"One computer, two computer, three computer, four..."

...you're a tutor, I'm a tutor - are there any more?

Well yes, there are lots of us dotted around the UK - and probably more scattered throughout the world. I looked at loads of computer tuition websites last year to get some ideas before I set up on my own here in Hereford. I was trying to think of a name for my business, and so I was also checking websites to see what your names were so that I didn't clash with anybody.

I'd already realised that the words 'computer' or 'PC' and 'tuition' or 'tutor' ought to feature pretty prominently and it wasn't long afterwards that the poet in me managed to put 'computer tutor' together. But in our line of business that's not enough. Our unique selling point - unique to each of us in our own areas - is that we offer individual tuition at home. And the business name has to reflect something of the personal attention that we provide.

And between you all, you seem to have covered most of the permutations and combinations of
home, tutor, one-to-one, computer, 1-2-1, PC, one2one, tuition....
with of course that most important word: 'you'

I thought I'd cracked it with "Your Computer Tutor" and leapt into Network Solutions to check that the domain was available. It wasn't. It's already taken by Robin in Somerset - and a very good choice too! Damn!

But then I hit on the idea of prospective clients reading the business name. If they saw and read and said to themselves "MY Computer Tutor"...well, I was almost theirs already!

Someone in USA has the .com domain but I have been the proud owner of www.mycomputertutor.co.uk for a year now and, as far as I know, my only rival for the business name couldn't be much further away - in Australia. We're unlikely to tread on each other's toes!

(Any day now the My Computer Tutor website will be launched. I shall welcome your comments.)

What process did you go through to devise the name for your business and domain? Post a comment to let us know.


Colin

A picture says a thousand words...

Over the last 12 months I've looked at lots of computer tuition webpages, gleaning ideas about what to offer in my own home tuition service and how to present it. Some pages really caught my eye - not with flashing gizmos or lengthy-loading 'intros' - but with a well-chosen picture that summed up an aspect of the business.

Here are a few that really spoke to me:

This one is on Colin's site (another Colin) He's in the Leeds area.

Just look at that expression - haven't we ALL felt like that at some time or other?

I wouldn't want to be that laptop!





Here's a lovely cartoon from Richard's site that says it all. He uses other cartoons (by Randy Glasbergen) just as good - but this is up the top and made me read on.

Again...who'd be a laptop? More like a slaptop!

I bet she's typing a document in Word 2007 and the cursor keeps jumping into the middle of a line she typed 30 seconds earlier.

I share your frustration, madam. I can almost hear you, even though you're in Norfolk.......Aaaaaaaaarrrgh!

But now let's calm things down. Take a look at this. A mug of coffee - a pair of spectacles - ready and waiting.

Or perhaps all finished - job done?

Roger's picture speaks to people like me. We like our coffee, we have a pair of glasses that we keep by the computer, because they're useless for anything else! We don't panic - we have a good think about things and then, if we still can't work it out, we pour some more coffee and call a computer tutor.

Have you seen a webpage picture that gets the message across? Are you already using one to good effect on your website?

Colin

Websites for tutors

I've had two replies already from tutors who gave me lots of sound advice last year. ComputerTutor4You in Derbyshire and Swintec in Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire are running computer tuition services, so if you're in either of those areas and you're looking for help with computery things - or if you know of someone who would need it - have a look at their websites and get in touch with them.

And that's prompted me to think about getting my own website up and running. I have been thinking about it for many months now, although I didn't see it as a priority a year ago. After all, many of my clients want to learn how to use the Internet, so why have a website advertising your computer tutor business when your target market doesn't know how to find websites?

But my helpful friends persuaded me. For a start, a computer tutor should acknowledge the importance of the Web - and how better to show it than by being on the Web yourself? And then I've already met several people who tell me that they don't need any help with their computer but they "know someone who does!"

So all things considered, I am determined to produce a professional-looking website that will prompt the web-savvy generation to sign up a parent, grandparent or maybe a neighbour to a course of lessons.

Colin

Encouraging noises

For these first few postings I'll be looking back to a year ago, when I was persuading myself to start this business and planning all the things that I thought I'd need. And the first thing I needed was some encouragement from people who were already offering the same sort of service, so I typed "home computer tuition" into Google, hit 'return' and spent the next couple of hours going through several pages of results.

There was a wide variety of websites offering all kinds of 'computer tuition' all around the UK. Some people, like me, were totally dedicated to tuition; others advertised tuition as one of many services - such as computer sales, repairs and servicing etc. and some were offering online courses. I picked out a dozen or so who seemed to be concentrating on one-to-one tuition and emailed them. I'd kept my eye on the local advertising and was convinced that no-one in the Hereford area was offering computer tuition, so I was sure that I wouldn't be treading on anyone else's toes if I started my own business here. I asked what sort of response they got in their area, what topics usually came up, and generally whether they would advise anyone else to go into this business.

Within a day I had my first response and within three days I'd had nine replies, all encouraging me to 'go for it'. Some of them sent me quite lengthy emails with lots of good hints and one kind lady offered me her manual specifically written for setting up a home computer tuition business. Not just 'how to set up a business' - there are loads of books that purport to do that - but 'How To Set Up a Home Computer Tuition Business'!

Brilliant! Bang on the nail....thank you JL, you know who you are!

And thank you, all you kind people who responded with tips and advice and, above all, encouragement that there is a market out there. I hope you pick up the emails I've sent you and I hope you take a look at this blog, chip in with comments and - best of all - give me your blog links so we can compare notes and support each other.

Colin

The all-important logo

This time last year I was doing loads of research into what I needed to start this business. Of course the main thing was to get an advertising campaign rolling, and I looked at countless adverts in local papers and magazines as well as notice-boards to try to capture the essence of what makes an effective advert. I already knew the basic pit-falls about mixing too many fonts, 'shouting' at people in capital letters and leaving the text alignment on 'centre' so that your copy ends up looking like a Christmas tree. I needed to identify 'good' advertising, and what always caught my eye - and catching the eye is what it's about - what caught my eye was a logo.

I don't know how many hours I spent in total on my logo. I was going to be working sometimes with laptops...in people's houses...and I was intending to enlighten my clients in the ways of computers. So I knew I wanted the idea of something opening like a laptop and light dawning! I won't bore you with all the prototypes; my first idea featured grey and orange as a crude representation of a house (roof and brick walls...?) which opened like a laptop.....or so I hoped. It was two rectangles and two parallelograms, which implied an arrow shape but the rectangles looked rather blocky. That, of course, is the nature of rectangles!

But the hint-of-arrow encouraged me. Perhaps I could use that as a hint of "progress" and illustrating that "I come to you". Why I chose blues I really don't know. I had to get started on the campaign and I had to have a logo that I was happy with, because that's how people would get to know the business name.

So here it is. Or rather, there it is at the top of this blog. Perhaps I've spoiled a good game by telling you all the answers, but it goes from dark to light, points like an arrow, opens like a laptop and ticks all my boxes.

Dare I ask this question?

Yes, I shall....

What do you think?

Colin

In business

This is my first blog and I was momentarily tempted to write the title "Hello world!" But if that greeting annoys you one tenth as much as it has annoyed me on the opening pages of countless geeky text books, I know you'll thank me for avoiding it.

I run a one-man home tuition business in the Hereford area. I go to people's homes and teach them how to use their PCs and laptops, one-to-one and on their own computer. I've done this for almost a year after a lot of planning and weighing things up - I've never done any sort of business before and I'm a cautious sort of bloke - and I thought now would be a good time to set up a website and start a blog. Well, the website's on the way and in the meantime here's the blog.

This is where I'll be posting all my thoughts on the My Computer Tutor business, so anyone who wants to know all the inner details will get them here! I'll also be seeking advice so feel free to comment.

Colin