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Blog was last modified on July 2nd, 2016 by Proof Communications Team

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How one word can make your marketing message go spectacularly wrong

November 16, 2018

This month has seen yet another stand-out example of how just one word can make a marketing message go spectacularly wrong. American soft drink giant, Coca Cola, has been on the receiving end of some well-deserved criticism after failing to perform due diligence before advertising in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Auckland Airport that was the unlikely setting for this latest linguistic debacle, when Coca Cola’s seemingly innocuous attempt to greet thirsty Kiwi travelers with the words ‘KIA…

How one word can make your marketing message go spectacularly wrong was last modified on November 16th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

Winning business awards – improve your chances with a great submission

November 2, 2018

Award Entries, Business Awards, copywriting, How to win business, Writing tips

If you’re considering entering a business award, take note of these important tips to radically improve your chances of winning. Play by the rules Truly, there’s no point entering if you believe that instructions such as, ‘In no more than 500 words…’ or ‘Show evidence using sales growth figures’ don’t apply to you. They do. And if you don’t comply, your award submission will end up in what’s euphemistically referred to as the ‘circular file’. Award entry rules are there…

Winning business awards – improve your chances with a great submission was last modified on November 7th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

What’s the difference between copy editing and proofreading? And why should you care?

October 23, 2018

Editing, How to win business, Proofreading tips, Writing tips

If you’re briefing an editor or proofreader, you’ll need to know the difference or you might not get the result you were hoping for. Whilst they overlap to some extent, copy editing and proofreading are essentially separate functions, yet work hand in hand to polish your business documents to make them look and sound as professional as possible. What does a copy editor do? Copy editing comes before proofreading and is focused on getting your document ready for publication. It’s…

What’s the difference between copy editing and proofreading? And why should you care? was last modified on October 23rd, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

And the winner is…

October 19, 2018

Award Entries, Business Awards, copywriting, How to win business

Did you know that Proof Communications writes around 50 award entries for companies and businesspeople every year? Of these, 95 per cent become finalists and an impressive 59 per cent go on to win. We also write successful Order of Australia nominations. Your success Whether you’re entering a local, state or national award, it’s vital that your unique story comes across clearly. As experienced wordsmiths, we know how to transform a multitude of facts about you, your business and your achievements into a…

And the winner is… was last modified on October 19th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

Houston, we have a problem…how can people get it so wrong?

October 4, 2018

copywriting, Proofreading tips, Typos, Writing tips

‘Communication Shipwrecks’, a recent white paper by American-based business writing school, Hurley Write Inc, gives some cracking examples of the impact bad business writing can have on consumers, corporates, government and academia. Read these and wince. The issue: Metric mishap In 1999, NASA’s much vaunted $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter self-destructed upon entering the red planet’s atmosphere some 100 km closer and 25km lower than planned. This costly space debacle’s post-mortem revealed that Lockheed-Martin, the company which developed and built…

Houston, we have a problem…how can people get it so wrong? was last modified on October 4th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

Brand building tips for B2Bs

September 25, 2018

B2B documents, How to win business

Sreeram Sreenivasan, founder and CEO of Ubiq BI, sums up building your brand as being ‘all about occupying a sizeable amount of public mind-space and consistently driving more customers to deal with your company.’ He offered these top five tips in a recent guest post for B2B Marketing Zone. Position yourself differently from others. Try targeting a niche group. For example, despite similar platforms such as MailChimp being widely available, Sydney-based email campaign specialists Campaign Monitor built their own email…

Brand building tips for B2Bs was last modified on September 25th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

The tragedy of life with lexophilia

September 17, 2018

B2B documents, copywriting, How to win business, Writing tips

A lexophile is a lover – of words, that is. And word lovers especially enjoy word play, palindromes and the like. According to entirely unreliable sources, that most august of broadsheets, the New York Times, holds an annual lexophile competition to see who can create the best original pun. Furphy or not, it’s all good fun, so take a moment to enjoy these tragic examples of past winners. Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes. This girl today said she…

The tragedy of life with lexophilia was last modified on September 17th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

Avoid headaches: employ a professional business writer

September 11, 2018

B2B documents, copywriting, How to win business, Uncategorised, Writing tips

‘Write a complex business document’ is never going make it onto any list of Fifty Things You Absolutely Must Do Before You Die. Many individuals tasked with creating complex but compelling business documentation view such requests as being on par with being asked to willingly put their head in a vice. Hardly surprising given that business writing is almost certainly not the skill set they were originally employed for. In fact, almost certainly made-up statistics show that an overwhelming majority…

Avoid headaches: employ a professional business writer was last modified on September 14th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

Business Awards – You’ve got to be in it to win it

September 4, 2018

Award Entries, B2B documents, Business Awards, copywriting, How to win business, Writing tips

Every week, some lucky person becomes obscenely wealthy overnight after their numbers come up, and millions of Australians curse their own bad luck. If only they’d had the foresight to buy a ticket. Winning a business award, however, is nothing to do with luck and undoubtedly requires a shedload more effort than a quick trip to the newsagent. But here’s why entering really is worth it. Assess your business performance. Most business awards require you to provide evidence of growth,…

Business Awards – You’ve got to be in it to win it was last modified on September 4th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author

How to engage with your customers on social media

August 30, 2018

B2B documents, copywriting, How to win business, social media, Websites

Online resource centre for small businesses, All Business, recently asked 13 members of the by-invite-only Young Entrepreneurs Council one question: What’s the best way to use social media to engage your customers and improve brand loyalty and reach? Here’s some food for thought. Focus on providing value. Share tips, news, information and teaching. Do so, and you establish yourself or your brand as subject matter experts whilst helping others. (Scott Levy, Fuel Online) Highlight active community members. People love to…

How to engage with your customers on social media was last modified on August 30th, 2018 by Proof Communications Author