Author: admin

Upgrade Details

• The original version of the blog post contained instructions on how to download and install actcad 2020. Since then we have upgraded to actcad 2025, and now we are at 2026. You should no longer have old versions.
• Uninstall old act cad versions. If you don’t know how to uninstall programs – which this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWlRzk58uko
• Then follow the instructions on how to install ActCAD.

Installation Details

1. Update: We have ActCAD 2026 premium edition – download it from this link here. (You should not be using ActCad 2020, or older versionsanymore).
2. Do not install any other version of ActCAD otherwise it will not work.
3. Create a serverip.txt file and add in the following IP address: 192.168.128.20.
4. (The local IP address points to the network license server).
5. Put the file it in the appopriate location which will typically be: “C:\Program Files\ActCAD\ACTCAD 2026 PREMIUM\bin” – of course if you are downloading actCAD 2025 / 2026 / 202X it will be in a slightly different folder. – watch the video for further details.

(B) Connecting to the License Server

1. We have x8 network licenses. So you’ll have to coordinate between yourselves regarding who has access.
2. For those in TES you can easily access the Meraki device via our VPN connection.
3. For those outside the main Chennai office you’ll have to connect via a separate VPN connection – please follow the “outside the office” instructions noted on our VPN post.
4. I will give you the necessary passwords.

(C) Firewall Troubles

• 9342 port to be opened on Server side. Check whether this is blocked via various firewalls, including your Meraki device, and/or the firewall located on your PC.

Summary: If you want work, and you want bigger bonuses, then market yourself!

I have spoken to many detailers endlessly, perhaps on the point of nagging:

Market your self!

Their eyes glaze over. Marketing ain’t sexy. It does not bring immediate rewards. But over time, it will – provided the content is good.

All Businesses Require Marketing

Where does the work come from?

• It does not come from Koshy.
• It comes from marketing.
• This could include doing a good job with existing clients so that they demand your services on future jobs.

We’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars marketing – through all forms. Via Google, LinkedIn and Facebook advertisements etc.

But this is a terrible form of marketing. It is too expensive, and the results are not transparent to new clients i.e. they do not know if we’re good or not.

How should you market?

What works much better is “content marketing”: if you do this: not only will you benefit, but the entire firm benefits when you do so.

What are the goals of marketing?

1. To promote your name.
2. To promote the firm’s name.
3. To win work from clients.

How can I do this? What is “content marketing”?

Market via blog posts or other means:

1. Teach: other detailers and fabricators about useful things you have learned or solved. The lessons must be USEFUL lessons or tips.
2. Show: how you saved clients money.
3. Explain: the problems you encountered and how you solved them.

You can do this via our blogging platform, or via our Youtube / Vimeo marketing channels.

When clients see your work, your models, your blog posts , and if they demand that you should run their project: YOU WILL WIN THAT JOB. If many clients are asking for your name, this means you bonuses will go up.

What do clients want?

• Clients are putting a lot of money on the line.
• Detailing is not very expensive compared to the overall cost of the project. But if the detailing is wrong, it will send the client broke / insolvent. It is critical to the client that the detailing is good.
• If you can prove to the client that you are a good detailer, BEFORE they give you a job, and try you out – then you will be more likely to win the job.

What does not constitute good marketing?

• Posting screenshots of a project that you’ve done with zero explanation: is not good marketing. Why? Because I can get a fresher who knows zero Tekla to post screen shots of a random model. And secondly, it does not prove that you know what you are talking about. Why should a client hire you after seeing a screen shot of a random Tekla model?

Sowing and Harvesting are Equally Important.

Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing. (Proverbs 20:4)

If you do not market yourself, then work may dry up. Then what will you do?

Marketing goes hand in hand with detailing. They are not separate functions.

Sample Template For Marketing

(A) Title

• Start with the Title – the title must hook people. Tell the truth, but make it compelling for them to click. In the post, you explain how they can do it. Here are some titles I thought of:
• e.g. As a detailer, here’s how I earned an extra x lakhs per month….
• e.g. As a detailer, here’s how I became world famous ….
• e.g. As a junior, here’s how I quickly got promoted…

(BTW I believe all three can be made into reality provided we share the business and continue to grow our business and consulting practices.)

Basically you tell your audience something, but you do not reveal all of it.

(B) Structure the Content

I would want to see the following headings in your posts – because it allows the client to easily understand and read quickly.

1. The Problem: The clashes were missing.
2. The Solution: We used UBs and welded them.
3. The Benefit: We saved the client $100k, or saved them a lot of rework, or saved them time.

(C) Posting on LinkedIn

• Do not post links.
• Create a separate linked in “Post”.
• Put the title in the linked in and then add a short description of the problem, but then lead people away from the LinkedIn platform and onto your platform.

Summary: Why should I care about marketing?

• So that your bonuses WILL RISE. More clients wanting you, means that you can increase your rates.
• It’s the simple law of supply and demand.

There may be a perception that “big is better”.

i.e. that working in: Tata Consultancy / Microsoft / Facebook / Amazon or

…is better than working in smaller companies with “unknown” names and with headcounts of less than 150……but why?

(A) Job Security?

Is your job really safe(r) at these “big” companies?

These companies sometimes fire entire departments of people – it may be rare, but consider carefully whether it really is “safer”.

The only safety you have is working hard. And this applies in small and large businesses.

(B) Small Cog In a Big Edifice

If you’re working in a large corporate office: you will be a commodity resource – an employee. In other words:

• you will typically have a very defined role – a small cog in a big wheel, with little independent autonomy, and little room for creativity. That might be stifling for some people. In other words, it is hard to be big AND “agile” at the same time – more people means more politics. More people means you have to play it safe. More people means your competition will counter-position your offering.

(C) Benefits of smaller offices:

• in a small office, your role matters a lot: you will be directly responsible for the success / downfall of the office.
• greater exposure to all sorts of problems. You will become a more rounded employee. Small firms do not have dedicated departments for each distinct function of their organisation like Amazon. We do not have dedicated “customer care” teams. YOU ARE the customer care team. We do not have a compliance department: YOU ARE the compliance department i.e. you need to make sure that all applicable regulations / standards are being followed. This means you are more likely to become a “complete” worker.
• The ability to promote your own name / reputation. We give opportunities for staff to promote / market their work and knowledge on our platform. This means that once your name is established, you will be secure, perhaps forever. I do not know any other firm who does this, and gives such opportunities and freedom to their staff. Why not take advantage of it?

(D) Bigger Pay

Perhaps you might get more today at a big company rather than a “risky” wage increase tomorrow at your current company. But consider the pay implications of smaller businesses: if it grows: you’re getting in at the first floor. Especially so if you help in “grow the pie”.

Maybe those things don’t interest you. Maybe money and brand is the only thing that matters. If so, then switch. But if other things do matter, consider them carefully before leaping.