack RFP team!

This should be a no-brainer, but a team’s organisation can spell life or death in bid management. A disorganised team can fall behind on deadlines, and in the worst-case scenario, even submit a bid after the deadline. So, make sure that you’ve got internal deadlines to keep everyone sharp. This also aids team morale, as everyone is aware of how their input is helping the project progress. This advice also applies if you’re a one-man team, as applying internal deadlines can achieve increased efficiency.

3.  Stick to the formatting requirements

Buyers can be rather strict when it comes to formatting. If you blatantly ignore instructions, it will reflect poorly on you and your business. Make sure before you submit that the font and font size is what is stated in the guidance document.

Moreover, you should stick to the word/character counts. If a buyer is wanting a longer response, they will include an additional text box.

So, it’s best if you’re writing your response in Word, for example, to check your character count with spaces. You don’t want to be writing a detailed 1000-word response to then have to cut it down.

 

In summary

So, we’ve reached the finish line on this blog for website design RFPs. We’re sure that you’re focused on winning the next RFP. How about a recap?

Where can I find Website design RFPs? – A thorough look into the only sensible option when it comes to sourcing creative RFPs.

3 tips to help you succeed with website design RFPs

  1. Read all the questions! – Ensure that you digest the information when it comes to the RFP documents.
  2. Organise your crack team! Make sure that you’re working on your deadlines, setting internal deadlines and progress meetings.
  3. Stick to the formatting questions – Follow the buyer’s instructions for formatting such as word count, font etc.

What if you’re still unsure about writing the RFP? Our sister company Hudson Succeed is here to help.

Need help writing your next RFP?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to RFP, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

RFP Ready

Our RFP Ready programme is designed for those who have never RFP before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

RFP Improvement

RFP Improvement can help if you’re already RFP but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next website design RFP.

RFP Mentor

If you’ve written a RFP and need someone to proofread it – RFP Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

RFP Writing

If you’ve found the perfect RFP but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a RFP opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and RFP opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

We also source opportunities for sectors including:

Book a free live demo with Creative RFPs to see how we can help your business grow.

Contact us for more information.

Check out some of our other blogs:

Creative RFPs ‘In Conversation with Jill Hudson’ – Creative RFPs Website

Posted on by John Hudson

‘In Conversation with Jill Hudson’ –  The founder of the Creative RFPs website

What is your role at Creative RFPs?

My role is quite vast, on a weekly basis I work with agencies who are struggling to see results from their RFP efforts, delivering RFP training and RFP writing services, as well as driving forward product innovation to ensure our group of businesses are constantly developing.

Why you think the Creative RFPs website was an instant success.

Creative RFPs was our flagship product and I thought about this business whist working in agencies and often thinking ‘there has got to be an easier way to get this information’.  I knew that if I had this trouble thousands of others would too, so I wrote a technical specification for a product which would make my job easier.

Because I knew the industry so well, having worked in it for over 15 years that the product instantly screamed success.  On the day we launched the ‘coming soon’ campaigns the phone literally rang off the hook.  We had 5 staff at the time and they were all on the phone taking calls.  As all phone lines were busy other agencies were messaging us on Facebook and email saying they couldn’t get through and wanted to speak about the product as soon as possible.  I knew then that this product would be a success.

Then when we launched, within minutes’ agencies were signing up.

What do you see changing in the world of procurement over the next 3 years?

Procurement is changing but slowly. With the growing use of technology and technical capabilities procurement portals will hopefully become more user friendly.  Most portals, in my opinion need simplifying to make it easier for agencies to navigate.  I think this is starting to get better for digital agencies with the use of Digital Market Place.

Brexit will play a huge role in procurement changes, even those who don’t realise it, a lot of money spent on creative RFP opportunities has come from Europe, either directly or indirectly so we won’t see any more opportunities which are funded by ERDF or ESF for example.  I believe it will take a while to steady the ship once we leave the EU, so I am hoping and praying that the transition won’t affect SMEs too much.

Lastly, the government plan on spending £1 in every £3 with an SME by 2020, they currently spend £1 in over £5 either directly or through a supply chain. It will be interesting to see the impact Brexit has on this goal.

What’s your thoughts on the current procurement practices of our government?

It’s quite clear that it isn’t 100% right, nor do I believe that the government think it is.  I know it’s very frustrating for our customers that they need to register on many different portals to access RFP documents, each system with a completely different interface and user requirements. I won’t be the first to say that this needs to be addressed to move forward procurement in general.

Having RFP for over 15 years, I see the frustrations of our customers and have personally seen some horror stories in regards to client selection processes but all we can do is unite and work with procurement departments to educate them on how much effort we put into our RFP documents to ensure fair procurement practices are addressed.

What is your hope for the US’s creative sector?

The sector is flying, there is no doubt about that.  We want our agencies to feel confident stepping outside of their comfort zone and looking at International business.  We’re opening our US office in 2018 to support and encourage buyers to use our US based creative agencies.  This will be a core focus for us during 2018 and any interested agencies should contact me direct so we can chat about how we will support agencies with this development.

You’ve chosen Boston as your first US office, why is this?

There is a number of reasons really, firstly it’s the shortest flight from the US now that they’ve opened direct flights from the North, it is also only a short 50-minute flight from New York.  Secondly, we’ve visited Boston attending conferences, events, hosted meetings with businesses and government bodies and we feel the support on offer and the welcoming nature of the business community, that Boston is ideal for us to dip our toe in the water and start making some waves in the US.

What’s the future for the Creative RFPs Website?

The sky’s limit. No really. We’ve made significant progress in the year and a half we’ve been in business. I dare say 90% of all UK agencies know who we are, we have over 500 customers which grows daily and we have an exceptional retention rate for agencies choosing to stay with us year on year.  Now that we’ve launched another 9-sector specific RFP portals, we’re working on Hudson Discover which is an online inter-trading portal, allowing businesses to buy and supply directly to one another from our system.

The next 12 months sees us focusing on opening the US office, launching RFP Bank to support agencies through simplifying RFP, ensure Hudson Discover is up and running and operating successfully and generally working hard to double the number of RFPs we upload daily.  We’re currently uploading about 10-30 every day, we want to make that a minimum of 50 new opportunities every single day by the end of 2018.

What can agencies expect when working with Creative RFPs?

Consistency.  We will ensure you get your daily bulletins so you don’t miss any opportunities.  We will guarantee that if you log a support query someone will call within 1 working hour maximum, and we ensure our customers that we are constantly flying the flag for the creative sector and encouraging fair procurement practices.

We won’t become stale either, we are constantly in development and constantly generating new products that benefit US agencies during their RFP journey.

If you could explain Creative RFPs in one sentence what would you say?

An innovative product that ensures timesaving for busy agencies, making it a business-critical tool for agency growth.

 

 

Creative RFPs – Officially launched – Website, Design & Marketing RFPs all in one place!

Posted on by John Hudson

Creative RFPs – Officially launched – Website, Design & Marketing RFPs all in one place!

The day has finally arrived, and the team at Creative RFPs couldn’t he happier. Creative RFPs officially launched.

We are now open for business. We have proactive marketing campaigns running in parallel recruiting new creative sign ups and new private sector opportunities onto our system. We have streamlined processes where we check over 1,000 RFP websites daily to locate 100% of RFPs available online that are relevant to creative sector businesses only, meaning two things you won’t miss a single RFP, and you won’t need to search through hundreds of irrelevant RFPs to find opportunities suitable for your business.

The system is running a start up cost of £12 per week for agencies and £6 per week for freelancers, but this cost is only for the first 100 registrations. Following the 100th registration, the full system fee is payable at £18 per week for companies and £12 per week for freelancers. So don’t forget the early bird catches the worm.

Website RFPs Launch

The site officially launched on Tuesday and by Thursday afternoon we saw the registration of our 10th user, and we are overwhelmed by the response from the sector.

If you are interested in seeing a demo of the system, you can organise by this emailing our Director of Sales Andrew Gibson or by phoning our office and speaking with one of our sales representatives.

Thank you for keeping up to date with Creative RFPs, we look forward to helping you grow your agency.

Sign up for a free demo of Creative RFPs and review the following creative contract opportunities:

Book a free live demo with Creative RFPs to see how we can help your business grow. 

 

 

Struggling with creativity? Our suppliers can help!

Posted on by John Hudson

Struggling with creativity?  Our suppliers can help! – Marketing RFPs

We all hit a brick wall sometimes and this doesn’t have to mean that creativity has to stop. We just need to know where to look for support and guidance with marketing RFPs.

No one person can know everything, but collectively as a group we can make a difference to UK based businesses looking for growth. Sometimes UK marketing isn’t a problem, but moving from UK to international sales can be daunting and sometimes we need professional help to move us and handhold us into the unknown.

Creative RFPs Suppliers

Our suppliers can help! Creative RFPs has suppliers UK wide who have experience in UK and international marketing, from app developers, to design agencies, web development companies to content marketers. Think of a creative requirement, and you will be able to find suppliers on our system.

Since we’ve launched the portal we have new suppliers joining weekly, meaning the breath of knowledge we can offer non-creative businesses is immense.

We say to businesses that need help with creativity to tell us what they want to achieve. We can then help them write a specification for this and help them find the ideal provider to drive forward their business. Sounds simple enough right? Best thing, it’s FREE.

Did you know there are approximately 180,000 creative agencies in the whole of the UK of varying sizes and capabilities? How could you possibly know which one is right for your business? Let us help find you that perfect relationship that will make a positive impact on your business growth.

WE SOURCE CREATIVE CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECTORS INCLUDING;

Book a free live demo with Creative RFPs to see how we can help your business grow.