Proofreading ROI: 5 Reasons to Invest in a Proofreader

Everything is getting more expensive, and everyone is being squeezed tighter than ever—including small businesses.

So it only makes sense that as a business owner, you get the highest ROI (return on investment) possible for any expense.

You can realize a healthy proofreading ROI by hiring a quality freelancer.

Given the tough state of affairs we all face, you might think that hiring a freelance proofreader is one of those costs to be avoided. After all, you can always run your content through Grammarly, right?

But the truth is you can realize a healthy proofreading ROI by hiring a quality freelancer or agency. A proofreader (or editor) can unlock value in ways you may never have realized.

In this post, we discuss five ways it pays to hire a freelance proofreader—even in a tight economy.

Freelance Proofreaders Free Up Time and Resources

Everyone is overworked and overloaded.

Many businesses have been running with a reduced headcount over the last several years, and no one wants or needs additional tasks dropped on their desk—especially tasks that aren’t related to their core job responsibilities.

While you may be able to save some money on in-house proofreading, you need to be honest about the opportunity cost—what more valuable work could you be doing instead?

It’s often better to contract out these types of tasks—and proofreading your business content is a prime example.

When you hire a contractor to proofread instead of handing it off to an employee or doing it yourself, you are freeing up time and resources that can then be focused on value-added tasks—the work that grows your business.

So while you may be able to save some money on the front end by proofreading in house, you need to be honest about the opportunity cost. What more valuable work could you be doing instead of looking for typos and misspelled words?

Proofreading content is a key piece of ensuring good SEO, but it’s a role that may be best performed by someone outside of your organization. This leaves you and your team free to focus on your core strengths.

Freelance Proofreaders Allow You to Leverage Expertise

When you contract out a proofreading agency, you are leveraging their expertise for your benefit.

We do this all the time in our personal lives.

Say your car dies on the side of the road. You could expend the effort to learn all about cars, how to troubleshoot common issues, and how to repair or replace parts.

But unless you’re already a garage hobbyist, this will take a very long time. And regardless of how much you study, it is still not a guarantee that you will figure out—or be able to fix—the issue.

An expert proofreader can find and fix all the errors in your text—and do a better job in less time than you could.

It’s much better to take your car to a trusted mechanic. As an expert, they can likely quickly (and correctly) diagnose and fix your car, getting you back on the road in just a few hours or days.

The same applies to proofreading. An expert proofreader can find and fix all the errors in your text—and do a better job in less time than you could. Plus, they have the tools and resources to verify any issues or look up any obscure problems.

When it comes to proofreading ROI, it pays to hire for excellence.

Freelance Proofreaders Help You Get Started Faster

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a freelancer is the speed of onboarding. Because they are not an employee, you can start assigning a freelance proofreader meaningful work on day one.

If you were to decide to manage all proofreading duties in house, that could require hiring a position. For most companies, the hiring and new-employee onboarding processes are complex and time consuming.

And even once a new employee is brought on, there is often a lengthy learning period before which they would have a difficult time completing value-added tasks.

Not so with freelancers! As soon as the contract is signed, they can start work.

Because they are not an employee, you can start assigning a freelance proofreader meaningful work on day one.

Simply put, when you contract out proofreading tasks, you can hit the ground running.

Freelance Proofreaders Help You Avoid Overhead Costs

There’s no way around it: employees are expensive.

In addition to wages, employers are often on the hook for

• Payroll taxes
• Insurance costs
• PTO balances
• 401K matching
• and more!

This makes the total cost of an employee around 30 percent more than their hourly rate.

The savings on overhead costs alone could make it worth your while to look into hiring a proofreading agency.

Additionally, even though most employees are overworked, it does sometimes happen that a person will find themselves with nothing to work on (often due to circumstances that are out of their control). Yet they are still “on the clock” and getting paid.

When you work with a freelance proofreader, you avoid paying overhead costs like insurance and retirement matching. You also only pay for the work performed. If you don’t have any work for your contracted proofreader for a day or two, it just lowers your next bill.

The savings on overhead costs alone could make it worth your while to look into hiring a proofreading agency, rather than assigning the work to an employee.

Freelance Proofreaders Reduce Your Risk Exposure

Risk management is another significant element of running any business, and it applies to your proofreading needs as well.

If you hire a freelancer and it doesn’t work out, you can simply end the relationship and find a new one. However, if you hire an employee to proofread your content and it doesn’t work out, you are out thousands of dollars in onboarding costs.

You don’t risk losing thousands of dollars or months of training time if a freelancer doesn’t work out—you just move on.

In addition, firing a poor performer is often as hard and expensive as hiring them in the first place.

But a freelancer doesn’t come with those costs or constraints. You don’t risk losing thousands of dollars or months of training time if they don’t work out—you just move on.