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Trina Sonnenberg

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Sloppy Copy... Write Right!
10/1/2008 8:43:53 AM
Write Right Already!
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg


Being in the Internet marketing industry, I see and awful lot of ad copy, splash pages and sales letters every day. I am on the mailing lists of many popular gurus, and get email from them all. The one thing I have discovered is that not only do novices stray from the preaching of these so-called gurus, when advertising and creating web pages, but they themselves do not follow their own advice. What's up with that?

What do I mean by that statement?

I am completely amazed at how many sales letters, and sales pages consist of sloppy copy; grammar and spelling errors abound; even on the pages created by these gurus! There is no excuse for this. They keep telling people to proofread their own copy before making it public; then they turn around and tell you to use the pre-written copy they've created, and even provide site pages with sales copy on them that is disgraceful. And, they claim to be pros!

This is not rocket science folks! It takes the click of a button to use SPELL CHECK, and it takes less than 30 seconds to do, but for some reason people just don't do it.

Sure, people make mistakes, I know that I do, but if they happen to be people who are in the business of telling others the right way to do things, those mistakes should not occur. Especially not with the frequency that they do.

I visited a site, just moments ago that had me laughing. So, I am going to pick it apart right here; and no, I am not going to link to the page.

This page is an invitation to joint venture with Scott Case. And this is the first mistake I found: In the second paragraph he implies that he is two people. "My name is Scott Case. Your friend Scott Case and I..." Forget the bad grammar, is he advertising a multiple personality disorder, or what? He does it again in another paragraph: "Here's what this is all about. My name is Scott Case. Scott Case and I've just created a smoking hot new JV that is going to grow your email list like crazy!"

He reintroduces himself, like you may have forgotten him between paragraphs two and four.

Further down the page, he claims this offer is the biggest JV of the New Year! Doesn't he own a calendar? For pity's sake, it is almost October! What year is he talking about?

"These promos are skillfully crafted by our highly paid copywriters for maximum response... so you get the most bang for your effort." I certainly hope that the pre-written promotional copy hasn't been written by the same person who wrote this page.

Here's another instance of bad grammar: "It's unfortunate, but many of the top marketers aren't willing to Joint Venture with someone who's got a small list, because they either don't have the time, and they don't want you to compete with them."

It should be written as follows: It's unfortunate, but many of the top marketers aren't willing to joint venture with someone who has got a small list; because, they either don't have time, or they don't want you to compete with them. What this translates to is that the big guys have bigger fish to fry, and they don't want to waste time with small potatoes.

Or, how about this one: "This is an invite-only deal..." I believe the correct word is invitation.

This program is supposed to grow your list with lightening speed, and have these big name marketers flocking to you to do other joint ventures with them. Yeah Right! Who is he trying to kid? Penetrating the inner circle of gurus, and getting them to joint venture with you is not that easy. These guys have spent years to build their lists to the massive proportions that they've become, and if you don't have a list that even resembles their numbers, they will not likely be contacting you for anything, except to sell you some more of their stuff.

So, not only do I find the claims made on this page to be hype, but the presentation of the content is downright dreadful too. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to do business with someone who at least appears intelligent enough to use a spell/grammar checker and to make coherent statements. Nothing personal, Scott.

Don't get me wrong... Scott Case isn't the only marketer that has this problem; Oh no! Many of the big name marketers fail here too. I even contacted Russell Brunson's support desk, to let them know that the copy I read was rampant with mistakes. The reply I got from the Help Desk was shocking. It went something like this: We do not have the time to proofread our web site content, or correspondence/sales material, and to hire out for it to be done is too expensive.

What?
I don't have the time to make sure I don't look like and idiot?

Me, multi-millionaire, Internet guru, can't afford to outsource?
I thought he was a big fan of outsourcing. Was that just a sales pitch, or perhaps I am thinking of someone else? At any rate, what does this tell you about the people you are giving your money to?

Think about it.

Copyright © 2008
The Trii-Zine Ezine
http://www.ezines1.com/triizine

About the Author:
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
Publisher - The Trii-Zine Ezine - Your Trusted Source for Internet Business and Marketing Information. EST 2001. ISSN# 1555-2276


Author of: My Journey A Lifetime of Verse, ISBN: 978-0-61516405-2
Co-Owner: Internet Marketing Mavens
http://internetmarketing-mavens.com
Keywords: writing, copy writing, gurus, grammar, spelling


Trina L.C. Sonnenberg Freelance Commercial Writer TLC Promotions & The Trii-Zine Ezine ISSN 1555-2276 http://www.tlcpromotions.net http://trii-zine.com http://FAA.tlcpromotions.net
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Re: Sloppy Copy... Write Right!
10/1/2008 6:39:35 PM

Trina,

I know that some of my ads and letters have mistakes, but that is due to the lack of education.  You see when I attended school my preference was chasing the pretty girls instead of listening to what the teachers had to teach me.  So would you please go easy on this old man?

Now let's get serious, I have to agree with you and I like your post very much. (I seem to have an I problem!)

I guess you and I could create a series of letters and declare ourselves to be Gurus, then throw up a web site and tell everyone how great we are and what wonderful things we have done. 

The one thing we have to consider is that the majority of the time there is actually no way to check out the Guru's background, and they thrive off of the (Newbies that are searching for an easy avenue to use for their marketing program.)

When wantabie marketers fall for their hype and lies, and purchase the garbage they offer, then find that it does not work as they were told it would, they quit and search for another avenue.

The Guru yells Next! 

It sounds like the person you wrote about is what we refer to as a "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing." 

 

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Re: Sloppy Copy... Write Right!
10/1/2008 10:04:17 PM
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Re: Sloppy Copy... Write Right!
10/3/2008 4:40:51 AM
Thanks Trina, For a while there I thought that I was all alone on the sloppy issue thing. Your right about this one. The Phonies are everywhere now-a-days and I get really tired of it all quite often. Being in too big of a hurry to make money and to do anything right at the same time has become a big problem everywhere. Can't they chew gum and walk at the same time? In America this has become a really big problem. Washington and Wall Street is a perfectly good example of that. No one on top has the time to do the right thing anymore. Where do the leaders think their peasants will go when they realize that their leaders aren't leaders? Professionals in all walks of life and biz must wake up and smell the coffee or they are going to discover the consequences of being a failure. It is not pretty.  
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