Tuesday 29 June 2010

Your errors make you look bad

There, I said it. What I want to say to people but cannot.

To the fellow editor who wrote "hear is my copy edit"...
To the client who wrote "air on the side of caution"...
and to the many dozens of you who do not know that its is a possessive and not the correct way to write it is, or that their, they're, and there are not interchangeable--
to all of you I say, your errors make you look bad.

It's shocking that so-called professionals make such errors. These errors are found throughout the many emails I receive from colleagues and clients (who work for real companies that make real good $$$).

I cannot stress the importance of communicating not only clearly and concisely, but correctly. I always say that what you say matters, but how you say it matters even more. Goodness me, this is so true.

Make certain you use expressions correctly (a quick Google search will clear up the "air on the side of caution" gaff and will let you know it should be "err on the side of caution.")

One woman I met recently had its plastered all over her website when she should have used it's. She deals with high-end clients. Wouldn't you want to make sure your copy is correct and reflects the level of education and competence you are advertising? I would think so. If I see errors like this I actually don't deal with the company. It says a great deal about how meticulous they are and how they deal with details.

God is in the details.

Check your spelling.

Make sure your copy is grammatical, punctuated correctly, and that your spelling is bang on.

It saddens me how little people care about such things, minor details, things that apparently aren't worth considering. Well, you should consider it. Or at least hire someone who can consider it for you and make you look good.