1. PUTTING TOO MUCH IN CAPITAL LETTERS
Stop shouting at me!

2. Adding an apostrophe and an S to a bunch of capital letters to make it plural
Think again—that’s how you show something belongs to someone. MDs are a bunch of doctors and VAs are a group of virtual assistants. Likewise, one MD’s hours might be long and one VA’s business might be in a thriving area.

What is your pet peeve?

Whether you like it or not, many people pay more attention to how your words make them feel than to what you actually say. If poor grammar, spelling errors, improper punctuation, foul language, or inappropriate humor are present, you may be deemed unprofessional even if you are THE expert in your field.

When in doubt, ask for help. Get input from a trusted friend. Hire a copy editor. Write like a professional.

Lisa has been nominated for a PA Tech Award for her creation of the Spanish Techbook, an online resource she is sharing with Spanish teachers and students as a public service. Please help her win the People’s Choice award by voting for her at http://www.techquestawards.com/leaderboard and then sharing this request with your friends, fans, and followers (and if the voting feature is malfunctioning, please try again later). Lisa and I thank you for voting and for putting the power of social networking to work on her behalf.

An addendum: you should see a gold Vote button. Click the one next to Lisa’s name and it (and all the other Vote buttons) will turn gray. If the Vote button is gray to start, either the system is experiencing problems or someone has already voted from your device (computer, laptop, phone) today.

I talked with Lisa earlier. She is delighted with the amount of interest being shown in the Spanish Techbook, knowing this will help more students get excited about Spanish, and thanks you for your support.

1. Capture your great ideas in a tangible form (audio, video, or text). Don’t worry about perfection at this point—just get those thoughts out of your head.

2. Know what content format appeals to your audience. You might be a champion speller, but it won’t matter one iota if your intended recipient prefers audio or video to text.

3. If your fans, friends, followers, and subscribers love video or audio content, smile and breathe a sigh of relief—you’re almost done. Ask a friend who is a good speller to double check spelling in your posts, on your landing page, and in your call to action. Don’t forget to peruse your contact information and URL, too.

4. Acknowledge how important it is to get your message out. Don’t keep great ideas, valuable information, and your passion to yourself simply because you’re not the world’s best speller.

5. Understand that although spelling doesn’t have to matter to you, it may matter a great deal to your readers. They may judge your professionalism, your expertise, and your willingness to pay attention to detail by how you present yourself on paper. Hire someone to proofread for you so your message will not be dismissed or ignored.

Don’t let poor spelling stop you from sharing your expertise. Ask for help if you need it then fearlessly create valuable content for your following.

1. Read your completed text out loud, word for word. While your eyes may skim over a misspelling, your lips may stumble and help you catch a mistake. Similarly, pronouncing words carefully as you commit them to text will often help you get closer to the correct spelling so your spellchecker can more accurately guess the correct word.

2.. Read your text backwards. This slows you down so you really look at each word.

3. Realize your spell checker cannot differentiate between words that sound alike (to, two, too)     although some do have basic syntax and grammar checking capabilities included. When in doubt, use a dictionary.

4. Enter words you use frequently—especially words your spellchecker consistently gets wrong—in your spell check dictionary on your computer and on your iPhone.

5. Hire a proofreader or editor. If you hire someone who is fluent in your language, they can check your grammar while double checking spelling. If you don’t have the money to hire a second set of eyes, the only way to completely avoid spellchecker errors is to produce all your online content in video format, without any subtitles.
 
Besides being an excellent speller or proofreader, how do you avoid spellchecking mistakes?

Biweekly and biyearly present the same challenge. Be concise and pick a synonym–fortnightly to say every other week or semiannually to imply twice a year–or be specific by saying “the first and fifteenth of the month.”

Apply the same principle to words in your industry or business niche. Don’t assume your readers know your jargon, your trade names, or your clever but confusing acronyms and abbreviations.

1. Take immediate action. Don’t assume ignoring the complaint will solve the problem.

2. Ask clarifying questions so you can decide on a plan of action. Are assembly instructions incomplete? Does the widget work differently than promised or simply not as expected? Would another color or size be preferable? Is the client simply trying to get something for nothing?

3. Write to right the wrong. Create content that addresses the perceived concern. If your customer feels they paid too much for their wonder widget, give them a free “25 unexpected ways to use your wonder widget” checklist or create a video about “how the wonder widget can save you money.”  Post your information in a variety of formats (audio, video, text) and locations (article directories, blog, Web page, forums, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites).

4. Double check your contract and your guarantee. Have you lived up to your promises? If so, review the contract with the client. Tweet about your guarantee. Post testimonials about your excellent customer service.

5. Find out the real problem behind the criticism and offer a solution you and the nay-sayer can live with today and in the future.

6. If the problem requires a universal solution—you really did omit step four in the assembly guide, for instance–post step-by-step instructions, an audio or video how-to guide, and/or corrections to the existing manual on your Web site, in your blog, as an article in your newsletter, as links on social media forums, and wherever the original concern appeared.

7. Create so much valuable content in your company’s name that the bad review will fall to the bottom of the search engine list because you have so many articles, blog posts, comments on forums, testimonials and updates on social networking sites, tweets, and fresh Web page content to take its place.

A bonus tip: know the warning signs of customer dissatisfaction—failure to pay in a timely fashion; ignoring e-mail, phone calls, or other forms of communication; not providing the information or material necessary to complete the work you are doing for them; changing how they interact with you (pleasant and outgoing to cool and silent), and sharing negative comments with others—and be proactive.

Give yourself permission to get rid of your social networking goals and behaviors if they are not producing the results you want. Be free to try something new.

What will you do differently?

Which do your readers prefer? Do they want lots of information in a short time? Do they want it readily available, without having to search for it? Are they overwhelmed enough and need it to be easy to consume, helpful, or refreshing? Do they want their e-content only from safe, trusted sources? Does it need to look good?

What will your stream look like because of your readers’ needs?

Where do you need to add some depth to your online presence?