Alibre Refer A Consultant Program

[jwknecht]

Alibre Refer A Consultant Program

Please answer the following Poll regarding a potential new Alibre service.

I have suggested such a program to Alibre and there is interest at Alibre in getting such a program started. Please take the poll to show your interest level and/or comment on this topic.

 

[rbrian]

Alibre Refer A Consultant Program

Hi John - I added a page in my site - Other Alibre Consultants' - at the bottom menu - you can see it there at the bottom of the user comments. This is one of the ideas - the other - is to have a personal page - with nice links and a bit of a clip with the other Consultants listed there - on our own sites - similar to what alibre does on that page. Robert

 

[jwknecht]

Robert,

I have had a link to the other consultants on my site since inception. I doubt that links on the consultant sites will really generate many leads. I don't know how the other consultants are getting work, but the system as it is has not generated but one or two leads for me. It seems that there is more "give" than "take" for those of us in the Consulting Program.

Most of us engineer types really don't know how to sell ourselves. What I would really like to see is a community of Alibre users refering business to those of us that want to provide outsource design services, and a big welcome tent for anyone that wants to join in. The refer a consultant program would give incentive to users.

Here is how it might work....

Joe Designer in Company B uses Alibre and knows of a company that is in a pinch to get out a big program. This company does not have the staff or the expertise to get it done. Joe Designer knows that if he refers the lead to Alibre Consultants and if it leads to a sale, Joe Designer will get a reward (perhaps a 10 or so percent of total sale). Let's say that the services were billed at $5000. Joe would get a payment of $500! The Alibre Consultant that got the work may have to use other Consultants to get work done (for example FEA or mechanism design). That consultant could use the same system to farm out the work, or make the contacts directly. Perhaps we could also generate a user feedback rating system similar to Ebay.

I don't know the best way to set this program up, but hope that I get some input from this post.

Best Regards,

 

[swertel]

Personally, I look for other Alibre users in my direct location.

I haven't done so yet, but I want to build a cooperative agreement with local machine shops that have Alibre, as well as other manufactures. This way, I can open up a session with them or easily share my design idea and get their feedback for manufacturability. If they come back with a money or time saver, then they are worth the price of admission. I wouldn't necessarily have to shop around for a vendor for every new part I design.

 

[jwknecht]

Scott,

Perhaps the idea can be expanded to include fab shops, prototype shops, etc. I don't see why the consulting program should exclude such businesses. Also, using the Ebay analogy again, perhaps when large enough the program can filter "by region."

If such a program is launched, I think that it will help to make initial contacts, but then repeat business won't need to go through the program. So, the main purpose will be to generate leads for consultants for new business and to let companies that need such services know where to find them.

Thanks for your ideas. I hope this poll gets more than ten responses and some more discussion!

 

[swertel]

I should elaborate more on why I want mfg included. Basically, as a one-man show, I don't have the luxury of a second set of eyes checking my drawings. It would be nice to have a checker that can find gross errors or omissions. Who better than a machinist who will be making my parts? But why would a machine shop want to be the role of checker? Because in all likelihood, if they check my prints, they'll be making the parts.

On that note, having Alibre Consultants tied with another local consultant would also allow for a "checker" system without troublesome file sharing or FedExing of prints. Can you say reduced rates for other consultants?

 

[cclark440]

Hey Scott.

I am a machinist. Even I like to have someone take a second look at my prints before I release them to the shop floor. I think part of the problem is that since I design it, I know what is supposed to be what. Sometimes I overlook some of the more simple things, like chamfer sizes etc. So ultimately I have learned to cut the engineers/drafters a little more slack, now that I understand where they are coming from.

If you ever want me to take a look at your drawings I would be happy to help you out.

 

[jwknecht]

Looks like Alibre is not going to support my idea for a refer a consultant program. I would like to get a program like this going on my own. Anyone interested in helping me to get it started :?:

 

[swertel]

If I read back to your June 17th post, it seems to me what you are defining is a "finders fee" program. Who pays the fee?

 

[jwknecht]

Scott,

I think there would be many such details to work out. My idea is that the person(s) getting the job would pay the fee. But for this to work without relying on the honor system, we may need to hire out the accounting. I am looking for others that may be interested, and then we can take our discussion "offline" as the appropriate place for discussion would not be this forum.

 

[rbrian]

Re:

Robert,

It seems that there is more "give" than "take" for those of us in the Consulting Program.

Most of us engineer types really don't know how to sell ourselves. What I would really like to see is a community of Alibre users refering business to those of us that want to provide outsource design services, and a big welcome tent for anyone that wants to join in. The refer a consultant program would give incentive to users.

I don't know the best way to set this program up, but hope that I get some input from this post.

Best Regards, John

Hi John - my recent (posting removal) experience here suggests - that this is not the place to 'sell' our selves.
It seems that such an activity would be considered "spam" according to my latest revelation - so I guess- we are on our own!

 

[jwknecht]

Robert

I am ... LOL (laughing out loud). You are a funny guy.

Yes, I did not intend for the program to be part of the User Group. My intention was for it to be outside of the user group forum. I placed hope that Alibre would kick in and help to host the program. At one time, I held their interest, but lost it.

I am reconsidering how those of us (there are a few that have sent me private messages that they are interested), might get something started.

If you have any good ideas or if you are interested in helping to get something started outside of this user group, please send to me a PM.

Thanks for the laugh,

 

[rbrian]

funny guy

Ok - Just email me $5 for the laugh!

I down loaded today the program (phpBB 2.0) that this forum uses to run - I hope I can maybe set one up on my server fwiw! Maybe that would be the way to go - but - you could not tell anybody here! I think that might be considered 'verboten' !:?:

See - it's ok to give my time - 25 - 50 hours per tutorial x 8 tutorials and mention that they are available on the forum, but to say - hey, I'd like to sell you all something - no way!! :shock: Robert

 

[swertel]

That's right Mr. Brian, there is a fine line between advertising/soliciting and a helpful answer.

Say, for example, that I just became a reseller of a software that is really beneficial to use in conjunction with Alibre. Starting a post to tell everyone about it is advertising. But, let's say someone posts a question or an issue that this same software could be the answer to, and I tell them to look it up, that may not be advertising. Then again, once I state that I own the link and sell the software, that turns the helpful reply into an advertisement. It's a big grey area that forum moderators are constantly dealing with.

I probably shouldn't leak this out because I don't know if they will ever amount to anything, but Alibre just open discussion on expanding these forums, not only in terms of the forum topics, but additional services as well. Some examples are: searchable knowledge base, B2B site (where you would fit in), and a job board.

I want to reiterate, these are just ideas that have been brought up to Alibre management. As far as I know, they are only being discussed as a possibility; there is no time line assigned to implement any of these ideas. In the meantime, you can add your voice to the discussion by opening a new thread in the general discussions forum to let them hear your ideas.

 

[rbrian]

Re:

Looks like Alibre is not going to support my idea for a refer a consultant program. I would like to get a program like this going on my own. Anyone interested in helping me to get it started :?:

John - What more is needed to be fleshed out in your idea at this point? Have you considered using another forum source? Or some E-Commerce Shopping Cart idea?

B2B site (where you would fit in), and a job board.

Ok Got part of that set up already! Go have a look!