Call it Craigslist for the communications industry.
Advertising industry veteran and Norwalk resident Roger Chiocchi launched RFPalooza.com last June in hopes of providing small ad and marketing agencies and freelancers with a source of new business leads.
“I thought it was an interesting business opportunity because I care about the advertising industry, but particularly small and medium-size agencies that got devastated by the economic downturn,” Chiocchi said. “This is one way to help them find new business and hopefully is a business opportunity for me.”
RFPalooza.com is designed to be a clearinghouse for companies in search of communications services ”” from graphic design to marketing and public relations ”” to post requests for proposals (RFPs). Agencies and freelancers are then able to view and respond to the requests, much like government agencies submit requests for projects in search of contractors.
The initial demand and use of the website was so great, Chiocchi said he redesigned and relaunched the site last fall.
He said there are four or five new RFPs added each day, with between 40 and 50 active RFPs at any given time.
“When we first started, there were maybe 10 (requests for proposals) posted there on any given time, and then it caught on after a while,” he said. “So we upgraded the site, got a much more professional look and now we have about 50 RFPs featured every day and we get about 1,000 unique visitors a month, which is pretty good considering it”™s a very niche-oriented site.”
On RFPalooza.com, agencies and freelancers are able to find RFPs in fields that include marketing, branding, web design, social media, public relations, market research and general advertising.
The website caters specifically to small and medium-size agencies with anywhere from a few employees to 30 or 40, Chiocchi said.
In addition to founding RFPalooza.com, Chiocchi ”” who worked for Young & Rubicam and related Madison Avenue agencies for the better part of 25 years ”” is a principal of Brandloft L.L.C., a small advertising agency in Norwalk.
“One of the things you do as a small advertising agency is you always have to be on the lookout for new business,” Chiocchi said.
RFPs represent one continuous source for leads, Chiocchi said.
“About a year ago, I started finding RFPs online and responding to some of them that made sense for our agency,” Chiocchi said. “And then someone told me, ”˜Maybe there”™s a business there.”™”
Chiocchi said everything from the website”™s name to its design seek to differentiate RFPalooza.com from generic online RFP services.
“I wanted to try to give it a little bit of a personality,” he said. “People in the ad business are a little bit more spirited … I wanted to create a brand for it that had some life to it and sort of expressed the energy of the ad business.”
Posting or responding to RFPs through the website is currently free of charge.
“We”™re actually working on trying to make some of it a premium service so it can start paying for itself, and then we”™ll add even more people,” Chiocchi said. He said he runs the website with the assistance of a handful of friends who provide assistance for little or no pay.
