In our Copywriting Jobs group, everyday, I see some bad posts. They’re not bad because of the offer (although some are), they’re terrible because of simple grammatical errors and typos.
The people writing them don’t care. They don’t care that their future customers are going to get rubbish copy. They don’t care that their customers’ reputations will get shot to bits. And they don’t care about their craft.
How can I make such sweeping accusations? I can’t. We have no idea if any of that is true. They may care deeply. It doesn’t matter though. We can all choose to be like them and remain ignorant of our customers’ needs, or we can do something about it and become better writers (not just better copywriters).
I’ve heard arguments over and over again from people who claim that typos are sometimes useful. It segregates people “who don’t care” and are willing to buy anything from those who do care (in other words, it preys on certain human characteristics).
There are people who argue “it’s human to make mistakes, so be human, make some mistakes, and people will believe you.”.
But here’s an easier way. Become a proper villain and learn all the tricks. I mean why not? It’s only a matter of integrity, and if that’s not important, then, well, there’s nothing stopping any of us.
On the other hand. Think of the challenge of writing good strong truthful copy that tells the real story. Now that’s much harder to do. And harder always equals more satisfying. Which is what we all strive for in the end. Job satisfaction.
PS. Look at all the largest companies on the planet. Do they resort to copywriting tricks? Nope. They never do because they don’t have to. They have good businesses that sell good stuff. That’s something worth striving for, not only for our own businesses, but for our clients too.
PPS. Imagine how your clients will feel when they know you feel this way too. Use this to position yourself strongly in the marketplace.