3 Reasons Writers Hire Proofreaders

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Please enjoy this article from our friend Caitlin Pyle!

Hey, folks! Caitlin Pyle here from ProofreadAnywhere.com. I’ve been teaching people how to build successful work-from-home proofreading businesses for the past three years. I’m super pumped to be featured on Club Thrifty today!

With a website called ProofreadAnywhere.com, I’m sure it’s no surprise that my passion in life revolves around helping students succeed with their proofreading businesses. Proofreaders are in high demand, which makes proofreading one of the best work-from-home jobs for moms, dads, and single people everywhere. But even with the amount we write on a daily basis, a lot of people don’t realize there are professionals out there that can help them polish their content. And that’s where I come in!

I think everyone can benefit from hiring proofreaders — yes, even me! I always have a proofreader review anything I write before I send it out into the world… and I’m a professional proofreader myself. If I need a proofreader, everyone needs a proofreader 🙂

So today I wanted to chat with you about why writers in particular should hire proofreaders. Y’all are pumping out content on a regular basis, and you owe it to yourselves to make sure it’s the best content you can present. And one low-cost way of doing that? Hiring a proofreader!

So Why Should Writers Hire Proofreaders?

#1) A fresh (and objective) set of eyes on your content is ALWAYS a good idea.

Imagine this: you’ve written some kickbutt content. And then you’ve spent a massive amount of time perfecting your writing, making sure you’ve covered everything you wanted. You’ve read the content multiple times, and you’re sure that it’s perfect.

But then it’s reality check time: it’s not perfect. Why? Because you’ve read the document so many times, you’ve trained your eyes to see what they want to see on the paper/screen — not what’s actually there.

Don’t worry — this happens to everyone! It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been writing or how much of an expert you are on the topic. When you look at a piece of content you’ve written for long enough, you lose objectivity.

It’s SO easy to skim your work, too, because you know exactly what you want to say. Most likely, the problem is what you want to say is not what’s actually on the page. Your eyes have skimmed over any misspellings, missing words, missing/incorrect punctuation, irregular formatting — the list is endless.

And THAT’S why having a qualified, competent proofreader is essential to ensuring your content is as error-free as possible. Even the best writers make grammar mistakes. A fresh pair of eyes reviewing your work can only help make your writing even more stellar.

#2) A qualified proofreader can only HELP your content.

Since we ALL make mistakes, there is always room for improvement. Why not have someone who can help you hone your content AND help you grow more as a writer at the same time? Teamwork makes the dream work, baby!

Having a professional proofreader review your content has so many benefits! Here are just a few:

• A proofreader is more reliable than friends or family. Like I mentioned in #1, it’s always great to have a second set of eyes. But be warned that your sister or best friend might not be the best option. Sometimes those closest to us don’t want to hurt our feelings, so they tell us what we want to hear… OR they are so brutal with their feedback that they leave us feeling deflated. Find someone who knows their craft AND can give you constructive criticism at the same time.
• A proofreader can help boost your confidence with your writing. It might feel like a punch in the gut when you get your proofread content returned. You might see so many highlights/red markings/slashes that you feel a little down. But don’t!! Those proofreading marks are all GREAT things! Those marks and changes mean that your content is NOW the best it can possibly be. Can you imagine if your content went out to the world with all those mistakes?! Now not only do you have your knowledge written and out to the world, but you also have the confidence that it is the best and most error-free version possible.
• A proofreader can help you improve your writing over time. Like I’ve mentioned before, a quality proofreader can only help your writing. You might think your content is 100% perfect, but, chances are, it’s not. Having someone correcting your mistakes not only makes your content better — it makes YOU better. What better way to be able to see what you missed so you can learn from it for the next time you write a piece of content? Maybe you constantly mix up their/there/they’re. Or maybe you write “to” when you mean “too.” Once you see those mistakes, you can remember them and learn from them. That way, next time you write something and review your work, you know exactly what to look for. You know your weaknesses — and can do something to fix them!

#3) Polished content boosts your credibility with your readers.

Let’s say you’re an expert blogger on saving money. You know all the tricks in the book, and your passion is sharing those tips and tricks with your readers. You want to be known as THE online authority on saving money. Perfect! So you write up a stellar blog post about how a certain way of paying down debt while saving money is the best option for people with families. Problem is… there are a ton of misspellings in the post! Not only that, there are also lots of typos.

Now think for a second. If YOU were the one reading this post, would you take the author seriously? Would you think he/she knew what they were talking about? Would you think they were an authority on the topic? My guess is that you would have some serious reservations about the validity of both their content and their online persona as a whole.

(Note: That’s not to say people with typos in their content are terrible or don’t know what they’re talking about. We’re ALL human, and we all make mistakes. Shoot, I’ve built my business on proofreading and even I make typos sometimes. It happens! The key is to not let it become a habit ;))

So how do you ensure you come across as an authority? Hiring a proofreader is a GREAT place to start. If you’re serious about producing quality content for your readers, you can’t afford to have multiple errors in your content. It’s completely worth the minor expense to hire someone to review your work. Spend a few bucks to not only polish your content but also help boost your credibility? Sounds like a no-brainer to me 🙂

And there you have it! Hiring a proofreader is one of the smartest moves you can make for your writing career. I challenge you to have a proofreader review the next piece of content you write. I guarantee if they are excellent at what they do, you’ll wonder why you didn’t hire a proofreader sooner!

Interested in learning how to make money proofreading blog posts for bloggers? Register for this free 45-minute workshop to get started today!