Five Ways to Prevent Costly Bloopers

Classic bloopers:

In a cocktail lounge in Norway: "Ladies are requested not to
have children at the bar."

At a Hong Kong dry cleaner: "Drop your trousers here for best
results."

In a Nairobi restaurant: "Customers who find our waitress rude
ought to see the manager."

Bloopers are such a hoot - until, that is, your business
promotions wind up saying something you never intended and
YOU become a laughing stock.

Here's how to prevent those little slips of the keyboard from
generating giggles instead of conversions:

1. First and foremost, have somebody else read what you've
written before it goes out. If you do nothing else to improve
your promotions, do this. You'll be amazed at the bloopers and
gaffs they catch. Remember, even famous writers have editors
and there's a good reason for that.

2. Sleep on it. Few projects are so urgent that they can't wait
until the morning. When you're fresh and rested, take another
look and start tweaking.

3. Be sure to run everything through the spell-checker, including
your email messages. It won't catch everything but it just takes
a minute and can save embarrassment.

4. If your background is academic, try adapting your writing
style to the web. Just writing more simply can prevent a lot of
mistakes.

5. Everyone has mental blocks - those words that we just insist
on misspelling. Make a list and post it close to your monitor.
A visual aid can help change ingrained habits.