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Hey everyone! Today, we’re talking tools to help make life easier. As many of you know, I make my bread and butter as a freelance copywriter, and if I can ever share tips on what makes me a better writer, I will. Plus, I know a lot of my readers are fellow bloggers (or would-be bloggers!), and a girl’s gotta help her community out.
Since I started blogging, so many people have asked me how I started freelancing, how I make a living from it, and how to get started. I’ve already put together a total guide packed with the information I would have loved to know – but today, I’m sharing an app that has totally changed the game for me. Both in freelancing and in blogging.
You may have heard of Grammarly.
If not, you may at least have seen their clever adverts dotted about the internet:
Well, last week I installed Grammarly into my Chrome browser and guys, it’s amazing.
Grammarly has gone above and beyond any other spell-checker I’ve ever used, so much so that I’m dedicated a whole blog post to it on my money blog. Why do a Grammarly review? The way I can relate these two topics is that Grammarly will make you a better writer and a better blogger, which instantly boosts your chances of successfully increasing your income. Voila.
Grammarly Review: Why Grammarly Changes the Game for me:
Grammar
As the name suggests, Grammarly doesn’t just check your spelling; it identifies grammatical mistakes too. I never thought of myself as an over-enthusiastic comma user until I installed Grammarly, but boy was I wrong.
My last blog post is so much better written because of Grammarly identifying common grammatical errors and highlighting what I needed to change. The odd comma here or there isn’t going to hurt anyone, but putting out copy that is grammatically correct makes it easier to read, more enjoyable, and looks far better in your portfolio when looking for writing work.
Read Next: How to I Landed My First Paying Client as a Freelancer
Typo Checker
I’m a touch typist with a WPM of 72. That’s pretty high. (if you want to compare – test your WPM here and tell me what you got in the comments!
However, typing so fast ultimately leads to a few typos along the way. Grammarly underlines any spelling errors or typos and suggests changes.
I know what you’re thinking. Every spell checker does that. The thing that really makes Grammarly stand out to me is…
It Works Everywhere!*
Grammarly can be installed directly into your Chrome browser, which means it’s constantly working no matter where I’m writing from. As part of my job, I write and edit articles, as well as posting social media content and creating images on Canva to be shared on Pinterest and Instagram.
While Google Drive or Word may check my spelling and grammar, Facebook and Twitter certainly don’t. Grammarly’s versatility to highlight spelling and grammatical mistakes on virtually any website is what really makes it stand out to me.
No more silly mistakes like typing a 7 instead of an & symbol, or not noticing when I’ve misspelled a word before sharing it to my 1,000+ followers on Twitter.
*The two exceptions I’ve found so far are Hootsuite and Google Drive. However, this can be overcome by using the Grammarly Editor, or by copying and pasting the text into a new document on the app itself.
If you’re a freelance writer, blogger, or just thinking about putting a portfolio together for picking up some writing jobs on the side, I can’t recommend Grammarly enough.
Read Next: Why you need to be blogging for your business
The Options
Grammarly has both a free service and a premium plan for $29.95/month, or if you pay quarterly it’s $19.98 a month.
The premium plan offers:
- Twice as many corrections
- A plagiarism feature
- Customised checks for different document types
- A 7-day money-back guarantee
Is it Worth the Money?
I couldn’t fairly say. For now, I’ve downloaded the free version and I’m loving what it’s doing for me. I’ve read other reviews that report a huge improvement, with mistakes and grammatical errors being picked up far more than the free version, which makes sense, but for that price, I would expect near-perfection.
$29.95 a month does seem like a lot for a grammar checker, so I can imagine it only really pays off if you are a full-time writer or a student with a lot of essays and assignments that need perfecting.
I may consider upgrading and will report back on my findings!
If you’re interested in trying Grammarly out for yourself, you can sign up for free here.
If you do decide to upgrade to the premium plan, I would love to know your thoughts on how it compares with the free version, so drop me an email.
What tools do you use that have taken your job to the next level? Let me know your tips in the comments below!
We're All Poor Here says
I’ve been using it for about a month. It has a tendency to make my old-ass lap top kind of laggy. Have you noticed this?
The Wallet Moth says
Interesting – I haven’t noticed that actually but will be sure to check that now. My old laptop can’t take anything else slowing it down!
Mrs. Picky Pincher says
Oh yeah, that’s right, I’ve heard of this. I personally prefer to use HemingwayApp. It checks sentence structure, grammar, spelling, etc. I also like the clean layout. 🙂
The Wallet Moth says
I haven’t heard of that one – will check it out, thanks for the recommendation! 🙂
Babbette says
I had heard of Grammarly recently and was meaning to check it out. I like how you said it would check things like Twitter or Facebook as you type. Now THAT can make a world of difference. Think of all those goofs on social media made by famous people that might have been caught before they went world wide! lol
The Wallet Moth says
Yes, for me that is the real selling point too!