5. Writing, Editing and Proofreading Services
Have a way with words? Put it to good use through copywriting and editing for other businesses.
- Advantages: Just about any company, organisation or individual that needs printed or electronic information of any form could use the services of a copywriter, editor or proof-reader, which makes the market very broad. In addition to this, there are thousands of on and off-the-shelf business magazines published each month that require the services of specialist writers.
- Skills: Strong grammatical skills, the ability to write, edit and pay attention to detail.
- The Market: Depending on what area you focus on, potential clients for editors can include advertising agencies, marketing agencies, publishers, authors and printers. Copywriters prepare copy or text for advertisements, marketing brochures, press releases, TV and radio commercials, catalogues and packaging labels, just to mention a few and proofreaders can work across all these sectors.
- What you’ll need: The main requirement for starting an editing or writing service is to have computer equipment and the usual office software. You’ll also need a laser printer and a fax machine. In addition, you’ll want plenty of reference books, including a dictionary, encyclopaedia, thesaurus and style guides. Since you will predominantly be working and interfacing with your clients online, an Internet connection is also a must.
Tip: Establishing alliances with advertising agencies, graphic artists and public relations firms is an outstanding method to market a copywriting, editing or proofreading service, as these types of companies can refer your service to their clients, or utilise the service themselves.Online gurusBusiness today is online. Websites, social networking, even news lie in the online domain. If you have an understanding of online trends and how websites function and perhaps even how they are built, you can build a successful start-up on an online model. The beauty of web-based businesses is that they are online: you don’t need an office and you don’t need to work regular office hours, making this the ideal realm for part-time businesses.