This came across my facebook feed because a friend follows several news aggregators. I am not familiar with the Shoebat website, but a different friend commented that it’s a respected news site and she would expect better of them. My comment about the Pope paying toward Mecca was snarky, I know. I’m going to have to go to confession for that. 😉
I have all the patience in the world for people who seek help and want to fix their mistakes, and very little for the ones who do not. Two dollars, folks; $2.00. That’s what it would take to have a page or ad proofread before it’s published.
This one was from an ad that appeared on my facebook page after I posted that I’d have more time for painting now. Nice, facebook. I clicked the ad to find out about this art kit and was faced with this typo for a “wodden” art kit.
Why proofreading matters
I didn’t buy the art kit. They lost my trust. One reason is the saying, “The way you do one thing is the way you do everything.” If they don’t care enough to proofread their ads, why should I assume they care enough to make quality products? I just don’t trust ’em. Maybe I should—their website says they are a Google trusted store. In any case, I passed on that deal.
Most people don’t think consciously about typos in the things they read. They think they don’t notice them or that the errors don’t affect them, but they notice it subconsciously, and errors decrease the amount of trust they have in the person or company that made the errors. Charles Duncombe says that just one spelling error can cut sales in half.
Phishers and other scam artists make errors in their writing. A legitimate business doesn’t want readers to associate them with people like that, which is exactly what Duncombe says can happen quite easily. I’m not the only one who doesn’t trust a business that publishes ads with mistakes in them. Maybe it’s one of those things that is hardwired into humans.
Have someone check your ads and other business publications for errors. If what Duncombe says holds true for you, you might make twice as much money.