Setting up the website

 
When I last finished blogging, I was about to join the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. I read on their website though that if I wait until September, I will receive a 50% discount on their membership fee so I think that I will wait for now as £50 is a lot of money!

Meanwhile, I continued to tick off the tasks in Gantter, albeit a little slower than planned (I blame the exceptional weather we've been having - over 30C every day! It's lovely but it has been boiling my brain a bit). The main task last week was to focus on researching:

• Blogs & websites about becoming a freelance proofreader & translator
• Costs for advertising
• Different societies to join.

There are more points I need to research but that can come later in the whole process.

I also wanted to create a website but a real stumbling block proved to be the domain name! What should I call my website (and therefore the 'company')? I didn't want to use my name even though that would be unique and easy, however (a) I don't like my name, (b) maybe the company will grow so that there will be more than just me as a freelancer and (c) it's a bit hard to spell, potentially making it hard for clients to remember or find.

So how did I decide on the name which I have now chosen? It took many days of brainstorming, mulling ideas over, flashes of genius one moment then discarding the ideas the next as rubbish, Googling to see what was available, Googling to check if there were any companies with the same or similar name. I thought about the concept of what I am offering and wrote a list of words associated with that idea and theme. You can also pick a noun and go with something random and unconnected and gimmicky eg Penguin Editorial & Translation Services. You can use an acronym eg PETS based on the previous example. I wanted something simple and memorable. Alliteration helps. I won't reveal it here just yet as I still need to register the domain!

Web hosting is another consideration and one that I am researching right now. Don't just go with the cheapest but look around to see what the different hosts provide - is there any support included? How about the space allowed for e-mails?

I better get back to it but I feel proud of my progress this week. Using a Gantt chart really helped me to focus on what needs to be done and the time pressure helped kick me into action.