16 September 2009 | Freelancing Tips | Christopher

Here’s the scenario: You just got a callback on a job interview for a big league position, and you have a meeting with the hiring manager tomorrow afternoon. The ironing board immediately comes out to press your suit into a flawless statement of power. A quick visit to the hair salon turns the mop on your head into an executive-level style. That evening you review your resume and portfolio, making sure both are updated with your latest and greatest accomplishments. You make every conceivable effort to absolutely knock the socks off the interviewer, because everyone knows the cliché: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

And yet, when it comes to written communications online—be it for freelance work, full-time positions, or even general inquiries—folks haphazardly shoot out emails or post profiles with nary a proofread. The fact is, sloppy online first impressions are the equivalent of showing up to an interview—or conducting the interview—wearing ripped jeans, a dirty T-shirt, and a baseball cap advertising beer. And yes, these E-impressions matter just as much as the real thing.

Like it or not, the text you type isn’t just your flawless business suit, it’s also your perfect haircut, friendly smile, attentive posture, and firm handshake all rolled into one.

If that sounds a little frightening, well, it should. If anything, text-based first impressions are even more important than their in-person counterparts, simply because so much rides on so little. On the flip side, introductions though an email or online posting can be immensely advantageous, in that text-based impressions can be endlessly reviewed, revised, and polished beforehand. As such, there’s no real excuse for a poorly-worded first impression, and if you send just such a communication to someone like Jerry over at PSPrint.com, don’t expect to hear anything back because your efforts will go straight to the recycle bin. Jerry’s blog offers some good tips for catching common grammatical goofs, Jesse’s piece at Robust Writing is a good primer for why proper grammar is important, and as your resident oDesk blogger, I offer these bits to help ensure your text-based first impressions are top notch:

• Make sure you have a grown-up email address. Even the very best E-communications lose credibility when they come from a person calling themselves PaRTy4liFE@kegstand.gig. If you’re just trying to be creative, find another way.

• Have someone else proofread your work. Having a second set of unbiased eyes reviewing your work is the absolute best way to catch mistakes.

• Read your work out loud, slowly and methodically. This is a common trick among professional writers to help make sure errors are caught when a proofreader isn’t available.

• Don’t be lazy. Not correcting basic spelling/grammar mistakes says you’re either too stupid to know better, or too lazy to care.

• Don’t be intimidated. You don’t have to be a good writer to write well.  Not every person is a natural born writer, and most people understand this. A mediocre message that’s properly structured is far more professional than a clever paragraph full of dumb mistakes.