I have spent the past week checking out some really great work from bloggers and webmasters. Sadly, amongst all of the really good and valuable information on the best of these sites, I have had to wade through countless typos, misspelled words, misused grammar and more that takes away from the professionalism and legitimate business feel of the sites.

Whether it seems fair or not, most well educated people will notice the “uhohs” and often leave that blog or site and look elsewhere for whatever brought them to this or that blog or web site to begin with.

I am one of those visitors. I love to read more than I love to breathe and hate to have to stop and reread and decipher or mentally fix a word or phrase or sentence to get onto the next morsel.

This is why I decided to focus my Virtual Assistance business on the thing most important to ME as a reader and web site or blog visitor, which is correct spelling, grammar and using the right instance of a word. For example, the biggest “uhohs” I find are:

it’s and its

their and there and they’re

your and you’re

aren’t and isn’t or are and is

then and than

being mixed up and used at the wrong time in the wrong way.

That is where I can come in to help you present the best of YOU and your writing ability so that you can concentrate on doing just that.

Out of curiosity, I have been checking out at least ten business sites and ten blogs per day. At least 7 of the 10 could use my Proofreading and Editing Services.

I have finally gotten up the nerve to write TO the blogger or webmaster and since there is always something good about the document I am reading or I would not continue reading after the first couple of “uhohs’, I offer a good comment or feedback on the quality or content of the writing and then mention that as a proofreader & editor I have some tips I can offer on how to fix a few typos, errors, etc. and invite her or him to get back to me and give my email address.

Needless to say, most do not reply. Strangely, or at least it seems so to me, of the ones who do get back to me, most have said something along the lines of “oh, it’s okay, my visitors do not mind or I do not care”! Okay, this is fine if they want to feel that way but seriously, most of your visitors who even notice, DO CARE! And, I, for one, want visitors that are able to read at a level that they would spot, at least, my most glaring errors and let me know about them so that I can fix them before more see them!

I have even seen this in professional forums and business groups I belong to – and, especially for those who ASK for feedback and constructive criticism, it amazes me that they do not really seem to care about the quality or their content past their ability to write something interesting or informative.

Please, just take the little bit of time it would take you to read over what you are posting for the internet world to see and if you cannot find any errors, why not ask 3 friends or net buddies to read it over for you and see if they might spot something you have missed, or, better yet, take advantage of the fact that I am right here, at my home office, waiting to help you with your document clean-up and want to assist you in putting your very best work to its very best showing!

I have had quite a few people tell me they would love to use a proofreader & editor but cannot AFFORD one. I understand the money crunch we are almost all feeling but seriously, can you afford NOT to make sure your work is seen at its best?

By using a Virtual Assistant to do your Proofreading and Editing you only have to pay as the service is used and this can be quite affordable, especially when compared to that sale or those sales that you are seriously losing out on with a sloppy or not-so-perfect document representing you and your business.

Check out my reasonable rates or get in touch with me to Schedule a Project or discuss the possibility of my working for you on a retainer. With this option, you can pay ahead and as you update your blog and/or your web site, you can send me the finished document(s) as you get it or them done and I can get it all cleaned up and polished and back to you in a very reasonable amount of time.

To date, I have ebooks, print books, sales pages, reports, web pages, blogs, articles, a screen play and more in my portfolio with savvy and smart clients who know how important this service was to them and can be to you, too!

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

p.s.

Calling all writers, bloggers, webmasters, etc: if you know people who need transcriptions, proofing or editing PLEASE pass my name to them.

It is a really nice and thoughtful way to let them know how much you appreciate their work and want them to show it to its best abilities.

Tags: customer service, ebooks, Editing, errors, fixes, learning, paperwork, Proofreading, services, spelling, tools, Transcription, Virtual Assistance, virtual assistant, working together, working with a Virtual Assistant

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Editing, Proofreading, Virtual Assistance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.