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According to psychological research, we humans do indeed believe people are prone to bias… but only others, of course. We tend to believe that our actions and reactions are exempt from conscious or subconscious biases, but others are certainly capable of bias.

Researchers of human behavior believe that bias and stereotypical thinking are the result of our evolutionary response to survival. We have learned over the centuries to quickly categorize and evaluate other people and our surroundings on both conscious and subconscious levels so that we can make snap judgments and decisions that keep us alive. Researchers also believe that our environment and the culture surrounding us before we reach the age of five influence our biases, as well. (Source: Psychology Today)

But regardless of our evolutionary proclivities or immediate surroundings or past cultural environments, there is a way to shed our biases when we’re writing. When choosing our diction, pronouns, and subject matter, we have an opportunity to evaluate words on the page repeatedly before we share them with others.

According to a study conducted by Cisco, 80 percent of all global Internet consumption will be video content by 2019. In other words, most people across the globe will want to watch a video instead of read social media posts, blog posts, white papers, e-books, etc. In fact, 80 percent of audiences would rather watch video from an established brand than read other written posts (Source: LiveStream).

So, like it or not, you’ll want to strongly consider adapting your writing expertise for video content in 2018 and beyond if you publish, share, or promote content across the web for a branded entity or organization.

Here are some tips for how you can adapt your writing to create epic video content.

Brenda, Raj, Tom, and Vickie were still reveling in the success of their dusting caps ad campaign. No, the dusting caps hadn’t been the blockbuster success that the executives at Awesome Products, Inc., had thought they would be. (How could the consumer research department have known that bonnets that were topped with ostrich feathers and marketed primarily to tall men interested in easing their spouses’ dusting chores, wouldn’t sell like hotcakes?) But the quartet’s grammatically correct marketing slogan had been a smash hit with the industry associations that presented awards for excellence in advertising.

As a reward, their supervisor, Noelle, handed Tom a gift certificate to share with the group, just before dashing into a meeting concerning the company’s newest product to be launched: fluorescent smelling salts.

The four of them were sitting in the conference room. Tom passed the certificate to Raj, who read it then handed it to Vickie, who noted the web address then passed the certificate to Brenda. It read, “As a reward for your excellent service, please enjoy an early-bird special at this darling family-owned restaurant that just opened at First and Main. That should give you plenty of time to get to the 1 p.m. debriefing meeting on smelling salts.”

Did you know that a website visitor will read on average only between 20% and 28% of the content that’s on your website? And that’s if they enjoy reading your copy. If your visitors don’t enjoy reading your copy, the amount of it they will read is much, much lower, and so is the amount of time they'll spend on your website.

The less time visitors spend on your website reading and engaging with its content, the less likely they are to turn into subscribers, paying customers, clients, or partners.

Understanding the real-world impacts of poorly written web copy is essential in 2018, especially if you write copy for a website or manage content for one.

What Happens When You Have Poorly Written Web Copy

Here are some of the more notable problems you’ll experience when your website has poorly written web copy.  

Regardless of your professional experience and educational background, it’s important to rely on proofreaders to help you fine-tune your written work. Whether you need them to proofread a detailed quarterly report or a simple business memo, their expertise and objective insights will always improve the quality of your writing.

The English language is always growing and changing, with hundreds of words being added to the dictionary each year. And understanding how our words and common phrases originated and continue to change over time is fascinating.

Studying etymology allows us to better understand our world and its history, the people in it, and the way we communicate with one another.

Take the quiz below to see if you know the origins of some common words, phrases, and colloquialisms we use. Share your results and comments with us below and share this quiz with others who might enjoy it too!

Many websites lose readers, business, and revenue because the site contains errors. A common misconception is that website content doesn’t need to be proofread because changes can be made quickly with just one click of a button.

Brenda, Raj, Tom, and Vickie, who formed the junior sales-and-marketing team at the start-up Awesome Products, Inc., were brainstorming email content with which to advertise their remarkable new dusting cap. Brenda had a sudden flash of inspiration, grabbed the keyboard of the room’s computer, and excitedly started typing. The others looked up at the large monitor that hung along one wall of the room as words quickly appeared there.

“‘Incredibly,’” Tom started reading aloud right away, “‘tall people must duck when walking through doorways.’”

He frowned at Brenda, who had stopped typing. “First of all, why do you think it’s incredible that tall people have to duck? Second, why do you think all tall people have to duck, anyway? I’m tall, and I don’t have to duck when I walk through doorways.”

“That’s not what she typed,” interjected Vickie, who secretly regarded Tom’s height as average. She continued, “Brenda typed, ‘Incredibly tall people must duck when walking through doorways.’”

Not noticing Brenda nodding, Tom threw a gentle smile at Vickie. “You forgot to pause after ‘Incredibly.’ You see, there’s no hyphen connecting ‘Incredibly’ and ‘tall.’ So you don’t read them together.”

We’ve all had to write, or at the very least read, a cold email before. Whether you’re trying to reach out to a potential customer or client, make contact with a prospective employer or employee, or connect with someone to extend your professional or personal network, you’re familiar with sending cold emails.

When sending a cold email, you’re reaching out to a stranger, asking for their attention and a response. Writing cold emails isn’t easy to do and can be very time consuming. But there are a few best practices to keep in mind.

1. Do Your Research

First, research the individuals you’re reaching out to, to make sure they’re likely to be interested in what you have to offer. Essentially, make sure you have targeted leads, or you’ll end up wasting a lot of your time (and others’ time) and potentially giving the wrong people the wrong impression of your brand.

Once you know your prospects and what they care about, discover what specific information you can include in your email that’s tailored to them, their experiences, and what they care about. This will allow you to personalize your message. This also shows that you genuinely care about reaching them specifically and that you’re not sending out impersonal emails to a large group of prospects. Prospects will be much more likely to respond to a message that resonates with them on a personal level.