I'll bet you have seen headlines like this. If you spend any
time online, you have probably seen something like this: "ARE
YOU SURCHING FOR A GAURANTEED BUSSINESS OPPERTUNITY? DOWNLAOD
HERE" That may be extreme. Unfortunately it's not at all
unusual.
One of the first lessons we're taught is to "wash behind your
ears".
We also "don't air our dirty laundry in public".
Who hasn't heard the axiom: "You never get a SECOND CHANCE to
make a GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION"?
Why then do so many Internet Marketers insist on ignoring these
simple guidelines?
Instead of an attention grabbing introduction, that offensive
headline simply sets off all the bells, whistles and sirens
which proclaim: "dirty ears, dirty laundry and a lousy first
impression---probably a lousy product". Nearly all serious
prospects will instantly surf away from such flagrant
carelessness.
Proofreading isn't all that difficult. If you're not comfortable
doing it yourself, find a friend.....or HIRE someone. Writing
good copy is a challenge. Creating an effective website can take
weeks or months.
Can you afford to throw away all that work over a few "typos",
misspellings and missed punctuation marks?
Spell checkers are not the final answer either. Although they
would have corrected the offending headline, they don't
differentiate among "their", "they're" or "there". "Too", "two"
and "to" are treated equally; so are "your" and "you're".
Don't hesitate to call on friends and family. My ten year old
granddaughter is one of my regulars. She loves to help in any
way that she can; and I suspect that she gets a certain thrill
out of catching "Poppy" in yet another "goof". Once she is
finished proofing the copy, there is the bonus that I can then
ask her to explain what she has just read. All too often, what
seems so clear to me when I write it turns out to be not nearly
so understandable to the reader.
There is no substitute for intense and accurate proofreading.
You also must realize that your own "proofing" becomes less
effective with each read through. Your brain and eyes are
already conditioned to see what you meant, and not always what
you actually created. It is much more effective to have someone
who is not familiar with your copy do additional proofreading
for you.
I then ask "the light of my life" to read the copy aloud.
Actually hearing what I have written turns out to be one of the
most effective ways of finding the need for additional editing.
So much for my methods. There are professional proofreading
services available. Just consider them a necessary part of doing
business. A quick "Google" for "proofreaders" just returned
304,000 possibilities.
A quick recap: PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD. Then PROOFREAD
AGAIN........
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