B2B documents | Proof Communications

What does a proofreader actually do?

June 13, 2019

Annual reports, B2B documents, Grammar tips, Proofreading tips, Typos, Writing tips

If you’re writing a document that will be read by your board, your management team, investors, other stakeholders, clients or prospective clients, you’ll naturally want the content to be the best it can be. That’s where an experienced proofreader comes in. If there’s a risk that there are typos or other errors in the document, professional proofreading is vital. A proofreader doesn’t suggest major edits or rewrites. A proofreader is there to very carefully read through the content to identify…

What does a proofreader actually do? was last modified on June 13th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

What’s your writing style?

June 12, 2019

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

What’s your writing style? Do you plan it out or make it up as you go along? Some business writers just start writing; they don’t know where they’re going, but trust that they’ll find their way as they write. Sometimes it leads to more creative writing as the mind is free to wander and discover new possibilities. Other times, the writing completely loses its way and becomes unfocused and repetitive. Certainly, most people find magic happens when in the creative…

What’s your writing style? was last modified on June 12th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

How to avoid mistakes in your important business documents

June 5, 2019

Annual reports, B2B documents, Grammar tips, How to win business, Proofreading tips, Typos, Writing tips

It would be a crying shame if a document you’ve spent countless hours working on is riddled with errors when it’s released online or in print. Consider the recent $50 note fiasco. It’s usually only later, after the document has been read by a few people, that the mistakes become obvious. You probably ask colleagues to proofread your important documents. When we’re asked to proofread annual and business reports, financial statements, PDSs, RAPs, tenders or proposals, clients often tell us:…

How to avoid mistakes in your important business documents was last modified on June 5th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

Sorry, use this version instead

May 29, 2019

Annual reports, B2B documents, Grammar tips, Proofreading tips, Punctuation, Typos, Writing tips

The oft-used email subject line ‘Sorry, use this version instead’ can have a myriad of stories behind it, but most often it’s to email an updated version of a document that was emailed only a short time ago. The reason? Usually, because many people are involved in contributing to the document’s content, which results in a myriad of changes. Even with version control, it’s extremely easy for a document’s quality to diminish during the writing and editing process. Annual reports,…

Sorry, use this version instead was last modified on May 29th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

How to avoid this simple mistake in your content writing

May 10, 2019

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

Copywriting experts may instruct us to ‘write as you speak’, but there are times when it’s better not to. You’ll often hear people say phrases such as: My own house… Let’s connect them together… It’s a true fact… It possibly might… 2am in the morning… We first conceived of the idea… There are 5 different cafes near here … We received a free gift… Exciting new innovation… If you were to write these phrases, a good editor or a good…

How to avoid this simple mistake in your content writing was last modified on May 10th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

What the f, f, f, f – why we can’t see what we’re reading

May 3, 2019

B2B documents, How to win business, Proofreading tips, Typos, Uncategorised, Writing tips

Give yourself five seconds to read the following line: Fifty florins for a flagon of fluff How many Fs did you count? Six? Seven? There are nine. It’s so easy to miss the obvious when you’re reading a document you’ve written or been involved in writing because your brain knows what’s coming next, so it jumps ahead. We all excel at jumping to conclusions and by drawing on our language experience, we make assumptions about which word is coming next.…

What the f, f, f, f – why we can’t see what we’re reading was last modified on May 3rd, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

How to write compelling business copy for your website

November 21, 2018

B2B documents, copywriting, Proofreading tips, Websites, Writing tips

A website sporting well-written business copy will immediately lift your brand above the competition. Your ‘voice’ will be heard because readers respond positively to unambiguous writing that has a compelling message. Here are six ways to ensure it comes across loud and clear. Decide upon your main message What exactly is it that you’re offering? Really think about that. What’s the most important thing you want your website visitors to know? Whether the main benefit of your product or service…

How to write compelling business copy for your website was last modified on June 5th, 2019 by Proof Communications Author

How one word can make your marketing message go spectacularly wrong

November 16, 2018

B2B documents, Proofreading tips, Typos

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 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 ORA,…

How one word can make your marketing message go spectacularly wrong was last modified on November 19th, 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