Many of our online proofreading course students start businesses when they graduate, and want to make sure their editorial skills stand out from the crowd.
There are two options.
You can use your own name, provided it’s distinctive. So if you have a fairly unusual name, like our principal Cleland Thom, then use it as your business name. This is what he did – see his website
Using your own name allows you to expand your business’ services in the future without having to change its name.
This can be helpful if you want to add webediting, or indexing to your services at a later stage.
The other option is to base the name around a strong search phrase, for example: Salford proofreading services, or Banbury editing services. This will help your Google position.
Either of these options works well … so it really depends on what suits you.
Running your own proofreading services businesses when they graduate. And the internet provides an advantage that isn’t mentioned very often.
Our online proofreading course graduates will tell you that a lot of proofreading is done online these days, and communication is done mainly by email and phone.
This is a big help to people who are shy, or who don’t come over well with face-to-face contact.
One proofreading course student told us recently: ‘I am a bit of an introvert and is worried I won’t be able to sell myself effectively.’
But we were able to reassure her that she didn’t need to worry too much about selling herself, as most pitches and negotiations can be done online these days … face-to-face contact is rare between proofreaders and clients.
This enables people to avoid personal interaction if they prefer – many of our graduates take this approach.
Obviously people with strong personal skills can use face-to-face contact if they want to.
But whether you’re an introvert of an extrovert, you’ll still need a strong online profile.
See our proofreading courses