I know that being a VA can mean many things, but I have to say that I'm personally shocked at the number of grammar and spelling errors I have found on different VA websites and Facebook fan sites. Even if you're not marketing your services as an editor/proofreader or admininstrative assistant, you should really, really, really check your information before making it public!

That's where this forum comes in so handy! Sometimes when you re-read your own writings, the words seem to run into each other. Before posting anything, why not post it to the forums so others can (and will) take a look at it before it's public?

Let's lean on each other so we can all come across professionally!

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Mary Henaghan
Harmony Business Services

Very well said! Hopefully you are not talking about me! I agree with you though.

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Kristina ~Success Office Solutions
Our Solutions Equal Your Success!

I agree.....I see this on many websites, even the home page. Just not the most professional reflection and message that you would want to send to a perspective client.

I have seen so many errors on blogs, websites, and discussion postings and it just amazes me how many there are out there. But I am sorry to say, I am just as guilty.

I have been participating in discussions quite a bit on LinkedIn lately. I will write my post and then I will paste it into Word to make sure that it looks right. I will read it over a couple of times to make sure it makes sense. However, I have issues when I do this late at night. I just recently came across a post from the night before and I discovered that I wrote "always" instead of "allow", I don't know what I was thinking but apparently at 11:0pm it made sence at the time.

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Erika Glem
www.advadminsol.com Let my administrative solutions be to your advantage.

Hi Mary,

I definitely agree with you and this is a discussion we've had on this forum before. While I tend to be rather hyper-vigilant when it comes to typos and misspellings, I would also say we can't always be perfect, but we can certainly try.

Some time ago, I wrote a blog post almost identical to your sentiments, enjoy!

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Kate V. Kerans
Kerans Virtual Assistance

Mary,
I completely agree. I noticed that also when I was doing research. It is crazy how one little misspelled word or misplaced punctuation can change everything.
-Lacie

This is one of my biggest pet peeves! I've seen it in business brochures and on billboards! I personally would never hire someone with poor grammar or spelling. It drives me crazy! I use slang and stuff in my personal communications, but if it's going to be about business, then it needs to be correct!

Sorry...soapbox!

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Michelle
Virtually Effortless

I also type my posts into Word before posting online. It amazes me how many marketing emails I get from people with misspelled words, bad grammar, poor punctuation, etc. I’m an avid reader and often find mistakes in books that I’m reading (best-selling authors, no less).

My cousin’s daughter is a wonderful photographer. She has a business Facebook page, and her posts are full of errors. I don’t know if she realizes how unprofessional it comes across.

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Sherri Beck CPS/CAP
www.topkoalat.com

I agree that typo's and grammatical errors make for a very unprofessional look on websites and in emails.

I almost didn’t put my 2 cents worth in this post just in case I made an error.


If I’m posting something that is important like a website or a press release, I like to have someone else read through it first because it’s amazing how your mind tells your eye what it’s seeing. I used the word “lastest” instead of “latest” on one of my post and didn’t catch it.

I think we've all had those moments when we wanted to say, "Oops, can we have a do over?"

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Jayme Hanson
Your Virtual Assistant Solution

I received a brochure in the mail from a national company that sells dictation and transcription products. There was a typo! Small one (an "s" on a word that shouldn't be there), but considering what business they're in I was extremely surprised. I have a friend read over anything that's "out there," like my website or a contract, and I do the same for her. We all make mistakes--sometimes ones that are really embarrassing!--but just having someone else look at the really important stuff with fresh eyes can be really beneficial.

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Pam Deyerle - Transcriptionist in the Richmond, Virginia area
The Perfect Word Transcription Services