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[Joyce Penner Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 8]

Nobody is perfect and typos creep into everyone's writing at some point in time. So the little mistakes I can overlook without losing the respect one should give a guru. It's the people who write with no punctuation, all caps, all text is bold and the sentence is missing some words that I question. Why on earth are they writing when they can't? Those who struggle with writing should hire or have a 3rd party check over their copy before publication and if that's not possible videos may be a more appropriate venue for them to utilize.

To your success,
Joyce Penner
www.joycepenner.com

[Martin Schmalenbach Contribution Level: 2]

You know, I wrote a long response here, describing different kinds of errors, exploring different reasons for these errors creeping in to any writings, and so on. But for me it boils down to this...

I have 2 slightly conflicting expectations or perspectives...

I expect people who are writing for the benefit of others, including those who are paying for what they are reading, to take care to ensure as much as possible their writings are error-free. Being busy is simply not a good enough reason to not do this.

Many will make mistakes, in my eyes, because they have been 'brought up' with a different standard and set of rules - e.g. in the UK we use the letter 'u' when spelling 'colour' and in the US there is no letter 'u'.

Poor or no use of even slightly correct punctuation does tick me off a little, and this brings me back to this last point - the writer may not know any different!

As for those who feel moved to point out what they see as an error - I choose to assume their reasons are positive in nature - they could also be because of a drive to be 'anal' or to 'stoke their own egos' but in the absence of further evidence of this, why not choose to see things in a positive manner?

What I would say is, if you do feel strongly enough then by all means point it out to the guru - but do it privately!

Cheers

Martin

[humph schriek Contribution Level: 2]

Diplomacy by deference in this case is usely effective. Since the Guru erred, respect can be displayed not by "correcting" but "intimating" and asking if this is the way the Guru had intended to spell it. By deference you allow the guru the room to retreat gracefully. As Dale Carnegie stated in the arts of negotiation "don't ever place a man in a position from which he can not retreat gracefully".

[Nathaniel Johnson Contribution Level: 6]

I do not care about typos; It is the content that is important. I feel when people take the time to correct someone’s grammar or spelling, they are just stoking their own ego. Now this is just my opinion. I personally suck at grammar and spelling and I hate it when someone corrects me and totally misses my message…

Maybe if your message had no typos to distract, people would not miss it?

[Kim Williamson Contribution Level: 2]

Howdy folks,
I agree that there definetely needs to be more editing done. If we are referring to the same "Guru", I have come accross quite a few typos actually in his material but not because I was looking for them, they just jumped and if I was trying to learn to write by this individuals example, than not good, But if I am trying to glean the message then I don't care about the spelling.
But that being said, sometimes when I am writing, I backtrack alot through my copy and still after running a spell check either I or spell check misses something. I also use bad puctuation: Mostly because I write the way that I speak to people and use commas as pauses in thought.
But again about what has been stated here, chastise the guru privately, no one likes public humiliation
especially if as also stated, they put said misspelled content in on purpose to see if people were really reading, and if that is the case and you call them on it in a public forum with no other recourse but to come out swinging you could be the one embarrassed. Not to mention again if we are talking about the said same guru here, he doesn't show up around here anyway too busy it would seem.
If I were this individual, I would take the time to drop in to the forums now and again to see what people are REALLY saying about his material. Sometimes people get "So important that they forget about the people that got them their fame in the first place.

Just a thought~

Kim~Medhat141

[Cynthia Acoff Contribution Level: 4]

Of course, you wouldn't want a guru to look bad would you? But, be sure your right before you correct them

[Kim Williamson Contribution Level: 2]

I wouldn't want to make anyone look "bad", but what I want is a product that at least somewhat grammarically accurate, given that I am paying for it (unfortunately, I haven't yet read a book by some renounned author that didn't have some typo or other). But, again if the person that wrote the material can't be bothered to check up on who's buying and bitching about what they get and the reasons for the complaint, how can they fix it, Or do they even care because it's not the grammar but the content that matters.

Enough commentary from me on this.
I guess the major question here is really: Is it spelling and grammar that you purchased or is it value and content?

[Cheri Merz Contribution Level: 2]

I recently had the privilege of being in a mindset training presentation with Jeffrey Combs, of Golden Mastermind Seminars (I hope it's ok to post that...I just want to establish his credibility).

During Jeff's presentations, he often writes a word or phrase on the whiteboard behind him to emphasize his point. It's often misspelled, mostly from his hurry, but sometimes because he isn't the greatest speller in the world.

During the presentation he gave, he went to the whiteboard, drew a box in the upper corner and filled it with all the vowels in the alphabet. He said to the audience, 'If I misspell a word or phrase on the whiteboard, please feel free to borrow one of these letters. Because if you focus on my error, you will miss my message.'

That was profound for me because I used to be a nitpicker. I still edit my own work, not that I'm incapable of letting errors slip through anyway. However, when I am reading a guru or listening to a guru, I choose to let those things go because they aren't what's important.

Now, there are those who deplore the degradation of the English language and will completely disagree with me. I know this because I used to be one of them. It would serve us all to lighten up a bit. Language is living and dynamic--it evolves. Let's make an effort not to miss the forest due to focusing on the trees.

[John Zajaros Contribution Level: 1]

Hello!

Get ready, this is going to ruffle some feathers!

I am starting to have a real problem with the guru's assigning to social media some lofty place of karmic quality that somehow confers upon the individual who does it right a sort of magical degree of success. While, people who don't do it just right are forever banished to the never-never land of hypocritical criticism! All of this defined by who? Or is it whom? And what made them arbiter of all that is correct and proper in Web 2.0 Land?

Yup! That's right, karmic quality and hypocritical criticism! If you do this...then that! However, if you don't do it the right way....

Sounds like undergraduate deductive logic...if --> then!

The right way? Come on!

Hypocritical criticism!

The fact is, many of the same, self-appointed social media monitors, some guru or other, just one step up from those kids who used to be hall monitors back in the days when security guards hadn't even been considered yet, but you know the type! They have all the answers and all you have to do is ask them! Heaven forbid you step out of line? Well, they'll run off and tell Sister Mary Elephant that you have breached the the sanctity of the hall monitor rules of conduct!

Heaven forbid you break the rules of Tweeting or Facebooking or MySpacing!

So, what does that have to do with mentoring and gurus being right or wrong...and telling them? It all strikes me just a little like when Dan Quayle, you remember Dan, he was Vice President for half-a-meaningless-second? Well, Dan wanted to teach values in the schools! Some of you will remember the whole Family Values Great Debate, others won't. You see, Dan wanted values taught in the schools!

For half-a-meaningless-second

The idea almost caught on! Scary, when you think about it! But then someone a lot smarter than Dan asked a very simple question: "Whose values?"

An the debate was on!

In retrospect, it was a silly debate led by a small minority who wanted to impose their standards, their values, their will, on the rest of the American people! Or at least some poor, unsuspecting kids at Podunk Elementary School! Thankfully, reason prevailed and by the end of the day the whole Family Values Great Debate went the way of so many other movements when they attempt to impose mass control, Frank Kern notwithstanding (little "Mass Control humor there, very little!), on the majority.

Gurus and hypocrisy!

I have "listened" to many gurus go on virtual tirades about How to Not Twitter, How to Facebook, even How to Furl! The fact is? Many of the same individuals will, when it suits them, link up with the best of them! But the rest of the time? Blatant hypocrisy!

Does this include all of the gurus?

Certainly not! But the list of those who do one thing and advocate the opposite is impressive! If you doubt me, I have copies of some of the videos, tweets, posts, etc. I will be happy to share them with you! All part of my recent launch of The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed.

So, what does it mean?

Nothing! Less than nothing! Unless, of course, you want it to mean something. Then it will....

Brilliant, huh?

Ultimately, it means that gurus are human, they make mistakes, they say one thing and do another...

They're human!

Humans, and most gurus, get out of the shower naked, they put their pants on one leg at a time, they make mistakes, they sleep, they eat, and they put on a sock and a sock and a shoe and a shoe! But that's another meaningless debate for another time!

The Great Sock and a Sock, Shoe and a Shoe Debate! Stay tuned!!

Just follow your gut! There are no hall monitors, and no I don't mean the large predatory lizard of the genus Varanus and family Varanidae, inhabiting warm regions of Africa, Asia, and Australia, I mean those snooty little tattle-tales we all grew to hate in school many moons ago!

To all you hall monitors out there...there's social media now! Whoopee!

Have a super week everyone! And remember...follow your gut...and your passion!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

[Kim Williamson Contribution Level: 2]

Wow!! It's about TIME! I love twitter and facebook and all the other social media out there. BUT! They are just like in here a TOOL to use and meet new people. I've said this in an article I've written and I'll say it again. There is NO RIGHT OR WRONG way to socialize. Just do it! GURUs Too many self-appointed ones!
Why can't we all just get along like good boys and girls. Being someone who cut class alot as a kid, I couldn't stand the hall monitors and the on the school ground cops. I have to wonder how far in life they actually got by being whistle blowers.

Definetly follow your gut. If it don't feel right to you, it probably isn't, and yes I would tell a guru he's being an A$$ or wrong if he/she was.

Kim~medhat141