In the beginning it can be difficult to appreciate why hiring an editor makes excellent sense for your business. Even if you are fluent in English and you’ve been writing and speaking English for many years, an editor can see your work in a new way that enhances your business.

Editors look for Errors before they Look for Perfection

Often we work for a long time perfecting our documents, only to discover after we’ve published the piece that there is a flaw. An editors job is to spot the small, medium and large errors. They look at a piece not for the perfection you’ve created but actually looking for mistakes you may have made. Editors are critical about perfection and their attention detail means everything is questioned.

Editors are not Emotionally Attached

Writing is a process that uses your creativity, intelligence and emotions. Editing your own work can be arduous because you are often biased by these factors. An editor doesn’t have this concern. Their job is to apply grammatical rules, review the writing tone, and ensure the message of your writing is clear. They are able to apply constructive criticism to your creativity without being swayed with emotional attachments.

Perfect English Makes a Higher Quality Product

A friend was approached in a cafe by the owner. The owner presented her with two bottles of water that he was thinking of selling and asked her which one she would buy. The first bottle was a mixture of poor English and the local Cambodian language, Khmer. The second was also a mixture but it had perfect English. Without pause, my friend replied, “I’d buy the second one.” Annie explains why:

I haven’t been to many countries so I find that I trust a product’s quality based on their English. If it’s got poor English I’m not going to buy it because I don’t trust the company. If they can’t afford an English editor then what other parts of their business are they trying to cut costs on?

Any business can see the profits they make but it can be difficult to place a value on the losses. Knowing that your written English is perfect enables you to have a higher quality product and greater peace of mind.

Editors are Great for your Time Management …

I have been a writer and journalist for a number of years. I know how long it takes to write good work, and I also know how long it takes to edit that work to make it excellent! There are not enough hours in a day to do the tedious work of editing. Hiring an editor is a great way to ensure that you spend time where it counts; making your business better.

… And, They’re More Cost-Effective than you Think.

Here’s an exercise for you. Answer these questions:

1. How many hours do you spend at work?
2. How long do you spend writing a new article?
3. And how long it takes to edit your work critically ?
4. Based on your business earnings, exactly how much are you earning to edit that work when you could potentially be earning more by spending your time creating more business?

What’s interesting about editing is that it is actually cheaper to hire an editor than to spend the time editing yourself. If you factor in the value of productivity versus time for non-productive duties, the benefits to hiring an editor mean you have more time and save money where it counts.

No Matter How Fluent your English is, it’s still your Second Language

The reason I specialise in editing for English for Second Language (ESL) speakers is because this is my profession. I am an expert in this field. I have taught all levels and abilities and I’ve also trained the teachers, both foreign and local. I know what it’s like for second language learners.

More importantly, I also know that no matter how brilliant your English is you cannot see nor hear your grammatical errors. It takes an expert pair of eyes and ears to help you.