WE'RE FLATTERED BY YOUR FAITH IN US, BUT...

We copywriters don't always have 100% complete information to finish our copy assignments. To address this, we'll leave notes embedded in the copy where we need additional details. We will usually try to point out the existence of these notes so it's important to review the copy to make sure there are no blanks or additional information to fill in. We are glad and flattered that you have so much faith in our abilities that you just send our copy onto the web designer or printer, but checking your copy carefully before sending it to said web designer or printer can help in avoiding embarrassing and potentially costly mistakes.

For example, I recently drafted some web copy for a local start-up business and I didn't know what email address they were going to use so I included a note like this: [Email:_________]. I had offered and expected an editing round so I was delighted they were happy with the first draft. However, when I looked at the website, they still had the blank in the copy. Who knows how many people who wanted to email them couldn't because of the blank that existed between the time they published the copy until I informed them of the oversight, but hopefully there weren't many.

I recently came across another similar mistake while I was on vacation. The note in the picture was included in the caption below a photograph in an interpretive sign at Big Bay Town Park on Madeline Island, one of the Apostle Islands located in Lake Superior. The note below the photograph's caption, as you can see, says "Keith, if you want to use this image, you need to get permission from MIHPA." I can only speculate that Keith sent this interpretive sign to the printers without reading it closely. Thus, the image was used with or without MIHPA's permission, but, regardless, with this working note from the copywriter to Keith.

The moral of the story: When you hire a copywriter, look over the words carefully before you "carve them in stone."

-The Wordsy Woman