Grammarly is The Free Tool That All Freelancers Need

Being professional is extremely important when you’re a freelancer. Nothing makes you look better than turning in thoughtful, error-free work. To ensure your work is flawless, you need a good proofreader. My favorite proofreading tool is Grammarly. It’s easy to use and, best of all, it’s free!

Almost all freelancing services involve writing. Even if you’re a photographer, graphic designer, or accountant, you still need to communicate with clients. People notice errors and can unfairly judge you for them.

Not to mention, there are a lot of grammar rules! They can be hard to remember even for someone with an English degree like me! Everyone has a few words that they always spell incorrectly or use the wrong version of. I’ve looked up the difference between affect and effect many times.

What is Grammarly

Grammarly is a free grammar and spelling checker. You can add it as a Chrome extension or download it for OS X. Personally, I use both! I’ve been a Grammarly fan since 2016.

The Chrome extension is great for catching mistakes in your email and social media sites like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and WordPress.

I use the Mac application for editing documents I’ve created in Word. It’s super easy to drag and drop into the application and correct any errors.

What does Grammarly do

Grammarly checks your spelling and grammar. It doesn’t just correct it but offers an explanation for why it’s incorrect. Ideally, you’ll learn why you made an error and not make it again in the future. If you do make the mistake again, no worries, Grammarly will catch it.

How I use Grammarly

I use Grammarly for both personal and business use.

Some of the ways I use it:

• Proofreading email communications
• Double checking content like blogs and social media posts
• Correcting Word documents and contracts

Grammarly catches a lot of my mistakes when I’m using my personal social media accounts. When I write content for clients, I revise and reread my work many times, but I’m not as meticulous with my own posts. When I write an update about my son on Facebook or reply to a post on Reddit, I type faster than I read and often don’t reread my work. Grammarly points out the errors I’ve made, with a bold red line, so I can correct them before hitting enter. I love this because I don’t want a string of edits on my Facebook posts.

For business, Grammarly helps me ensure that I’m submitting error-free work. This keeps me looking smart and skilled and allows clients to focus on the content and not a silly mistake.

Other Grammarly features

One of the other features I enjoy is a weekly progress email that lets you know how you rank against other users.

The email includes vocabulary, productivity and accuracy reports. Here’s my latest report:

I’m pleased to say I’m doing pretty well! The English degree is paying off.

The email also includes your top three mistakes. Here are mine:

Commas are tricky!

If you need more features, they have a paid option that includes advanced grammar checking, integration with Microsoft Office, vocabulary suggestions and a plagiarism checker. Paid plans start as low as $139 per year.

As a freelancer who does a lot of writing, I cannot emphasize how valuable Grammarly is. Use this link to download the free checker and let me know what you think!