Let’s face it—hiring contractors can be expensive.
The typical proofreading and editing rate is between $20 and $40 per hour. This amount is nothing to sneeze at, and if you have a lot of content, it can add up quickly.
There are a number of reasons why it makes sense to work with a quality proofreader.
If you are in need of a proofreader, then, you might be inclined to think of the cost savings involved if you simply do it yourself.
After all, free tools like Grammarly and native spellcheckers do the same job as a proofreader, right? Why budget extra money when you could simply do the work yourself?
There are actually a number of reasons why it makes sense to work with a quality proofreader rather than take the DIY approach. Here are the top five.
Professional Proofreaders Bring Expertise
You are likely an expert at your job.
You spend 40 hours (or more!) per week working, and you probably have a professional background or degree in the field as well.
A professional proofreader has the knowledge and experience to catch errors you might overlook.
If you are a realtor, for example, you know all of the ins and outs of buying and selling houses. People hire you because you provide value as an expert—they’re paying you to know what they don’t so they can get a good deal.
The same is true for proofreaders (and editors).
A professional proofreader has the knowledge and experience to catch errors you might overlook. They have a trained eye for detail, grammar, and punctuation. They know when and how to use a comma, they can spot commonly misspelled words, and they have the ability to cross-check any issues against authoritative sources.
It’s highly unlikely that you have this kind of expertise when it comes to the English language (and that’s okay!). Just like it took you years to become an expert in your space, the same applies here.
Proofreaders provide value with their subject matter expertise. They get paid to be the expert so you don’t have to.
Hiring a Proofreader Can Save You Time—and Make You Money
Proofreading takes time, and if you’re not experienced, it can take a lot longer than you think.
Proficient proofreaders can review around 2,000 words of high-quality copy per hour. As a DIY-er, it will likely take you much longer.
This is important to discuss because many people don’t consider the value of their own time when planning out their budgets.
If you spend an hour of your time reviewing and editing your own document, it’s true you can save around $25 on contractor costs.
But if instead you had sent that document to an editor and spent that hour on the phone with prospective clients or doing billable work, it is very likely you could have made significantly more than that amount.
Many people don’t consider the value of their own time when planning out their budgets.
Alternatively, that hour could have been spent working on a new start-up idea. Or, you could have spent the time on a lunch date with your spouse or playing with your children—activities that are priceless and more fun.
Hiring a freelance proofreader can free up your time to focus on other tasks that, when done strategically, can actually result in net positive income, the ability to reach more of your goals, and even live a richer, fuller life.
A poignant example of the importance of not doing everything yourself
Proofreaders Have an Objective Perspective
As writers, all of us have the tendency to overlook our own mistakes.
We are simply too close to our content.
Our brains like to take shortcuts, which means when we review our own work, we tend to see what we thought we wrote instead of what we actually wrote.
There are tips and tricks to help overcome this natural bias, but it can still be difficult to step away from your own content enough to be objective about it.
Having someone else proofread your writing provides an objective second set of eyes—someone who can catch the errors you are too close to see.
Proofreaders Help Ensure Consistency in Your Content over Time
Hiring a quality proofreader can also help to ensure consistency in your written content.
Writing is equal parts art and science, and the rules of grammar are not always clear cut and precise. For example,
- Should you use the Oxford comma or not?
- What is the correct spelling of grey/gray?
- Are prepositions such as about or beyond capitalized in headings or left lowercase?
It turns out the answer to all of these questions is, “It depends.”
When you review your own work, you tend to see what you thought you wrote instead of what you actually wrote.
While this may leave you scratching your head, a good proofreader understands the nuances of language and can help you make consistent choices in these gray (grey?) areas.
Proofreaders Give You and Your Customers Confidence
Ultimately, hiring a proofreader to review your work gives you the confidence that the final product will be professional and error free.
Unless you are as knowledgeable as an actual proofreader is in the rules of grammar, punctuation, syntax, and spelling, it’s highly likely that they will find and fix more issues than you will be able to.
It’s no different than how you use a CPA for your taxes, knowing they will find many more deductions and fix many more errors than you could (and in much less time, as discussed above).
Why is this so important? Because your written content is a reflection of your company.
A well-written blog post, newsletter, or email will send a message to your customers—namely, that your brand stands for quality.
Hiring a proofreader to review your work gives you the confidence that the final product will be professional and error free.
Knowing that your document has been professionally proofread can give you the confidence to publish it knowing it will add to your brand’s reputation, not detract from it.
Next steps: Book a call today
While it might seem like hiring a proofreader is an unnecessary or easily expendable expense, in reality, proofreaders bring a lot of value to the table.
From their expertise to their ability to save you time and effort, and everything in between, it makes sense to hire a professional to review your work instead of trying to do it yourself.
A well-written blog post, newsletter, or email will send a message to your customers—namely, that your brand stands for quality.
The best way to find a proofreader to join your team is to book a call with us. Our agency is ready to work with you today!
Book a call today!