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March 8, 2011

BidSketch – Proposal Tracking Just Got Better

BidSketch is a proposal tracking application that has been making life easier for designers since 2009. Just recently, however, the web-app underwent a major makeover with new features and updated tools. What remains the same is just how easy BidSketch is to use. For designers who send and receive proposals each week, BidSketch streamlines the process and ensures an important bid will never get lost in the shuffle.

Whereas BidSketch was once an application designed mainly for solo entrepreneurs, the web-app’s recent update makes it useful for teams of collaborators, too. Select a pricing plan to begin; although BidSketch doesn’t offer any free accounts, it does include a 30-day free trial with every new-member signup. Head to your dashboard page to check out all the proposals, clients, fees, and templates you’ve got. Part of the reason for using BidSketch is to speed up the process of creating and sending project proposals, which is why it makes sense to spend a couple of minutes up front customizing templates to meet your needs. When a new client asks for a bid, you can add his information into the Client section and send out a customized proposal in minutes. Thanks to BidSketch’s recent updates, you can also assign proposals to other BidSketch users – ideally, colleagues you’ve worked with before or members of your business team.

The new and improved BidSketch offers a host of integration features, making it easy to use Postmark, to ensure email delivery to clients, or Freshbooks, to keep a tally on invoice totals. BidSketch also integrates with Highrise, the contact and customer relations organizer that many small businesses already use. For anyone who was on the fence about BidSketch before, the web-app’s new improvements make it a sure-fire bet for designers and entrepreneurs who send out project bids on a regular basis.

Practical Uses:

  • Email project bids to clients and get responses quickly
  • Find out instantly when a client has reviewed your proposal
  • Import contacts from Highrise into your BidSketch account
  • Assign important proposals to another member of your team

Insider Tips:

  • Embed images and Flash content into proposals
  • BidSketch integrates with FreshBooks, Highrise, and Postmark, among other apps
  • Clients cannot change the status of a proposal once they have accepted it
  • Turn a proposal into an invoice once it has been accepted by a client

What we liked:

  • BidSketch’s new updates have improved upon a product that was already great
  • Designers can spend less time sending proposals and more time working on projects
  • Integration with other business apps helps streamline the workflow and cuts down on manual entry errors
  • Users can create personalized templates with their own HTML/CSS designs

What we didn’t like:

  • Clients have to accept or reject an entire proposal as a whole, rather than being able to accept or reject certain line items

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: October 2009
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: West Palm Beach, Florida
  • Founded by: Ruben Gamez
  • Web site: http://www.bidsketch.com

Costs:

  • Basic plan is $9/month
  • Premium plan is $19/month

Comments

  1. Stephanie, thanks for taking the time to take another look at Bidsketch; I appreciate the kind words and feedback. In the next couple of months you’ll be seeing some pretty major features that I’ve been working on for a while (including optional fees), so a lot hard work is taking place for that 5 out of 5 rating 🙂

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