Need direction

[cadman]

I am looking for some advice/suggestions/opinions.
Getting right to the point here is my situation- I have been recently laid off from my job and the current job market is not lending itself to my needs. So my plans are to make lemonade from the lemon-like circumstances. I have 17+ years in the automotive industry working my way up from a machine operator to a general plant manager/engineering manager of a tier 1 automotive supplier. BTW-have wife n 3 little ones. My desire is to start my own fixture and tooling design business based on the fact that #1 it's my area of expertise and #2 I really love what i am good at--thank god, #3 I already have the equipment and software. I would also like to start a blog that aids others with cad related issues. As far as the design and engineering goes, I have a very limited number of contacts that have the authority to contract out work, so building a client base is a priority. I need some advice on the whole self employed business startup for both the cad and blog arenas. Does anyone think that a blog that provided cad resources and discussion would be a good idea, or should it be left to the magazines that have them. Any suggestion are greatly appreciated to help motivate me--funds are gettin low quick, depression is on the horizon, and I think this series of events might be the push in the direction that I have always thought about but never took the action to do.

[Elenny]

Congratulations Cadman. Losing your job is the best thing that ever happened to you (or at least that's what some motivational gurus say).

I left my job 5 months ago to pursue a business idea, and even though I am single with no children, I still have a mortgage, car payment and other bills to pay.

Even though I had been planning the launch of my business for a couple of years, so far it hasn't make a red cent, so I'm getting ready to make a change in the business plan and hope that the emergency maneuvering works. But still I have no regrets.

Regarding your situation, I don't know anything about the automotive or cad industries, but I'll still give you my opinion. Although you should definitely start a blog, I wouldn't count on it producing any income for a while. Like Steve would say, build the value of it first, build up the traffic, and then monetize it.

You sound like you have the knowledge and the desire to make this cad business work, so I recommend reading a lot of entrepreneur-type books to avoid costly mistakes while starting up, and whatever mistakes you do make, learn from them so you don't repeat them.

There are a lot of resources on this site, starting with Steve's blog, and the blogs of many great people that participate on this forum. Share your experiences, and I'm sure you will get some great advice on your way to making it big!

Stay positive!

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by cadman

I am looking for some advice/suggestions/opinions.
Getting right to the point here is my situation- I have been recently laid off from my job and the current job market is not lending itself to my needs. So my plans are to make lemonade from the lemon-like circumstances. I have 17+ years in the automotive industry working my way up from a machine operator to a general plant manager/engineering manager of a tier 1 automotive supplier. BTW-have wife n 3 little ones. My desire is to start my own fixture and tooling design business based on the fact that #1 it's my area of expertise and #2 I really love what i am good at--thank god, #3 I already have the equipment and software. I would also like to start a blog that aids others with cad related issues. As far as the design and engineering goes, I have a very limited number of contacts that have the authority to contract out work, so building a client base is a priority. I need some advice on the whole self employed business startup for both the cad and blog arenas. Does anyone think that a blog that provided cad resources and discussion would be a good idea, or should it be left to the magazines that have them. Any suggestion are greatly appreciated to help motivate me--funds are gettin low quick, depression is on the horizon, and I think this series of events might be the push in the direction that I have always thought about but never took the action to do.

Are there any existing cad blogs? If not there may be a good reason for it. OTOH, this maybe an opportunity for you. My recommendation is that you go with a platform like typepad.com. Why? Because your posts will automatically end up on Google's first SERP when people search that topic. Pay $50 upfront and you get two blogs for the price of one.

Invest $25 in a copy of Duct Tape Marketing to learn about marketing. Visit the author's blog as well.

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by Elenny

Regarding your situation, I don't know anything about the automotive or cad industries, but I'll still give you my opinion. Although you should definitely start a blog, I wouldn't count on it producing any income for a while. Like Steve would say, build the value of it first, build up the traffic, and then monetize it.

Agreed.

The initial game will be "dialing for dollars". It's the old fashioned tried and true way of doing B2B when the heat is on to produce cash flow. You pull out the local Yellow Pages and start calling the businesses which could use your expertise.

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by cadman

Does anyone think that a blog that provided cad resources and discussion would be a good idea, or should it be left to the magazines that have them.

Why are we all here? For the interaction. It's tough interacting with a magazine. A blog will over time draw an audience.

[Erki]

A CAD blog would be very cool. I have been interested in this(cad) for a while but never got a full grasp of what it really is.

[Shaden]

Why are we all here? For the interaction. It's tough interacting with a magazine. A blog will over time draw an audience.

Definitely over time. Always think long term with a blog... like 18 months long-term

[Lola]

Originally Posted by cadman

and I think this series of events might be the push in the direction that I have always thought about but never took the action to do.

Cadman - I'll leave the specifics to those with the expertise. All I can offer is encouragement that sometimes when we just can't make the leap, a push is exactly what we need.

Speaking from personal experience...

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by Antiventurecapital

Agreed.

The initial game will be "dialing for dollars". It's the old fashioned tried and true way of doing B2B when the heat is on to produce cash flow. You pull out the local Yellow Pages and start calling the businesses which could use your expertise.

The above statement may freak some people out but it need not do so. There are ways to make this activity pretty painless. If you do your marketing right and fill up your "sales funnel" with a lot of prospects, the selling part becomes easy.

I really recommend the new book Duct Tape Marketing to anyone wishing to learn how to make marketing not only painless but fun. The author's approach starts with designing a marketing plan that makes potential customers/clients like you first.

It can be done.

As soon as I finish the book, I will be putting it into action.

[cadman]

Thank you all for your continued support and info. I have a meeting with one of the "big three" auto makers tomorrow to introduce myself to some of the people who are authorized to outsource work to vendors such as myself. I have also been extensively researching other cad sites to see what their blogs, ads, and forums look like.

Again all input is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

cadman

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by cadman

Thank you all for your continued support and info. I have a meeting with one of the "big three" auto makers tomorrow to introduce myself to some of the people who are authorized to outsource work to vendors such as myself. I have also been extensively researching other cad sites to see what their blogs, ads, and forums look like.

Again all input is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

cadman

Good for you.

At this stage you need to focus on talking to people face to face. All the online stuff is of secondary importance which should be worked on after hours.

[Antiventurecapital]

Take a quick look at this intro to SPIN selling to prepare for your meeting. The meeting should be controlled in order to be productive. After you get the 5 minute chit-chat out of the way, get down to business by using the SPIN selling system.

This is not a high pressure system but a professional diagnostic approach to sales calls. The book is considered one of the classics for high ticket sales.

S = The client's Situation
P = The client's specific Problem
I = The Implications of not doing anything about the problem
N = The strength of the client's Need to do something about it now.

[Brutha]

Originally Posted by Antiventurecapital

I really recommend the new book Duct Tape Marketing to anyone wishing to learn how to make marketing not only painless but fun. The author's approach starts with designing a marketing plan that makes potential customers/clients like you first.

The guy has also a blog/podcast: Duct Tape Marketing Blog