Sales and Marketing Expert? Me?

For spirit-based or conscious entrepreneurs, it can be a challenge to think of ourselves -- at least at first -- as salespeople or marketers. It's very common to want to be of service, first. Although that is a component, the bottom line is we're in business to make money.

My mentor, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero, says, "For better or for worse, we are all in sales. So face your fears, gulp hard and get out there and market!"

Bold? Yes! True? Yes!

So how do we make this leap to becoming marketing and sales experts?

Step 1 Acknowledge and affirm your primary purpose for being in business; to make money. This one simple exercise will move you into a new space.

Step 2 Begin accumulating knowledge of sales and marketing. One of my favorite books on the subject is Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins.

Step 3 Apply this new information to your business in ways that make the most sense for you. The methods and approaches of others will never work if you don't modify them -- at least a little -- to fit your life.

The process reminds me of a puzzle. You are trying to find the combination of pieces that, when applied, complete the sales and marketing income-generating picture for your inspired business.

Now, go get 'em!

Don't Let This Happen To You

It seems everywhere I look I see spelling, punctuation and grammatical bloopers. Because it's my business, I am especially attuned, but you must see examples of this as well. Whether it's print advertising, billboards, Web sites or other marketing venues, I always wonder how the boo-boos made it through what should be an arduous process of checking and double-checking for errors.

We all make mistakes, but do your best to prevent embarrassing oversights by having an effective, preventive system in place. At the minimum, perform a spell check using your computer software AND have one other person review the copy before releasing your materials to the world.

Here are some examples that make my point:

1. A huge, professionally-painted sign on the side of an old warehouse: "House's Wanted."
   
   
2. A real estate ad describing the benefits of a remote mountain cabin: "Escape the hussel and bussel of the city."
   
   
3. An advertisement for typing/editing services (I did not make up this! How could I?): "I am a very good typist, and have some time on my hands. If you need papers typed or edited for content or grammaracle errors, Give me a call!"

I won't be calling. Will you?

What Is Copyediting?

To answer, let's start with a reference from the Chicago Manual of Style. It says copyediting involves both mechanical editing and substantive editing:

"Mechanical copyediting requires a close reading of the manuscript with an eye to such matters as consistency of capitalization, spelling, and hyphenation; agreement of verbs and subjects; punctuation; beginning and ending quotation marks and parentheses; numbers given in numerals or spelled out; and many similar details of style.

Substantive copyediting involves rewriting, reorganizing, or suggesting other ways to present material."

Mechanical copyediting is more of a science because most rules of grammar are absolute. In contrast, substantive copyediting is more of an art based on innate talent, training or a combination of both. A talented copyeditor effortlessly and simultaneously performs both types of editing unless the client specifically requests one type or the other.

As easy as it sounds to perform either editing task, both are arduous and time-consuming. That's why it's important to hire a pro so you can focus on growing your business!