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    How to name a small business

    As Mundane Thread stalwarts will be aware, I recently became a qualified proofreader (Publishing Training Centre's Basic Proofreading by Distance Learning, graduated with a Distinction, and a paid-up member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders; get in touch if you need some proofreading done). Having secured my first place on the freelance list of a publisher, the time has come to get going with a website, if only so that I can set up a dedicated domain name for an email address to keep proofreading work separate from my football writing emails.

    Now the problem is that I don't know what to call the bloody thing. My first and second choices are already taken by companies (both in Australia, for some reason) which don't exclusively do proofreading, but do deal with editorial solutions and offer it among their services. So now I'm at a loss. I don't want to call it Kelly Proofreading or Proofreading By Sam, because those are boring. My girlfriend raised the idea of naming the business after our new lodger, but given that we've named her after our two favourite contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race, that would open me up to not one but two lawsuits if they happened not to like it (besides which, Latrice Katya Proofreading would look a little weird to potential clients).

    Do you have a small business? Or have you ever dreamed of setting one up? How did you/would you name it?

    #2
    I have a small business. In Romania the way it works is you send in all the paper work and have to nominate three possible names (supposedly so that they can check whether it clashes with an already existing business). I spent hours crafting the first two very cleverly, and then for the third choice just put something based on mine and my wife's names that I knew wouldn't be taken (even though I was certain that the others wouldn't have been either). Obviously we got the third one. Since that time everyone I have spoken to who has gone through the same thing has told me that the same happened to them as well.

    Argentinian domain addresses finish with .ar, no? How about "Is your writing uncle?". Then the website could be isyourwritinguncle.ar

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      #3
      More seriously I'd go with 100% Proof, but I imagine that's already taken.

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        #4
        I like that! But it's even more popular than my first two options. Unsurprisingly.

        This is going to be a .com domain, by the way. I'm proofreading in English for Anglophone clients, I don't want to confuse things by getting an Argentine domain name just because I happen to live here at the moment.

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          #5
          I suppose I could call it 50% ABV and offer a small discount to clients who get the joke ...

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            #6
            In the Pudding Proofreading

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              #7
              Proven Right

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                #8
                Where's Your Proof?

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                  #9
                  I'm in a similar line of work and have a personal homepage, although I'm not freelancing at the moment.

                  I would, for credibility, buy a domain name based on your real name. And get a .com or .net domain.

                  Also, having gone through several iterations of my website, let me know if you need any help. For a simple site, there's no need to pay for hosting nowadays.
                  Last edited by Stumpy Pepys; 20-04-2018, 07:30.

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                    #10
                    Proofeading.com

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by tee rex View Post
                      Proofeading.com
                      Mysteriously not available. Hmm …

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                        #12
                        What about prufereeding.com

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                          #13
                          www.firstproof.net ?

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                            #14
                            Don't look at me. The place I work, which is now medium sized but started small, was originally given a name that was very blandly generic. Recently we renamed ourselves just to the initials, which we often used in describing ourselves anyway. Disregarding what we already knew - that those initials are shared with a branch of the Taliban!

                            The takeaway from that is to consider what possible shorthand versions of your potential name might exist, and check there is nothing embarrassing out there with the same or similar. Or indeed with the full name.
                            Last edited by Janik; 20-04-2018, 08:56.

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                              #15
                              These people might be able to give you a few ideas -

                              http://www.sharppracticetattoo.co.uk/

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                                #16
                                I think you need to engage branding consultants who will perform significant market segmentation analysis allied with strategic agile thinking to create a new business paradigm for the launch of “Kelly Proofreading”.

                                My invoice will be fifty grand and as much cocaine as I can eat.

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                                  #17
                                  Aberrant Apostrophe

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                                    #18
                                    Cunch of Bunts Inc.

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                                      #19
                                      I have two limited companies now, I closed the third reluctantly as it wasn't doing any business, but I just liked the name.

                                      One is an anagram of my name, the other a play on words which I quite like but won't share for privacy reasons.

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                                        #20
                                        (wrong thread, I'm drunk)

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                                          #21
                                          prooftops

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                                            #22
                                            In a former office, we once got a speculative CV that boasted of excellent poofreading skills.

                                            Sam Kelly Reading and Proofing gives you the acronym SKRAP.

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                                              #23
                                              If you lived here, Adanac Proofreading would do. It's Canada spelled backwards, and it seems it's the name of absolutely everything.

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                                                #24
                                                Typokiller?

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                                                  #25
                                                  Otherwise, maybe go in the direction of Details, Details or Eagle Eye or I'll Notice or Accuracy Matters. Hmm...I like that last one.

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