Business Writing
Explore expert articles on business proofreading and editing. Find out what it takes help clients refine their business communications, enhance clarity, and maintain a polished tone. From reports to proposals, learn practical strategies for elevating the quality of business documents and ensuring they make a lasting impression.
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What Is FOMO in Copywriting? (And How to Use It Effectively)
What Is FOMO in Copywriting? (And How to Use It Effectively)
Published Nov 25, 2022
Last Updated Jul 08, 2024Fear of missing out (also known as FOMO) is a concept widely used in marketing copy. If you’re an editor working in this area, you’ll need to understand how it works. In this post, we’ll explain what FOMO means in copywriting and how you can help your business clients use it effectively. What Is FOMO? […]
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What Is an Executive Summary? (And How to Edit One)
What Is an Executive Summary? (And How to Edit One)
Published Sep 21, 2022
Last Updated Apr 07, 2025If you’re an editor who specializes in business writing, you’ll need to know what an executive summary is and how to edit one. Executive summaries are key to saving time and resources. They allow busy professionals to quickly understand the main points of a report, proposal, or business plan. But what goes into a good […]
The Inverted Pyramid in Journalism
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How to Use the 5 “W”s (and 1 H)
Published Sep 01, 2022
Last Updated Dec 15, 2023The five “W”s are a principle widely used in journalism and copywriting, so they are worth understanding if you want to edit these types of writing. In this post, we’ll set out the basics of the five “W”s and how you can use them as an editor. What Are the Five “W”s? The five “W”s […]
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5 Questions to Ask When Editing a Listicle
Published Aug 03, 2022
Last Updated Sep 23, 2025If you edit articles or blog posts for business clients, at some point you’ll probably need to edit one of the most popular formats out there nowadays – the listicle. As the name suggests, a listicle is a piece of writing that organizes its sections as a numbered list – just like this post, in […]
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Plagiarism in Business Writing
Published Jun 28, 2022
Last Updated Nov 26, 2024While plagiarism is less obviously a problem in business writing than in, say, creative or academic writing, it can still be an issue. And a good proofreader may need to highlight plagiarism in their client’s work. But what does plagiarism look like in the context of business writing? And how do you address it? In […]
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Proofreading Tips: Numbers in AP Style
Published Oct 17, 2021
Last Updated Mar 10, 2025Created by journalists to help public-facing writing in 1953, The AP Stylebook is still one of the most commonly used American English style guides around. As a proofreader, you’ll often need to check the formatting of numbers when working with a client who writes in AP style. This post will take you through how to […]
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State Abbreviations in AP Style
Published Sep 26, 2021
Last Updated May 27, 2025The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook is, at its core, a guide for newspapers and other media publications. However, it has become a popular style guide for professional or corporate writing across various industries, with many businesses following AP style for their blog articles and web content. So, if you’re proofreading for clients in the US, […]
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Proofreading Tips: Abbreviations in AP Style
Published Jul 11, 2021
Last Updated Aug 01, 2023AP style is commonly used by journalists, marketers, and PR specialists, whose writing often includes abbreviations. So, if you’re proofreading a document that uses AP style, you’ll need to know how abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms should be presented. With that in mind, then, this guide covers how abbreviations should be used in AP style. Becoming […]
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A Proofreader’s Guide to Dates in AP Style
A Proofreader’s Guide to Dates in AP Style
Published Jun 13, 2021
Last Updated Jul 23, 2025The Associated Press Stylebook is the go-to style guide for many writers, news outlets, and businesses. And if your clients use AP style, you’ll need to know how it works. With that in mind, here we’ll look at what proofreaders should know about dates in AP style, including: The basic date format (and when you […]
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How to Capitalize Titles in AP Style
How to Capitalize Titles in AP Style
Published May 30, 2021
Last Updated Dec 16, 2024AP style – as set out in The Associated Press Stylebook – is commonly used in business writing and journalism. But did you know that the AP Stylebook has advice on how to present titles of works, such as books, films, and musical compositions? It’s important to be aware of these rules so you know […]