Like “service,” correct spelling and grammar are not things to advertise you do well. It’s expected.

If a company’s signage catches your eye, it’s likely you will look further, go to the website, pick up a brochure, or read the annual report, and your written content is put to the test.

Your words are a critical part of your brand’s lasting impression.

When prospects or potential clients come across content mistakes, including bad grammar, misspellings, and fact errors, they will do one of two things:

1. abort and forget about you, or
2. keep reading and have trouble taking you seriously.

As a rule, if you’re the writer, you shouldn’t be the editor. After several drafts of writing, it is easy for meaning and message to become misconstrued and for mistakes to get overlooked.

Failing to edit your content can be embarrassing and leave you looking unprofessional. Also, reprinting can be costly and stressful if you are working with a deadline. On the other extreme, editing can maintain your credibility and help you deliver a clear and concise message consistent with your brand.

Before projects go to print or get published to the Web, content generally goes through four editing stages:

Developmental Editing:

• helps to develop content from initial concept, research, and outline
• ensures messages are being delivered succinctly
• makes suggestions based on analysis of competing works and market analysis

Substantive Editing:

• reorganization of paragraphs, sections to improve the order of text presented
• writing and rewriting segments of text to improve readability and flow of information

Copyediting:
(also called line editing)

• fact checking
• correcting errors in grammar, spelling, word usage, and style

Proofreading:

• the last check for errors as copy sits in its final layout before going to print

When facing a deadline, the last stages of editing and proofreading often get thrown by the wayside. But for your potential clients who take grammatical errors to heart, the editing process is worthwhile.

If the delivery of your brand is unexpectedly interrupted by a grammar glitch, it may have your audience wondering about the service or product you offer - especially if you can’t spell.

My buddy Mike likes to go to the Canadian Finals Rodeo to check out the horses. I think it’s a testosterone thing personally. (There’s nothing like a powerful, grunting, crap-where-he-wants-to, cowboy-eating stallion to bring out the man in a man; it makes us feel tough.) I’ve tagged along from time to time to meet the horses and I’ll tell you what (add in John Wayne accent here for effect), I’ve never met a horse that didn’t tell me he was the best.

During the chuckwagon races, I like to go down to the stables and talk to the horses before I make my big bet (Mike and I are high rollers—loser pays for beer). Walking down the long line of thoroughbreds, I see similar colours and sizes and hear similar grunting tones. And, it’s always the same story, “Hey man, bet on me—I promise I’ll get you to the finish line. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve won a lot of races. Check this saddle out—this thing is lighter than a feather and feels like velvet! All my jockeys love me—look at the testimonials! I won’t let you down—let’s do this thing. Sign here. Let’s make fools out of these other asses!”

It often reminds me of a typical sales ad: “Choose us! We’re the best. We’ve been around forever. We’ll get you to the finish line.” It also reminds me of the recent cold caller who somehow got past our almost impenetrable gatekeeping system, “Tell you what, sign up for a week. I won’t let you down. We guarantee the best service in our industry—let’s do this!”

Do you want to know what my first reaction is every time I’m confronted with a horse? It’s probably the same as yours and every other buyer we’ve interviewed over the past decade—pure SKEPTICISM.

We don’t trust the horse.

But here’s the kicker, we ARE the horse. Every time we pick up the phone and cold-call a prospect, send a cold prospect some direct mail, or place an advertisement that explains why we’re the best, we’re the horse. Every time we make a statement to a prospect that attempts to differentiate ourselves from our competitors (e.g., we provide great service!)—we’re the horse.

Based on our extensive research, it’s worse today than it ever has been. There’s just too many Herb Tarlics out there screwing it up for the rest of us. As global competition for buyer mindshare increases, the future looks even bleaker.

This trend doesn’t bode well for direct marketers, traditional advertisers, and cold callers. So, what should we do? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Don’t act like a horse. Don’t handle objections, don’t talk about your “value proposition,” and don’t slam your competitors. Interrupt the pattern. Successful sales people and advertisers have found ways to change the game without sounding like the horse.
2. Leverage the jockey. The jockey. That’s who we turn to in order to REALLY determine which horse to bet on. It’s a fact that 90% of successful companies in Western Canada (B2B and B2C) claim referrals are their best source of new business. We TRUST the jockey.
3. Sell your knowledge, not your proposition. “Listen, just like every other horse here, I’m a horse. Do you have any questions about horses or race tracks or horse shoes? Anything that would be helpful to know more about?”

New strategies are required in this skeptical age, an age that is fraught with horses competing for your buyer’s mindshare.

Branding. It’s one of the most commonly used marketing buzz words today and certainly one of the most misunderstood. Branding is too often confused as being just a company’s logo or its “look and feel.” That’s like saying someone’s clothes equal their personality. They contribute to it, but branding runs much deeper.

I like to think of branding as the lasting impression of everything that gets seen, heard, felt or experienced when someone comes in contact with you or your organization. This includes a number of things, for example:

• the way the receptionist answers the phone,
• the way your lobby looks,
• the writing style used on your website,
• the way you do presentations,
• and the way your products or services get delivered.

All of these items impact your brand. And make no mistake, good or bad, everyone and every organization has a brand.

So, how does one proactively and strategically manage one’s brand? Below are four key points to keep in mind when building a strong brand:

1. Transparent. A brand needs to be authentic and consistent. Can you deliver on it every time? People should have the same impression regardless of how they come in contact with your brand. For example, imagine if Campers Village staff all wore suits and ties to work. This inconsistency with the company’s outdoor, adventure-oriented image would send mixed signals and dilute the brand.
2. Compelling. Focus your brand on aspects that matter to the market. If turnaround time isn’t critical to your customers, don’t build a brand based on speed. Even if you are fast, the market won’t respond. It must matter to the market.
3. Different. If it doesn’t stand out from the competition, it won’t be as effective. A brand should be unique to your organization and not built around something other organizations can easily copy. Stand out. Be memorable!
4. Moving. The best brands move their audiences on an emotional level. They don’t focus on facts and numbers. They create an experience that triggers an emotional response. For instance, Nike builds its brand on abstract feelings such as empowerment and seizing the moment, not genuine leather or state-of-the-art shoelaces.

The Olympic Winter Games of 2010 in Vancouver are mere weeks away. While the rush to get snow on Cypress Mountain, finalize transportation plans, and train volunteers is on, across Canada a large scale relationship building festival is taking place - the torch relay.

The torch relay has become a staple of the modern Olympics and is the first event people experience prior to the start of competition. Though the flame is the one connection back to the games of Ancient Greece, it wasn’t introduced to the modern games until 1928 in Amsterdam with the first relay taking place through Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria prior to Berlin’s 1936 games. Now it is a regular part of the lead up to an Olympic games and is the ultimate relationship builder for both organizers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In essence all that’s happening is the flame is literally being carried from Olympia, Greece to the Olympic host. However, what’s really taking place is the creation of millions of connections and Olympic followers along the whole path to the host city, thus generating a buildup of excitement prior to the games. For the Vancouver relay:

• 1,000 communities will have the flame visit them
• 45,000 km will be covered throughout Canada
• 12,000 torch bearers will be part of the relay
• 200 total torch celebrations will be organized

When you look at these numbers, it’s easy to see just how many people will have an up close and personal Olympic experience, even if they won’t be in Vancouver cheering on the athletes. Organizers, in fact, estimate that 90% of Canada’s population will be within a one hour drive of the route. Thousands upon thousands will create not only a patriotic furor, but will also be connected to a greater sense of belief in the essence of the Olympic movement - unity, friendliness, and sport. People remember these experiences. People share these experiences. From a marketing perspective you can’t ask for more because having people carry your story to others through unbiased referrals is invaluable. They do the talking for you.

The Olympic Games generates numerous opinions and views, but it can’t be refuted that with this relay across Canada, a simple marketing truth holds true. If you can create or enhance a relationship through a unique and positive experience, people will naturally gravitate to you. Counting the people on the road to Vancouver will tell you that.