Update: My trading name is ASH-10
If Pete Ashton were a company, what, other than Pete Ashton inc, would that company be called?
Two reasons for the question:
1) I might well set up a company to distinguish between work stuff and the (much more important in my view) random nonsense that I’ve been doing online all these years. The main reasoning here is to protect the random nonsense from being tempered by the need to look “professional”. If so it’ll need a name that isn’t my name.
2) In the tradition of bullshit questions like “if Company X was an animal, what animal would it be?” I’m interested to know how you lot would brand me, as it were.
I’d start you off but to be honest I have no fucking idea.
Update: An Anthony pointed out in the comments, knowing what the company might do wouldn’t hurt. So far the best description I’ve got is Digital Communication Strategy which boils down to using blogs, etc to communicate internally and externally. Yeah, I know…
Pete Ashton limited of course?
What services would the company offer? it would give us a better idea of what to call it!
This could/should be fun for all. I’m curious to see how other people approach it.
My approach is to come up with words that are a direct reflection of the way I think. Idiosyncracies. For example, I like to play with lexical patterns: verb/noun combinations of two syllables, iterative convolutions, words that typify a long-standing interest, palindromes and other symmetries. It’s quite good for coming up with unique neologisms!
That kind of play might have created Rhubarb Rhubarb, for example.
@Anthony: Good point! Have updated the post.
There’s an awful lot of boring paperwork involved in formally incorporating. You have to do and file proper annual accounts (you get fines if you don’t), and have agms etc. There doesn’t seem a lot of point in going the whole hog if it’s just you. It’s also pretty difficult to escape liability fully, so the limited status becomes moot.
You can trade under any name as a self employed person without having to incorporate.
@Brenda: To be clear, this is more a branding (erk!) exercise than formally incorporating. I’m just looking for a name to trade under.
Cool. You can’t call yourself ‘limited’ (ref first commenter) unless you actually have limited liability, similarly ‘inc’. Y’know, I really wish I didn’t know all this stuff.
Ashton Genius Blogging
Web2 Pete
Ashton Blogaware
Ashton Blogware
Pete’s Pantry
Peteweb
Ashton Internet (Comms ?)
Yeah, they’re terrible. ;)
I didn’t find incorporating particularly difficult, and the rules have recently been relaxed (no need for agms or company secretaries), but I agree there may not be any particular gain for you. That said, there are lots of companies who find it difficult to deal with anyone who isn’t a another company.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway …
You can two ways, descriptive or mental. Descriptive – Pete Ashton’s Digital Commications Strategy and Tactics Consulting. Mental – Fap! Wap!
I wonder if I can get away with Peteashton?
Peteashton inc
Pete Ashton ceo
;)
Peteashton Inc would be ok if your company was registered in the US. Peteashton CEO might be your position at said US company.
Peteashton Limited should be entirely possible (subject to a Companies House check) but I’d question whether that’s professional enough – better to use a name that’s scalable beyond one person? Useful just in case, sends out a better message and is more saleable (need to think ahead) . Also, try to use something you won’t have to explain/spell to people.
How about Random Bleep Limited or Brap! Limited (Brap standing for ‘Blogging Requirements – Ashton, Pete’ obviously).
I like Pashtown. You could extract all sorts of stuff about ‘Passion’ and ‘social spaces’ out of something like that.
And it’s built out of P Ashton, obv.
You could use your editorial droid name.
Jez: it’s more the annual filing responsibilities and the fines if you don’t do it [properly and in timely fashion] that are most discouraging. I’m always surprised when micro-businesses even consider it, tbh.
‘Limited’ is a legal designation. It means that the company doesn’t take responsibility for its debts on dissolution.
Pete ‘Internetandbloggingismymiddlename’ Ashton
For those not hip to the droid name jive, mine is ASH-10 which actually might just work…
And wadayaknow, ash10.com is available…..
There are pro’s though to becoming a limited company such as registering yourself for VAT (which you can claim the previous 3 years of VAT for so e.g. laptop etc.)
There is the paperwork side of things, but in fact I find that it’s forced me to be organised, which can’t be a bad thing.
But I’m not sure Pete is even considering becoming an ltd, so I’ll stop there.
ash10 seems like a spam domain though no? might find you get emails blocked?
@Ant: I just use gmail these days as domain emails tend to pick up more spam than is comfortable so it’s doubtful I’d be using @ash10 for mail.
But it’s moot now. I’m the proud owner of ash10.com and ash-10.com!
congrats then! I always buy the .co.uk ‘s aswell, they’re cheap enough on 123-reg and it means spam sites or people can’t use your brand.
Also, may not mean anything to you, but if your applying for a trademark, it helps that you own the most popular domains.
Anthony – you can reclaim VAT on purchases as a sole trader too. I’m definitely going to stop this now. ;)
Congrats to the new ash10 beginning!
Strikes me you have a inadvertently (perhaps) built a pretty good brand around yourself already. If your expertise is what you’ll be trading on then you need to continue to leverage that existing brand. I think looking for a new name could be detrimental/lead to ambiguity/a red-herring? I think I would be inclined to develop this blog/domain name. I think a bunch of other people have said similarish.
Best of luck
@Charlotte: To be honest the initial thinking was to protect this blog from my more corporate endeavours. I want this place to be as random and irreverent as it’s ever been but having it as my business calling card might affect that. I know having CiB put me on certain radars affected my writing a bit and I want to try to correct that.
I don’t think the ASH-10 brand dilutes it too much as it’s still my name, just about. And I intend to syndicate the posts from there into here so everything is in one place. In other words, you won’t have to follow ash10.com but clients will be able to get my business-type stuff without having to plough through everything else here. Think of it as me in a suit. Still me, just in a suit.
At least that’s the plan. ;)
I think ‘Tashkent’ whenever I read it, for some reason.
#Radar and Writing style etc: Interesting. Sounds like Blogging actor afraid of getting typecast in CiB style role?
#dual personality thing troubles me a bit; perhaps it is just hitting some old nerves or I might just be being argumentative come to think of it-
1. Like the whole online presence thing being the sum total of activity not just what we hope folks come across – Okay also the double Twitter thing does this mean you lock down your personal one? Won’t they be able to see everything anyway?
2. Also the big boys all coveting the whole blog look/feel/tone of voice/trustiness etc.. Interesting that perhaps you feel the need for a bit of their corporate websiteness?
Anyway I look forward to seeing how it develops might follow your progress with my Business creation students, if you don’t mind, who are all in a similar position (i.e. starting their businesses) trying to figure out their online stuff. I’d be really interested to hear how you’re advised by the various advisors too – will you keep a bit of a record around this here (presumably)?
#Suits: not sure they do them in combat trouser styley?;-)
It’s more about filtering that locking things off. Believe it or not there are people who don’t want the whole peteashton experience. This enables me to have different channels with different styles and voices, even though they all come form the same person.
I can spread my wings a little, in other words.
“Believe it or not there are people who don’t want the whole peteashton experience.”
I think this is it, really. For those such as I who sometimes get bored with the ‘using social media to talk about social media’ roughinthejunglebidnizz but do really like… well, more or less everything else, such filters are a good thing.
I’d read this excercise as ‘consideration for reader’ more-so than ‘corporate websiteness’.
And, as someone who has recently (and this isn’t particularly or even at all aimed at any of Pete’s blogs) had a dawning realisation of “I like the ‘voice’ but I don’t like the content” epiphonycicatorisation about a few things I read online, I welcome such moves and the encouragement of others to make such moves.
Or, quite possibly, something.
K I get it
I like the ASH-10 site. Don’t forget to blog about cups of tea and t-shirts from time to time, though, since that’s my preferred bit of the Ashton Experience.