Category Archives: Social Media

Building Your LinkedIn Network

Having a strong network of professional connections on your LinkedIn account can work wonders in advancing your career, job searching, and conducting other outreaches. While it is easiest to connect with friends and colleagues, to truly expand your network and drive value, you’ll need to reach beyond just those people you personally know.

Decide Who Should Be In Your Network

To start growing your professional LinkedIn network, consider who would be a beneficial connection. Connecting with anyone and everyone will certainly expand your network, but not in a way that is helpful to you or supports you in achieving your goals. Develop a list of thought leaders in your industry, job titles of followers you’re targeting, specific companies, or topics of interest. Whether you have a free or paid version of LinkedIn, you can use the search bar to begin populating people who fit those descriptors. Be intentional about who you are targeting.

Use available filters to narrow or search through results. Browse through the person’s profile to see if they would be a worthwhile add before following or reaching out to connect. Finding people you already have mutual connections with can be a good place to start.

Become Active with Your Network

Now that you have started following professionals related to your industry or goals, interact with the content they share. Go beyond just giving their post a “like.” Attract their attention by making a thoughtful comment or reposting to your own feed with a caption that includes insight of your own. Spend time each day reviewing your LinkedIn feed or going directly to pages of people you’re following so you can stay engaged.

There are also a variety of groups on LinkedIn that you can join. Some are focused on general topics while others are fairly specific. Connect with individuals who have similar interests and participate in group discussions to slowly increase your followers.

Create Your Own Content

In addition to engaging with and resharing others’ content, build your presence and demonstrate thought leadership with your own posts, videos, and graphics. Share information that others will find helpful, thought-provoking, or educational. Developing a content plan will help you stick to a regular posting schedule and plan out the topics you want to cover as part of your content marketing strategy. Don’t forget to respond to people who have interacted with what you have shared too.

Be Patient

Organically growing your professional network takes time. As your follower count and connections increase, LinkedIn’s recommendations will improve and become more refined to reflect the audience you’re building. You can track your progress toward your goals and learn more about your network by using LinkedIn’s profile analytics (if you have Creator Mode enabled), content analytics, and the social selling index tool. Take a deeper dive into the demographics of your followers and use this information to tailor your approach when exploring new connections or creating content.

Optimize Your Profile

Don’t forget that as you’re expanding your network and searching profiles, other people are doing the same. Make sure your own LinkedIn profile is filled out completely, including work experience, education, professional affiliations, and skills. You want potential followers to get a positive impression of you and view you as a valuable connection for them as well.

Looking to expand your professional LinkedIn network? Make sure you’re not just connecting with anyone and don’t overlook your current connections either. Contact Grammar Chic by visiting www.grammarchic.net or by calling (803) 831-7444 to learn more about how we can help you build your LinkedIn presence the right way.

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Lost on LinkedIn: Essential LinkedIn Strategies for Small Businesses

When LinkedIn was launched, it was little more than an online job board, a convenient place to share resumes and hunt for new talents. Over the years, the platform has grown into an essential platform for content marketing. For most small businesses, and especially for those that offer B2B products and services, LinkedIn marketing is invaluable.

What makes it so essential? Simply put, LinkedIn is the platform where you’re most likely to gain the attention of on-the-clock professionals, folks who may be actively seeking new vendors or partners to work with. As such, LinkedIn has arisen as one of the top online lead generators, in many ways rivaling the centrality of Facebook, Twitter, and other social hubs.

But what does it actually look like to successfully market your small business on LinkedIn? Here are a few tips to get you started.

LinkedIn Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

1) Get the timing right.

Timing is important on any social platform, and it’s especially crucial for LinkedIn. That’s because LinkedIn is a professional network, and engagement tends to plummet on Saturdays and Sundays… days when most working folks are enjoying a reprieve from their vocational duties. Weekdays, and especially weekday mornings, tend to be more impactful times to post. (For whatever reason, Tuesdays tend to be the best bets, statistically speaking.)

2) Create brand guidelines.

On LinkedIn, more than any other social platform, it’s important to represent your small business as professionally as possible. That means having a clear sense of the problems you solve for your clients, the values that guide your company, and the distinctives that set you apart from the competition. Creating brand guidelines can help you stay on message, consistently articulating the reasons why customers or clients might choose you.

3) Join groups.

LinkedIn groups allow you to join smaller communities, made of like-minded professionals. These groups can be great places to share your subject-matter expertise, precisely because the members of the group have opted in, indicating a real interest in whatever the group’s principles or subject matter may be. In other words, participating in groups can be a great way to earn the trust of potential partners and collaborators, and possibly to connect with laser-targeted leads.

4) Ensure a professional profile.

This may seem like a small thing, but it’s amazing how many business owners overlook it. Spend some time developing your company profile, providing detailed content about your services while also adding logos and other professional touches. Remember, LinkedIn gives you lots of authority about how other people see your business and brand. Use that authority to your full advantage!

5) Focus on your expertise.

LinkedIn can sometimes be an appropriate venue for hard selling, but more often, it’s best to use the platform to earn trust and credibility. To do this, share a mixture of personal/branded blog posts and carefully curated content, along with brief commentary, about topics or ideas related to your niche. Basically, show that you really know what you’re talking about, and that you have the expertise needed to be a real asset to your customers, collaborators, and clients.

6) Consider LinkedIn ads.

You may not want to do this right away, but at some point, try playing around with sponsored content. LinkedIn provides a number of advertising options that can help you build your audience, focusing on targeted professionals. This can be especially useful if you have a really good, compelling company blog post that you want lots of eyes on.

Make the Most of LinkedIn

Have you forgotten about LinkedIn? It’s easy to overlook the platform when Facebook and Twitter dominate so many people’s time and attention, but your small business deserves the LinkedIn treatment. Find out more about developing and implementing a LinkedIn marketing strategy: Contact Grammar Chic, Inc. at 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.

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6 Ways Social Media Can Boost Your SEO

Every business owner wants to see their website climb the Google rankings, gaining prominence and visibility among shoppers and potential customers. There’s no simple formula for achieving this kind of search engine success; Google’s algorithms are famously complex, fairly mysterious, and subject to frequent change.

What we do know is that the algorithms take into account a number of different “ranking factors” to determine the position of your online content. Google has offered at least some measure of clarity about what these ranking factors include, and as of right now, social media isn’t one of them. To be frank, social media does not have a direct impact on your search engine rankings.

And yet, to say that social media and search engine optimization (SEO) are unrelated would be a huge error. On the contrary, social media can be a powerful tool for boosting brand exposure, and for getting people to share and discuss your content on the Web. Indirectly, that has a huge impact on search engine position.

How Does Social Media Improve SEO?

Specifically, there are a few different ways in which social media elevates search engine rankings. Consider:

  1. Vast content distribution. Sharing your company blog posts or videos on Facebook and Twitter may not qualify as an official ranking signal, but it does signal to the search algorithms that the content you’re creating is useful to a wide audience. Creating perceived utility is always a good way to boost the SEO potential of your posts.
  2. Longer lifespan of your content. Similarly, sharing content on social media can keep it in front of readers, and even generate social shares, for a longer stretch of time, demonstrating to the algorithms that your content has “evergreen” potential.
  3. Improved organic traffic. Anything you can do to send more organic traffic to your website will ultimately help with conversions… and with SEO, as well. Again, it’s an important signal to Google, indicating that people find your site to be relevant and useful. Social media can be a powerful traffic referral tool.
  4. Increased brand recognition. Another reason to share content on social media? It makes your brand more easily identifiable among Internet users, which in turn bolsters your authority with the search engines.
  5. Enhanced reputation. An active social media presence shows your customer base that you’re ready and willing to interact with them on the Web, providing information and even customer service as needed. This can boost your brand’s reputation, another indirect way of conveying your value to search algorithms.
  6. Local search activity. If you’re able to post about local events specific to your community, that can go a long way toward signaling to Google the geographic base of your business… which may ultimately be helpful in enabling you to rank for local searches. For businesses with a brick-and-mortar location, this is invaluable.

Improve Your Social Media Presence. We’re Happy to Help.

Regular, high-quality social media activity can ultimately be a boon to your online visibility. It can also take a lot of work, to say nothing of careful strategy.

We’re here to help. We’d love to tell you more about Grammar Chic’s comprehensive social media management solutions. Reach out for a FREE consultation: Visit www.grammarchic.net or call 803-831-7444.

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Is Your Social Media Content on Brand?

As a business, it is important to connect with customers. Social media has become an integral part of many people’s lives, and users are often active on more than one platform. That means that most businesses have a presence on multiple platforms as well. Keeping branding consistent across channels makes businesses more easily recognizable and builds trust.

Here are some ways to improve your brand management and make sure your content stays true to your business’ mission and vision.

Develop a Style Guide

Create a go-to resource for anyone who makes content for your business. The style guide sets the standards and expectations for the brand voice, tone, style, colors, visuals, and more. It keeps everything cohesive and consistent. It can be helpful to design templates for employees to follow and a collection of graphics, visuals, or logos that can be used.

Plan Ahead

Develop themes, topics, or pillars to guide content creation. This can keep content on track and prevent posting articles or blogs that do not align with intended messaging. It also keeps posts relevant across platforms because they all revolve around the same subjects and goals at the same time.

Stay True to Your Mission, Vision, and Values

Don’t just post about something because it is trending or interesting. If it doesn’t fit with your company’s messaging or what you stand behind, then it may confuse customers and create a disconnect. Have a review process in place to approve content before it is posted to ensure that it is serving the intended purpose and fits with the company’s style guide.

Know Your Audience

Take the time to create buyer personas and identify your target audience. That can help you decide not only what type of content to share, but also where to share it. Just because a social media platform is available does not mean that your business needs to be on it. If your audience doesn’t have a big presence on TikTok or Snapchat, or your business doesn’t it lend itself to that type of content, then don’t join. Don’t waste time, energy, and resources on social media channels that don’t benefit your business or provide a return on investment.

Be Strategic

Sit down and develop a well thought out marketing strategy and plan. Decide what defines your brand and how you want to be known. Establish key messages and core values to build your content around. Every post should serve a purpose and fit within your overall brand vision.

Reach out to Grammar Chic today to learn more about how we can assist with building your brand and keeping your social media on point.

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6 Strategies for Your Social Media to Stand Out from the Crowd

Social media has become a key component of many companies’ content marketing efforts because it is versatile and can quickly reach people around the world. But with so many businesses vying to connect with customers, it has also become incredibly competitive. Attention spans are short, and customers are constantly bombarded with information. That means you have to take steps to make your social media presence stand out and capture customers’ interest.

Here are a few tips to get started:

1. Be Authentic.

Make sure that your business has a clear mission, vision, and voice. Create content that is personable and connects with your customers. Show them what your business stands for and values, especially on topics that are relevant to your industry or audience. Let them know that you believe in your products, services, and people. Let them see “behind the scenes” at how things get done and who’s working in different departments to be more relatable and real.

2. Be Engaging.

Design posts that encourage customers to interact. Ask questions, take polls, and run contests. Give them a reason to get involved and allow them to make their voice heard. Share testimonials or customer-generated content if appropriate. Customers like to see and hear from people like them, and they like to know you’re listening and want their input.

3. Be Responsive.

Along those same lines, if you want customers to be engaged with your page, make sure you are responding to the good and the bad. Go through and answer questions, thank people for their feedback, share more information, and respond to concerns. Show that you value their feedback and are listening.

4. Make it Visual.

Post after post of text tends to blend together. Change things up and add pictures, images, and videos to your social media. Capture their attention with a visual, then share a compelling story, witty comment, or call to action in the caption. Why just tell them about your product or service when you can show it in action?

5. Know Your Audience.

Just because a social media platform exists does not mean that your business has to be on it. Customize your content to what performs best on each platform and where your customers are. That also means knowing your audience, how they want to connect with your business, and what type of posts they want to see. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Focus on what you do best and capitalize on that.

6. Stay Consistent.

Create a recognizable brand and be true to that. Make sure that you are showing consistent brand messaging across platforms so that no matter where or how customers find you, they get the same impression and quality experience.

Does your small business’ social media strategy need a refresh to stand out from the competition? Contact Grammar Chic today to learn more about how we can help.

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Content Refresh: 7 Post Ideas to Revive Your Social Media Strategy

It can be easy to fall into a rut when developing content for social media. You get into a routine creating the same types of posts and sharing variations of the same information. This repetitiveness can cause users to keep scrolling past and reduce overall engagement.

It’s time to shake things up and give your social media strategy a much-needed refresh. Here are a few post ideas to revitalize your social media marketing and attract your audience’s attention whether you’re posting on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

  • Break Things Up with Photos and Videos

Line after line of text gets boring. Brighten up your page with photos that show your products or services in action, highlight product benefits, or give helpful how-to insight. Create short videos to increase engagement by demonstrating how your product works, what it offers a user, showcasing attractive features, or introducing new items.

  • Ask Questions

Encourage users to interact by asking for their feedback. You can create a simple poll with multiple choice answers, post two choices and have users pick A or B, or ask people to fill in the blank to complete a statement. This can also be a great way to conduct informal research and gain insight into what your customers like.

  • Share Testimonials

People love to hear what real customers think about a product or service. Create attractive graphics that incorporate reviews from satisfied customers. Pick statements that offer valuable insight and entice potential customers to take action themselves.

  • Incorporate User Generated Content

What better way to promote your business than by sharing posts from your customers? It could be a photo, video, or graphic where they express their thoughts in a relatable, authentic way. Don’t forget to ask permission and give credit to the original creator!

  • Answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Your team probably fields a lot of the same questions every week. Use this as an educational moment and create a fun post that publicly answers a question or two and gives customers more information. This can speed up their decision-making process because you’re answering what they want to know.

  • Take Users Behind the Scenes

How is your product really made? Who are the people making it happen? Spotlight a different employee or department each week. Make a video showing part of the design or production process. Snap a picture of everyone enjoying a company outing. Give insight into what goes on behind the scenes and humanize your business.

  • Go Live.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all have options for live streaming, or you can share a link to a live event on another platform. Give customers the opportunity to interact, ask questions, listen to thought leaders, or watch a panel discussion.

Consider your business and audience to decide what approaches might be a good fit, and then get started! Experiment and see what works well and what doesn’t. Give new strategies a few tries to allow them time to gain traction and boost engagement. Keep your content marketing fresh so customers want to stay connected and know what’s happening.

Is your business’ social media strategy in need of a refresh? Contact Grammar Chic today to learn more about how we can assist you.

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Tips for Writing Instagram Captions That Increase Engagement

Instagram has simply become too big and too popular to ignore. Perennially ranked as one of the fastest-growing social platforms, Instagram currently boasts well over a billion global users. And with the incorporation of social commerce functions, it’s more relevant than ever before to the interests of small business owners.

When leveraged effectively, Instagram can help you increase website traffic, boost brand awareness, even generate sales. To accomplish these goals, you certainly need high-quality images and videos. But you’ll also need something more than that: Strong captions that engage the user and encourage likes, shares, and other actions.

How to Write Effective Instagram Captions

So, what makes for effective copywriting on this image-driven social platform? There are a few considerations.

1) Front-load your sentences.

When your posts show up in a user’s newsfeed, Instagram will shorten your captions to about three lines. The user may click to expand the caption in order to read the full thing, but not everyone will take the time, especially if those first few lines don’t grab them. All that to say, front-load your captions with interest and with value. Ask a question or make an attention-grabbing statement. Make sure you pack plenty of good stuff into your opening sentence.

2) Encourage action.

Ultimately, you want your Instagram captions to spark some further action. The best way to make that happen is to ask for it, whether by posing a direct question to the user or by providing a clear call to action. Some specific things you can ask Instagram followers to do include:

  • Visit a particular link in your bio.
  • Leave a comment (usually to answer a specific question posed in the caption).
  • Tag a friend (this can help you expand your reach).
  • Share their own photo using a specific, branded hashtag.

3) Share insight.

An Instagram caption is not a blog post, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a way to share actionable advice, tips, or insights that are relevant to your field. Indeed, a post that shares real value is much more likely to be bookmarked or shared.

Side note: One of the best ways to generate insights for your Instagram captions is to actually use your blog posts. Read back through some recent posts for any bullet points that you could adapt to Instagram. Scuttling your blog for spare parts is an easy way to recycle content.

4) Be personable.

Generally speaking, the most effective Instagram captions are the ones that come across as human, not robotic. So, make sure you have a brand voice that can be casual, funny, and relatable. There’s no need to be as formal as you would be in, say, a press release. To that end, don’t be afraid to use emoji to animate your captions and inject some extra humor or emotion.

5) Use hashtags.

Hashtags are crucial for making your posts discoverable in the Instagram search algorithms, which can be key to broadening your reach. As you consider the right Instagram hashtags, we’d recommend a combination of branded hashtags (specific to your brand), community hashtags (widely used within your industry or field), and the occasional trending hashtag (but only when genuinely relevant).

Get Help with Marketing Copy

There’s a real art to effective social media copywriting… and if you need a little help mastering that art, we’re here for you. Set up a consultation call with Grammar Chic, Inc. by visiting www.grammarchic.net or by calling 804-831-7444.

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Filed under Content Writing, Social Media

Content Strategy and Coronavirus: How Companies Can Stay Connected

 

Content marketing has long been championed as a way for businesses and brands to meaningfully connect with their customers and clients.

Of course, few of us could have guessed just how precious connectivity would become in the era of COVID-19.

As more of us hunker down for self-quarantine and social distancing, a feeling of isolation runs rampant; a lot of us feel estranged from our former lives and routines, and distant from any sense of community.

While businesses and brands can’t create that sense of community out of thin air, they can offer their support, deploying content strategy to help customers and clients feel at least a little bit normal and connected.

This in turn can help companies foster a sense of goodwill and brand loyalty, something that could pay off down the road, once we all have coronavirus in the rearview mirror.

But what are some ways in which content strategy can be implemented even amidst COVID-19’s disruptions?

Content Tips for the Middle of a Pandemic

Here’s what we’d recommend.

  • Build consistency. More than ever, your audience craves a sense of the familiar. You can create that for them just by being consistent in your content. That doesn’t mean you have to post constantly, but maybe you can develop some kind of routine… for example, a #ThankfulThursday post to highlight some good news, or a regular Monday greeting from one of your employees, just to say hi and provide a sense of cheer.
  • Promote (and not just your own services). There are a lot of people hurting right now, and a lot of ways in which people can help. Use your content channels to shine a light on charities, non-profits, or other resources that people might find valuable. This is a good and decent thing to do, but it may also have business benefits: You might engender goodwill from your community, and you might help your audience feel connected to you in a sense of common mission.
  • Communicate what’s different (and what’s the same). Of course, your content and social media channels are a good avenue for you to let people know of any disruptions or changes to your normal services. But you can also use them to let people know what’s the same! There’s certainly nothing wrong with telling your followers that you’re still providing products for delivery, that you can serve them online, etc. Plug your business a little bit and show your audience that there is still some normalcy.

Now more than ever, we all feel a need to connect. If you’re looking for ways to connect with your clients and customers, reach out to Grammar Chic, Inc. We’d love to help you with COVID-19 communication strategies, or any other content needs you may have.

Reach out at 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.

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Communicating in the Time of Coronavirus

What are you even supposed to say to someone in a time of unprecedented challenge, uncertainty, and loss? It’s not a rhetorical question; it’s something all of us have struggled with in recent days, fumbling for the right words, sifting meaningful reassurances from clichés and platitudes.

The reality is that none of our words are quite sufficient for the magnitude of a global pandemic. Nevertheless, they’ve never been more essential. We need words now as much as ever as we seek to convey our empathy, our need, our solidarity, and our hope.

We need meaningful, heartfelt words for the people we love. And, businesses and brands need clear, precise language to let their customers and employees know that they, too, are doing everything they can to foster connection and weather this storm.

No doubt you’ve already been flooded with emails from companies letting you know their COVID-19 policies, changes to normal operat

ion, perhaps even ways you can pitch in and help those who are truly struggling.

And if you are a business owner who hasn’t yet found the right words or the proper tone, there is still time. A simple newsletter, email blast, or Facebook post can go a long way toward letting your audience know you’re with them in this time of crisis.

Now’s the time to speak your heart, and what’s important isn’t eloquence so much as authenticity. With that said, we can offer just a few tips on wise, clear communication in the time of coronavirus.

Communicating Amidst Coronavirus

  • The most important thing is just showing that you care. If ever there was a time to just reach out to your customers and employees, without any underlying agenda, just to tell them you’re around and you’re feeling the confusion, too… well, now is that time.
  • Be proactive in articulating key information. Don’t leave your customers to guess about suspensions of your normal services, or abbreviations to your hours of operation. Keep in contact and let people know how your company is handling the coronavirus. Be proactive in communicating any changes as they arise.
  • Consider some options for sacrificial service. What can your company do to make your clients’ lives just a little easier? Whether it’s free shipping or flexible pricing, every gesture is welcome. Note, these gestures might also make it easier for your customers to support you and your business.
  • Inspire action. Something else you can do with your business communications: Provide links or suggestions for ways your clients can help those in need. Send out information about charities or causes that are making a positive impact during this scary season.
  • Audit your current content calendar. If you have any scheduled blog posts or tweets that might come across as glib or insensitive, now might be the time to pull them and hold them for better days.

And in all seriousness: We truly do believe better days are coming. Until then, the Grammar Chic team sends our encouragement and solidarity to all of you. Hang in there. Stay healthy. Take care of each other. And stay in touch.

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Why Hire a Business Editor?

One way you can enhance your company’s written communication efforts—be that business emails, blog posts, press releases, or internal documents—is by hiring a business editor. A business editor is a skilled professional with expertise in bringing clarity and precision to written copy, focusing in particular on the kinds of copy produced in a business context.

What Does a Business Editor Do?

There are a number of specific ways in which a business editor can serve your company. Some examples include:

  • Moving or reorganizing sections of your text, providing a more logical sense of flow and coherence.
  • Rewriting minor sections of the copy, enhancing clarity and understanding, or simply making your arguments more persuasive.
  • Spotting and removing typos or grammatical errors, giving your copy a strong feel of professionalism.
  • Considering your text in light of the target audience and ensuring it’s well-positioned for maximum impact.
  • Alerting you to any industry terms, jargon, or acronyms that readers might not understand. (It’s very easy for business owners to overlook these issues; a second set of eyes is invaluable!)
  • Omitting any repetition or redundancy, keeping your writing as brief, clear, and focused as possible.
  • Ensuring a strong hook and clear outline, which allows your content to better hold the reader’s attention.
  • Assisting you in putting business terms and concepts into more accessible language. (Again it’s very easy for business owners to assume their ideas are clear to everyone. A business editor can inform you when that’s not quite the case!)
  • Sharpening your formatting and your section headings, making the content easy for readers to scan.

All of these services are offered in collaboration with the business owner or marketing department; a business editor will work with you to get your message across, drawing from your ideas but enhancing them with editorial polish.

What are the Benefits of Hiring a Business Editor?

There are some clear perks to enlisting the services of a business editor. Just a few of them include:

  • One of the biggest reasons to hire a business editor is that it enhances trust in your company. When you present copy that’s poorly written, unclear, disorganized, or riddled with errors, it makes you look sloppy or amateurish. A good editor can keep everything tight and clean, really helping you to look like you know what you’re doing!
  • Clarity of messaging is another important benefit. You know what you’re trying to convey to your target audience, but sometimes you may get so lost in the weeds that you don’t communicate with the necessary precision. A business editor can assist you with carefully honed messaging.
  • A business editor can also help you develop a consistent tone and voice for your brand. In other words, a business editor can work with you to make sure all your communications sound like they come from the same place. This tonal consistency can be an important aspect of brand-building.

There are a number of reasons why it can be prudent to hire a business editor. Grammar Chic, Inc. is a long-standing business editing service, with experience assisting entrepreneurs and marketers across countless industries. We’d love to talk to you more about our flexible, customizable business editing options. Reach out to us today and let’s chat: 803-831-7444 or www.grammarchic.net.

 

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