Pore speling, bad punctuation; and terrible grammars

Did you do the spelling errors on purpose? Just curious

Well, your subscriber should go and take a look at book reviews on Amazon. One of the things reviewers really dislike is spelling and grammar errors.

Personally, if I really like a book, I don't give it one star less because the author writes "then" instead of "than" although that error annoys me a lot.

On the other hand, I get highly irritated at people who write "ur" and really bad English like that. But that's beyond errors.

And I believe, like you, that it's important to be as precise in your language as possible to avoid misunderstandings.

I don't think you sound phoney because you use correct grammar, punctuation and spelling.

I actually put a post about this in a FB group, recently. It really bugs me when I see bad spelling and grammar in sales pages!

I'm willing to overlook it a bit if I know the person or have bought from them before, so it does depend. But, usually, it just strikes me as lazy, careless and unprofessional.

If I join a mailing list or click through to a website, I expect the message I see there to be properly formatted and relatively free of spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. While I might be able to forgive a typo here and there (I've been known to make them myself), the lack of proofreading wouldn't go unnoticed and would detract from the overall experience.

I expect a little less from forum and blog comments, but I won't read something if it's so poorly written it requires a monumental effort to decode it.

Being articulate and making sure you use good grammar, spelling and punctuation definitely isn't going to detract from your message. Following the rules and conventions of the language you're writing in is common sense. Unless you're catering to the lowest common denominator, nobody is going to look at what you've written and get upset because it was written correctly.

I've known a TON of very smart and articulate people over the years with perfect spelling, punctuation, and grammar, that have gone absolutely no where because they were too smart and articulate for their own good.

Some people know there are advantages to using bad grammar, spelling, and all the rest especially in certain niches.

Ben Settle wrote a good email/post about spelling Nazi's: Why A Spelling Nazi’s Tears Mean My Joy

I try hard with spelling but with grammar and punctuation, I write in a conversational tone. That means I may have a comma placed wrong or a sentence ending with a preposition. I don't believe most people notice errors like this because that is how they talk, too.

I think you should unsubscribe her (unless she's a customer ) and keep marketing the way you've been doing. Wouldn't make sense to earn $100k a year, and then instantly change things because of what 1 subscriber said. Man you know what you're doing... keep doing it. I'm sure you have a family to support.

I think it depends on who you are trying to reach and the medium you are using. It's ok in my opinion to have a grammatical or spelling error sometimes. You don't want to come off as too perfect but you want to be yourself too.

Yes; I think so. For "effect"/readability/entertainment.

I quite often do. I often start sentences with "And" and "But" (as you just did, yourself). But these things are perhaps "stylistic", rather than "right"/"wrong"?

Call me outspoken (it's been said ) but I think this is nonsense, and typically an attempted self-justification of some kind by poor writers.

I don't mind: I'd rather be thought weird or phoney (or phony) than write carelessly. Just my perspective.

Paul Myers might think I'm a wombat, and he might sometimes be right.

It depends on the context, in my view.

In the Copywriting Forum here, many of the successful copywriters are habitually quick to make the point that with sales copy, writing designed to show itself off tends to convert very badly (and I know they're right). I do sometimes err on this side with article-writing, and I tell myself that it suits my traffic demographics, loses me nothing and perhaps even helps me. That's obviously a significantly different context from that of sales copy. This is my story, and I'm sticking to it.

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People are ridiculous sometimes. Don't like bad grammar, spelling errors? Then don't read or better yet, take your ass back to school and become a writing teacher. I've seen millionaires, and the most professional people I know, make grammar and spelling errors, and do you think I sit there taking them to task over their grammar/spelling errors? Get a life, seriously.

You don't buy anything if you find a grammar/spelling error on the sales page? Then good for you, want a pat on the behind? Some of the dumbest people I've ever met, have perfect grammar but couldn't find their way out of wet paper bag. When people point out my bad grammar, I tell them "no $%it Sherlock, tell me something I don't know"

If you're a great writing, then good for you, don't be an ass about it. Everybody has the flaws. You may be a great writer, but bad in bed, or a great writer but a bad parent. Unless your name is Chuck Norris, you have flaws, so don't be quick to point out others flaws.

Instead of trying to look like a smart ass, do something productive like offer to proof read and correct some of these grammar/spelling errors.

As others have already said, in my opinion it really depends on the context and the situation. I treat a casual environment casually, and a professional one professionally.

And learn how to spell, Steve B. It's not grammar, it's grammer!

</sarcasm>

One of my early mentors (I was 18) built a multi-million dollar business (Honer Supply) from nothing. He taught me some of the best marketing information I ever learned. Don was one of those guys who could sell barbecue grills in hell.

When I knew him he was in his 70's, spending summers in the lakes area of Central Minnesota, where I was raised. The guy could read and write little more then his name.

The moral of the story?

Don't let little things like a tenuous grasp on written language (like yours truly) deter you.

</storytimewithbrent>

The odd spelling or grammar mistake here and there is forgiveable, but a whole article or book done that way is not.

I know that 'text-speak' came from a time when 300bps was the norm for connecting and online time was charged by the minute. This was further reinforced when mobile phone texting was limited to 160 characters, but in these days of (usually) faster uploads and relatively limitless bandwidth, I don't see any excuse for abbreviated common words.

Brevity might be the soul of wit but bad grammar needs a hammer!

Regards,

Steven Lucas

Personally I could care less when communicating e.g. facebook, email, forums etc.

I do expect a good level of spelling and grammar in articles I read or books I buy, but that's just a given.

And I completely agree with Brent Stangel.

If spelling and grammar are irrelevant, why do editors bother with proof reading?

Some people find it totally unacceptable and some couldn't care less. We all have different views. For me, commas drive me mad. I never know where to put them (and no, I don't need any suggestions, thank you very much!)

Steve,

I believe there is only one 'n' in persona.

Okay. I couldn't resist. That looked like the only unintentional typo in the post. You do realize, I hope, that the majority of grammar cops would not spell grammar without an 'e?'

General response...

If you want to wombat someone, do it over syntax. I gloss over typos without even noticing most times. Busted syntax can make an otherwise sensible sentence incomprehensible.

As for the rest, a quote from an old spamfighter comes to mind, albeit in a different context: "Be conservative in what you generate and liberal in what you accept."

Do your best and get better. And remember that other people have other priorities and other primary languages.

Oh. One other thing. When you're tempted to bash someone for whom English is a second language for their "abuse of the language," do it in fluent Urdu, or Farsi, or Portuguese.


Paul

I think we all would love to have perfect grammar and spelling, but that's not going to happen. People come from all walks of life, and not everybody has access to the same education. Me personally, I grow up dirt poor and lived in the poorest neighborhoods. I worked when I should have been more into school because frankly, if I didn't work we didn't eat, it's that simple.

My English has a Spanish accent, my spelling is decent and my grammar is terrible, but that doesn't stop me from making a living. I help in my community, and I donate to as many charities as possible. I would love to speak and write like the best of them, but that ain't going to happen. I am just an ole Ohio boy, who works hard for his money, and is happy in his own skin.

Sure grammar and spelling is important, especially when it comes to books, but it's not a deal breaker. People get the wrong idea and think if you have good grammar that they must be smart, but that is not the case. Dummies come in all shapes and sizes, and all of our shit smells the same. The most successful people I've ever met, have a rags to riches story, and I don't sit there questioning their grammar.

There is nothing wrong with having good grammar and spelling, we all would like have the same, but in the real world it doesn't always work out that way.

I think people that bash others on the internet over grammar, have themselves been bullied at one time or another.

I personally read alot of grammar and spelling mistakes, and never give it a second thought on what they meant to say. My brain auto-fixes spelling or grammar errors, and I get what they are saying. My brain even knows when someone is typing with two fingers and one finger hits a key before the other, but that's probably something the grammar police are not willing accept.

for me, spelling and grammar is really important. It shows if someone has really spent time writing it or it was just doing it mechanically. Someone that uses good structure on writing, i would like to see more of his posts / shares

I agree 100%

I've noticed most of the grammar police are people who sell articles to people with bad grammar. They might not buy from you if you have bad grammar, but they have no problem with you buying from them

As a writer, proofreader and editor, I can't stand bad grammar, spelling and punctuation and all the other issues. I do offer to proofread material if I see it (for a price.) I have been asked to review products and sometimes I find they're so full of errors that I tell the person that I can't in good conscience, give them a good review UNLESS they want my help to fix the problems.

Sometimes they're wise and take me up on my offer and other times they get p##### off.

I know not everybody has the same skills I have in this area which is why I offer my services. Everyone has different skills which is what makes the world go around.

I am willing to overlook some spelling and grammar issues, from time to time, I see it and I just smile, but when I notice it, I almost always do not purchase the product being sold, even if it seems like a good product because the bottom line here is this if someone is too lazy to proofread their own sales page or get someone else to do it, then how good can the product itself be?

When I see obvious communication problems before I even decide if I want to become a customer what can I expect when I do become a customer?

Its not about being the grammar police, language is evolving certainly however I do feel that if a product sales page has a weakness the seller should care enough about what they are selling to get it right or at least as gooder as they can.

LOL, sorry.

I agree with Humbee. Laziness in writing and grammar tells me that the person is lazy about other stuff as well and so they don't need my money either.

The ones who don't want my help when offered are the ones I am even more unlikely to spend money with. NOT because they don't want my help per se but because they don't want to take that extra step to perfect their product.

It's funny how people say they wont buy from people with poor grammar, but they have and continue to buy hundreds of products made, grown, and created by people with poor grammar.

These same people have hundreds if not thousands of products made in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mexico and other poor countries, by people who couldn't spell their own name even if their lives depended on it.

I agree bad grammar and spelling is not a good thing, but you are damn lie if you say would not buy from these people. You have and will continue to buy products created, grown, and made by people with bad grammar for the rest of your life, because your life depends on it.

I'm starting to think that some of the people who are say they will not stand for bad grammar or spelling, are doing it just to promote their own writing services. If you wont buy from people with bad grammar, then maybe people with bad grammar shouldn't buy from you.

They are saying they wont buy products from people with poor grammar and spelling, but they are typing this on a product made by people who can't spell or use proper grammar.

Next time you chow down on some food, remember that it probably came from some farmer in Mexico who couldn't spell the word corn, but is keeping your ass alive by growing it and selling it to you

Alex, don't accuse people of lying. I don't say things just to promote my services. I don't buy products when I see bad grammar and that is a fact.
Also some of the products are NOT made by the Mexicans you describe but by people who claim to have good grammar.

I am not going to get into a flame war over this. End of discussion. I have said my 2 cents worth.

I agree with Steve. It's such a hot topic that people won't agree on it. So, in the interests of fair play, let's agree to disagree and move on.

I expect that there are (a few) people who don't care about speech and writing grammar and articulation. I'm not one of those.

If you want to impress me, especially in a sales message, your communication had better be professional, clear and concise. Clarity is critical. You should make your meaning ultra clear. It should never be my job to "make meaning" from your communication.

That's not to say your communication can't be human sounding, reflect your personality and even be "folksy". Sounding like a real person with a real personality, not a corporate brand (or should that be "bland"), doesn't mean you have to sound like a person ignorant of communication "best practices".

Especially when text content is all people have to go on, copyrighting quality is paramount. Anyone responsible for public communication should read and take to heart one or more of the many books on writing advertising copy, public speaking, visual communication, etc.

In my opinion when it come to sales, either it is online or offline you cannot sell in the same way to all people. With this being said if you're doing a sales call it is easy to adapt to the prospects level. However on a sales copy you only get one change. So even if some is thinking it i either bad or good grammar and spelling another person might just buy.

There is always two sides of a coin ;P

I didn't accuse anybody of lying, and who said anything about a flaming war? I was just being honest. People talk about bad grammar like it's some disease. If everyone had good grammar, we'd all be on the internet making fun of people with bad grammar, and there would nobody left to grow the food we eat.

Whether you want to admit it or not, the very livelihood of you and your family depends on people with bad grammar, spelling, and zero education. Unless you grow your own food, dig up the earth for your own materials, to make the things you use everyday at home, your car and your back, you buy from people with bad grammar.

I wasn't singling you out when in my previous post, a few people said they would never buy from people with bad grammar or spelling. I should have just named you in my post, instead of lumping you into a group. You say you "can't stand reading bad grammar" but I'm pretty sure there are people who "can't stand reading" your good grammar. Here is an example...

That has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. To assume that people are lazy and don't need your money because of grammar errors, is ignorant as hell. Grammar is something that is taught, not something that takes a 5 hour energy do.

I am a firm believer, that you are a product of your environment, and not everybody has access to the same education. Take it from a guy who grew up in the poorest city, and went to the worse schools in the nation in Cleveland Ohio. We all would love to use proper grammar and spelling, nobody uses bad grammar on purpose. I don't get embarrassed about my bad grammar, but I try my best to satisfy the grammar police, so you guys can understand what I am saying.

Yeah my grammar sucks, and my English could use some work, but guess what? Life goes on. My kid is in college studying to be a criminal psychologist and my bills are paid. I don't owe anybody money, and I lend a helping hand every chance I get. I'd love to improve my writing in the future, but for now I will refrain from writing books

I get that part, that's why most outsource, but they are saying that the product must be bad and the owner lazy because of grammar errors. That is nonsense.

No, you are just lazy and don't deserve my business. Atleast that is what some people with good grammar are assuming

If I see grammatical errors on a site when im deciding if it is genuine or not im more inclined to avoid it. The reasoning for me is if they get basic words wrong it doesnt instill confidence in the backend with your data ect and if your trying to be big league like some places ive worked the site having typos is a no no if your trying to impress customers who can simply click elsewhere.

I think even if you cant spell just get somone who can to check it over. A second set of eyes checking over something can pick up a lot you overlook or take for granted in many situations.

Thats my main thoughts on this as a consumer online.

I cannot understand why you would not go out of your way to represent yourself and your business in a positive light. Yes, this includes your grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I have regularly asked people to step up their game in written communication on professional levels, and passed up doing business with some people because of their inability to represent themselves in an educated manner.

Especially with all of the tools out there to help you, most of the time these "mistakes" are just sheer laziness.

Thanks, Alex. Sometimes it is hard to tell when people are being sarcastic and being genuine.

Sometimes, it can be a turn-off.. Except for a couple missed spelling issues on a good copy.

However, when it becomes difficult enough to understand it also shows no professionalism. Plus, how can you get your real message across?

It matters to me and affects my decision to keep going or stop when reading an article. The worst example for me, the one that just bothers me to no end is when someone says "I made 3 sells today," or "How can I sale an ebook to people?" I see this all the time and makes me NUTS!

I always feel that its the "little things" that talk big about you. If "poor" becomes "pore" and you are not aware of it or simply don't care, you will grow "poorer" (or porer LOL) for sure.

I think people get far too excited about grammar and spelling errors. Unless the mistakes are horrendous, I don't think badly of the writer. I write and edit, and when I go over my own work, I find tons of typos and mistakes that need to be corrected. After I hit the submit button, I often find typos that I missed when I edited it the first time! I'm lucky enough to have had a good education so usually a grammar or spelling error is just a typo. I know most of the basic rules of grammar and I won many spelling bees when I was in school. I think some people make others feel bad if there is a mistake and I think that's wrong. How many great stories or blog posts aren't written because the writer thinks their grammar isn't good enough? One of the best stories I ever read on Kindle was written without a single comma. Obviously the author couldn't afford an editor, but her story was really great anyway.

That said, I am turned off by content that's poorly produced, researched or spun. This is usually the result of someone paying a couple bucks to a person who isn't a native English speaker.

I would personally never buy any high-ticket item from someone with poor spelling and grammar. I'd be hesitant to buy any information-based product from someone with poor spelling and grammar even if it were just $5. Granted, I actually did buy a $5 ebook recently from someone with a poor command of English, but it was only after a lot of careful consideration on my side.

So, if someone's trying to make a living off of purely peddling huge quantities of cheap crap then I suppose they can get by without careful attention to spelling and grammar but it's absolutely necessary in any higher levels.

If you're just texting your friends on Facebook, then talk or chat however you want. But, for business presentations and communication, maintain professionalism by using correct grammar. At least, that's my standard.

Just to add to this... some marketers use incorrect spelling and or grammar very well, very very well.