List building and non-native english speaker

12 replies
Hi guys,

Since I'm not a native english speaker, I was wondering if I should warn my subs that I might do some mistakes in my emails. Or should I just not say anything about it?

Also, if I do have a blog, should I hire someone to proofread everything or being myself and doing my best is enough?

Thanks for your help,
Catherine Bernier
#building #english #list #nonnative #speaker
  • Profile picture of the author A Modern Marketer
    Hey Catherine, I would say not to sweat it too much if you are doing videos or audio if you have an accent or make a mistake here and there.

    As is relates to email, If you are doing it by yourself an have no one to proofread it for you then I perhaps you could tell them you are apt to make a mistake or two, but if you are able to get someone to proof read it for you then I would advise you to take that route, mistakes when it comes to writing are way more detrimental on communicating your message than making a mistake on video. You definitely want to keep from making mistakes in your writing.

    aModernMarketer.
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  • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
    Would you buy from someone who made many spelling/grammar mistakes? Some people would, but many wouldn't. You're losing sales. Either learn or hire someone to do it for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author Joseph Villanueva
      I have friends who are non native english speakers and from third world countries and they make a killing online.

      It all boils down to your self confidence really.

      The more you read and learn (by the looks if it your english writing is very good ) you will naturally learn the language.

      Perhaps investing on tutor or audio selfhelp books or youtube podcast can get your english straight as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author iodalg
      Originally Posted by joaquin112 View Post

      Would you buy from someone who made many spelling/grammar mistakes? Some people would, but many wouldn't. You're losing sales. Either learn or hire someone to do it for you.
      Everything comes down to the niche! I know people who make a killing without being native speakers...!!!

      But being grammatically correct makes you look more professional! If you can afford it, then pay for it, it pays on the long-term.
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    Originally Posted by Cathbern View Post

    Since I'm not a native english speaker, I was wondering if I should warn my subs that I might do some mistakes in my emails. Or should I just not say anything about it?

    Also, if I do have a blog, should I hire someone to proofread everything or being myself and doing my best is enough?
    Catherine, if the service or products you're providing don't rely on your speaking or writing perfect English, I don't see a problem. It might be a good idea to mention upfront that your native language isn't English - if only to help you connect with your readers and potential subscribers.

    And you should definitely get someone proficient in the language to look over all your public correspondence, including emails and blog posts, before you publish them - not so much to check for grammatical errors (btw, it's make some mistakes ), but to ensure that what you're trying to communicate is coming across in the way you intended.

    Other than that, just be yourself. And good luck!


    Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author Cathbern
    Thanks for your answers.

    By the way, just to let you know, I'm from Quebec, Canada. So my first language is french.

    I'd like to start video blogging and send a link to my subs about the blog posts I will make, probably once a week.

    My action plan is almost ready so I will be online soon! I'm excited and trilled to make it work!
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  • Profile picture of the author rid243
    if you're going to be video blogging and just sending links there, then it should be fine
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  • Profile picture of the author Marco Moeschter
    I'm not a native speaker as well and I still blog, write emails to my list and record videos every day. I told my subs that I'm not a native speaker and never ever somebody complaint about it.
    You will even built a better relationship because the see that you are real marketer like they and that you are not perfect. Have confidence in yourself and don't give a sh...t about what the others think.
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  • Profile picture of the author Meharis
    Originally Posted by Cathbern View Post

    Hi guys,

    Since I'm not a native english speaker, I was wondering if I should warn my subs that I might do some mistakes in my emails. Or should I just not say anything about it?

    Also, if I do have a blog, should I hire someone to proofread everything or being myself and doing my best is enough?

    Thanks for your help,
    Catherine Bernier

    Cathbern,

    You could be using Babylon and any spell checker software.
    Before you know it, you'll be at par with most native English speakers.

    Meharis
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  • Profile picture of the author Luke Dennison
    With emails I wouldnt bother warning them, if you send broadcasts.

    I would however have your autoresponders all nicely proofread.
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  • Profile picture of the author mace1991
    you can always use someone on fiverr.com to proofread your work! Fiverr is only $5!! so you will be getting it done cheaply
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  • Profile picture of the author joaquin112
    Originally Posted by JCorp View Post

    No need to warn your subscribers... write your emails, make sure you can actually read it and understand it... and then send it out.

    Many of my emails have grammatical and spelling errors... it makes many of my subscribers comfortable because it shows that I'm just like them and that I make mistakes...

    If you're going to put it on a blog... then you might want to proofread it for spelling and grammatical errors... but for emails, make sure you can read it... and just send the email out.
    Do you have any scientific data to back that up, or are you just making it up on the spot? Have you AB tested sending a perfect email vs sending one with mistakes and compared the results or are you making assumptions like most marketers in this forum? From all my testing copy matters A LOT and like I said, bad writing is probably costing you sales, regardless of how you rationalize it.
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