Get Serious Attention
In Amanda Valenti’s recent guest post here about Common Writing Mistakes, she made many important points that I encourage small businesses to take to heart.
If spelling, grammar, and homophones are not your strong suites, find someone who can edit what you write. It IS worth it because Amanda is absolutely correct – these types of errors will cost you visitors and business.
There is something more serious you must be aware of as well and that is what kind of image you are presenting to the world. Specifically, what you consider acceptable regarding profanity, off-color humor, suggestive images, etc. may be anything but appropriate to your potential customers.
Most people over fifty will know exactly what I mean, but those who are significantly younger may not realize that what is normal to them – whether that is dropping the f-word, cursing God, piercings or tattoos or pink or green hair – may cause many to not take them seriously.
One day I was at my ISP when an intelligent, clean cut young man walked in and asked for a job. He didn’t know anything about computers so there wasn’t anything he could do there; however, I did make some suggestions to assist him in finding work.
He was wearing shorts, sandals, and a backpack but what made me cringe was that he had a ten penny nail in each ear. I explained to him why my immediate reaction was to cringe inside (possibly visibly) and think “ouch, that must hurt”. I suggested he dress as though he was going to work there when inquiring about opens and especially to lose those nails before asking for work.
I ran into him at a local coffee shop later that week. He had found work – and I almost did not recognize him without the nails. While his peers might find that normal, the owners, managers, and customers where you might seek work may not.
That applies to tattoos, hair styles, piercings, what you wear, etc. While I am not saying you should not have your own style, I am suggesting that you consider what is truly important to you and that you ask yourself, is this REALLY me or am I doing this for some other reason.
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Author’s Bio:
Gail Gardner writes about why small businesses and bloggers should collaborate to improve the economy and create a better world for all at GrowMap.com (). You can find her on Twitter and other major social media networks as @GrowMap.
Thank you, Gail! You’re irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
Thank you, Liz, for publishing my guest post here. As you know, I am a regular reader of your blogs and recommend you often.
Unfortunately, the cringe-worthy is the norm. It’s like the Super Bowl yesterday – everyone is up in arms about the singer giving the camera the finger, yet no one minds the fact that the network approved of her saying a song that had s*** in it. Maybe if they didn’t allow a song that required bleeping in the first place it would set an example of what is allowed and not.