Before You Send It, Post It or Put Your Name on It, Have It Reviewed
Sometimes the writing is finished, but you are not convinced the communication is ready.
The listing description may contain the right facts but still feel flat. An agent profile may sound professional without saying enough about the work behind the experience. A client email may be accurate but harder to follow than it should be. A website page, market update or press release may simply need another set of experienced eyes before it reaches the people who matter.
Communication Review is for material that already exists and needs professional attention before you use it.
You send us the communication. We examine what it is supposed to accomplish, who needs to understand it and what condition the material is in. From there, we determine whether it needs revision, editing, proofreading or more than one stage.
You do not have to diagnose the problem yourself.
What You Can Have Reviewed
Communication Review can be used for many of the materials real estate professionals work with every day, including:
- listing descriptions;
- agent and team profiles;
- buyer and seller emails;
- prospecting letters;
- website copy;
- market updates;
- newsletters;
- property and transaction announcements;
- social posts;
- press releases;
- brochures and other written marketing material.
The material does not have to be badly written before a review is useful. Sometimes the issue is simply that the communication is important enough to deserve a careful second look before it goes out under your name.
What Does the Communication Need?
Not every document needs the same kind of help.
Revision
Revision looks at the communication as a whole.
We examine whether the purpose is clear, whether the information is in the right order, whether something important is missing, whether claims are supported and whether the reader is being given enough information to understand the message.
Revision may involve moving, removing, combining, adding or substantially rewriting material when the larger communication needs to be repaired.
Editing
Editing works more closely with the language.
Once the main information and structure are settled, we improve sentence construction, clarity, word choice, consistency, tone and flow. We remove unnecessary wording and help the communication sound natural without changing the underlying facts.
Proofreading
Proofreading is the final mechanical check.
We look for spelling, punctuation, typographical errors, missing or repeated words, capitalization, numbering, formatting problems and similar defects that should not remain in finished communication.
You May Need One Stage or More Than One
A document may need only proofreading.
Another may need editing and proofreading.
A third may need revision first, followed by editing and a final proof.
When more than one stage is needed, the work follows the proper order:
- Revision
- Editing
- Proofreading
The larger communication problems are handled first. The language comes next. The final mechanical check comes last.
That order matters because there is little value in polishing sentences that may later be removed or proofreading a document that is still being substantially changed.
How the Review Begins
We start with the material itself and a few practical questions.
What is the communication?
Who will read it?
What do you need the reader to understand, decide or do?
Where will the material be used?
Is there anything you are particularly concerned about?
We then examine the document and determine what kind of review is appropriate.
If the material needs more than the service you originally had in mind, we explain that before expanding the work. You decide which service or combination you want to authorize.
What You Receive
The delivery depends on the service performed and the way you want to review the work.
Your package may include:
- a marked version showing the changes;
- a clean copy showing how the communication reads after the work;
- comments where a fact, question or decision needs your attention;
- a short summary explaining the main changes when extensive work was needed;
- selected before-and-after examples when they help explain major changes.
The purpose of visible markup is not to cover the page in corrections. It is to help you understand what changed while also giving you a clean version you can actually use.
What Communication Review Does Not Assume
A request to “proofread” does not automatically become permission to rewrite your document.
A request to “edit” does not automatically include major restructuring.
And a request to “revise” does not mean we will quietly add every other service without discussing it with you.
If the material needs work outside the scope you selected, we identify the issue and explain the options before proceeding.
You should know what work is being done and what you are paying for.
Not Sure What You Need?
That is not a problem.
You may simply know that something does not read the way you want it to, that an important point is getting lost or that you would feel better having the material reviewed before it reaches a client, prospect or the public.
Send us the communication and tell us what you need it to accomplish.
We will examine the material and explain the appropriate next step.
