Become a 100kGarages Fabber?
What can 100kGarages do for a Fabber?
There are several ways that you might benefit from
becoming a 100kGarages Fabber. Here are a few that we think are pretty
important:
- Most importantly, get more work for your business! 100kGarages
is an easy way to get exposure to customers all over, especially
people in your local area that might not even know that you, or the kinds
of service that you provide, even exist.
- Connect you with other shops with the same sorts of issues that
you do. 100kGarages is a community of people that are dealing with
the same things you are. They might be technical machining
questions, problems finding a particular material, or a specific
business question, but the Fabbers-only section of the 100kGarages
forum is a good place to discuss it
- Build your online presence. You may not have had the time to
build your space on the internet, and 100kGarages can help get you
started. We can direct you toward resources to create a website,
including some great free ones, and you can get an account in the
100kProjects blog to post about the 100kGarages projects that you
do. Your shop will also be on the Fabbers Map, where potential
customers can find you quickly and easily. And if you have a design
that you would like to make available to Makers to be cut by other
Fabbers in other areas, we'll be offering listings in our
marketplace in the future.
- Help build a community of people with the same interests as you.
There's an old expression that "a rising tide raises all ships", and
the more exposure that people have to the idea of digital
fabrication and having things made locally, the more we all benefit.
You can help build this awareness
What will you have to do for 100kGarages?
This isn't a one-way street...we expect some things from you in
return:
- Treat all your 100kGarages transactions in a professional
manner, just like you would any other business transaction. It's
VERY important that 100kGarages starts off on a positive note that
benefit both Fabber and Makers, so keep this in mind from initial
contact through job completion.
- Respect the intellectual property rights of the Makers, and any
files that you might get from them. If they say "do whatever you
want with them' that's great, but make sure you have a clear
understanding up-front of how they feel and what they expect from
you.
Assume that all files are private and owned by the maker,
unless they inform you otherwise
- Participate and spread the word. Participate in the 100kGarages
forum and help other Fabbers when you can. When you do a neat job
for a Maker, post about it on the 100kProjects blog. If you are a
member of another forum that might be interested, do a quick posting about
100kGarages
- Keep your equipment (and yourself) up to date. Make sure your
tool is cutting it's best, and that you are up-to-date on software
and the skills to use them.