I am an avid social networker and get into a lot of discussions on how we can build our businesses and get more customers or clients . Just today, several of us were talking about this in MY favorite and most responsive networking media, Twitter .

I am asked to visit and comment on a lot of blogs and web sites in the course of each day and am often appalled at the content on these pages that the “writer” wants the whole internet world to see!

Some of these documents are from every-day people and / or amateurs who are just dabbling in writing or doing it for a hobby. Do not get me wrong, I feel these people should want their works to be error free and cleanly presented, BUT my biggest surprise, and what really saddens me, is that so many of the so-called PROS or really big businesses do not seem to know, or even worse, do not seem to CARE, that their sites or blogs are horrendous with the spelling, grammar and word usage mistakes!

I do understand that not everyone is going to be a spelling or grammar genius and am not putting down anyone who is not, BUT, there is really no excuse for having sloppy, error-laden text on your web site, on your blog, in your sales copy or eBook, etc. where there are so many ways you can either check it yourself or get someone, like ME, to do it for you!

If you do your document in any word processing software that I have seen, there is a spell-checker! There is also one in every email program I have ever used or even seen. Plus, you have the extra advantage of at least MOST blog sites, for example, of having one built in that comes up with errors as you make them.

Of course, the “usage” errors would probably still get by you if you are not a great speller but the worse mistakes should not escape notice as you type whatever you are saying.

Things a spell-checker will usually not spot are “usage” errors, like:

there their they’re
its it’s
see sea seas seize
stake steak
your you’re
for fore four

etc.

but usually DO let you know when ordinary, every day words with no synonyms are entered.

If in doubt, write your document in an email program and then use the spell-checker to check it out before you post it. Then, at least, the only errors that might get by would be those pesky “usage” ones.

There are also spell-checking web sites. Do a “search” for this type of resource and you can run your document through the online checkers.

For the best chance of having your document presented in its most professional and error-free presence, hire a Proofreading and Editing specialist.
This is what we DO so that you do not have to worry about anything except creating good, useful and interesting content!

If not MY company , find another that does the spell-checking and grammar checking FOR you. You might think you cannot afford this Service , but, frankly, if you are not an expert speller or great with grammar and word usage, you cannot afford NOT to avail yourself of this much needed help.

Why am I qualified to judge your writings and offer to help you present the best possible document? Well, I was an Honor Roll student in Spelling, Reading and English all through grade school AND high school, I was one of the top spellers of medical terms and transcription dictations as an adult at Rolla Technical Institute, where as an adult I took a year of Computerized Medical Office Technology, AND in February of 2010, I will celebrate TEN years of being the editor of my own marketing ezine, Rim Digest eZine , along with my wonderful references from my happy clients and to top it all off, like the cherry on top of the sundae, this is what I LOVE doing!

If you are a serious business owner, losing just ONE potential customer or client could have paid for your site to be “perfected”. Is it not time to put this on your agenda and into your budget or at least to double check your documents before you upload them to be shared by the entire net world? It is, of course, your decision, but I can honestly say that I, for one, do NOT do business with anyone who cannot spell or has more than the occasional grammar, usage or sentence structure error in a document that was meant to sell me something.

I am currently available to give your site or document a check-up to see if having a one-time or continuous clean-up is one of YOUR needs.

You can get in touch with me via email link on any of my pages or use this form to set something up with me to check out and possibly assist you in putting your best and most professional business foot forward.

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

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.

Working from home has many advantages and also a sort of familiarity
that can become a downright pitfall in some instances. It is easy
and sometimes quickly discovered that away from an office your
productivity is not as high as you thought it would be. Working from
a home office can easily become a productivity killer when a business
owner doesn’t stay on top of things. However, don’t fret!

This can be changed with a few simple steps to get your business
organized, making productivity easier.

First of all, realize what you do is run a business.

Your business needs a permanent place to live.

It could be your dining room, a corner of your den or the entire den.
Some people set up shop in their garage or kitchen. Wherever you decide that your home office will reside, recognize that it is your work space and nothing else can share that spot.

Yes, that includes the laundry you forgot to fold last night, too.

Moving on, now that you have an office space, set some guidelines
for how you will run your business. These guidelines don’t run to
the particulars of your chosen industry but more to organization
for better operation of the enterprise. In plain terms, if everything
is in its place, you won’t waste time looking for it.

A filing system will be your best friend.

This includes a filing cabinet for important papers.
Every correspondence doesn’t have to exist in paper form.
Contractual agreements with clients and copies of past invoices
can be filed, but emails don’t need to be. Save yourself some time,
money and fresh air by not printing every client email that comes
to your inbox.

An electronic filing system keeps emails, project specs and proposals
organized by client without adding to the paperwork you already have
to handle. Electronic files are easy to organize and can be zipped
to clients in an instant if need be.

You won’t even have to use snail mail.

Also, keep an in and out box on your desk (we almost forgot about the desk).

Incoming mail is organized as soon as it hits the desk.
Junk mail is shredded, orders are filed in a box to be
filled and other mail is sorted according to purpose.

Dealing with mail first thing prevents anything from getting overlooked.

Along the same lines, create a priority box.

This is the box that will be checked first thing in the morning
and last thing before you leave your home office. In the morning,
the box contains all of the items that need attention that day.
In the evening, organize the contents to be ready for the next morning.

This makes it much easier to have your daily work tasks set
when you get to the “office” each morning. No more wasted time
planning your day while an hour or two of it is vanishing.

Low productivity in a home office arises mainly from disorganization.
We often aren’t sure what we want to work on or what is most important, so it takes a little while to get that together. If you are organized from the beginning and keep your priorities current, you won’t spend your time deciding what to do next – you’ll already know.

Good bye time wasters, hello productivity!

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

Jan Tallent is the owner of Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance for 11 years, a marketing and small business online newsletter for going on 10 years, an internet marketer for my own digital products PLUS tangible products and an avid social networker . I also have an eBay store so stay pretty busy 10 to 12 hours per day, mostly on my computer and the net.

I am concentrating my VA biz on proofreading , editing and transcriptions as these are my favorite assignments to take on and where my strengths lie. If you are in need of these or any of my other Virtual Assistance services, send me a message and we can Talk about and schedule your project or projects .