Typos happen… well, to me they happen all the time. My fingers don’t work the same way my brain talks to me as I type on my computer. This is why it’s important to have someone like a Social Media VA who is responsible for proofreading your social media content.
My fingers like to move in left to right fashion, sadly not all words are written that way (It’s also the reason I quit piano… very few songs have only ‘left to right’ and ‘only in symmetrical order’ notes to play – my brain and fingers were constantly arguing).
My life would be so much easier if even just two words were actually spelled differently – and & for. They always come out ‘adn’ and ‘fro’. I can’t tell you how many times a day I fix those two words. I have tried making my computer auto correct these typos to the proper words, but it can’t seem to do this.
It is because of my inability to move my fingers in a proper way on my keyboards that I sometimes – okay a lot more than sometimes – end up with misspelled words and it is because of this I am forever spell checking my work and have a VA who proof reads it – but typos still get through once in a while. We all do it – not necessarily because we cannot spell but more so we cannot type.
Grammar can also be an issue. A lot of business people who now spend time writing blogs, articles and social media posts sometimes make common grammar mistakes. Using words like its vs it’s and I saw vs I seen (which … someone correct me but I am not certain ‘I seen’ is ever correct) is also something you often see in online content these days.
More often than not my typing and grammatical errors happen when I have NOT used my tried and true proofing method. My method also works best on social media content which tends to be shorter and smaller pieces of content.
I suggest this to anyone to do – it is a very simple technique too – Read it out loud!
Reading your written work out loud is one of the best ways to catch errors. Silent reading means you will not always read every word. We skim the words, we all skim and even when proofreading people still skim over the words.
When words are read aloud it adds another one of ours senses to the proofing method besides seeing – it adds hearing. Your brain will hear the words you are saying and note if they match to what is written. It’s not 100 % guaranteed but you will find it works better than silent proofing.
BONUS TIP
When reading a contraction, read it as the two words to make sure you are using the proper contraction. ie. your vs you’re – when you have meant to say you are – if you did not write it that way it will not sound right out loud.
Typos in your social media content and grammar mistakes can make you look unprofessional and make people question your competency. Do these quick checks to ensure you get the words spelled right and use them in the proper way.
Here are a couple of good articles on some of the top mistakes people make when writing. Read them and make sure you don’t make these writing errors, they can cost you when it comes to business. They can affect credibility and reputation.
Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
18 incredibly common spelling mistakes that make you look dumb
So, before you post that next tweet or hit save on your social media meme… read the words out loud and see if you catch any errors. Doing this should help keep the typos and grammar errors to a minimum!
Don’t be the person responsible for typos in your social media content, or in ads like the one above!
If you want a ready made content planner that helps you plan out an entire year of content, check out the Pepper It Marketing Content Planner. It will save you a ton of time and has over 500 posts you can copy and paste to use as your own.
PS. I can’t describe how stressful I am about this article. I feel 100% certain someone will find a typo. So… Hurray if it was you!
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