There is more to business writing than Plain Language.

As useful as plain-language is meant to be, if work has not been proofread properly there is no chance anyone will understand anything it says. Furthermore, spelling mistakes harm a company’s credibility and success, in a marketplace increasingly dominated by text based websites.

I work in retail; I know how to turn someone walking into my store from a skeptic into a valued customer. It is not hard or some big secret: be kind, be sincere, smile, and believe in the product you are selling. I work in a bookstore; I put greater faith into nothing higher.

Online customers, on the other hand, are asked to trust a faceless cashier, so the text, pictures and layout of the website have to evoke trust, and quickly.

BBC news released an article in 2011 showing that it is possible online businesses are cutting revenue in half because of a spelling error on their website. The article outlines a website (tightsplease.co.uk) that had a spelling error and the sales were double shortly after the error was corrected. This shows the quantifiable proof that customers are concerned about online fraud and the spelling on website plays a big part of building a relationship (Coughlan, 2011). Now this can be corrected, online a refresh button works wonders, but that luxury is not always present.

In Australia, the military misspelled “Australia” and had that blunder printed onto the uniforms of the Royal Australian Navy (Sassone, 2011).  This article explains that it doesn't really affect the skills of the Navy to defend the country. I am skeptical about the feelings of the soldiers being just as proud to wear the uniform as they were before. Their skills may remain undamaged, but there pride has taken a hit in some way.

Proofreading is a skill, it’s not something that people are just born to do, even people who love proofreading, should get their own stuff looked over by someone else. I’m in college and I will invariably get better marks in my Mother edits my homework (no shame).

Proofreading tips, brought to you by the genius Grammar Girl at quickanddirtytips.com.

1.     Read your work backwards. Sometimes your brain knows what you meant to say and will skip over typos. Outsmart your brain by using your brain.

2.     Reading work out loud so that you slow down your reading. (I can personally say, you WILL catch mistakes with this technique.)

3.     Print out your work and proofread that. It just works.

4.     Finally, don’t proofread your work right after you finish it. Give it a few hours to be lost then go back.

(Fogarty, 2006)

I would like to also make a note of the second point in regards to plain-language. If you trip over your words or you are having trouble pronouncing proper inflections you are not making clear statements. Developing good proofreading habits will help with plain writing as well.

Bibliography :

Coughlan, S. (2011, July 13). Spelling mistakes 'cost millions' in lost online sales. Retrieved from BBC News Education and Family: www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14130854

Sassone, K. (2011, July 20). Why Spelling and Grammar Matter in Marketing. Retrieved from Hubspot. Inbound Hub:http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/20383/Why-Spelling-and-Grammar-Matter-in-Marketing.aspx

Fogarty, M. (2006, October 20). Quick and Dirty Tips. Retrieved from Proofreading Tips: www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/proofreading-tips