Here at the D4 and D4PR Studio, we are inundated daily with e-marketing campaigns designed to illicit a positive response. So it is a shame, therefore, that an abundance of these e-shots and articles actually have the opposite effect – frustration and negativity – due to the numerous spelling mistakes contained within. Instead of grabbing our attention with a catchy photo or well-written story, we simply end up cringing at the shocking mistakes many ‘professionals’ are making in their work.

It would be easy to pass the buck at this point and blame inexperienced interns hired by these big companies, but on many occasions we find these articles are written by journalists and even editors. Maybe their creative flair kicks in during an evening out or when bored on a train journey, and they decide to submit work via the predictive text function on their mobile phones. Who knows, but it would certainly explain the sheer volume of howlers.

One recent example was an online article about simple mistakes made by PR professionals. Ironic then that the piece was in fact littered with basic grammatical errors, glaringly obvious spelling mistakes and in some instances the wrong word altogether! Of course, this could also be blamed on the veritable evils of writing quickly via mobile media – small screens are not conducive to clarity of proofing. Even the most prolific of texters who refuses to abbreviate, can make mistakes when in a hurry.

To err is human, which is why no matter how confident, qualified or experienced you are, a second glance at an article is hugely important. When we undertake a piece of work at D4PR, whether it is an e-shot, newsletter, website, press release, case study or blog, we always make sure the finished article is proofread by a professional copywriter and triple checked by several members of the team. This ensures any mistakes are picked up and removed before publication. Proofreading really does eradicate the simple errors so many people are making, and therefore increases the effective impact of a finished article or e-shot.

Research by some bright spark at Cambridge University found that, “it dseon’t matter in waht oredr the letters in a wrod are. The olny imptroant thnig is taht the frist and lsat lteter be in the rhgit palce. The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can slitl raed it wiohtut plobrem. Tihs is bscauee the huamn mnid deos not raed erevy leettr by iteslf, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

This is not an exoneration for howling inaccuracies though – boundaries and guidelines are set for a reason. With ever-progressing technology, which we wholeheartedly embrace, writing is becoming a lost art. English is a beautiful, expressive language, and we should use it with style not laziness.

Despite the frustration, I can’t help but smile at the thought that maybe some writers have adopted the same view as Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons, who memorably said: “Me fail English!? That’s umpossible!”

In Sheffield for under a year and our Clare has already made quite an impression.

“A year ago, The Star Business Monthly teamed up with Ben Sequerra, now Chief Executive Officer of Pro Sheffield, to discover the 35 most influential young business people in South Yorkshire. That first list of talented individuals - all under the age of 35 - proved so popular that a whole new list has been drawn up for 2009.”

Clare Williams was on the list and attended the awards with a rather large grin on her face. “It is such a brilliant feeling to be recognised in your area of expertise, not only that, I knew nothing about it until Ben Sequerra contacted me for a photo!” To read the full article please click here

(As Clare hates her photo being taken she will not thank us for pointing out, her piccie is in the top right!!)