Great Site, Terrible Writing

I’m currently writing site content for a remodeling contractor based out of Scottsdale, Arizona. When brainstorming for his homepage, I took it upon myself, as I often do, to peruse similar websites for inspiration.

And that’s where I came across another contractor’s website that proudly declares, “It is our goal to provide a knowledgeable foundation in which our pillars of professionalism and excellence soar from.”

I read it once, then one more time to make sure it was as bad as I thought.

Read it a third time. Yup. Still bad.

The problem here is twofold: 1) atrocious grammar, and 2) wordiness without a cause. In other words, this sentence says a lot without saying anything.

I can deduce, upon a forth reading, what the intentions of this sentence probably are. This company wants to get across the outstanding knowledge and professionalism of its employees. Honestly, though, is this sentence evidence of any of those traits? Is hiring a fourth grader to write your website really the best way to convince us of your commitment to excellence?

If I sound a bit judgmental and bitter, it must come from years of playing second fiddle to my husband’s site design and development. When clients hire Ted and me, Ted is the one with the power. He’s the one the clients really want.

Me, I just write the content. The website’s unappreciated sidekick.

Writing isn’t easy, but plenty of folks appear to think otherwise. “All that money for content?” prospective clients will sputtered indignantly. “Forget it–I’ll write the damn thing myself.”

And this, my friends, is when you get “knowledgeable foundation[s] in which our pillars of professionalism and excellence soar from.” Or whatever it says.

Please folks. You don’t have to hire me (if I’ve turned you off with my tone here, I can live with that), but for the love of peet, get someone who knows what they’re doing. If you’re short on funds, at least get someone to proofread and edit your site before it goes live. A copywriter may charge the same hourly rate for writing that she does for editing (I know I do) but editing can be done in about half the time. The savings abound.

Please–break down your pillars and hire a copywriter.

Working Smart or…Smartly Working?

Sometimes, the arguments at our house are downright silly.

Last week, Ted and I got around to discussing the validity of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I have been fairly vocal in my support of the protests (although I haven’t managed to get myself off the couch long enough to join in) while Ted has observed the whole thing with a greater degree of skepticism. He hasn’t exactly said that the protestors should should take showers and get jobs, but well…the Ted of five years ago probably would have said something like that, and the current Ted may well have said that already if he didn’t mind dealing with the tirade he’d most likely get from me in response.

I’m very glad we have the kind of relationship in which we discuss heavier topics than what TV show to watch on Tuesdays–but I’m sorry to report that Occupy Wallstreet was not the real topic of our argument. Instead, it came down to this:

Ted pointed out that the protestors, as well as the people struggling all over our country, could benefit from working a little smarter. When I said that hard work isn’t necessarily a cure-all in our downtrodden economy, Ted replied, ”Not working hard. Working smart.”

We both agreed that working smart is vital to success (we also agree that ice is cold) but I while I argued that one must work hard and work smart, Ted insisted that only smart is necessary.

Which is odd, given that my husband works harder than just about anyone I know.

When the town of Fairfield, NJ, was forced to close down in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Ted found himself unable to get to work for the better part of two weeks. While many folks (myself included) would have taken advantage by sleeping late or mindlessly browsing the Internet, Ted spent his time mowing the lawn, vacuuming the floors, and moaning about not working. Yes, my husband can put in a nine hour day at the office and come home to freelance work without a word of complaint, but tell him he can’t go work and he’ll throw himself a pity party.

My husband has been putting in long hours–some for himself, some for others–for as long as we’ve been together. I’ve seen him nearly burn himself out for clients and projects with no future. I have not seen this happen in a very long time, however, because Ted has developed an excellent ability for choosing the right projects over the years.

In short, my husband has worked very hard at working smart.  Which would seem to prove my point, would it not?

This inane argument eventually puttered to it’s inevitable end, and I don’t remember if we came to any specific resolution. But on the upside, it did start me thinking about positive change–in situations which I can control, as well as in those which I cannot.

I’m not going to discuss the Occupy Wall Street protestors in further detail, mainly I have nothing to add that hasn’t  been eloquently covered here. But I will say that Ted and I have both been asked to sacrifice quite a lot since the economy crumbled. In the space of about two years, we were both laid of from our jobs. We have each spent months looking for employment, and we have each had to work for diminished salaries for a time. Even today, our combined yearly income is significantly less than it was at the start of 2009.

I wish that simply getting by–and dare I say, getting ahead–were not such a struggle. And I will support any protest that demands a reasonable standard of living for as many people as possible.

It’s funny how two people can argue when they believe the same things.