proofreading

Whether you're a copywriter, manager, secretary, director or anything else for that matter, proofreading is essential. Although I write for a living I am not claiming to be whiter than white on the typo front. I make mistakes because I am human, but I always do my utmost to make sure errors don't slip through the net. But spotting a typo is difficult - if you don't believe me take a look at this:                                   Second opinion The best way to make sure your writing is error free is to get someone else to read through it for you. But what happens if you work alone? Proofreading your own work isn't impossible, it's just not very easy. The reason being that your brain will play tricks on you because it will make you believe you're reading what you think you wrote even if you've ...

This post originally appeared on Freelance Copywriter's Blog: When you sell face to face your sales pitch is entirely verbal. You can watch the other party for physical clues as to what they’re thinking or whether they are about to buy. But the world of online marketing relies on the written word. The quality of the writing on websites therefore has to be high and that means no spelling or grammar errors. But can a typo really have an effect on sales through your website? According to a recent article on the BBC website, the answer is yes.   Spelling mistakes cost millions in lost online sales Now if that sounds like scaremongering to you just listen to this. According to Charles Duncombe (an online entrepreneur) when a spelling mistake was identified on the tightsplease.co.uk website, the revenue from ...

This post first appeared on my other blog, freelancecopywritersblog.com, but I also wanted to share it with you here. It’s amazing where inspiration can strike for blog posts. This one came about after a visit to the opticians. I dread going mainly because I have a tendency to faint but on this occasion not only did I not faint, I also came away with a blog post. Whilst I was sat in the big black chair, breathing deeply and praying that I didn’t pass out, my optician was making conversation and asked what I did. After explaining I was a freelance copywriter and worked with computers most of the day (hence the need for an eye check) he told me about a proofreading blunder he’d read about. Earlier this year a story appeared in the Daily ...

  Have you ever written something, thought it was the best thing since sliced bread but then, when you’ve gone back to it after a few months or even years later, cringed at how awful it was? I have. I used to write a lot as a child and had a little notebook I’d write stories in. I found it a few months back – was I glad I’d never shown them to anyone else! Today, I may not be the award winning novelist I’d always hoped to be one day, but I am writing for a living as a freelance copywriter. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt ...