WHY IT’S ALWAYS WORTH CHECKING YOUR WORK

Something rather wonderful happened to me at a networking event last week.

I was at the AMEX Stadium, the home of Brighton and Hove Albion, for the latest in-person meeting of Network My Club.

This is a fabulous organisation that pivoted successfully during the Covid-19 lockdown to offer a superior virtual networking service – and is reaping the benefit now that we are able to be in the room again.

Most of my copywriting clients these days are in London, or abroad, so good old Sussex by the sea hardly counts as home turf.

But as I’ve said many times to prospective customers – especially during lockdown – copywriting is geographically agnostic. Yes, I’m happy to work with businesses in Kingston, Surrey and London, but I’m equally happy providing a service to those based in New York, Argentina or the Chalfonts.

There was a terrific buzz in the room in Brighton. It was great to catch up with old friends, and to make new acquaintances.

The wonderful moment happened when I was topping up my coffee and a woman next to me told me she had been in the audience when I gave a talk at the Brighton Expo back in October.

“Actually,” she said. “I now use one of your pieces of advice every day.”

In my Expo address, I had offered various ideas about improving your written communication. My focus was on marketing content such as websites and blogs. But I’d also suggested that whenever you write anything, you should check it over and read it out loud before publishing or sending it.

Well, my new best friend Amanda, from the excellent Brighton-based Rockinghorse charity, told me she now double-checks every email she writes before sending it on its way.

I was genuinely touched that someone had taken the trouble to listen to something I said in a presentation and then put the advice into practice.

It’s such a simple thing to do. I used to work as a sub-editor on newspapers, so I know that writers of all abilities need their words to be thoroughly checked before they see the light of day.

Because people notice. They spot spelling errors, grammatical inconsistency, and sentences that have to be read twice because you’ve missed out a word.

All of those things can disrupt the process of delivering your message as smoothly and persuasively as possible.

If I finish a piece of work late in the evening, I always wait until the morning before sending it through. That way, I can give it a final read with fresh eyes – and it’s amazing how often I’ll make revisions that lend the text I submit an extra sheen.

So whether it’s an email or a blog, a letter to a client, a flier or a brochure, make sure that you, or someone in your team, can give it a really good read before sending it, or clearing it for publication.

If you’d like to know more about how I can help with your copywriting requirements – or if you’d just like an extra pair of eyes to revise something you’ve written – please get in touch.