As I talked about in my post about proofreading, trust is diminished by simple mistakes in wording, typos and bad editing.

So here’s the list, courtesy of Ezinearticles.com:

1. There vs. Their vs. They’re

* There is an indication of location.
Example: I want to see that book over there.

* Their is a possessive version of they.
Example: They took their dog to the groomer.

* They’re is a contraction, short for they are.
Example: They’re going to the theatre tonight.

2. A lot vs. Allot vs. Alot

* A lot is an indication of amount.
Example:  I have a lot of laundry to do.

* Allot means to distribute.
Example:  I will allot you two cookies.

* Alot is not a word.

3. I.e. vs. E.g.

* I.e. means “in other words.”
Example: Writing more articles increases your
website traffic. I.e., it will bring you more
exposure.

* E.g. means “for example.”
Example: I have a lot of chores to do. E.g.,
laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, etc.

4. To vs. Too vs. Two

* To is a function word to indicate relative position.
Example: We took the dog to the vet.

* Too can indicate excessiveness or in addition to.
Example: The chili was too spicy.
Example: I would like to go too.

* Two is the number 2.
Example: I want two cookies.

5. Its vs. It’s

* Its is the possessive version of it.
Example: Its door came off the hinges.

* It’s is a contraction, short for “it is.”
Example: It’s a beautiful day.

6. You’re vs. Your

* You’re is a contraction, short for “you are.”
Example: You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met.

* Your describes the possessor as someone else.
Example: Your shirt is very wrinkled.

7. Loose vs. Lose

* Loose is an adjective, the opposite of tight or contained.
Example: I have loose change in my pocket.

* Lose is a verb that means “to suffer the loss of.”
Example: I hope I don’t lose my car keys.

8. Choose vs. Chose

* Choose is a present tense verb meaning “to select.”
Example: I choose to eat healthy foods.

* Chose is a past tense verb meaning “to select.”
Example: I chose to eat healthy foods.

9. Effect vs. Affect

* Effect is usually a noun meaning “result.”
Example: The effect of increased traffic to your
website is directly related to the number of
articles you produce for syndication.

* Affect is usually a verb meaning “to influence.”
Example: I hope this training series will affect
you in a positive way.

10. Know vs. No vs. Now

* Know is usually a verb meaning “to understand.”
Example: I know you are not coming to the movie.

* No is a negative reply, refusal or disagreement.
Example: There is no problem with the car.

* Now is usually an adverb meaning “at the present time or moment.”
Example:  Now I can easily write and market my articles.

If any of these are news to you, I’d advise you to learn them.

Owen

Here’s The Way I See It

A great thing about the Internet is it has made it possible for anyone to be an instant author and publisher. And a terrible thing about the Internet is it has made it possible for anyone to be an instant author and publisher.

And notice, I didn’t mention editor; that’s the one role people seem to have forgotten ever existed. Write it and post/publish/send it. Spell check it? Maybe, or maybe not.

I can’t remember the last time I read a web page, blog post or email newsletter without at least 2 or 3 typos or other errors (and often 10 or 12!) that could easily have been caught and corrected by the writer simply by reading what he or she wrote.

The Idea Killers

I suspect often errors occur when a person changes a sentence or two and accidentally takes out too many words, doesn’t take out enough or they insert text in the wrong place. They end up with a word missing, a word in the text that doesn’t belong, etc.

What happens when the reader encounters this type of error is, the point the writer is trying to get across gets lost. If your writing is intended to convince someone of something, you want your thought to flow right into the reader’s mind, unimpeded. You don’t want his or her train of thought to be derailed by their having to stop, go back and attempt to figure out what you were trying to convey.

As an example, I’m going to take the previous paragraph and edit it down to the quality I see daily. See how hard it is to follow the thought:

What happens  the reader encounters this type of error is, the point the writer is trying to get across gets lost. If you’re writing is intended to for convince someone of something, you want your though to flow right into the reader’s mind, unimpeded. You don’t want his or her rain of thought to derailed by there having to stop, go back up and attempt to figure out what you were trying to convey.

The Sale Killer

The writer writing the last error-filled paragraph might even be trying to convince someone to buy something. Don’t they realize what it does to their conversion rate when readers have trouble understanding them or simply give up reading because it’s too hard to follow? Apparently not.

I’m personally amazed at the lack of care on the part of information marketers who are trying to tell me how to make money on the Internet and not only don’t mention the importance of proper English and correct spelling, but who fill their own material with sloppy verbiage.

I also find it difficult, as an affiliate marketer, to send my reader to a sales page that makes me cringe. It doesn’t matter if the product is good, I just think the folks I refer to that product page deserve to be treated with more respect than that. Heck, I WANT them to feel they’re getting the kind of respect they deserve. After all, I want them coming back to my site to read about the next product I found to sell them.

Let’s Talk About Respect

If you, or any other writer, can’t be bothered to read through his or her own writing to make it clear, concise and readable for the person they want to sell to, I think it shows an inherent lack of respect for the reader. “You’re not worth the effort and I don’t think you’re smart enough to notice or care.” Isn’t that insulting? I think so.

I’ve recently read that in Internet marketing you should write to a fifth grade level, because many of the readers can’t follow it if you exceed that. Really? Well, don’t forget, a lot of your readers certainly CAN follow intelligently written copy. And they’re not terribly interested in reading something written with the skill of a fifth grader, or being talked down to as if they’re at that level.

In Conclusion

If you have a quality product to sell or a worthwhile idea to convey, you’ll only convince someone of that if your writing is of equal quality. Take that further, and you can convince people the product is better than it is if your sales page is well-written. Case in point: In July or August I bought a self-help product for $97 after being sold by a well thought out web site and sales letter, only to find the ebook itself is slop.

To Your Success,

Owen

And as more and more people are trying to make money selling on the Web, the predominant thinking seems to dictate that whatever everyone else is doing, if you want to make more money, you have to do more of whatever it is they’re doing.

Or Do You?

Certainly, all the “gurus” of Internet marketing – who are selling their methods as the “holy grail” of quick riches – will tell us we need to use all their latest “tips and tricks” if we want to make piles of cash. But what I increasingly find at the core of most of their tips for success and sales is a method I refuse to use: dishonesty.

Most of the gurus of Internet marketing themselves use this tool to get us to buy their “systems” or “programs”. For example, they like to show us screen shots of their Clickbank accounts to prove to us how much THEY make using the exact methods they say they’re going to share with us, for a price. Anyone savvy about Clickbank can see that what they’re showing is total SALES, not total commissions. Their commissions are about half what they’re claiming they earned.

Then they tell us it’s easy, that we can match those earnings in an enticingly short period; I’ve seen some claim we can do it in a matter of hours or days, knowing nothing about building web pages, HTML, or writing content.

The Reality

You buy their course and find out you have to write articles to get traffic and submit them to sites like ezinearticles.com (I submitted an article on September 5 and as of September 16, the date of this writing, it had yet to be reviewed and published). And you have to register a domain name for each niche, get hosting and create and upload pages – LOTS of pages if you want Google to respect you.

Hours, indeed! We’re really talking MONTHS here for the novice who still has a regular job eight hours a day.

The Dirty Dishonest Tricks Exposed

Here’s a partial list of the tricks the marketers use and the gurus teach. If you’ve been the recipient of their marketing efforts, see if any of them look familiar:

• Use words in the title like “secret” or “never before revealed” to trick the reader into thinking if they buy the package they’ll be among the elite few who acquire this latest and greatest knowledge. The fact is, all they’ve done is put their spin on what someone taught them.
• Use a piece of java code to generate a date so the reader thinks the sales page was written 2-3 days ago, when it’s actually been online for months.
• When referring to a writer, always use “best-selling author” even if the person has never sold a copy of anything.
• Create urgency by saying this offer is only good for a few days (the old way) or the offer has been so successful, they’re going to have to take it offline (the new way). C’mon, if it’s successful, the LAST thing an intelligent, rational (honest?) person would do is stop selling it!
• List a vast assortment of bonuses, with fictitious “values” that sometimes range into the astronomical. The true definition of value: What someone is willing to pay for something. If it’s made with the intention of giving it away, it HAS no monetary value.

That last one has got to be the most insulting and ridiculous piece of dishonest marketing ever. Who in their right mind would believe that some Joe Blow (yes, some use made-up names) is going to give you $3,798 in FREE bonuses to get you to buy a $27 product?  Well, his competitor is bragging that HIS bonuses are “worth” $2,798 and he has to beat that claim!

And now, for the trick almost every online marketer is using in 2010: “You better run, not walk to this guy’s site and get in quick! He’s only going to open the door for 250 people, then he’s closing the doors forever on this offer!”

Go to the page in question and scroll to the bottom. I bet you’ll find a link for affiliates and if you click it, you’ll see he’s talking about all the money affiliates can make selling thousands of his “limited offer” package. Save the link to the high-pressure sales page you were told is only going to be up for a few days and go back to it a month later, Yep, still there.

And by the way, a few days after the doors supposedly closed on the offer, you can expect an email from the affiliate who first tried to entice you. He’ll be explaining that the demand for this product/course/whatever was so high, it crashed the server! Ah, but he’s talked the seller into re-opening for two days only, just for him. Yeah, right.

Honesty DOES Work In Online Marketing……

the gurus and their affiliates just don’t know it.

You can probably tell by now I don’t subscribe to any of these tricky, misleading or totally dishonest methods to make a buck. I like to be able to sleep at night and if I have to sacrifice my sense of right and wrong, my integrity, to sell anything, count me out.

I’ve been online selling REAL products of REAL value, to people and businesses since 2002. (See Just Saw Blades for an example) I do it the way the old Smith-Barney commercials of the 70’s used to say: “They make money the old-fashioned way: they EARN it.”

My favorite emails from my customers are very brief: “Thank you.”  Or “No one gives customer service like you do anymore.”

Honesty. Value. Integrity.