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

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Five Rules for Perfect Proofreading

October 18, 2016

Read one character at a time. If you go too fast, you are likely to miss mistakes. Yes, you have to read slowly, even slower than one word at a time. By reading one character at a time you will find more mistakes than if you gloss over a whole word at once. You’ll see what’s really in the document rather than what your brain thinks is there. We all excel at jumping to conclusions and by drawing on our…

Five Rules for Perfect Proofreading was last modified on October 18th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

How to make your tender, bid or proposal stand out

October 13, 2016

Uncategorised

You’ve rallied your troops and now the battle to win that important tender or bid begins. You’ve thought out your strategy; you’re confident about your offering’s considerable firepower. As you begin to pick off selection criteria targets, remember that nothing is too obvious to state when it comes to gaining valuable ground. Make sure to include these four points are extra ammunition. Place Where your business is can be an important strategic advantage when it comes to seeing off the…

How to make your tender, bid or proposal stand out was last modified on October 13th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

“If I see a typo, I’ll leave without buying a thing”

September 29, 2016

B2B documents, Editing, Proofreading tips, Typos, Writing tips

UK firm, Global Lingo, conducted a study in 2013 which found that an astonishing 59% of respondents said they wouldn’t do business with a company whose marketing material had obvious errors; 74% of respondents said they pay close attention to website copy. Said one respondent, ‘If I see a typo, I’ll leave without buying a thing.’ For many consumers, marketing material littered with mistakes or poorly worded website copy is indicative of a business that cuts corners. They reason that,…

“If I see a typo, I’ll leave without buying a thing” was last modified on September 29th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

Pain Free Proofreading

September 21, 2016

B2B documents, Proofreading tips, Writing tips

OK, so you’re pretty pleased with yourself. You’ve been under pressure to publish that business report for ages and it’s finally finished. Now there’s just time for a quick proofread and you’re done, right? Think again. When it comes to business writing, cutting proofreading corners is a form of self-sabotage and, like wearing socks with sandals, it’s just plain wrong. But you can make it an easier exercise all round by using these simple strategies. Leave it till last Don’t…

Pain Free Proofreading was last modified on September 21st, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

French widow in every bedroom – the typos that got away

September 12, 2016

Grammar tips, Proofreading tips, Typos, Writing tips

Laughter is not only good for the soul but a great way to start the day. So take a moment to enjoy this selection of howlers from Drummond Moir’s excellent book, “Just My Typo”. For coping with unexpected guests, it’s always a good plan to keep a few tons of sardines in the house. – Woman’s Weekly To call a broad from France, first dial 00. – Paris guidebook Later that same evening after a vain search all around the village, Mary found…

French widow in every bedroom – the typos that got away was last modified on September 15th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

Annual Reports, proofreading, copywriting

Annual Reports: How to avoid mistakes

September 6, 2016

Annual reports, B2B documents, Proofreading tips

As an annual report proofreader, I see similar mistakes over and over. Yet, typos are rare. In a 150 page document, with about 50 very dense, copy-heavy pages, I usually find only a handful of spelling mistakes. What’s more common is inconsistency in how phrases, titles and financial terms are presented. This is usually due to different writers’ input into the report. Non-financial sections are mostly written by the corporate communications team, and financial statements by the accounting team. As…

Annual Reports: How to avoid mistakes was last modified on September 6th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

How a four letter word could win you new business

August 30, 2016

B2B documents, Proofreading tips, Tender writing tips, Writing tips

When it comes to writing B2B business development documents, it’s natural to write about your business. What happens though is that your documents end up being all about you, not about what your readers – your prospective clients – will gain by working with you. One easy way round this is to use the words ‘your’ as well as ‘you’. Such everyday words are very powerful. They personalise your writing and speak directly to your reader, making the document about…

How a four letter word could win you new business was last modified on August 30th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

5 ways to write better marketing materials (and get better results)

August 23, 2016

B2B documents, Editing, Writing tips

If you’ve ever written a brochure, tender or proposal, website copy or other marketing materials, you’ll know how hard it is to write something that really grabs attention and convinces your readers to take action – there and then. Trouble is, essay writing techniques were drummed into us at school. Then we used the same techniques at university. So they’re hard to shake off. You’ll recognise that writing a uni paper is a bit different to writing a brochure, for…

5 ways to write better marketing materials (and get better results) was last modified on August 24th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

When should you hire a Tender writer?

August 16, 2016

How to win business, Tender writing tips, Writing tips

As anyone who as ever written a tender will tell you, it ain’t for the commitment-phobic. Putting together a logical, focused submission designed to give your business the best possible chance of winning that all-important contract is going to take a big chunk of your time and a significant amount of effort. For SMEs in particular, finding the resources to bring it all together can be mighty challenging. Fortunately, there’s an answer: invest in the services of a professional tender…

When should you hire a Tender writer? was last modified on August 16th, 2016 by Proof Communications Author

How to Write a Tender

August 9, 2016

B2B documents, Tender writing tips, Writing tips

When you think about it, writing a tender is potentially the most important thing you can do for your commercial undertaking. Win that contract, and the resulting new business could change your whole working landscape. But before you rush off to put pen to paper, understand that it’s not just about what you’re going to say in your response – it’s also very much about how you’re going to say it. Check the tender requirements Most tenders have a word…

How to Write a Tender was last modified on June 25th, 2017 by Proof Communications Author