Proofread you're sit!

Sew, here's the thin. I no that their are a lot of people out their who don't thin that grammar and spelling mate. And I'm her to tell ewe why you kneed to proofread you're sit!

Or better yet, pay someone to do it! You see, the world is divided into two groups:

1. People who literally cringed while reading that paragraph.
2. People who rolled their eyes and pulled up a stop complaining about my grammar meme on their phone - maybe this one:

Of honorable mention are the people who really wish that others would stop using literally when they mean figuratively. I hear you, I see you, and was I wrong? I know you cringed (at least a little).

Now that anyone and their dog can self-publish an ebook, course, or any online content, it's become the preferred way for generating passive income. Especially in the spiritual and all the "self" communities (self-help, self-awareness, self-improvement, self-employment, do-it-yourself, etc). And trust me, I love this shit! If you have a new and improved way for me to know myself and grow myself - a way for me to never have to work again. - If you have a surefire method that you've spent a lifetime perfecting (so that I don't have to) - I'm all in! Please know that I am not coming down on you for the way you're selling your goods. This passive income thing is not new and it's damn brilliant! But here's the thing - there is not a single course I've purchased, ebook I've excitedly read, or email I received to get me to continue buying more courses and ebooks that did not have at least one spelling error. Okay, I know what some of you are saying right now:

1. Come on! Lighten up! If everyone is doing it, then it's got to be okay. You know what I was trying to say, right?
2. I see you, I hear you, and I feel your pain.

Please allow me a moment to speak to both of these reactions.

Those of you who are in the first group. Yes, I usually can figure out what you're trying to say, but if you've ever received talk-to-type text messages, you'll know this isn't always the case. And yes, we all make mistakes. I'm not asking you to be perfect. I'm asking you to know where you could benefit from some help. I'm asking you to be aware of what you're selling and how these simple things may be impacting your customer base - especially your return customers. I'll come back to this, because right now I really want to introduce you to group 2.

While you may feel that grammar "nerds" are over-reacting. We're over here, indeed, reacting. And that is important because there's a decent chance that we're a large percentage of your customer base. There's a decent chance that people who love language, and love words, and love reading are also the people who are buying your ebooks, and courses, and attending your workshops. So, while you may feel like we're missing the point in alerting you to your spelling errors, please give me a chance to explain that I'm not picking on you for your inattention to detail and your sloppy work.

Wow! That was loud! I figuratively just heard a collective cry of "But I've spent hours, months, years developing this program! How dare you say it's sloppy work!?". And this is exactly my point! It does not matter the effort you've put into a product when the end result looks a certain way. When I read something (and I know I'm not alone in this) and find really simple spelling errors, I feel like you didn't make the effort to give that product a final check. It feels like you tossed it together in order to generate income and that the message is not what was important. I cannot see the time, energy or money you put into developing your product. All I have access to is the final version and your word - so your words matter.

As a consumer, you are asking me to trust you, to trust the product you are selling, to come back and try out another product. So consider this: You and your friends have heard amazing things about this new restaurant in town. Everyone is talking about how amazing it is! The owner is all over social media going on about how this restaurant is going to change your life! You finally manage to get a reservation. When you arrive, you're seated and take in the space. Everything is perfectly put together. You order and wait for this amazing meal to show up. When it finally does, the plate is sloppy with food running over the edge, some things aren't cooked fully, and is that a hair?! - Do you go back?

Now, think of all the other times in your life that you judge the quality of a product by the product itself and not the time, energy, and money that went into the design and creation of that product. I'm going to guess that it's most of the time. When your product has a written component (ebook, course, email, etc.) then it is the words that matter - those words are your gold, so treat them as such.

I'll pause now for a brief word with my grammar loving friends who are reading this and blown away by how bad my own grammar is. Thank you for noticing and no, I still don't really know how to use commas. This is where I would like to point out that I am not advocating for losing your voice or your style of writing. I am not advocating for having everything absolutely perfect according to traditional grammar rules. You see, language does evolve over time and adapts to be an effective means of communication. So many of our long held grammar rules have loosened in order to accommodate how people actually talk. Please don't misunderstand me and assume I want to turn your ebook into a prim and proper text that is grammatically perfect. Of course I still want it to sound like you, to be in your voice! What I'm asking for is really, really, really simple; Proofread your s&*t!

No. Running the spell check is not enough! If you take a moment to remember the first paragraph I wrote. Nothing in that was flagged by a spell check. You need to have a human actually proofread your stuff. Now, I'm assuming that after you've typed and formatted and re-typed it all the last thing you want to do is read it all over again. Then please, please, please find someone who is excited to do that for you! This could be a friend or someone you find online. It could be a professional or someone who is just really good with language and really excited to read. Regardless of who does this, please, please, please compensate them for their time. They are helping you to present your best written self to the world. If you'll take time to make sure your logo and photos are perfect, then please do this with your words as well. If you think this is an unnecessary step, then please send me a copy of what you're selling and I'll let you know if you're right :)

You can find me on Instagram @CurioCity_Ace and I would absolutely love to proofread for you! Additionally, I would love if you let me know about my own spelling mistakes as I'm sure there's one somewhere in here!