A few days ago, I posted about the importance of checking presentation as well as details of your content. Today, I am going to list the details I check for when reviewing a draft for a document’s design elements.

This list is in the order I think of them, not necessarily in any importance.

• does the design complement your other materials, such as a website or business card? Does it suit your brand?
is your logo and/or business name included and in an appropriate way?
does the design match your message?
are headings and contents together? A heading at the bottom of a column and text in the next column is disjointed and looks strange
• do any paragraphs end with a single word on a line? Professional designers call these ‘orphans’ and do everything to avoid them! I have often adjusted text to pull that last word onto the previous line
• do contact details stand out sufficiently? People having to search for them are less likely to contact you
• is there a consistent font size throughout the document? Headings may be bigger than the text, but should be the same as each other
• are any tables, diagrams or pictures clearly labelled? Sometimes formatting pushes labels away from the item
• do headings stand out enough? This includes table headings, too
• can the design be adjusted to fit everything into one less page if it is currently an odd number? For example, printing is usually done in multiples of 4 pages so a 5 page document will actually need 8 pages printed
• does everything match any relevant rules or style guidelines?
• are the right things emphasised? For instance, if you have text in highlight boxes, do they stand out from the text? Are disclaimers and privacy statements attracting more attention than your main message?
• are colours and fonts consistent throughout, except as design elements?

If you are happy with all of these details, you will be very close to the correct design for your needs.

I often mention checking the details, expression and grammar of your business communications. It is also very important to check the presentation as well as that is one of the first things people notice before they even read a word.

Checking means in the final form as well as in drafts, too.

I know I have prepared something carefully on my computer, checked everything carefully and then uploaded it the internet to find it does not present properly live. Sometimes it was something simple like a bad image reference, but other times I couldn’t find a fault, only a solution!

This is why good printers and designers will provide you with proofs before printing starts, just to be sure nothing has moved or changed colour during the preparation process. When checking proofs, you have to be very focused and detail orientated.

I followed a link to a website recently. The entire site was a blog (and we’ll leave having a blog as your business website for another discussion) and I read through a few pages of it. One page was an article listing 10 points that literally looked like:

1. 1. this is our first point
2. 2. and our second point…
3. 3. and so on…
   11. closing paragraph one
   12. closing paragraph two

To give her the benefit of the doubt, I assume she had the article written elsewhere with one set of numbers, added it to her blog and selected numbered list again. Human error, probably; carelessness to not check the final result, definitely.

What is possibly worse are the sites you visit to find little red crosses instead of images, even when you visit again months later. It certainly gives the impression that they never look at their own site or pay attention to details - which is probably not a good impression to give prospective clients.

In my next post, I will cover some of the details I always check for in a final presentation draft.

Maybe its just me, but the business field seems to have more than its fair share of guru claims - that is, people claiming to be a ‘business guru’ or ‘marketing guru’ and the like.

Some people would think the guru title is a beneficial way to promote yourself and your business to the business community, thereby building a customer base and high profits. However, I think there are serious downfalls to the idea, and I would never call myself a guru; even if others were calling me a guru (and they aren’t as far as I know!) I would not use that on my website or in my marketing, at least because others may think I gave myself the title.

My newest article discusses the disadvantages and alternatives to calling yourself a guru to develop your business.

What do you think? Does someone calling themself a guru impress you so you respect what they say immediately? Or are you more cynical about them so that they have to work harder to impress you with what they say?

Would you call yourself a guru in your field (assuming you have a high level of knowledge)?

Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the first Business Mums Network Conference. I presented a workshop and in a forum at the conference, as well as being an attendee at other sessions, and found the entire weekend beneficial.

This year’s conference is a bit earlier so I have just finished a proposal to present again at this year’s workshop - I have already registered to attend anyway! I should find out later this month if my proposal was accepted so I will let you know what I am speaking about (I proposed more than one topic.)

If you can be in Melbourne in for 12 - 13 July for the conference, please make sure you meet me!