The other day I was looking for a graphic to use in a client’s ezine and stumbled upon this one. Even though this wasn’t what I was looking for, I knew right away something as amiss so I paused to really look at it. I had to spell the word three times, out loud, because I KNEW it was wrong but just could not believe my eyes. It actually WAS misspelled and was being sold on a stock photo site! And what’s worse is I don’t think it was being sold as an example of poor spelling… I really think no one caught on to it! I shudder to think how many people have purchased and used this graphic without catching the typo.
Please tell me you see what I’m talking about.
If you don’t… that’s okay. I won’t hold it against you. Do you know why? Because (and I know I’ve said this before) I don’t believe anyone is qualified to effectively proof read their own work! Me included! Anything I type that’s going to be seen by more than a handful of close relations gets proof read by a colleague and friend. Yes, I do proofread it myself before it goes to her, but I always feel better knowing “another set of eyes” has perused the copy before it goes out to the masses. And do you know what? She finds something, even a small something, more often than I would like to admit.
But I digress. This isn’t about me. This is about you. This is about the content you write for your newsletters, blogs, sales letters, follow-up emails, articles, etc… Have you ever gone back and read something you published a year or two ago and a typo jumped out at you? Did it make you feel… well… stupid? Did you say to yourself, “How the heck did I miss THAT?” and then wonder how many people saw it and never said a word? Or who saw it and decided you weren’t competent enough to hire? Ouch. Right? Hey, it happens, but it could happen far less if you allowed “another set of eyes” to proofread (or edit) your copy before you send it out where the world can see it.
I was born a proofreader/editor at heart. I do it subconsciously while I’m reading. It doesn’t matter what it is (as long as I didn’t type it), but the typos and mistakes will jump off the page at me. Any confusing or flow-less content will nag at me. It pains me to read bad copy! When I see it, my mind simply screams, “Please, oh, PLEASE let me fix it!” and usually if I am able to contact the author, I will, and I’ll point out their error. I’ll lose sleep over it if I don’t.
My point is: if you write material that you want to send out to your subscribers, prospects, past clients, peers, and others whom you would like to impress, I strongly urge you to invest in a proofreader/editor. It doesn’t have to be me, but I’d be delighted if it were. I’ll sleep better at night knowing I played a small part in eradicating obscure yet preventable typos from the eyes of innocent readers. Does that make me a hero? Maybe.
Share your thoughts below… and have you figured out the misspelled word in the graphic yet?
