Proofreading. Do it or look sloppy
When reading online news do you see obvious errors daily? Surely, they have been through some kind of proofreading? These are professional news agencies. Is it a sign of the times? Time pressure to get it out there or it is cost cutting? The message it sends to the end reader is unprofessional, sloppy, don’t care and that it’s more about cost cutting than the service/product worth.
Yes, there is always a chance of error but, you can minimise this by actually proofreading prior to going live.
My first temptation here was to write something so obviously awful, to prove my point. But my inner proofreader and editor simply wouldn’t let me, no matter how comic the opportunity was.
Improve your communication, improve your sales
The beauty of employing a professional proofreader is that you receive structural and editing direction that will improve your document significantly. If people understand you and you engage with them, they’re far more likely to buy from you.
As well as picking up obvious typos and grammar, they will ensure you are consistent in your terminology and have the correct spelling of names of individuals, places and businesses throughout the document.
Your brain has auto-correct
The human brain is amazing at correcting things as you read them, which can make proofreading tricky. A professional has trained their brain to focus on the minutiae. If you want to find out more about your brain and how it reads, check out Brain HQ: https://www.brainhq.com/brain-resources/brain-teasers/scrambled-text/
Knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit
OK I couldn’t resist the temptation, yes there are many great faux pas we can make examples of and yes, it can be endlessly funny. But when it’s your media release, website or sales brochure it’s no laughing matter. The time you take for a thorough proofing either in house or by a professional, pays for itself. You only get one chance at a first impression.
Apps, to be or not to be
There are a lot of apps that can help you get a good draft ready, that doesn’t mean it’s ready to publish. Sometimes it’s not the obvious, it’s the ‘feel’ of how the sentence reads. Is it easy to read by your audience? Does it run smoothly? This is where experience makes all the difference. An app simply doesn’t have that intuition to correct your writing. They miss things, so do we still call it human error? Hmm I think not.
Want to look like you know your shit? Use a proofreader, highly trained to make you look good. Any errors in my website are there purely as examples for you: https://www.moywordswork.com/services