Many newsletters and online articles have small typographical errors. Most readers will skip over these. However, in the context of business, customers mistrust those who send them poorly written information. These newsletters and articles, which are meant to increase sales, hurt your business.
This is an excerpt from a real newsletter I received recently:
In won't overload you, so just a few powerful tips, one new client tool and a brief training resource each month to keep you informed and inspired.The typographical error creates a bad first impression; this sentence as a whole suffers from a contraction and a comma-fault (two or more sentences joined with a comma incorrectly); and it contains negative instead of positive terms as well as passive voice. A deeper look at this sentence reveals its overall intention. It tries to grab the reader's attention, but begs for that reader's attention with: 'In won't overload you'.
Tell the newsletter recipient what you will do; they don't want to know what you will not do. While using contractions is an informal way to address others, it might not be the best way to address your clients. Of course, this can depend on the situation. And when the passive voice is used, the customer loses interest in two seconds or less.
I know I can be picky, but this sentence can show the customer that they are in professional hands and you can be trusted.
When I edited out all of this unwanted noise and used a commanding and authoritative tone, I came up with this:
Each month, I will send out powerful tips, a valuable new client tool and a brief training resource designed to inform and inspire.It says exactly the same thing, but it gives the reader an entirely different impression. You are building a relationship with your customers. As you send them more and more valuable content that creates this kind of impression, they will start to believe they NEED your product and/or service. It is that simple.
Fiddling with grammar is time-consuming and boring, but if you don't get it right, your business will suffer for it. If you don't have the time, please do something about it and use the contact form in the right-hand column. Start a discussion about your business needs today.
