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Do you use an editing service for your important emails, etc?

Redwolf

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I sometimes struggle with writing polished, on-message communications to both important clients and team wide emails. What service (or freelancer) do you use?

Grammarly, the AI browser extension, helps with proofreading (grammar, punctuation), but not much else. But I'm looking for quality editing. Ideally, there would be an option for a higher level of editing with focus on sales closing or copywriting as opposed to just english majors helping with structure and being concise.

I thought this would make a great business idea to fill the need for small business owners like myself, or job seekers, intra-office communications... but of course, several players out there already...


Edit: I used my "about us" page as a test.
Here are the results from 3 editing services, 2 AI programs and 1 professional marketer (will update as I get them back). The original had already had a once over with free Grammarly.

Original
Established in 2006 by Brian Reynolds, CaliPhotography is composed of avid photographers, motorsports enthusiasts, and customer oriented salespeople. We take pleasure in creating outstanding imagery that folks will cherish for a long time and we love being a part of this incredible community.

We have retail locations at Auto Club Speedway, Buttonwillow Raceway, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Streets of Willow, Willow Springs Raceway, and a mobile set up serving Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. We are available for hire for your event at any California race track.

Each location is set up for “day of” on-site viewing and purchasing of digital photos and videos using custom in-house software, delivered via download or USB. Clients will have same day access to media for themselves and their guests. Additionally, event images are hosted on our website for viewing and purchasing.

Contact us (link) today to schedule our services at your next event.



Scribendi ($13.91, 15-20 minutes to navigate their checkout process for first time)
Established by Brian Reynolds in 2006, CaliPhotography features a team of avid photographers, motorsports enthusiasts, and customer-oriented salespeople. We love being part of an incredible community and relish the opportunity to create memorable imagery that our customers will cherish for years to come.

We enthusiastically serve our customers at retail locations at the Auto Club Speedway, Buttonwillow Raceway, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, Streets of Willow, and Willow Springs Raceway. We also offer a mobile set-up at the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca, and we can record your event at any racetrack in California.

Each location employs custom, in-house software to offer “day of” on-site viewing and purchase of digital photos and videos that are delivered via download or USB. Clients and their guests enjoy same-day access to the media, and event images are hosted on our website for viewing and purchase.

Contact us today to schedule our services at your next event.



Papercheck (standard service - $5.98, ~20 minutes to navigate their checkout process for first time)
(waiting) But not expecting much for $6. Their premium service was over $100, which I did not spend for this exercise.


Global English Editing (cost TBD, ~3 minutes to navigate their chekcout process for first time)
(waiting for estimate). Website estimated cost ~$30.


ProWritingAid (Free for first 500 words. AI suggestions → DIY editing, 20-30 minutes of my time)
Established in 2006 by Brian Reynolds, CaliPhotography is composed of avid photographers, motorsports enthusiasts, and customer oriented salespeople. We take pleasure in creating outstanding photography and slow motion videos that folks will cherish.

CaliPhotography has retail locations for most California race tracks and available for hire at all California race tracks.

Each location has on-site viewing and purchasing using custom in-house software, delivered via digital download the same day. Event photos are also available online for purchasing.

Contact us today for your next event.



Hemingway (Free. AI suggestions → DIY editing, ~10 minutes, some changes used from ProWritingAid)
Established in 2006 by Brian Reynolds, CaliPhotography is composed of avid photographers, motorsports enthusiasts, and customer oriented salespeople. We take pleasure in creating outstanding photography and slow motion videos that folks will cherish.

CaliPhotography has retail locations for most California race tracks and available for hire at all California race tracks.

Each location is set up for same day viewing and purchasing using custom in-house software, delivered via download or USB. Clients will have same day access to media for themselves and their guests. Event photos are also available online for purchasing.

Contact us today to schedule our services at your next event.



-----------------------
Reviews and thoughts:

DIY, ProWritingAid, Hemingway
I am not a great writer. I may have butchered the overall message too much trying to reach the goal of being concise. ProWritingAid is definitely aimed toward book authors.

Scribendi
Turnaround time: about 1 hour. Requested an expert in sales/web copy. Appears to have been edited by an english major. I like most of the edits. Cleaned up some bad phrasing; however, missed some obvious ones like “day of” would be better as "same day" in my opinion. I also don't really think I need to enumerate the individual facilities, any prospective client would likely first visit my homepage and see the facilities clearly listed already. This knowledge is probably beyond the scope of a faceless web service though.

Papercheck
(waiting)

Global English Editing
(waiting)

Edit911
I did not do since all verbiage during checkout was about PhD's and ESL and minimum cost was $100 even for basic service.

Marketer
(waiting)
 
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Last edited:

Peal

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Hi Redwolf,

As a marketing consultant, I help clients with this sort of thing on a daily basis. The most common issue with most communication, particularly in instances of sales/marketing, is that business owners start with the end in mind. In other words, you should buy this or do this because (and then they go on to list reasons why the reader should take action x).

The approach I take leverages the elements of storytelling. Every human, even young kids, can relate to stories because they all have the same structure. Whereas listing reasons to buy something is incohesive and difficult to follow.

Every story has a main character. Every main character experiences a problem. Every problem has causes. Every problem can create more problems (emotional and tangible). Every problem has possible solutions. Your solution is best because of a, b, and c. Your solution has a process. And your process creates some kind of result.

Here's an example of a recent project I did for a general contractor.

Main character: people who can't stop thinking about the improvements they want to make to their home
Problem: their home doesn't accommodate their needs and style
Problem reasons: their home is outdated or they just bought one that isn't right
Tangible effects: not enough storage. not enough room to host guests etc
Emotional effects: it can make you feel cramped and embarrassed about your home
Other approaches: live with it. buy a new home. hire another contractor (which isn't a good idea because blank)
Our approach: make the process as easy as possible. more accurate bidding etc
Process: schedule a free walkthrough. we'll look at designs. prepare your house etc.
Our Promise: you won't believe it's yours

By starting with who it's for, what the problem is and the reasons behind that problem, you show the reader "hey I understand you and your problem better than anyone else because no one else is talking about it. Everyone else is going for the kill "hey choose us for these reasons." By starting with the problem, readers will assume you have an answer to that problem. It builds trust.

I know this approach isn't relevant to every piece of comm, but when it comes to marketing, it's by far the best.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
 

Andy Black

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I sometimes struggle with writing polished, on-message communications to both important clients and team wide emails.
When you say “clients” do you mean your actual clients, or prospects?
 

Redwolf

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When you say “clients” do you mean your actual clients, or prospects?

Writing that message, I meant current clients. Meaning, sending them an important email and have it professionally edited. But I don't see why that couldn't apply to prospective clients as well.
 
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Andy Black

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Writing that message, I meant current clients. Meaning, sending them an important email and have it professionally edited. But I don't see why that couldn't apply to prospective clients as well.
What sort of important emails are you sending clients?

I try to keep messages short, using headings and bullet points where appropriate, and linking to more details below my signature so I can keep the part they need to read short.
 

Val Okafor

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No directly an email editor, but I use paid version of Grammarly to auto-correct or edit all my writings.
 

Redwolf

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What sort of important emails are you sending clients?

I try to keep messages short, using headings and bullet points where appropriate, and linking to more details below my signature so I can keep the part they need to read short.

That's great advice, appreciated; however, I wouldn't put anything after a signature because 1) many email services/programs hide the rest of the email at the sig and 2) human nature is to ignore the sig and everything below it.

The emails could be about any type of topic beyond the normal quick email - that is also beyond/below the scope of a phone call, some examples at the top of my mind are re-negotiating terms or hashing out exactly what is expected from our services, addressing an issue a client had with one of my staff or overall dissatisfaction with what was delivered. Staff wide emails that address important policy or company changes.

My company has clients and customers. The clients put on events and the customers attend the events. Our business model is to sell directly to the customers. Sometimes clients will pay us for additional services above and beyond what we normally do or hire us outright and provide the media to the customers. I have no problems with communicating with customers or clients in general, this is more for the VIP clients that we work with frequently.

There aren't many emails that would need this editing, maybe a dozen per year. But they are those ones that you want to be "spot on". Know what I mean?

I suppose I would also use an editor or copywriter to work on email templates for routine communication, transaction email templates, and sales copy.
 
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Andy Black

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That's great advice, appreciated; however, I wouldn't put anything after a signature because 1) many email services/programs hide the rest of the email at the sig and 2) human nature is to ignore the sig and everything below it.
Back in my IT support days I'd send a quick email summary like so:


Hi <Managers>,

The mission critical system fell over on Mon 06-Apr-20 at 15:48 because of XYZ reason.

  • Systems were down for 58 minutes.
  • The system was made available at 16:46 by following procedure ABC.
  • There is still a likelihood of another outage until DEF is fixed.
  • Until then our workaround is GHK.

Please find more details in the appendices below.

Regards
Andy



APPENDICES

<Lots of notes... like seriously lots of notes>



What this did:
  • It got the managers to read what I wanted them to read (the stuff at the top).
  • It gave the managers the soundbites they needed to speak to their bosses and/or peers, and the evidence to back it up.
  • It cut them off at the pass - I prevented any emails coming back with questions by including my backup documentation and evidence that caused me to arrive at my conclusions.
  • It trained them to accept what I said at the top of future emails (because they could see all the appendices attached each time).
  • It trained everyone I worked with that if Andy said it then there's no point arguing because it's backed up by lots of evidence and documentation.
 

Andy Black

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Your examples of emails that you'd want to get external help with:
  • Re-negotiating terms or hashing out exactly what is expected from our services.
  • Addressing an issue a client had with one of my staff.
  • Addressing an issue with a client dissatisfied with what was delivered.
  • Staff wide emails that address important policy or company changes.

Interesting. My first thought would be that you'd want to run it by some wizened old business exec or, even better, someone who specialises in each of the above (legal, HR, a customer service specialist or someone with a PR background, HR again)?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think this is the realm of a copywriter (or not a standard copywriter). @Lex DeVille @Bekit ... what do you think?

Business communication services? Haha... I've no idea if that's a thing.
 

Jon L

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In specific situations, a ghost writer for this kind of thing is good. Company newsletters, marketing material, company wide announcements, etc. For most other things, though, nothing takes the place of learning how to write well yourself.

If you're using a service to write an email to your team, you're going to have to communicate clearly with the service about what you want included in the email. Once you're finished communicating with them, you've essentially written the email yourself. The only advantage I see in using a service like this is to teach you how to write effectively. Once you've learned, though, you won't need them anymore.

Andy's format above is great when you want that email to be the FINAL WORD on whatever topic you're writing about. It says, 'Here's whats up. Now, piss off.' (Nicely, of course).

In my current line of work, most of my emails are just a few lines. If its an important email, I'll revise it several times to make sure it says what I want it to say, as concisely as possible. If I need several answers on different topics, I might send each of those requests in a separate email, depending on the person.
 
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Bekit

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Since Andy tagged me, I'll weigh in.

I'm trying to understand what you're actually wanting. Here's what it sounds like you're saying. Let me know if I'm capturing this correctly based on these posts.
I sometimes struggle with writing polished, on-message communications to both important clients and team wide emails.
But I'm looking for quality editing. Ideally, there would be an option for a higher level of editing with focus on sales closing or copywriting as opposed to just english majors helping with structure and being concise.
The emails could be about any type of topic beyond the normal quick email - that is also beyond/below the scope of a phone call, some examples at the top of my mind are re-negotiating terms or hashing out exactly what is expected from our services, addressing an issue a client had with one of my staff or overall dissatisfaction with what was delivered. Staff wide emails that address important policy or company changes.
this is more for the VIP clients that we work with frequently.
There aren't many emails that would need this editing, maybe a dozen per year. But they are those ones that you want to be "spot on". Know what I mean?

It sounds like you're looking for someone who can take what you've written and really "hit the nail on the head" of what you were trying to say.

I'm reading into this that maybe in the past you've experienced some issues with written communication. Maybe there was a time where people read it and their takeaway was not what you intended. Or perhaps they interpreted an attitude that wasn't there, so they reacted negatively when they shouldn't have. Or perhaps you just instinctively feel like there's something missing in terms of polish or articulate communication. Maybe people simply don't understand what you're trying to tell them, and you struggle to simplify your thoughts down to something that a 4th grader could understand.

Maybe you're wanting someone who can take your written draft, align it to what you're thinking in your head, and translate it into written communication that's crystal clear, that anyone could understand, and that most normal people would interpret the same way, so as to reduce confusion and not have to have multiple rounds of clarifying questions (or worse, misunderstandings that go undetected for a while until the problem crops up at a later date).

So you need an editor who is not just some random English major who knows grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You need someone who (A) understands you and "gets" what you're trying to say (B) Has a business mindset so that what they come up with sounds professional, and (C) understands sales and persuasion for the times when you need to close a deal.

Is this all on the right track? I'm guessing a bit, so please feel free to clarify.

I can imagine it's analogous to someone who doesn't feel like they're a good speaker (think of some politicians who keep putting their foot in their mouth), so they either hire a spokesperson or a speechwriter (and they stick to the script).

Except for you, it's the written communication that doesn't come naturally to you, and you are just looking for a way to upgrade it.

I think in that case (if I'm understanding correctly), it's a totally fair approach to hire this out.

So to go back to your original question...
Any recommendations for any of the following?

While I haven't used any of these services, here's my initial instinct on the ones you listed.

1. Papercheck
"Papercheck provides grammar editing, which includes the correction of punctuation, verb tense, spelling, and sentence structure."

If what I've understood is correct, this is not what you want. What you'll get is a grammar edit. But judging from your forum posts (I read most of them just to see how you write), your grammar is not the issue. So what you get back from them probably won't be much different than what you send them.

2. Scribendi
"Our business editing experts can revise your rough draft for style, tone, clarity, and concision. Our constructive criticism will show you where you need to provide more explanation or bolster your arguments. We will make sure your document has a unified voice that can reach your intended audience."

This one looks the closest to what I think you are looking for. It looks like they have a system for providing a consultative approach to helping you communicate the actual message (which requires them to understand that message). The only way to see if it works for you would be to try it. But I'd start with them out of these four options.

3. Global English Editing
"We believe that quality editing requires a specialist editor rather than an English major straight out of college. This certainly applies to business editing and proofreading."

From their name, I assume that they are focused on helping non-native English speakers to edit their business documents to bring them into line with standard usage. However, they do differentiate between "proofreading" and "editing." So it may be worth a try.

What I'd want to know is if they have a system to really understand from you what you're trying to say, or if they just take the document and spruce it up with a minimum of interaction with you. I'd also want to know if you always get to work with the same person. If your documents go to a different person each time, you'll never get quite the consistent brand "voice" that you want (and you'll be starting from scratch every time you work with someone new to get them familiar with your voice).

4. Edit 911
It looks like their primary clientele is book authors and people writing academic papers. "Business editing" is the second-last item in the list of service they provide.

Book Editing
Fiction Book Editing
Non-Fiction Book Editing
Dissertation Editing
Thesis Editing
Essay Editing
Document Editing
Manuscript Editing
Academic Editing
Business Editing
ESL Editing

They also say on the services page, "We are all college professors." College professors often are out of touch with "real life" business. And they may not be able to give you the undivided focus and commitment to getting to know you and your voice that you'd get from a dedicated editor that you contract for this.

However, it looks to me like this is a small team of smart people who are good writers and critical thinkers. So you may be able to work with someone who provides just what you're looking for. Wouldn't be able to tell unless you tried.
 

Redwolf

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Hi <Managers>,

The mission critical system fell over on Mon 06-Apr-20 at 15:48 because of XYZ reason.

  • Systems were down for 58 minutes.
  • The system was made available at 16:46 by following procedure ABC.
  • There is still a likelihood of another outage until DEF is fixed.
  • Until then our workaround is GHK.

Please find more details in the appendices below.

Regards
Andy



APPENDICES

<Lots of notes... like seriously lots of notes>

Beautiful, I really like this. They key here would be to type that signature by hand so it's a, let's call it "soft signature". I still would not put anything below the "hard signature" - what is set inside your email settings to be put on every email.

My first thought would be that you'd want to run it by some wizened old business exec

Ideally, yes.

The only advantage I see in using a service like this is to teach you how to write effectively. Once you've learned, though, you won't need them anymore.

Great perspective. Once there have been a few pieces edited, I should pick up some writing tips. Could be worth investing in "learning to write effectively" either through courses or books. A couple takeaways I've learned over the years: bullet/number points are excellent if you have a handful and want everything read. Also, the first sentence of each paragraph is the most likely to be read. And keep the email as short as possible while still relaying the relevant info.

It sounds like you're looking for someone who can take what you've written and really "hit the nail on the head" of what you were trying to say.

Maybe you're wanting someone who can take your written draft, align it to what you're thinking in your head, and translate it into written communication that's crystal clear, that anyone could understand, and that most normal people would interpret the same way, so as to reduce confusion and not have to have multiple rounds of clarifying questions (or worse, misunderstandings that go undetected for a while until the problem crops up at a later date).

Yes, exactly. I would send over a draft and they would edit, restructure, polish and clarify.

So you need an editor who is not just some random English major who knows grammar, spelling, and punctuation. You need someone who (A) understands you and "gets" what you're trying to say (B) Has a business mindset so that what they come up with sounds professional, and (C) understands sales and persuasion for the times when you need to close a deal.

It will be easier to find someone/service that can translate into crystal clear communication, and (much?) harder to find one that can transform my message into a top shelf business email/closer. I will give some of the services a go. Maybe even provide all the same message and see what the results are.

I appreciate the responses! It's already helped.
 

Redwolf

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To use something I can share, I submitted my "About us" webpage to 3 of the services, used a couple AI editors, and even one edit from a marketing colleague. I will edit my original post with the results as they come in.
 
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