The Benefits of Having Your Work Independently Checked
Nobody is perfect, not even a proofreader. Let’s get that cleared up straight away. Although we think we’re great writers, we can still miss things. A word, comma or full stop maybe? Possibly the location of an apostrophe? Does it go before or or after the word? And what about the double use of the word ‘or’ in that last sentence? Did you pick that up? Well done if you did, but for those who didn’t, don’t worry. It’s an easy mistake to make.
Of course, that was deliberate, but there are many mistakes that aren’t. Making sure the small details are correct is an essential part of your marketing armour. If your literature goes to print unchecked, you may end up with a lost message or a costly bill to put things right. But the most important aspect you could lose as a business is your credibility. Here, we outline some of the reasons you should consider hiring a freelance proofreader.
First Impressions Matter
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. That’s quite self-explanatory, but it’s one of the truest phrases in business. A poor first impression can potentially leave you looking unprofessional and not someone your clients may want to do business with. You may think this refers to face-to-face meetings, but the same is said with your literature.
Imagine a meeting that’s gone exactly the way you imagined when practising in front of the mirror (we’ve all done it). You connected well with the client, and you’ve left some literature for them to peruse while they make a decision. And that’s where you fall down.
Your text contains a number of spelling and grammatical mistakes that scream of unprofessionalism. You’ve not checked your work properly and paid little attention to detail. If you can’t get that right in your literature, why should they trust you to work with them? Simple answer is, they won’t. They’ll just go elsewhere.
You Are Too Close to Your Work
When you write something, you know exactly what you want to say and when you read it back, it sounds perfect – because you understand what you want to convey and you know your text word for word.
But the reality is that you’re too close to your work to identify issues which then affect your judgment. Maybe something just doesn’t sound right. There’s an extra word that doesn’t belong, or a word is missing so the sentence doesn’t make sense. And the reason you miss it is because you know the words already, and tend to skim when you re-read. So, unless you’re going through the text line by line, word by word, you are likely to miss something.
The fresh pair of eyes of a proofreader will spot these, just like your audience would. The only difference is that you can get to the error before it goes in front of your audience. Your content will shine, and you continue to look the professional that you are.
Avoid Expensive Mistakes
If you send something to press without it being checked, it can be costly to re-print if you later spot an error. Can your business afford for this to happen?
Imagine you’re about to embark on a new marketing campaign. You’ve written all your text and sent it off to the printers, eagerly awaiting its return so you can distribute and tell the world all about you and your products. The day arrives when your printed work is returned and you spot the most glaring and obvious error in the text. You will have to get re-prints. What does this mean for your business?
As it’s your error, you have to pay for the re-print, so if you’ve already paid out a large sum of money, you’ll have to do it all over again. But that is just one issue. Delays to your marketing campaign can hinder your business, particularly if your promotional work is time-sensitive, such as Christmas, Halloween or Valentine’s Day. A simple but obvious error can crash your campaign before its begun. Is it really worth the risk?
A Proofreader Will Save You Time and Effort
It is true that you could pass this task onto a colleague or maybe a friend to complete. Would they have time to do it? And what if they miss something because they’re too busy with other things, or did it all in one go?
A proofreader sets time aside to work solely on your project. They know exactly how much time to spend on your work and when to take a break. They work to your deadlines, not the other way around and will ensure that nothing else gets in the way of a doing a good job.
How We Can Help You
At Hypnocat Writing Solutions, we understand how important it is for your work to be right before it goes to publication. Because we are qualified freelance proofreaders, we take our time to make sure your work is perfect and ready to be published. At Hypnocat we:
- Check for spelling mistakes
- Look for grammatical and punctuation errors
- Check the format and style of your writing
- Ensure all links work
We charge by the word, not per hour so you only pay for the words you use, not by the hours we take to complete. If you want us to help get your work publication-ready, contact us today and let us help you.
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