Thursday, September 20, 2012

Bloppers, or why you need a little help

Recently seen in a real magazine, with ellipses placed to protect the identity of the writer:   
"They made there first record... and I was fortunate enough to do their first official shoot." 
(I couldn't help thinking, if they're really fortunate, you won't be their English teacher.) 

Look, if you don't make mistakes, you're not human. But the reading public - meaning your customers and prospects - will judge you by your mistakes. 

You can argue some mistakes are OK - if they get you noticed, for example, and you're of the any-attention-is-better-than-none mindset. Of course in business, that's a pretty lame operating principle. 

Sure the bible's had several famously flawed editions, and we're still reading those.* While you can take a few cues from religion and history when you're developing a PR and marketing strategy, I highly recommend you toss in some tips from folks with more practical industry experience

*Copywriters, note: word has it the biblical scribes were flogged or otherwise severely reprimanded for their errors.

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~Diane Stresing                             

Some mistakes are more expensive than others.


Know any copyeditors who charge $25,000/minute? Now there's justification.


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