01.08 How many mistakes can you spot? | Think your business writing is up to scratch? Test yourself on this sample copy by seeing if you can pick up all the errors. If you're making mistakes in your written communications (and we're not just talking to copywriters here), you won't be creating a professional impression with your clients.
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TEST COPY
Its not often that one has to fire employee’s. But when it became clear to Adam Johnson that some one was stealing CD’s from his music store, and that it was a staff member, he had to immediately take action.
More important then firing the thief was giving a clear message to the other staff that this sort of behaviour would not be excepted from any one. Theft is not a unlikely occurrence in retail based businesses. Some thought he’s been too harsh but most respected his stance.
It was no fun having to fire the culprit but at least it wasn’t an every day occurrence for Johnson. He was happy with he’s decision and should of been firmer a lot earlier – it might have prevented the theft in the first place. “They not going to rip me off again”, he said. “When your a small business owner, this sort of thing can dent your profit’s and staff must know there place.”
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So how many mistakes did you pick up?
0-5: Oh dear! You're probably scaring clients off with your sloppy copy!
5-10: You're picking up the basics but there's a lot you're missing still.
10-15: Not bad, but you've missed several big ones.
15-20: Pretty good. A couple have slipped through though.
20+: Excellent! You qualify for the grammar police!
If you're doing any sort of written communication that represents your business, and that includes the emails you send every day, are you aware that clients can be put off from working with you if you make mistakes in your writing?
Come along to Freelancentral's "CopyRIGHT: Common English Mistakes" course and find out where those apostrophes should really go, how your accent might be causing you to make errors, what a split infinitive is - and more.
THIS COURSE IS NOT JUST FOR WRITERS - but for anyone who is generating text that represents their company.
Date: Saturday 27 September
Time: 9.30am - 12.30am
Venue: 210 On Long Creative Suites, 210 Long Street, Cape Town
Cost: R450 (R50 discount if you have a Full/Lite portfolio at the time of booking; a further R50 discount is available for people who attended Flying Solo Cape Town).
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