Linguix eliminates mistakes and improves your grammar

First and foremost, Linguix is a writing tool that not only checks your writing but offers up solutions to all manner of mistakes. And we’re not talking simply spell-checking here.

That’s because the Linguix tool has been developed by professional linguists to pick up on any number of written mistakes you may make. Of course this may be spelling, or simply using the wrong word. But that’s far from all. Linguix will help fix grammatical mistakes that undermine the value of what you are writing. Your grammatical mistakes may in fact cause misunderstandings that can cause harm to your reputation or business.

But that’s not all. Also select the characteristics of the tone and voice you wish to communicate in and even get suggestions on words and phrases that do not fit that tone and voice.

What is more, the Linguix tool is available as an extension for Chrome, Firefox and Edge, meaning that the equality of your writing can be checked when you write directly on the web in many of the world’s most popular websites and apps such as Facebook, Twitter, Slack and more.

Your writing will not just be more accurate with Linguix, it will be more appropriate for your audience too.

It provides consistency in your writing

With the help of the corrections that Linguix gives you, see a vast improvement in the quality and consistency of the written work that you are producing. Linguix will pick up on all of your most consistent mistakes and much more besides to ensure you are producing consistent, quality written text that will impact your audience in the way you want it to.

It gives you a helping hand to start your writing

The comprehensive Linguix templates library provides you with a large number of high-quality templates that you can rely upon to get your writing started. Find the structure and style of content you need for all manner of business and academic style texts, including academic papers, company press releases, sales emails and much more besides. Save time, and improve quality with this valuable tool.

Linguix allows you and even your team to write faster and more efficiently

As well as making your written text better, Linguix can help you produce your content at a greater speed thanks to the expert-developed snippets tool.

Simply assign a shortcode to a piece of text that you wish to reuse and then add it whenever you want at the simple click of a button. Furthermore, your team can use those same shortcodes too, meaning precious time is saved and consistency is maintained in the message you are sending.

Linguix helps you to learn as you write

It’s all well and good having a tool that can improve your writing. But what if it helps you learn during the process too, ensuring that you become a better communicator?

The comprehensive Linguix dictionary offers up definitions of thousands upon thousands of words and can be used with a simple click of a button whenever and wherever you are reding on the web.

And what is more, the Linguix synonyms tool provides a comprehensive list of similar options that can be used to make your writing more appropriate and powerful, and of course, works to expand your vocabulary at the same time.

Linguix can help you become aware of your writing’s readability, and even assist in hiring and quality processes

Linguix offers a fully comprehensive and responsive list of statistics that can be used to truly understand the quality of the written work you are producing.

Get a readability score based on the highly respected and widely used Flesch-Kincaid readability score. See how you improve and even use these insights to maintain quality across a team or even an entire organization. You can even assess candidates for your company by getting a true understanding of their writing quality.

You then get other stats such as reading time, average sentence length, and more to help you produce the writing you need when you need it.
Linguix can help you do all this and more. See what it can do for you and check out the specially designed Linguix for Business tool which helps businesses hit the heights with their written content.

The post How Linguix Helps You Make Your Writing More Impactful and Consistent appeared first on Linguix Blog.

That’s why it’s good to take a look at some lesser-known tools that could be equally as beneficial to teams who find themselves collaborating remotely. Working as part of a distributed team can be a challenge, but these fresh and useful tools can definitely help. We have tested them and know.

World Time Buddy: for managing team members in different parts of the world

Distributed teams quite often span different time zones. For example, you can have team members in the US, team members in Europe, and team members in Asia. One of the biggest challenges your team faces is that of time. And more specifically, what time is it for whom?

Sometimes you need to schedule a call across time zones, and this can be easier said than done when you have to manually check the physical time in each location.

Word Time Buddy is an app in which you can add the locations of all your team members. You then get an incredibly convenient timeline display with all of those relevant locations and the working hours of all your team members displayed along that line. 

With this kind of information stacked up in a practical way, it’s now significantly easier to select a time which suits everyone, or just to even check when someone will begin or end work.

Often the best tools in life are the simple ones. This simple tool has revolutionized the ease with which our team could plan simple collaborative efforts.

Toggl: for easy-to-use task management

Of course there are loads of time-management tools out there on the market, and most people will by now know the benefits (and disadvantages) of the likes of Jira or Asana. But at the same time, these well-known tools don’t work for everyone, and can often be overly complex. 

Toggl is a task management tool that operates adeptly as a time tracker, allowing you to effectively allocate time to solving different problems and then seeing your schedule adapted depending on the real amount of time it took to do something. Just because you allocated that amount of time, it doesn’t mean that’s how long it took, of course.

Toggl is great for making plans, but it’s even better for adapting them, something that every worker knows can be really hard to do.

Linguix Business: for improving the quality of team communications in English

Distributed teams may face language barriers. So, while English may be the choice in terms of the language you conduct business in, it doesn’t mean that every team member will have the same capability, or will in fact speak the same English.

Linguix’s extension for web browsers (as covered by Product Hunt) allows the checking and correction of all manner of typos and grammatical mistakes. It’s an excellent tool, but there is also a corporate version that is fantastic for assisting distributed teams.

Just think of some of the challenges that may arise from a distributed team producing content. Not only will there be those differences in English ability (and even dialect), but there will be differences in the voice and style of how those members write. As a business, you need consistency.

That’s what Linguix Business can provide, allowing the setting of writing style parameters that can be sued to ascertain the overall quality and suitability of content produced by team members. A comprehensive array of statistics also allows you to track readability scores and generally understand the consistency and productivity of the team in terms of its writing.

Krisp: for removing background noise from online conferences

Krisp calls itself a ‘noise-canceling app’. And for anyone that has been on a work video conference call in the last six months or so, you can immediately identify how useful something like that can be. With many people on the same call, and potentially kids and other family members in the background, unwanted noises can very easily creep in that negatively affect the quality and efficiency of that call. 

Krisp is compatible with all the most popular conference call apps such as Zoom and Skype, making it much easier for distributed remote teams to have proper conversations that are free from unwanted interruptions.

Chimp or Champ: for collecting employee feedback anonymously

Immediately you arrive on the Chimp or Champ homepage you are faced with an incredibly relevant question: Do you know how happy your team feels this week?

If we are honest, most of us will realize that we don’t really know the answer to this question. Or at least we don’t know as well or as often as we could. That’s because one of the greatest challenges of a distributed team is collecting and distributing employee feedback. And this is vitally important for solving issues and generally contributing to the productivity and happiness of the team. 

Chimp or Champ also calls itself an employee happiness meter. By sending out an anonymous survey every week, and then collecting and collating the results, you can instantly see how your team is feeling as a collective, and react accordingly. Of course, this will not solve the problem as to why your team is unhappy, if it is, but by actually actively collecting feedback you are showing your team that their happiness is important to you. You will need to be proactive too, but Chimp or Champ provides the relevant stats to show you how your implementations are working. 

The workplace is evolving faster than ever before. Tools such as these are really helping our distributed team. What tools are helping yours?

The post 5 Fresh and Useful New Tools for Working Remotely in a Distributed Team appeared first on Linguix Blog.

“It’s been great chatting business with you.”

“You too, I hope we can help, just let me know.”

“I’m sure you can. Send me a proposal in the next few days.”

It’s with that last line that many hearts sink. The deal looks done, but suddenly it hinges on a business proposal. And it’s you that has to do it!

Of course, big businesses will have personnel dedicated to proposals. But in many smaller operations, that may not be the case. It’s all on you. And you may have never put together an official proposal before. 

So how do you go about producing an effective sales or business proposal.

Know Your Potential Customer

Before you put your fingers to the keyboard, you need to know everything there is to know about your potential customer, and exactly what they are looking for. If you are going to provide the solution, then you need to know exactly what is needed. Not understanding the client’s needs at this stage will produce only one result: failure to secure the contract.

Structure Your Business Proposal

Like most formal documents, or indeed any writing at all, a business proposal requires a logical structure which can help the reader access the relevant information quickly.

And there is no need to reinvent the wheel. 

In summary, there are three essential components to your proposal, as follows:

1. Detail about who you are, and your relevant experience.
2. An obvious and clear understanding of what is needed by the client. Offer up your practical solution, detailing how you will achieve this.
3. Pricing and delivery details.

These are the three elements to your business proposal that must absolutely be there. Structures may vary, but these are the core elements.

Here, then, is a suggested structure for your business proposal, based on countless previous successful examples:

• Title page

Make it visually engaging.

• Cover letter

Make the approach that little less formal and little more personable by addressing the client directly with a cover letter which effectively introduces the formal proposal. Mention any previous relationship or engagement here.

• Table of contents

Make sure the receiver can follow your proposal and navigate easily between sections with a clear table of contents.

• Summary

This section sets out what will be found within, touching upon the background of your organization and the offerings provided, directly linking to the requirement. You are setting the scene for the…

• Proposal

Here is the key element to your business proposal. What, exactly, is the problem/challenge/requirement that the customer needs addressing, and how, exactly, will you solve it? Give details of your method (including technical details), personnel (with relevant expertise) and timeframe.

• Pricing

Leave no room for ambiguity. Detail the whys, wheres and whens of costs and delivery schedule. 

• About the company

You may (and should) have covered this briefly in the summary, but now you can delve into more detail into the ins and outs of your company, including history, and information about similar solutions you have offered. You could even include a case study here of a previously (successful) delivery. 

• Agreement, featuring all terms and conditions

This part is a little more contractual in its content. Get an attorney to help you here if you are unsure.

Use Tools to Help You

When it comes to producing an effective business proposal, you are not alone. Indeed, any writing you need to produce can be supported by using a writing tool, and Linguix has plenty to offer.

As well as providing a number of useful templates that can be availed of to help produce all manner of business, education-related and personal texts, there is the snippets feature which allows you to allocate a shortcode to useful text you have previously written – a click of a button will allow you to insert it whenever and wherever you need.

And of course, with Linguix you can rely upon a powerful writing assistant that will not only identify grammatical, structural and spelling mistakes in your text, but will also offer practical suggestions regarding how to fix these mistakes. By selecting the style and audience for your writing in the Linguix online tool itself, you can also ensure that your text is suitable for your target.

Fear not. Producing an effective business proposal need not be as difficult as you may have at first imagined. Use a clear and established structure, and then let Linguix guide you in all your writing needs.

The post How to Write a Professional and Effective Business Proposal appeared first on Linguix Blog.

Shakespeare, J.K. Rowling, Henry Miller, the Bible!

But thinking that you are immune from making mistakes is the first mistake you make, and it is perhaps the biggest.

Of course, most people realize that they are capable of making mistakes, especially when it comes to their written work. And this is as true of native English speakers as it is for those who speak (and write!) it as a second language, or of course those who are in the process of learning English.

Absolutely everyone benefits from editing their work. Not doing it amounts to saying that you are incapable of making a mistake. Or saying that you don’t care. Neither are desirable options.

And then there is the impression that poorly edited written work gives. Whether you are writing an email for business purposes, posting something on social media, or even speaking in an instant message with a friend, poorly written English can result in a negative impression, or sometimes even worse, a total misunderstanding. This is just as true for sending a message to your boss as it is for sending a WhatsApp message to your best friend.

So, unedited writing can affect your reputation, career prospects, and even relationships. It can also cause headaches in other ways, of course, such as confusion on a form you have completed, or any number of other possibly disastrous misunderstandings.

In short, unedited writing can cause you problems in many ways. But the simple fact is, there is really no reason for it. The solution can be relatively simple. Here are just a few easy ways in which you can successfully edit your written work or communication:

Let your writing breathe

How many times have you seen, or even written and sent, an instant message that makes you look like you, or the sender, was half asleep when they did it? Maybe you, or they, were!

But most of the time it is the ‘instant’ nature of the message that causes the problem. Just give yourself a few moments to consider what you want to say. Replying in the heat of the moment never usually ends well. 

So, breathe deeply, think about what you want to say, and then say it. This is as true when you are writing as when you are speaking. How many people have gotten themselves into trouble on Twitter, for example, for not thinking and breathing before they hit ‘post’. Don’t make that mistake!

And reread

This is perhaps the simplest piece of advice that anyone can give, but it is still amazing how many people fail to follow this simple instruction.

Reread what you have written before you send it, post it, upload it, etc..

Yes, this takes a little more time, of course, but it will be worth it.

It gives you a chance to edit any glaring mistakes in spelling, grammar, or whatever it may be, that can cause minor irritation at best, and severe embarrassment at worst. And with programs such as autocorrect at work, everyone can be caught out by not proofreading what they have written.

So just take a little time, and save yourself from the consequences of unproofed writing.

Use another pair of eyes

Where possible, and if the writing is really important, let someone else have a read before you send/post/upload etc. it. Another perspective can be so valuable.

When you are the author, you are so invested in the message that it is incredibly easy to overlook something that is glaringly obvious to another person. This is an approach that truly works, and again can save you from embarrassment.

Keep it simple

Here is some advice that nearly always rings true.

Don’t try to be too clever in your writing. Use simple words where possible. And keep it brief where you can.

If you consider these things when you are editing, you will usually save yourself a lot of trouble.

Use a writing assistant

You are not alone when it comes to editing your work. Fortunately, there are a lot of great tools available for helping with the quality of your writing, and can assist in the editing of your work.

This helps when time is an issue, and also when you lack confidence in the quality of writing you are producing.

But it also helps if you are an accomplished writer, because as we have seen, even the best writers make mistakes.

Linguix is an AI-powered writing assistant that goes to work wherever you write on the web. That means that your writing is edited instantly for mistakes, so you never need make a glaring grammatical or spelling error. Just simply download the free Chrome, Firefox or Edge extension, and you are on your way.

Furthermore, paste (or write) your text in the editing tool, and get an even greater analysis of your work, including editing suggestions, and even a Flesch readability score, as well as an educated analysis of the suitability of your text based on your own pre-defined criteria. In that way, not only will your work be free from errors, but you can also take confidence that what you have written is suitable for your intended audience. Traditional editing methods won’t necessarily delve that deep.

So, when it comes to editing your writing, that second pair or eyes can always be with you. Try Linguix to see how your writing can reach another level.

The post The Importance of Editing Your Written Work, and How to Do It appeared first on Linguix Blog.