Worshipping at the altar of the almighty typo

During one of AWAI's 10-Minute Workday promos last year, I got this beauty: === Hi, Just a brief note - I am on the AWAI mailing list. Today they are promoting your course. The email says "...So I called a reputable security company to hook the place up with censors, alarms, and other home security technology..." I think it should read "...So I called a reputable security company to hook the place up with sensors, alarms, and other home security technology...". Before they run this promo again, you might want to consider making that small change. === I must’ve been losing my touch if he only found one typo. Personally, I love me some typos. Makes all the writing snobs like the reply guy above weep in their pumpkin spice lattes when writing at Starschlubs, though. But if I listened to what the typical “writer” says I’d be as broke as most of them are. Their word-perfect ways are necessary for writing books, professional articles, etc. And I am not particularly happy with typos in my novels at all, and am quick to change them when they are pointed out. But I hardly put much time in fixing them in emails. The best communicators are human, not robots. i.e., They communicate like… people. Thus, they are also more interesting to listen to and, thus, more persuasive. Like it or lump it: Great communicators don’t always use perfect grammar. They sometimes even purposely butcher words to make a point, keep going without pausing, and, yes, gleefully abuse repetitive words & phrases. That makes the spelling Stalinists grumpy. But nobody really cares what those schlubs think anyway. More: Many years ago I remember hearing the great & esteemed “Sifu of Sentences” and King of Email himself Matt Furey say writers are rebels. And that means… rebelling. Including against the strangling rules choking the creativity out of people too scared to scribble outside the lines. I can already here the diehard writers: “That’s nonsense, Ben!” If you don't believe me, maybe you’ll believe these world class copywriters. Like one of the world’s most prolific copywriters John Carlton, who once said: “In all my years of mauling the English language, I have never lost a known sale to someone because of either 'bad grammar' or typos.” Or Email Players subscriber & one of the top A-list copywriters in the game David Deutsch, who once taught: “Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, olny taht the frist and lsat ltteres are at the rghit pcleas. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by ilstef,but the wrod as a wlohe.” Still more: Few years back, I wrote a series of pro typo emails. And at least 2 people showed me examples how removing blatant typos (one in a headline!) hurt their response. Finally, an inconvenient troof: Proof readers earn peanuts compared to even mediocre copywriters who can’t spell to save their lives. Am I saying to be sloppy? To riddle your emails with mistakes? Not at all, Spanky. I’m saying no need to obsess over every jot and tittle. And when it comes to emails especially, it’s far more profitable to learn how to write your emails fast and in a way people want to buy from than it is to be a master of spelling, syntax, and grammar. That’s been my experience at least. To be fair, if you’re selling proof reading services it’d be different, though. All right, onwards & upwards to the business: My Email Players newsletter won’t teach you how to spell, but it will show you how to sell. And if all this still sticks in your craw, ask yourself: Would you rather be a best seller or a best speller? If you choose the latter there’s nothing I can do for you. But if you choose the former, you can learn more about the newsletter here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2022 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA