This is the final Part of our Exclusively For Entrepreneurs: PIIW Guest Series, by Charlon Bobo. Charlon has been extremely generous with her time, expertise and support during my recovery time; thanks a million!

Unfortunately I have at least another couple weeks of adjusting to my new medications & therapy…therefore, I’m asking YOU to please submit guest posts with at least 500-800 words. Please scroll around my Categories in this post, and pitch away (you have a better chance writing up a full post, then “querying” me…as I am *not* spending enough time online to read through everything).

• Part I: What is PIIW? Visit Part I here.

• Part II: From Struggling To The Stratosphere: Top 10 Reasons Written Agreements Propel Your Business

Exclusively For Entrepreneurs: Expert Copywriter Reveals Easy 9-Facet Formula to Proof-Perfect Copy… Every Time

As an entreperner, you have to right so cliednts see you as a pro. Why is this sew important, I can tell you why right know. They look at you with your expertise and need information.

Did you even get through it? Painful to read, right? But quite effective in making my point.

As an entrepreneur, it is imperative to use copy portraying you as the ultimate professional. You’ve worked hard to establish yourself as a competent business owner. Your reputation is worth gold. Even seemingly small errors wreak havoc on your reputation; they are unrofessional. (See what I mean?)

You’re obviously reading this article to glean information to apply directly to your business. You depend on the content to communicate succinctly and be correct grammatically, spellingly, and punctuationally (creative license taken here to drive home the point).

What impression did the first paragraph make on you? What did you think of me as a writer? Would you hire me to write copy for your marketing materials? Or edit them?

Didn’t think so.

Many business owners innocently overlook the value of having an effective process in place; one to ensure the ongoing perception of them as professionals.

The time-tested and proven 9-facet system revealed in this report:

• Saves you hours, which saves you money
• Saves you effort, which allows you to develop quality marketing materials and still have energy to focus on all the other tasks requiring your attention
• Saves your valued reputation, which upholds your status as a trusted resource with your clients/customers

It’s very likely you write your own copy. As a solopreneur you do everything else, right? It makes sense to write the bulk of the content yourself. Afterall, no one knows your business better than you. However, it is imperative to have a method in place to safeguard your efforts.

Every day I see examples of marketing materials (Web sites, press releases, brochures, business cards, etc.) making me wonder how they made it through the final review process. Glaring spelling errors, blatant punctuation oversights, and overt grammatical blunders … why? It’s obvious there was no system in place to catch them.

In the last week I’ve seen the following examples:

• A real estate ad with a property available that’s been recently remolded. Hmmmm. New mold? Obviously, the ad should have said “remodeled.” How detailed-oriented is this agent when he didn’t review and catch copy attached to his name and reputation? How precise will he be with my transaction? This oversight definitely makes me wonder.

• A gorgeous, 4-color, 6”x8” brochure from a prominent, well-known international printing company containing a total of 7 errors including:

1. 2 thickness to choose from (should be “thicknesses”)
2. If you just a 100 … (should be “If you need just 100 …”)
3. Why not leave all the work to us. (should be a question mark at the end)• A thick paper ice cream bag saying, “To insure fresh dairy products.” To insure means to issue or procure an insurance policy on or for. To ensure is to make sure or certain. Insuring dairy products? Is this the latest trend in dairy?

• A community college magazine encouraging high school students to take classes. The back cover shows 4 students jumping in the air with bubbles containing words above their heads. One says, “So we’re getting a FREE head start on our college eduacation now!” Do you want an eduacation from this college?

There are 9 facets to establish your copy as the best of the very best. By following these easy-to-implement guidelines you’ll notice a relaxed pace as well as proof-perfect results. It’s so simple you’ll wonder why you didn’t have this system in place all along!

1. Begin early! There is nothing wise about procrastinating. If left until the last minute, your work reflects poor planning. Doing your best means working little by little to allow the most effective writing to surface. And this takes time. The process cannot be rushed. With pre-planning you’ll have the advantage of incorporating interesting instinctual insights into your final product. If you’re under pressure because you waited too long to start, these subtle, but powerful components cannot possibly be incorporated because there’s simply no time. Plan ahead for optimum results.

2. Write during the best hours for you based on your body clock. For me, words flow effortlessly in the hours just before dawn. So, around 4 AM I wake up, get up, go to my office and begin writing. At 7 AM when other household members are starting their day, I have already worked 3 hours. I go back to sleep and rest more soundly than ever in the next few hours. At around 9 AM, I get up to start the second part of my day. This works well for me.

For you, it might be late afternoon, midnight or 2 AM. The time doesn’t matter. What does matter is knowing your body clock and working when you are most productive. This is working smart.

3. Focus on one project only and devote the bulk of your attention to finish. Most of us have at least 10 items requiring our immediate attention. The truth is you can only work on one at a time. If you focus and finish one in its entirety, you’ll feel you’re making progress instead of doing a little on many different tasks and finishing none. Focus and finish!

4. Create a sacred space for writing marketing materials. Workspace is often cluttered with sticky notes, piles of paper, books, folders, current projects and a whole mess of other stuff. This is not conducive for effortless creation. Whether you realize it or not, your mental energy is being depleted because your eyes absorb the visual craziness.

A ritual that works for me is to create “visual sanity” before I begin working. If my desk is “busy” I clear off everything but the essentials for my current task and put these items elsewhere. With a cleared workspace, set your intent for writing dynamic copy. Try it. It works!

5. Set a reasonable deadline date that pushes you beyond your comfort zone. Set a self-imposed deadline to finish your current project based on your other responsibilities and then look at it again. Shorten the time by an amount that makes you a bit (or very) uncomfortable. Challenge propels you to greatness. Knowing your deadline looms is a natural motivator. If your deadline comes and goes, you’ll still be much closer to finishing than setting no deadline at all.

6. Work in 30-minute blocks of time with 5-15 minute breaks in-between. You’ll be amazed at how much you accomplish by implementing this one tool. Get a timer and set it for 30 minutes. Your only task is to work on whatever one item you choose. No restroom breaks, no getting up, no coffee, no answering telephones or emails, etc. Even if you just sit in contemplation, your only focus is this one item. When the timer goes off, get up, take a break, go for a walk, eat a little bite, whatever. This allows you a much-needed mental recess so you can hit it again soon for another 30 minutes.

Pre-determine how many 30-minute segments you’ll invest each day. 3-4 sessions works well for me. This gives me 1.5-2 hours of concentrated effort on one project that moves me quickly to its completion. And this approach still allows me plenty of time to address other business issues.

7. After copy is in its near-finished form, leave work untouched for at least 24 hours. Taking a break is underrated. You need time away to let your work “settle and stew.” New ideas will surface to incorporate later. For now the bulk of the work is finished and your mind can work on it while you focus on other unrelated tasks.

8. After a minimum of 24 hours, make final edits. When you return, you’ll have a fresh perspective and more objectivity. This is the perfect approach for implementing the last changes. Working in 30-minute timed sessions, incorporate new ideas, edit, and review entire document one last time for proper punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

9. Give document to someone else for a final review. Preferably, this is someone with the ability to look at the document(s) with absolute objectivity (someone who’s never read it) and who possesses a keen talent for spotting spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors.

If you have someone on-staff, great. If not, it is well worth the investment to have a pro review your copy. Even seemingly small errors wreak havoc on your reputation. Get a second set of eyes on your copy and avoid the embarrassment.

The longevity of your thriving business depends on error-free marketing materials. Applying the elements of this easy formula allows you the freedom and peace-of-mind to confidently showcase your products and services by implementing proof-perfect copy… every time.

To your unlimited potential and success~

Charlon Bobo is the founder and team leader of EditCopyProof –
Wordsmithing and Editing Solutions — Transforming Words Into Profits.
Proficient in many diverse writing roles, her expertise spans more than
25 years. This solid foundation offers you a single and final destination
in your quest for extraordinary press-ready services including copyediting,
copywriting and proofreading.

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Posted on July 23rd, 2007 by Ponn Sabra
Filed under: Entrepreneurialism