This guide is designed to help women business owners become more successful by providing them with information about marketing their goods and services to the federal government. Part 1 focuses on how the government buys. It covers briefly general procedures, consolidated purchasing programs, and individual federal agencies. Three government tools for identifying potential offerors are discussed: Bidders List, Procurement Automated Source System (PASS), and Qualified Products List (QPL). Two approaches the government uses to tell prospective sellers what goods and services it wants to buy are described--formal advertising (sealed bids, Invitation for Bids) and buying or contracting by negotiation--Request for Proposals. Part 2 addresses selling to the government, through the following topics: giving one's company a competitive edge; subcontracting with a prime contractor; benefiting from the federal government's programs, such as the Small Business Administration (SBA), Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Department of Commerce, Federal Procurement Data Center, and Department of Transportation; what to do if unsuccessful in a bid or proposal; and a contractor's responsibilities. Appendixes include standard forms, agency resources, and 60-item bibliography. Other contents in this packet include brochures on Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training, Service Corps of Retired Executives, and SBA and seven articles from "Entrepreneurial Woman Magazine" dealing with women's experiences with the SBA. (YLB)