SELLERS: Check Your Grammar and Spelling

[goodgift]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to pop in and offer a tidbit of advice. (Please note that this is for those gigs that are written in English.) It seems we have a large number of non-native English speakers here. One of the things I see a lot, especially in posts requesting gig reviews/opinions, is that the writing is all over the place. Commas are thrown in everywhere, words are crammed together without spacing between punctuation, and sentences are just worded funny.

Now, I understand that language can be a barrier, and if you don’t know the language very well, your writing probably looks just fine to you. One tip that will greatly help you in the business world is this:

Spoken English is very different from written English, especially in the business world.

When you’re writing anything for business, your goal is to sound professional. If you just write the way you speak, it’s going to sound sloppy. This is more true for those with broken English or those that have a harder time writing English than speaking it.

I would encourage you, whether you’re a native English speaker with poor writing skills or a non-native English speaker, to study up on writing, and especially writing for business. It’s okay to be fun and quirky, but it needs to make sense, and it still needs to sound professional. Read news articles or professional works and see how sentences are constructed. Do some internet searches on how to write professionally. Don’t just throw some words on a page and hope for the best.

Be an active learner, and focus on improving your language just as much as you focus on getting those sales. Presentation is everything, and that includes language.

I hope this is a bit of help, and I wish everyone the best in their selling endeavors! We can do it! 🙂

[theproscribe]

Very insightful piece. Thank you!

[smashradio]

I couldn’t agree more. I made a thread on this myself. If you want to make a good first impression, grammar matters more than you might think. If English isn’t your first language (well, even if it is your first language), you should always do some quality control on your copy before clicking “publish”.

I’m both a seller and a buyer here on Fiverr. As amazing as this platform may be, one thing has been bothering me, especially when it comes to buying services on Fiverr: poor grammar. I realize that many sellers don’t speak English as their first language. I, myself, am Norwegian. This means that English isn’t my first language, and even though I try hard, sometimes my English skills will fail me. But I am trying! And this brings me to the real problem; when I contact a seller who claims to be…

[gig_freak]

Bat I don’t like grammrz. Can I make sel? 🙃 Mr. @vickiespencer can I proofread for u?