Author: FiiNix
10 reasons you need someone to write for your business
THE PROBLEMS
- You’re always having an argument with autocorrect or spell-check!
- You’d rather watch all those “likes” ticking up on your Facebook page than write up the promotional material for your Spring special offer.
- You get confused between “your” and “you’re”, “there” and “their” all the time.
- You hated grammar and language at school, and nothing has changed!
- Your last advertising flyer was a flop because it had spelling errors that knocked your credibility.
- You’re envious of the wording on your competitors’ websites.
- Your blog entries all seem to be written by a different “you”, every time!
- You feel that what you write is stale, but you don’t really know how to fix it.
- Your business could do with an objective eye, particularly when dealing with trends and new technology.
- You. Just. Don’t. Want. To. Do. This. Writing. Lark!
THE SOLUTIONS
- There are times when even the strictest grammarians will be stumped by the spelling or use of a word. The key is to know when a word is right, or when it might be an alternate spelling, as would happen if the program or app is using American spelling.
- It can be quite a kick seeing “likes” and “shares” happen on your business page, but sometimes you just don’t have the time after a busy day to sit down and transfer that enthusiasm onto your Facebook page.
- Spell-check and autocorrect don’t always catch grammatical or spelling errors. Sometimes, a word is spelt correctly but it’s being used in the wrong context. If you’re unaware of this, you could end up saying something that you didn’t intend.
- Not everyone excelled in English class, just as not everyone shone at Maths or Accounting. Play to your strengths—you should know them by now.
- Many Internet memes have been born of awful mistakes in adverts or business materials. Consider a professional’s writing to be a form of “credibility insurance“.
- Sometimes, seeing how a business competitor’s page has that extra “spark” can make you feel a bit down. Could it be that they have someone writing for them?
- Setting the tone for your business is very important. A good writer can help you present a certain “voice” in your web content and business presentations.
- There are many times when you write and write and write, and it all seems the same, but you don’t know how to dig yourself out of the rut you’re in.
- You have become too used to the wording on your website or business material, and you’re unaware that a little makeover might just kickstart a new run of customers and clients.
- There are people out there who love writing. Let them do it for you, to the best of their ability!
RELAX! I’ll do your writing for you!
…if you go chasing rabbits…
The easiest way down a rabbit hole is via a web browser – one that is loaded with Google and Chromed to the hilt.
One phrase, “Let me check something….” and your morning morphs into the afternoon, while 36 tabs do a route march across the top of your screen. Then pages start to act like a fly stuck in honey – slow and kludgy – but you persist, because you are in pursuit of that elusive something that flitted across your brain six hours ago.
The crunch is that you can’t quite remember what that ‘something’ was now.
Was it personal?
Was it business related?
Something to do with family?
Groceries, maybe?
An unpaid bill?
An invoice that has been forgotten?
Banking? Did I do the banking?
But now there are 36 Very Important Tabs left open, and you know you really must look at them, otherwise why did you open them in the first place?
And then one starts playing music – because, Google Ads.
Yay.
Not.
Things get slower. The fly is well and truly mired now. But you can’t close the tabs! What if one is The Most Important Thing That You Looked At Today?
A quick glance at a few of the pages makes you realise that you’re also enmeshed in reams of clickbait. And most of that is simply repeated across multiple pages.
Durban Mom Beats Casino!
Problem being that Durban Mom is posed in front of a left-hand drive car with Texas plates.
Oprah Nears Tragic End!
Actually, the only end she’s near is the dirty end of a Photoshop effects brush that’s given her a black eye and more wrinkles than Karoo biltong.
And all this clickbait is recycling itself across more than half of the 36 tabs that are open.
The Web is a rabbit hole. It takes discipline not to get sucked into the darkness. One of my favourite uses for it is to learn something via YouTube, particularly as I am a Think–See–Do kind of person. But again, one YouTube video on how to cut out hair on a detailed background leads to another video on how to get a sketch effect in three simple steps.
Lost! I am Lost! In pursuit of Knowing….but absorbing very little.
Now. If you will excuse me, I have 36 tabs to close.
Fix Media writing, editing and proof-reading services info
Fix Media provides a cost-effective, fast-turnaround editing and writing service for startups and small businesses. We operate in the Garden Route as well as via the web, across South Africa, and the rest of the world.
Many SMEs and business owners are daunted by the time taken to write a comprehensive guide to their products and services, while others are unsure of just how simple and concise they actually can be in describing what they have to offer.
We can take your lists and corporate profiles, and turn them into eye-catching and engaging text that will work very well across various platforms – from your Facebook page to your website description.
A 100-word document from you can be edited for as little as R25!
And if you don’t have the time to write your own text for your brochure or company profile, we can work with a short, basic description (provided by you) and turn it into web-friendly and Google-compliant content that your web designer will be able to put straight onto the page!
So why not join those savvy business owners who use Fix Media to turn a story into a best-seller!
See our RATES page for prices.
Think of the exposure!
Four words that score my heart like fingernails across a blackboard.
It is an unbelievably arrogant statement, as if the client is so important that his use of my services will draw crowds of eager customers, hell-bent on paying me, while he actually didn’t.
It isn’t an uncommon practice: the current president of the US is known for evading payment by trying to flatter his hapless service providers.
The other side of this coin is when a client will try to evade payment by saying that the work is not what he or she asked for, and then will get Cousin Dorothy or Nephew Cecil to create a facsimile in MS Paint. When said client is busted for his or her duplicity they will deny that the new article looks anything like the three options provided by me. Most likely their excuse will consist, in large part, of “instead, we used my favourite font”—and I’m not offering any prizes for guessing what those might be. I have over 30 years experience in design and content writing—your nephew will never catch up. Ever.
One of my more amusing encounters was when a client complained about the squiggles on the image—my personal watermark—because it meant that they couldn’t use it on their site or paperwork. Gosh, pay me and I might just send you the watermark-free file, in high-res too! (Yeah, that blurry look you were getting is because I sent low-res files to stop your thieving ways.)
And finally, the client who pays no attention to email requests for payment. Or ignores WhatsApp messages and phone calls. I have a special level of hell for them: being outed on social media. The small-scale hashtag campaign to grab their attention—a reminder of their parsimonious ways.
Here, there and everywhere
Fix Media Design has relocated offices to the Garden Route!
This means we can bring our work ethic and skills to a wider audience while still retaining our contact with existing clients, both local and overseas.
The same care and creativity in design, the same attention to detail, the same precision in writing and editing, but with an added sprinkle of beautiful inspiration from one of the world’s most amazing places.
Fix Media’s training arm is also Going Big!
The Silver Surfer School of SA will be expanding its scope in assisting those who feel they have been left behind by technology and smart gadgets. Presentations, workshops, talks, and one-on-one instruction are all part of our service. The Garden Route is particularly important due to its mature population who still want to be in contact with friends and family across the world.
Versatility
The space where Fix Media and the Silver Surfer School intersects is the area of Social Media Management. Small businesses or enterprises that do not have the time or the inclination to work on Facebook pages or Twitter accounts can employ Fix Media to manage those for a small retainer fee. All options are negotiable, from multiple promotions per week, to simply keeping a social media page up-to-date and fresh.
What’s more, if a business owner is not proficient or confident in writing promotional material for his or her social media page or website, then Fix Media can assist, making sure that the written word conveys the best and most beautiful aspects of that enterprise. Assistance in editing and proof-reading is also offered. We will clean up your grammar and give it that extra bit of spark that makes potential customers take note.
But wait, there’s more!
Fix Media – with decades of experience in SA’s top print media – can offer serious editorial visual content. Infographics, diagrams, charts, maps, logos, mastheads, photographic editing and correction (Photoshop). Every item is fully researched and checked. And, if needed, turn-around time can be expedited to comply with tight deadlines.
We’re happy to find a new home, and hope you’d like to join us in producing excellent content and compelling visuals!
Welcome to Fix Media Design
What is design?
Is it creativity? Is it artistic talent? Is it an ability to draw very well?
Can a designer draw or paint?
Can a painter design?
Why do people say, “I appreciate what Picasso did, but I wouldn’t want it on my wall”?
Or, “I don’t know much about art but I know what I like!”
Or even, “My five-year-old could do that!”
Why?
Can a food critic cook like a Michelin chef? Can a movie reviewer direct a classic film? Can a reader write well? Can an advanced driver design and build a car?
The answer is most likely, “NO!”
Because using or experiencing something is not the same as inventing it or creating it.
Inventor
User
Designer
Buyer
Artist
Viewer
Creator
Critic
Writer
Reader
Simply being able to wield a spanner, a brush, a pen, a typewriter, or a camera doesn’t make us the thing we think we are – or that we should be.
It takes practice. And focus. And passion. And enthusiasm. And the knowledge that – even when we are aged and sitting on that rocking chair at the old age home – we will still be creating, designing, imagining in our every waking moment.
And finally, it takes a very thick skin to withstand the slings and arrows of “My kid could do that!”
Great. Betcha he could unblock your drains too…
FIX MEDIA DESIGN 
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