A Note from Julie, the Greenhouse Curator:

While watering my Baltic Blue pothos this week, I tipped the pot slightly and spotted a tangle of long roots underneath, stretching far beyond what I expected. It’s definitely time for a bigger pot! 

It reminded me of a new client who recently reached out to me, thanks to a thoughtful referral from one of my long-time clients. 

That’s the quiet magic of referrals. A connection might start beneath the surface—dormant for a while—until the conditions are right. Maybe the client’s regular proofreader is booked. Maybe they suddenly realize they need help. Whatever the reason, something that was planted long ago can finally take root and grow.

 

So how do we encourage more of that healthy growth?

Sometimes, roots need a little help. In the plant world, we might reach for a rooting hormone. In business, it could look like:

Referrals don’t always sprout right away. But when they do, they’re often the strongest and most well-matched relationships we grow. 🌱

 

If a great client came your way through a referral, I’d love to hear the story. Reply and share it with me. 

It happened again this week. I was proofreading a transcript when I saw one of those phrases that always makes me pause: “advanced notice.” Or wait—is it “advance notice”? 🤔
 

For some reason, I struggle with this phrase. I’ve looked it up more times than I care to admit.
 

This time, a quick search led me to two helpful articles (here and here) that reminded me: “advance notice” is the more commonly used (and typically more appropriate) phrase.
 

However, as a transcript proofreader, I also have to consider that the witness might’ve actually said “advanced.” And without the audio for this particular job, I couldn’t be sure. (Say both versions aloud and you’ll hear how hard it is to tell them apart.) My best move is to suggest the standard “advance notice” and flag it for my client in case they want to check the audio.
 

Naturally, I couldn’t resist going one step further. I used Google’s Ngram Viewer to compare the phrases and see which one shows up more often in published books. (See screenshot below.)

After all that thinking, I started wondering, isn't all notice given in advance? This would make “advance notice” a bit redundant, right? Hmm. 🤔

Here are three posts I enjoyed reading on LinkedIn this week:

These words sound so similar, especially when said quickly. 

perspective → a way of seeing or thinking about something
prospective → expected or likely to happen or become something

Catch of the Week screenshots come from my transcript proofreading. I can't change what a person said, but I can make sure words are spelled correctly and punctuation marks are in the right spots. If you're interested in learning more about transcript proofreading, I wrote an article about it here.

Ela from EBrooksWrites

 

Can you spot the pale green shoot on my ZZ plant? It’s grown several inches just this week. Soon, those tightly wrapped leaves will ease open and begin to spread out. 🪴

If you’re looking for a resilient plant for your own workspace, the ZZ plant made the list in Ciera Lamb's article about low-maintenance plants for your home office.

Let's keep growing together!

What did you think of today's email? I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or feedback. Email julie@theproofreadergreenhouse.com

 

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