Let’s take a humorous look at a serious subject. How you write – especially if you’re a business – is important because your readers will make assumptions based on your style. Some will even refuse to read what you write or decide against doing business with you over tiny typos or grammatical errors.
I wonder how many realize what their spell checker does not catch? The title of this post is from one of the many humorous spell checker poems written about spell check programs. Ode to a Spell Checker is another. Whoever composed these went to great lengths to poke fun at spell checking programs, but they do make the holes in the use of such tools painfully obvious.
My inspiration for this post was a funny look at Gross Writing Errors. Although the author uses humor the comments indicate that this subject strikes a nerve with many. I hope readers take this post in the spirit it is intended – and note the suggestions offered.
Are you spelling challenged? Grammatically lost? Or maybe you’re like the author who wrote: “I learned about grammar in grade school and I really wasn’t planning ahead – at least not for my writing career. I didn’t really pay attention to sentence structure and I thought a dangling participle was something obscene. If I only knew the benefits I would reap if I paid attention in 4 th grade. It wasn’t until I took the placement tests for college that I had to admit I was grammatically challenged.”
Now you have a business need or simply love to write and wish you had paid attention. You have several options, so just pick the one that you prefer:
- If you recognize errors when you see them, use the Internet to verify the correct usage or spelling
- Hire someone else to write for you – usually called ghostwriters or copywriters
- Hire a proofreader
Before you hire anyone be sure to read samples of their work. (If you aren’t qualified ask someone you know who is.) Many companies – especially those offshore whose employees are not native users of the language you write in – are not experts at grammar or spelling either. Many will write with more errors than you!
Few write flawlessly. No doubt there are errors in my writing because I can only correct those I recognize. There will be few spelling errors because I loved to read as a child and way back when most books and newspapers were written in proper English. When you read a lot things just “look funny” when they’re not spelled correctly or the grammar is poor.
There is one tip when hiring copywriters or any consultant that seems to hold true. Large businesses will prefer large agencies and small businesses will get along better with individual consultants or collaborative partnerships. They will have similar working styles and decision-making timeframes.
Writing styles vary enormously, so even if you are not qualified to judge the spelling or grammar of a writer do be sure to read their sample works. There are at least four styles and each fits only the readers intended:
- Over-the-top sales styles often used in long one-page sales letter Web sites – Example of a typical long sales letter – these are commonly used because in testing they do work
- Corporate-speak: Examples: Software IBM
- Straight-forward news style writing similar to what you read in this blog
- Friendly, down-home writing as though the readership were all friends and family
There are newer styles aimed at audiences that don’t include me, so this is not intended to be an all-inclusive list – only a warning that you will not be pleased if you hire a writer with the wrong style. Always ask for a sample related to the project you have in mind.
One more thing: if you simply love writing and are creative just write. Don’t worry about the spelling or the grammar or anything else while you’re writing. Get it all down first while the ideas are flowing. The spelling and grammar can be corrected later.
WRITING REFERENCES:
- Article Writing Mistakes to Avoid
- Ten Proofreading Tips
- The Seven Qualities of Highly Successful Web Writing
COPYWRITERS:
- Ghostwriting Services
- PersuasiveAdCopy – sales specific copywriting
- Susan Landry, Copywriter
- Writers for Hire Inc. – small collaborative group based in Houston, Tx specializing exclusively in writing
- Writing Wisely
Gail Gardner
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Before any one of our 53 real estate agents can send out any kind of mass email, it has to go through two people who proofread, edit and change if necessary.
Sometimes I’m really amazed at the things that our agents misspell or their use of proper grammar…or lack of.
To be honest I’m really bad at spelling and using correct grammar. But I feel lucky that I was married to a Teacher who specialized in English. So I let her do some proof read about my work before posting it to my blog. In this way I can have somebody’s opinion on my post before releasing it to the public.
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Hi
Spelling is really chalanging work. This is not easy to spelling every word. A good gramarian must have good capabilty of speeling and written the sentence.
thanks,
Jac Evans would love you to read ..Does Medicare Pay for Medical Walkers?
Oh my…the older i get the bad speller i am,,thank God for spellcheckers.I do love the Ode to a Spell Checker ..fun!
Because English is not my first language I find that I make quite a lot of mistakes. Especially if I’m not speaking/writing English a lot.
If I take my time to write then it will be fine. But sometimes it’s just not worth it. So then I use a copywriter or article writer to do it for me. So I can spend my time on something else.
I do believe it is good to stick with one or two writers that fit you. So your readers can get used to that style.
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Hi Danny,
If you wrote all the comments you’ve left recently yourself your English is better than most Americans. There have been very few indications that your native language is not English either.
I recommend businesses that hire people to comment be selective in who they hire and NOT have them comment in YOUR name. Have them comment using a pen name so there is no question who left which comment.
That is better for your online reputation and if there is ever an issue with comment quality you will know which writer to mentor.
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Thank you Gail 🙂
I would never let anyone write and post anything for me without me revising it first. And letting somebody else comment under my name would never happen. If anybody would be allowed to comment with my link then they have to do that under their own name.
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Exactly! I have had to go back on many of my old posts to fix those kinds of problems.
That’s why, I proofread each post a few times before publication. And even with that, I still manage to make mistakes here and there.
Satrap would love you to read ..Make Money with Google Places- Step by Step Guide
LOL…don’t we all?
growmap would love you to read ..Bloggers Wanted for Joint Ventures
I recommend those non-english bloggers to target their own countries in the beginning, then they can expand if they have the money. Hiring a proofreader is not that cheap, and a copywriter kind of takes the fun out of it.
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Hi Antonia,
I have often asked them why they target English readers instead of focusing on their own country. There will be good opportunities for bloggers who create group blogs focusing on their geographic area that can reach an audience of interest to small businesses where they are. See my post about the benefits of Geo-targeting blogs.
Contrary to popular belief, the way the dollar is sliding and Americans are unemployed and underemployed you can not necessarily make more money by writing for them as readers. (There is money to be made working for them as long as the exchange rate favors you.)
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This is a great reminder that how a business writes influences their business. Many copywriters these days overlook correct grammar, aiming to have that ‘conversational’ writing style that helps them to drive a point home. But silly grammatical errors are a turn off.
Great piece, thanks!
it is always a big problem for those companies whom employees are not native so how they can avoid, so they have no way but to hire qualified for person only for writing.
@jack We can all use a few laughs and it never hurts to entertain while you share.
Thanks app. That would be embarassing now, wouldn’t it? You might go viral though. 🙂
The software I used to use for blog posting (wBloggar) had the worst spellchecker ever.
Be really careful about blindly allowing your spellchecker to make corrections. Check each one.
If you don’t, you could run into a situation like this: http://cranialsoup.blogspot.com/2006/09/spellcheck.html