There are not many things that irritate me. That said, the few things that do irritate me do so in a major way. One of my pet peeves is poor spelling. Over the past few weeks, I have encountered a few misspellings. At a conference, I saw a sign posted that said “Meeting in Progress, Please Keep Quite”. When I went to a restaurant for lunch, there were misspellings on the menus. While I was doing some online research about home based businesses, I came across a few web sites that are littered with misspellings. All of the misspellings that I have been seeing lately make me wonder – does spelling actually matter?
I believe that proper spelling is important, especially in business communications. Every written communication that you send to a client or potential client makes an impression on them, especially the first one. Proper spelling and grammar may not jump out at your clients or potential clients, but spelling errors tend to be attention grabbers that may distract readers from what you are trying to say. Spelling and grammatical errors may even cause readers to form inaccurate opinions about you or your business – they may perceive you as careless or not attentive to details.
With some home-based businesses, you may never see or speak to your clients. Your web page may be the only point of interaction that you have with them. In these situations, it is even more crucial that your web page copy be free of spelling and grammatical errors so that it presents a polished and professional image. You work very hard to maintain a professional image for your business. Spell – checking and rechecking your written work before sending or publishing it can make a big difference in how you present yourself and your business to the world. What’s more, it costs nothing and does not take much time at all.