You are the proud owner of an editing/proofreading business. You knew what you wanted to do, and got to work at it. This means you have mastered the first step in running a small business, and you deserve a pat on the back for it.

However like most entrepreneurs, you have hit that proverbial bump in the road. Business is slow, and you’re not exactly sure how to grow your business. After all, you don’t want to see all that hard word shrivel up and dry out, do you? I thought not.

Before you can start breathing some life into your editing/proofreading business again, you need to find new clients. Depending on how you go about this process dictates whether it’s going to be an easy one or not. Let’s aim for easy.

Personal contact is usually the most effective. Most people would rather hire someone they could meet in person instead of simply having a printed resume or email to work with. As a first choice it would be best to consider making your presence known in your community. Put yourself in as many circumstances as possible where there may be other editors or potential clients.

But as you know, the majority of the available business is online. Some things you could put to use in building your business are:

* Be professional. This is a definite must at all times in the business world. Not only in person but in any written form as well, professionalism from the get-go is an important part of your business success. If you are on the receiving end of bad feedback due to losing your temper or being rude, your business will not grow. Word of mouth can sometimes be the key you need, and you won’t have that key if people haven’t anything nice to say about you.

* Look into some of the online job forums. There are numerous locations on the internet where people can post either jobs wanted or positions to be filled. Take the time to sign up for, and post to the various sites such as freelance.com or monster.com, just to name a few. A simple search in your favorite web browser will help you find many more.

Through the searches on these forums, you may come across some professionals you hadn’t thought needed the services of an editor or proofreader. From students to writers of medical journals and almost anyone in between you can potentially find many people needing your particular services. Don’t overlook any possible lead or venue.

* Update your website to allow people to envision how you can help them reach their goals. Check for grammatical or spelling mistakes as well. This is one of the major reasons a potential client will choose someone else over you. Would you trust someone with your proofreading if they can’t even spell properly on their own website? Use spell-check whenever possible.

By putting these tips into action, along with a positive attitude and outlook, your business will have what it needs to take off running. Before long you will have an established name and reputation in the business of editing and proofreading with people lined up for your services.