Name of your website?WordSharp.net
Your name?
Joe Kerr
Your Location (city, etc)
Chicago
Please give us a short summary of your website.
WordSharp.net evaluates all types of written texts, including the following: Academic Editing—We edit all of your academic content including journal articles, dissertations, theses, scholarly papers, essays and curriculum vitae.
Business Editing—Our corporate and small business clients are of the utmost importance. Your business is our business.
Book Editing—Expert editors improve your fiction or non-fiction, historical or biographical texts.
ESL Editing— Retain your voice and bring fresh style, greater depth and innovative elegance to your documents.
Resume Formatting—Everyone deserves a world-class resume. You won’t believe what we can do to take yours to the next level!
Other Copy Editing—All types of text evaluation – CD copy, case studies, grant proposals, training manuals, travel guides, short stories, white papers and much more.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
Internet marketing is the business model of the 21st century. WordSharp.net is a green business. Because our work is all digital, we don't waste any trees.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
This is WordSharp's only website. We launched our company in 1999.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
WordSharp.net is short, easy to remember and brandable. We found it to be more useful than something like "Ben's Editing Services".
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
At any given time, WordSharp.net has about 35-50 writers. We hire subcontractors from as many fields as possible. This allows us to edit all types of books, articles and other documents from business, academia and ESL clients.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
We have reached the intended long-term goal for the company. Now that you mention it, maybe its time to start a new company!
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
The Internet model allows one to start a business with a small amount of capital but the the investment in time was considerable in the beginning. Ten years later, the investment in time has shifted from editing to managing subcontractors.
If you had an unlimited development budget, how would you change your site?
There are pros and cons to making a complex site. Many features are not easily viewable by slower computers or search engine bots. There is something to be said for keeping things simple.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
By using subcontractors, we are able to expand to meet new challenges. There's always another professor, business person or ESL expert willing to edit. Screening them to be sure they are qualified is key.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Its really been headache and cost free. As long as you're willing to learn and to be flexible, you can overcome most issues with this type of business.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Once in a while we have to search for an editor for an odd dissertation topic. The challenges are the fun part of the business.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Website promotion can be another challenge. Its sometimes difficult to know how much return you're getting from a particular promotional method. Google Adwords has been good for us.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
The amount of time it takes to learn to set up a site, run it, gather good people to work for you and to get your site to the top of organic SEO is amazing.
What is your website address?
WordSharp.net
