There are a few websites now that offer free BIM content from manufacturers

But there has never been a central point where architects, engineers and construction related professionals can access commercial BIM content through a flexible platform. It is for this reason World of BIM was created.

I am a great believer and supporter of manufacturers providing their own BIM content free to the community. However there will always be a world of Building Information Modelling commercial content being developed that will never be replaced by manufacturer content. These include add-ons, tools and highly parametric components that can greatly improve workflow efficiencies by dealing with time consuming processes, complex tasks and complex assemblies of different manufacturer content.

As a director of World of BIM, my BIM background comes largely through the use of ArchiCAD. I have spent much time creating GDL objects both as a BIM Manager for over 8 years at an architectural practice and as an independent developer, and using those objects as a Architect for over 13 years. Most BIM content available today is created by independent developers but the options for developers to market this content is very limited and restrictive. Available platforms either have a standard shopfront that offers limited flexibility to show your products or developers find themselves having to start-up their own website and manage all the website coding, security and marketing themselves.

World of BIM aims to provide a cohesive network of BIM shopfronts

Customers will be able to browse content while developers will have a flexible shopfront to display and manage products. Flexibility not only covers how the product appears and the conditions under which it is sold but also allows developers to manage their own shopfront, with their own web address, in combination with displaying their content on the main World of BIM main software specific sites for all major CAD/BIM platforms. We have had some people say it is like eBay for BIM where everything is ‘buy now’. Although it is nice to be compared to such a fantastically successfully website we recognize that we still have some time to go before we get to eBay’s level. However, we would like to think we are providing an even more flexible selling platform while maintaining an equally simple browsing mechanism for professionals seeking BIM content.

From the customers perspective they are able to view BIM content by visiting the specific software store they are searching for or they can visit the developers shopfront and see products from the developers for all platforms. All these shopfronts are linked into one network. Developers that provide the best content and service will find good traffic flowing from our main sites to their shopfronts. World of BIM will eventually become a network of stores, all interlinked to deliver rich BIM content to professionals.

After signing up to World of BIM as a seller, developers will be able to login to their own backend or administration portal where they are able to manipulate the product graphics and their content on the storefronts. Advertising banners and various modules can also be customized on their website to best display features of their products. Products can be uploaded together with images and the editor allows developers to have great control over the appearance and content of the produc’ts description. Pricing can be controlled through providing specials, upgrades and quantity discounts in addition to the desirable standard price. When a product is enabled, it not only appears on the developers own website but also appears on any of World of BIM’s main stores relevant to the specific software the product is available in. When a product is sold, it immediately appears on the developers private dashboard.

World of BIM takes care of all the technical website issues

Developers can concentrate on developing content rather than spending time managing websites. Any support issues related to products will be via direct communication between you and the customer. See how easy it is to setup a store here.

Whilst we have many features aimed at developers without an established shopfront we also provide a great service for established developers wishing to expand their market reach. If developers have their own shopfront, World of BIM can display the content on our main software specific shopfronts without the need to create another shopfront in our network. When an item is sold developers have the option to allow customers to download from our site or be notified of the sale with the customers contact details which can be subsequently used to provide access to their own website for downloads. By keeping downloads on your own website you will be able to control one access point.

So what content can be sold?

All BIM related material can be sold–such as tools, objects, add-ons, training manuals, publications and components. Of particular interest to World of BIM is all the components and tools that many architectural, engineering and creative professionals have sitting on their internal hard-drives, created for in-house use. Little do many people know that money can be made by reselling these components as individuals or for the business.

We encourage all creators of BIM content to share on World of BIM by uploading their hard-earned work for sale

As we are new, we are looking for some of the first developers to upload their content. To provide encouragement we are offering 90% royalties on all sales until June 2013. This means we will only receive 10% commission on all sales to cover our costs. It is free to signup, free to setup your store and there are no obligations to exclusively sell your content on World of BIM. You are free to remove your products at any time should you choose but we think once you try our services you won’t want to leave. We hope to see you there and welcome any queries at: www.worldofbim.com

Mark Beauman
Director at World of BIM
bimadmin@worldofbim.com