Amazingly, high quality graphics, stunning photos and compelling headlines can all be pushed into the background by a single spelling mistake. It’s often the first thing a reader will notice.

What can a proofreader check?
Using a proofreader to check your publication or web site protects your marketing investment and ensures that readers do notice your graphics, your photos, your headlines.

A proofreader can not only check
> spelling
> grammar
> punctuation

but also
> page headers and footers
> page numbers
> headings

Other elements that can be proofread for consistency include
> use of capital letters
> names, titles and brands
> colours, positioning and size of graphics
> clickable web links

Don’t lose sales because of errors
It’s not only minor spelling mistakes that make people stop reading or put them off buying. If readers don’t understand text or find it confusing, they often give up and look elsewhere. If the purpose of your text is to sell, confusion could lose you sales. A proofreader can make sure that your text does make sense and can highlight any passages that are unclear or confusing.

People can also be stopped from buying if prices and other facts are incorrect or an advertised event day or date is wrong. If required, a proofreader can check that the day matches the date.

Depending on the brief, a proofreader can check
> facts, figures and prices
> postal and web addresses
> telephone numbers
> times, days and dates

Prevent problems before your deadline
Involving a proofreader early on can ensure you iron out any problems long before you get to the production stage. You’ll have less to worry about when pressure starts to build as your deadline approaches.

It’s better to flag and correct problems before you print your brochure or magazine rather than discover them when you’re looking at the printed version with 500, 1,000, 10,000 copies or more sitting in boxes, all with the same mistakes.

What does proofreading cost?
Proofreading will add a small amount to your overall production costs, but can increase the return on investment from your marketing by making it more effective.

Rather than quote you hourly rates, which mean nothing on their own, we can give you a final price so that you know the cost for each project before we start work on it.

Discuss your brief with a proofreader now
Whether you want to ensure that apostrophes are in the right places or need a catalogue checked for accurate prices, a proofreader can pick up errors and inconsistencies of every size, eliminating potential problems that you would have to deal with after publication.

To discuss how we can proofread your material,
please call Robert or Simon Zarywacz
0845 200 7830
or visit
proofreadingresources.co.uk

I ask who is behind the web site. Is it a genuine business? Can they actually provide what I’m looking for? Should I trust them with my money?

What I’m looking for is proof that they are a real business.

What do you need?

A question of trust

With so much fraud, spam emails and phishing attacks, most people like to satisfy themselves that they are dealing with a bona fide business. An email address linked with a specific domain (such as hello@z2z.biz rather than a free email service), preferably a landline number rather than a mobile and a postal address can assure potential customers that you are a real business.

If I get to the point where I want to buy from a site but find the only way of contacting the company is through an email form, I simply won’t buy from them.

What if I have a question or something goes wrong? How do I know that anyone will answer if I fill in and send their email form? How do I get a refund?

Credibility is important in building customer relationships

Once customers can see who you are and where you are, they’ll feel more confident about buying from you.

Now you may have a very good reason for using a mobile phone rather than a landline, especially if your business keeps you on the move most of the time. That isn’t a problem if you also offer other contact details. Two or three methods of contact demonstrate that you are accessible and can be contacted easily. If you have other ways to prove this, these will help to establish credibility.

Do real businesses hide?

Why would any business looking to generate sales hide? Getting your contact details out as widely as possible makes it easier for customers to contact you and buy from you.

What do you think?

z2ztip2 – look out for futher z2ztips at z2z.biz

They can’t tell if you don’t have a good photograph. And many people in business still don’t have a decent photograph of themselves.

What do you need?

Why do you need good photos?
It no longer surprises me when someone has taken the effort to write and distribute a press release but hasn’t thought about an accompanying photo or image. They will probably spend hours trying to get in front of an important potential client, forgetting that they could also get noticed by having their photo published alongside an article.

When I do ask, often I receive a photo taken at low resolution with a mobile phone camera or a badly composed picture taken in an office with battered box files and piles of filing in the background.

How do you get a good photo?
I’d recommend a professionally taken photograph, but even a well composed shot at high resolution against an uncluttered background is a step in the right direction.

That means a JPEG file with a resolution of 300 dots per inch at a size of 500K to 1MB or more, depending on the efficiency of the camera and any photo editing software (if you use it).

What can you do with it?
Add it to your web site, online networking profiles, send it with press releases or articles. Before long, people will see your face popping up everywhere and be more aware of who you are.

More importantly, if you get a call out of the blue asking you to comment on a topic in the media, you’ll have a photo ready to send so that not only will you sound professional, you’ll look professional too.

And just to show that we practise what we preach, we’ve included a photo of z2z partners Robert (I’m on the left) and Simon.

z2ztip 1 – look out for further z2ztips.

What can we help you with?
Zarywacz can provide specific services . . .

• copywriting • blogging • editing • magazines • proofreading •
• public relations • social media • web site management •

. . . as and when you need them. You decide how much we do so that you maintain control over projects but get the back-up you need. We can assist your existing team or handle new projects.

Flexible resources
If you produce magazines, newsletters or reports on a regular basis, call us in specifically to work on these so you don’t need to employ additional staff or provide extra desk space or equipment. Because you only pay for the work we do, your budget will go further while maintaining your activity schedule.

We can also manage entire projects (eg producing a publication from start to finish), liaising with your own team and your other suppliers. This is useful where you experience occasional peaks of activity or if you need extra resources when your employees are on leave or absent.

Pay by day or project
Choose whether to pay a fixed price per project or by the day. Because we do not have the costly overheads of large agencies, we deliver a combination of quality and value for money.

We provide outsourced marketing services to large commercial corporations, public sector organisations and charities. This has included proofreading for a major UK supermarket chain, international insurance companies and a UK university, PR writing for a subsidiary of a global chemicals company, web site management for a UK charity and consumer magazine, business journalism for a local newspaper.

Fully equipped with computers, software, broadband internet and our own offices, we are ready to supply the service you require.

Please call Robert on
0845 200 7830
to discuss how our outsourced marketing services
can support your department
or visit
z2z.com
for our full range of services.

Whether you’re negotiating finance with the bank, instructing suppliers, motivating staff or selling to customers, you depend on words to inform people and to persuade them to take action.

Instructions have to be clear, motivational messages inclusive and marketing messages compelling: our choice of words and how we use them can determine whether or not we achieve our business objectives.

To discover how to ‘find your voice‘ join Robert Zarywacz with your questions for an online discussion at betternetworking.co.uk at 8pm on Thursday 6th August 2009.