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

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Red Faces at Yellow Pages – and how not to let the same happen to you

April 16, 2020

Editing, Grammar tips, Proofreading tips, Typos

Typos can have a highly detrimental effect on a business. And no one knows that more than Banner Travel Agency owner, Gloria Quinan. Back in 1988, when the world relied on telephone books, Gloria’s listing in the Yellow Pages advertised her business as offering ‘International and Erotic Travel’. An appalled Gloria said, ‘We offer exotic travel, like tours up the Amazon, but nothing erotic.’ To make matters worse, the offending word was emblazoned in red across her prominent advertisement. Gloria’s…

Red Faces at Yellow Pages – and how not to let the same happen to you was last modified on April 16th, 2020 by Proof Communications Team

Help yourself to win that award!

April 14, 2020

Award Entries, Business Awards, How to win business

Help yourself to win that award! Everybody likes the thought of winning business awards, it’s just that writing award submissions can be such a pain. Why is that? Surely talking about one’s achievements can’t be that hard? Well, over the snags at a weekend BBQ, it’s not. But officially putting it out there for judgement by colleagues and industry peers can be a different thing altogether. Make it easier on yourself by considering the following. Choose well Not every business…

Help yourself to win that award! was last modified on April 14th, 2020 by Proof Communications Team

Don’t fall into these four common grammar traps!

April 9, 2020

B2B documents, Editing, Grammar tips, Proofreading tips, Writing tips

The extra comma Ah, the debate about the use of the extra comma. One only has to look at the well-known question, ‘What is this thing called love?’ to realise the extraordinary power of a little black squiggle to change that sentence’s meaning entirely when inserted after ‘called’. Try it, and you’ll see what we mean. Commas, of course, are used to separate items in a list. For example: ‘I bought wine, gin, tequila, and more wine.’ Note that extra…

Don’t fall into these four common grammar traps! was last modified on April 9th, 2020 by Proof Communications Team

Request for tender? How to get to know the prospect

April 7, 2020

Annual reports, B2B documents, How to win business, Tender writing tips

As any organisation knows, one size does not fit all: clients have different needs and companies must respond to this to deliver the best customer experience. Likewise, when tendering for work, businesses need to tailor their offer to their prospects’ requirements. It’s always good to have a face-to-face relationship with prospects and to keep leads warm. That way, you may be invited to tender when the contract comes up. Knowing the prospect well will mean that when the time comes…

Request for tender? How to get to know the prospect was last modified on April 8th, 2020 by Proof Communications Team

Australian Financial Review – Most Innovative Companies 2020 – Are you a leader in your industry?

April 2, 2020

Business Awards, How to win business

The annual AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies award is always hotly contested and winning is public confirmation that your business is on the right path. Being announced as a finalist or category winner can have a massive positive impact on your business and your staff. And because the award is run by one of Australia’s most widely respected newspapers and magazines, your achievement will shine through to more than 2.5M readers! Entries are open to all organisations and there are…

Australian Financial Review – Most Innovative Companies 2020 – Are you a leader in your industry? was last modified on April 2nd, 2020 by Proof Communications Team

Writing proposals: What’s Common Sense isn’t always Common Practice

February 25, 2020

B2B documents, How to win business, Tender writing tips, Writing tips

The reason so many proposals and tenders fail to make it past the first cut? The proposal writer confuses activity with preparation. Not understanding the difference between the two can have major implications for your business and directly impact your chances of winning. Poorly thought out and poorly written proposals or tenders are: A sure sign of numerous re-writes, ending in a rush to submit a final document that’s nothing like you wanted it to be. Indicative of many contributors…

Writing proposals: What’s Common Sense isn’t always Common Practice was last modified on February 25th, 2020 by Proof Communications Author

Failure to proofread leaves job applicant furious

February 12, 2020

B2B documents, copywriting, Proofreading tips, Typos, Writing tips

A little while ago the SMH carried an article by Tom Cowie, reporting events after a lawyer hired a resumé writing company to write her job application for a government agency. But when both parties failed to spy numerous mistakes and the lawyer wasn’t granted an interview, a lengthy legal stooshie ensued. The lawyer said she had ‘sent some documents’ through to the resumé writing company to help with her application, including a previous CV. Preparing for an overseas holiday,…

Failure to proofread leaves job applicant furious was last modified on February 12th, 2020 by Proof Communications Author

Why copy editing your business documents is a great idea

February 10, 2020

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

Phew! You’ve just finished your first draft of an important business document and now all you need to do is proofread it, right? Well now, let’s just back up a bit there because you’ve missed a very important step in the process: copy editing. Copy editing isn’t just kind of a good idea, it’s absolutely essential for anyone wanting their writing to flow well and sound professional. Just ask any well-known author if they could manage without their editor and…

Why copy editing your business documents is a great idea was last modified on February 10th, 2020 by Proof Communications Author

One simple trick to improve your business writing right now

December 4, 2019

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

In all the years that I’ve been writing business communications, I’ve very often done one thing during the editing process that has really made a big difference: I move the last sentence in a paragraph up to become the first one in that paragraph. Sounds a bit odd, doesn’t it? But, the fact is that every time I do it, the flow of my narrative improves and the copy overall is much tighter. But my idea isn’t new. In fact,…

One simple trick to improve your business writing right now was last modified on December 4th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

No blogging, no kidding!

November 26, 2019

Blogs, copywriting, How to win business, Uncategorised, Writing tips

Your business doesn’t have a blog? Are you serious? It doesn’t have to be War and Peace or take a huge investment of time. But what it does need to do is engage with your readers and attract potential customers. But let’s be clear here. There are personal blogs and business blogs – two quite different animals. Personal blogs can veer from excruciatingly dull to downright cringeworthy – like a Christmas letter, and we’ve all suffered through reading one of…

No blogging, no kidding! was last modified on November 26th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author