Beginner · Learn the Game
Put your market on watch
What you’ll learn
How to turn “check SAM every morning” into a system, which notice types matter, and what a set-aside label does and doesn’t tell you.
Why it matters
Searching by hand doesn’t scale, and a Sources Sought with a ten-day response window is gone if you check weekly. A watch keeps checking your market and emails you when something new matches.
A practical example
You save “Cleaning · VA · Virginia”. Two days later a Sources Sought posts. You get an email the next morning and answer it, which can shape whether the buy becomes a small-business set-aside.
Truth rules
A watch emails you new Open Now and Coming Soon items. Coming Back contracts are not in alerts, so check them yourself.
“Set-aside not stated” is not the same as “open to everyone”. Read the notice.
What Mindy can do
Save search on the map saves your current view as a watch with alerts on (daily by default; weekly or paused available).
Step by step
- Click Watch my market →. The map opens with Open Now and Coming Soon on.
- Narrow it if you want: state, set-aside, keyword.
- Click Save search and name it.
- Confirm you see ✓ Saved — alerts on.
Watch my market →Signed out, the watch is kept on this browser with alerts off, until you sign in and turn alerts on.