4 Common English Mistakes In Advertising

I read a lot of business opportunity ads, and I keep seeing these mistakes over and over. Most often, I won't buy from someone who makes these common mistakes. I can excuse these mistakes somewhat if it is from a non-English speaker, but as far as I am concerned, there is no excuse for native speakers to be making these mistakes.

These are the top 4 mistakes that drive me crazy:

1/ confusing "lose" and "loose"

I am fed up with seeing ads telling me to "loose weight"! Please remember, "lose" rhymes with "ooze" while loose rhymes with goose, and mean two quite different things. Lose is a verb while loose is an adjective, so the phrase "loose weight" makes no sense, unless the load on your truck has broken free!

2/ confusing "to" and "too"

Please don't ask me if I am "surfing to much"! I don't know where "much" is and I'm not sure if I can surf "to" it! "To" means to move toward, while "too" means excess or abundance.

3/ confusing "your" and "you're"

This one really bothers me, though I'm not sure why it troubles me so. Maybe because it is really basic english and mean such different things. "Your" is all about possession, whereas "you're" is a contraction meaning "you are". So saying "Your one step away..." makes no sense unless you possess the one step (?). To see if you're using the right one, read the contraction you're as you are, and see if it works. In the example above, the correct phrase "You're one step away..." is read as "you are one step away..." - obviously correct. The flip side is don't say "You're future awaits" as that translates to "you are future awaits." Makes no sense.

4/ confusing "its" and "it's"

This is like the example above - "its" is the possessive, while "it's" is a contraction meaning "it is".
Again, read out the full contraction. "Its an easy money-maker" makes no sense while "It's an easy money-maker" - (translates to "It is an easy money-maker") is correct.

I could go on and on about more mistakes, and probably will at some point! But these few examples will improve your response rate from people like me.

The other thing I want to emphasize is proof reading your copy. I see big headlines with obvious typos. Seriously, take a couple of minutes to make sure you don't have obvious spelling mistakes, especially in those big, bold headers.
And I think you know that SpellCheck will miss the mistakes outlined above, as it cannot check for grammar and sense.

I'm not suggesting that marketers have to be stiff, formal and oh so proper with their ad copy or e-mails. Write the way you talk is the best advice. As long as you can be understood, then who cares about spelling or grammar?

Well, I do! And I know I'm not alone. Lots of people love this language and cringe when it's misused. Perhaps it is unfair to judge marketers
by their writing, but since that is how they make sales you would think they would take extra care.

I hope these 4 tips will help you with your advertising copy. Relax and enjoy the language and have fun with it, but try to keep the picky buyers happy!