How to Set Up Your Freelance Proofreading Business

Setting up your freelance proofreading business requires a lot more than just being able to spot grammar mistakes.

Like any endeavor, if you are looking to start a freelance proofreading business to make money, you’ll need to develop a fully rounded approach to manage your clients and your money. 

This post provides an overview of the aspects of a freelance proofreading business that you’ll want to develop over time. These include:

• Honing your proofreading skills
• Defining your services and target market
• Setting up your business legally
• Creating a website or portfolio
• Determining your pricing structure
• Marketing and promoting your services
• Providing excellent customer service

Hone Your Proofreading Skills

If you’re reading this post, it’s very likely you have a natural knack for catching errors in a text.

And if so, that is a great foundation to build upon. But natural talent alone can only carry you so far. You will want to continually level up your knowledge and skills when it comes to grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc. There are several ways to do this.

First, regularly study grammar, punctuation, spelling, and style rules. The best option is to purchase a copy of (or online subscription to) the Chicago Manual of Style. A freelance proofreading business has a fairly low overhead, but this is one tool you will want to purchase because it answers virtually every question you might have. It’s worth taking the time to get to know it and reference it frequently. Highlight or bookmark those sections you come back to time and again.

Second, read extensively to expand your vocabulary and knowledge. Don’t just stick to one author or genre—dive into fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose, modern, ancient, and everything in between. The more you read, the more familiar you become with a wide range of subjects and styles. As a result, the better proofreader you will become.

Third, practice proofreading by editing various types of documents. You can proofread literally anything for practice. Comb through a blog post or Medium article. Sign up for an account on Wikipedia and fix mistakes in random articles. Join Distributed Proofreaders to dial in your eye for details while helping a good cause.

Define Your Services and Target Market

There is no shortage of content that needs proofreading. When setting up your freelance proofreading business, you’ll need to consider what it is you want to focus on.

There are myriad types of content you can pursue, such as academic papers, legal documents, business or marketing material, and fiction, just to name a few. Which of these you want your business to focus on depends on your skill set and interests. Or you could decide to be a generalist and offer your services to a number of different types of clients or industries. Both specialization and generalization are valid approaches. You may have to experiment to find the right answer for you.

You’ll also want to give thought to your target market. Are you going to focus on marketing yourself to small business owners? Self-published authors? Students? Again, the degree to which you drill down depends on your unique situation, skills, and goals. But the question is worth asking nonetheless.

Keep in mind that your services and target market may change over time, and that is okay. It often takes experience to dial in the right niche or list of service offerings for your freelance proofreading business. The important thing is to stay flexible and trust that over time the answer to these questions will become clear.

Set Up Your Freelance Proofreading Business Legally

As a freelancer (in the US at least), you can simply find a client and start working. As long as you have a valid W-9 on file with your client, you can contract with them. (The same is true of online sites like Upwork or Fiverr.) This form of freelancing is called sole proprietorship.

Setting yourself up as a business, however, has benefits you should consider. For example, if you create an LLC, you minimize your financial risk in case of a lawsuit. Structuring your freelance proofreading business as an LLC or S Corp can also lower your taxes. 

Ultimately, how you proceed is up to you. It’s an extremely good idea to consult an expert in this area. Also, you can always get started as a sole proprietor and incorporate once you have some reliable income.

Should you incorporate your business, you’ll need to decide on a business name and register it depending on the laws in your area. You will also need to obtain any required permits or licenses based on your location and local regulations.

Additionally, it’s a good practice to set up a separate business bank account to manage your finances. It’s much cleaner and easier to keep those funds separate—especially when tax time comes around. Finding a good CPA or bookkeeper can also be very helpful here.

Create a Professional Website and Portfolio

Most companies have an online presence. As a consumer, it’s almost second nature to check out a business’s website before contacting them. This raises the question, though: do you need a website for your freelance proofreading business?

There is not a hard and fast answer here. On the one hand, websites are cheaper and easier to create than ever and are a great place to steer potential clients. You can even start a blog as a marketing tool. On the other hand, websites do take time and money to set up and maintain properly. 

In the end, you will have to decide if the pros outweigh the cons.

A portfolio, on the other hand, is definitely something you’ll want to have on hand. Until you can build up a history of satisfied clients, and even afterward, a solid portfolio can help show potential clients the value you bring to the table.

Basically, developing a proofreading portfolio involves collecting a few samples of your proofreading work in a single location. These can then be forwarded to potential clients along with job proposals, added to your profile on freelance websites, or housed on your website.

Determine Your Pricing Structure

As amazing as it would be to be able to proofread solely for the joy of finding and fixing errors, every business needs to make money. This means you need to know how to set proofreading rates and prices appropriately.

On the one hand, you do not want to undervalue your time and services, because you will end up working for less money than you could be making. On the other hand, you don’t want to set such a high rate that you price yourself out of the market.

The key to setting the right proofreading rate is finding the right balance where you are paid fairly and yet still able to compete for jobs and clients. 

The full market rate for proofreading and editing work in the US is between $20 and $40 per hour. While you can start at a rate in this range, know that you may need to adjust your prices downward to secure your first few clients. This is because if you are new to professional proofreading, you are handicapped by a lack of history. It’s harder to show potential clients that you can do the job. This, in turn, lowers your market value.

As you grow your freelance proofreading business, however, you will be able to naturally raise your rates over time.

Market and Promote Your Freelance Proofreading Business

Marketing is a necessity when it comes to freelancing. You have to be able to get your name out there so potential clients can see the value you provide. Thankfully, though, you don’t have to be a marketing genius to do this.

Marketing your freelance proofreading business can take many forms. You can utilize social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. If you have a website, you can create a blog focused on proofreading. You can make and hand out business cards to local small business owners. The possibilities are endless.

However, make sure that any marketing you do focuses on the value you bring to clients. Your marketing material should always answer the question, “What does the client get from this?” In other words, no one cares how good at grammar you are; they care about how you can help them.

It also helps to develop a marketing plan to reach your target audience effectively. Are you going to post to Facebook once a day? Once a week? Or are you going to periodically mail a letter with your business card to local companies? Just writing down a goal, such as “I will post about proofreading three times per week on LinkedIn” will help you get started.

Provide Excellent Customer Service

There are a lot of people in the world with good grammar skills. 

As a freelance proofreader, you need to differentiate yourself, and customer service is the answer. If you can provide so much value to your clients that they come to rely on you for their success, you will always have enough work.

A few ways to provide excellent customer service include:

• Communicating promptly and professionally with clients.
• Ensuring clear expectations.
• Delivering high-quality work—on time, every time.
• Creating client style guides.
• Asking for feedback regularly.

Wrapping It Up: How to Set Up Your Freelance Proofreading Business

Being able to find and fix grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in a text is foundational to running a freelance proofreading business, but it is far from the only thing you need to be able to do. As with any business endeavor, you need to work toward building out a robust business model in order to manage both your clients and your income well. Let this post serve as your road map toward setting up your freelance proofreading business!

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