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Tag Archives: copy writing

Virtual Assistant or Website Designer? I can help!

07 Jun

If you’re a busy Virtual Assistant (VA) you know that there are some jobs you need to give that personal touch … but others that are more routine and can be outsourced.  If you’re designing websites, often the design and functionality is your forté and you could outsource the copy writing, either because it frees up some of your time, or because it’s not your speciality.

I provide all sorts of services, from copy writing through to copyediting, proofreading, transcription and copy typing.  Here are some ideas for projects I could help you with.

For VAs:

  • I can take routine copy typing or audio typing off your hands
  • I can pick up overflow work when you’re really busy
  • Maybe you prefer not to work weekends but have a valued customer who needs a rush job completing – I work weekends and can let you know availability very quickly
  • I can help you offer services like copy writing or copyediting/proofreading which are outside your usual skillset, allowing you to offer an all-round service to your clients

For website designers:

  • I can write new copy for your clients, based on existing websites and marketing materials or from going through a questionnaire with them
  • I can polish ideas your clients already have into coherent and useful web content
  • I can proofread the final website (including checking links)
  • I can insert keywords into the web content in a natural way to help with the SEO

I don’t need to contact your clients direct; I’m happy to work through you.  And my standard agreement means there’s no worry about me “poaching” your customers – I’m more than happy to work with you long term to satisfy your clients’ needs.  You won’t be employing me, simply outsourcing some of your work; I’ll invoice you an agreed amount per hour and you can invoice your clients whatever you want to!

Talk to me today about outsourcing some of that routine work and getting on with the things that you do best, and that differentiate you from other VAs and web designers.

Have a look at what a copyeditor and proofreader does; see references from my satisfied clients.

Contact me via email or via my contact form.

 
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Posted by on June 7, 2011 in Business, Copyediting, Jobs, Organisation, proofreading, Transcription, Writing

 

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Which pairs of words need clarifying?

11 May

I’m going to do a series of short posts, possibly daily, clarifying tricky pairs of words.

For example:

affect – effect
practise – practice
fewer – less
compliment – complement

I need loads of them – please comment with your favourite / least favourite / personally troublesome words and I’ll cover as many as I can and build up a nice resource for my readers!

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2011 in Blogging, Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs

 

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Can, may and might

10 May

A request has come in from a reader to write about distinguishing between “can”, “may” and “might” – so here goes. Again, my sources of reference have been the Oxford English Dictionary, New Hart’s Rules and the New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors.

Can vs. May
Can implies the ability to do something. “Can she play the piano?” – is she able to, at any point in time, play the piano? Is she capable of it? Has she learnt to play it?
May implies permission to do something or the possibility of doing something. The latter is probably the easy one – “She may play the piano if she feels up to it” introduces the possibility of her doing so. “May she play the piano? ” is asking for permission to do so.
An amusing way to remember this – “May I play this piano?” – “Of course you may. But CAN you play the piano?” – “No, I never learnt to do so!”
You do also find this one in discussions with parents and teachers. “Can I leave the table?” – “You are certainly ABLE to leave the table, but whether you have permission is a different matter!”

May vs. Might
I admit here that I had to do some research on this one. Traditionally, may is used in the present/future tense, and might in the past tense. So: “I may have some coffee after dinner if I’m still thirsty” vs. “He might have known his attacker.”

All clear? Oh, and while we’re on cans and mays … “cannot” is preferably used as one word, rather than “can not”. The only exception is in constructions like “He can not only do this, but also the other.”

 
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Posted by on May 10, 2011 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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What have I been up to in April?

04 May

Time to update you all on what I’ve been up to in the last month or so!

April has been a time for my lovely regular customers. My physiotherapy clinic from Cirencester, my translator from Finland, my Taiwanese Master’s student, the journalist whose interviews I transcribe and my American PR agency have all sent me various projects this month, including sorting out a set of blog posts and setting up categories and tags for them, copyediting end-of-year reports for various businesses, writing press releases, transcribing an interview with a doyen of folk music, etc.

I’ve also done some individual projects for some students, and some urgent copytyping work for a friend who’s a Virtual Assistant who had too much on her plate one weekend. I do like to be helpful (actually, Bernadette’s organising a get-together for Virtual Assistants on May 18 in Birmingham – let me know if you’d like an invitation).

I’ve also been busy with my Iris Murdoch and Book Groups project – my first two regular groups (as opposed to the pilot group) have just read the book, with several more to come in May and groups signing up all the time (do get in touch if you’re interested in taking part).

Looking forward, I’ve gone more part-time at the Library job from the beginning of May, so I’ll have four days a week that I can devote to Libro projects if I need to. I’m looking forward to having a better work-work-life balance from now on! And I’ll also have room to take on some more clients, regular and one-off.

I’ve got some PhDs on the go, I should be doing some more writing and copyediting for one of my web developer clients, and the student dissertations are likely to start building up. If you know someone whose dissertation is due in May – October and they need it checked over, please do ask them to get in touch with me to book in as soon as possible. And of course, work for my regulars will hopefully continue to pop into the inbox!

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2011 in Business, Jobs, Organisation, What Do I Do?

 

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March and April

06 Apr

So, it’s time for a new “What I’ve been up to” post, since my readers seem to like those, and that covers the “March” bit of my title, but I also want to look forwards into the new financial year and say thank you to my clients for the past financial year. That’s the April bit.

First of all, what I did in March …
– Continued working on my Taiwanese client’s essays – the English is really improving in these; I’m proud of both of us for that
– Continued working for my US agency client on their client’s web pages and publications
– Finished writing the content for the two websites I’ve been working on for a while
– Continued working for my translator client, including a wide range of interesting topics
– Transcribed an interview for my ongoing journalist client and read a couple of articles she’s created out of interviews I’ve transcribed (which I find *fascinating*)
– Worked on my physiotherapist client’s blog posts, including tidying up the posts themselves, adding categories to those that didn’t have them and creating a set of tags for the posts and applying those to them too, copyedited her website and turned two e-books into one
– Did a transcription of a radio show about music for a previous PhD client who’s now working on a new project
– Copyedited several third year and Master’s dissertations on economics, one on art, and one on sports science
– Copyedited a chapter of a thesis on international law

Now, here’s the April bit. It’s the start of a new tax year, and also my new financial year. I’ve run my accounts for the year and am pleased with and proud of what I’ve achieved this year. And, while obviously I’m grateful to Matthew for his support (including technical support); and my friends for their understanding as I guiltily check the Blackberry while I’m out and about with them, or dash home to finish a project; and my copyediting and small business peers for their help and advice, I want to say a big thank you to my clients.

Dear Libro clients: Thank you for taking me on in the first place, either because you’ve seen my adverts or I’ve tweeted to you or however else you found me. Thank you for trusting the person who recommended me and approaching me. Thank you for responding to my questions quickly, for making decisions if I’ve needed you to make them, and for keeping me informed of your plans and when you’re going to send me things. Thank you for understanding that I do need to work around my day job (and eat and sleep occasionally!). Thank you for your kind comments, your references for my website or on LinkedIn or Facebook. Thank you for either coming back to me for more work, recommending me to your friends and colleagues, or both! I really enjoy the work I do, I love learning about all the different things you all write about, I love creating new text for you or helping you hone what you’ve created yourselves.

Here’s to a happy, busy and successful 2011-2012 for all of us!

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2011 in Business, Celebration, Jobs, Organisation, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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So what does a proofreader / copyeditor / transcriber / copy writer actually do? (2)

09 Mar

Last month I posted a quick update on what I’d been up to, which seemed to be of interest both to those who know me and wonder what I do on those days when I’m not working at the day job and the evenings I have to rush back to my desk, and those who were keen to know what people in my profession actually do. So I thought I’d make it a semi-regular post, and I’ve done quite a lot of varied work this month…

In the past 4 weeks I have…

Copyedited two essays for a client undertaking a physiotherapy qualification, documents a client was submitting for professional development, 2 essays for my regular Taiwanese client.
Copyedited a newsletter and re-written one e-booklet on osteoporosis/copyedited one on the lower back for my regular physiotherapist client.
Written all of the copy for 2 websites, one for a motivational speaker, the other for a printing and graphic design company.
Re-copyedited a previous client’s PhD on the EU.
Copyedited a PhD thesis on psychology.
Substantively copyedited a science fiction novel.
Copyedited several articles, a longer piece and a company annual report for a new client who is a translator in Finland.
Copyedited and proofread one quarterly and one monthly publication for my regular American Club customer.
Copyedited and proofread a crime novel translated from the Italian.
Transcribed two interviews for my regular music journalist client.
Copyedited a dissertation on art for a Japanese client.

A nice mix of regular customers and new one-offs, and I did a bit of everything (proofreading, copyediting, copy writing and transcribing) which was fun.

Coming up:
Copyediting and proofreading a large American Club website.
Copyediting the next novel in a series.
A couple of PhDs where I’m waiting for the clients to finish working on the text.
More work tidying up translations from Finnish to English.
More work on American club monthly, quarterly and annual publications.
More physiotherapy newsletters and e-booklets.
More Italian crime novels.

For info on how I work with students and ensure they maintain authorship of their work, please see this post. And of course we all know the difference between copyediting and proofreading now, don’t we!

 
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Posted by on March 9, 2011 in Business, Jobs, Organisation, What Do I Do?

 

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