Wordpreneur.com

BY ALEXANDRIA K. BROWN

When you receive a sales letter with typos or grammar mistakes in it, do you take it seriously? Probably not. As soon as I see a few eighth-grade English blunders in any marketing effort, I quickly decide the author’s product or service is not deserving of my time.

Email is so quick and easy to write and send, that we don’t give it the same attention as we would a printed letter. It’s VERY important to make sure any communication you send to clients, customers, and prospects represents you only in the best light.

Now, if good grammar isn’t your strength, no worries! I write and edit for a living, so this stuff is my bag. My point is that you should check and double-check all communications you send out, or you risk blowing your credibility.

Here are the five most common (and embarrassing) grammar mistakes I see in sales letters every day. And they’re all for words that sound alike, as you’ll see.

1. IT’S and ITS

• it’s — contraction for “it is.”
  “It’s really beautiful outside today.”
• its — possessive, something belongs to “it.”
  “Our company credits its new CEO for this year’s successes.”
• TIP: One of my grade school teachers taught me to remember that an “it” can’t own anything, so it doesn’t deserve an apostrophe as the possessive.

2. AFFECT and EFFECT

• affect — to influence (always a VERB)
  “Your tardiness has affected the whole team!”
• effect — to bring about or execute (VERB), result (NOUN)
  “We’d like to effect this policy immediately.” (verb)
  “Those legwarmers definitely lend your outfit an ’80s effect.” (noun)
• TIP: I relate the “a” in “affect” to the “a” in “action.”

3. WHO’S and WHOSE

• who’s — contraction for “who is”
  “Jeff’s the guy who’s giving us a ride.”
• whose — the possessive of “who.” Something belongs to someone.
  ” Whose notes are these?”
• TIP: Again, you’re only using the apostrophe with the contraction (like in “it’s”).

4. YOU’RE and YOUR

• you’re — contraction for “you are”
  ‘You’re really asking for a raise?’
• your — the possessive of “you.” Something belongs to someone.
  “Mrs. Henley, your dog is digging in our yard again.”
• TIP: And yet again, you’re only using the apostrophe with the contraction (like in “it’s”).

5. THERE, THEIR and THEY’RE

• there — use this spelling when you’re talking about a place (literal or figurative).
  ” Sit over there.” “Stop right there.” “I absolutely agree with you there.”
• their — the possessive of “they.” Something belongs to them.
  “She thinks the Joneses are so cool because of their new BMW.”
• they’re — contraction for “they are”
  “They’re ready to quit their corporate jobs and go retire in Maine.”
• TIP: And, once more folks, you’re only using the apostrophe with the contraction. (See the pattern here?)

Okay, got all that?

Now, if you can’t memorize all these right away, don’t worry! The idea is to realize what you don’t know well, and have the sense to look it up when you’re not sure.

In fact, why not print or bookmark this page and keep it handy?

Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site.

Click here now to get a FREE COPY of Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click: A Holistic Approach, Learn how pay-per-click (PPC) and natural search engine optimization (SEO) can work hand in hand to help your business better connect with new customers. Get your copy now »

Share This