The proof is in the proofreading

You know the drill. You're a reasonably intelligent person and a working professional. You are in a hurry. You don't really need to have someone else proofread your words, right? You bravely hit send. Then you spot it. The typo that ruins the whole message.

If it hasn't happened to you, count your lucky stars and realize that, statistically speaking, your time will come sooner than you might think. Nothing kills your message - or your credibility - like typos.

We're about to start a new year, and it's time to make your resolutions. You could have no better resolution than this: I will always have my words proofed before I hit send.

Today's headlines provide proof that when it comes to typos, little things mean a lot. Check it out:

Typo takes tourist 13,000 km out of his way

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- A 21-year-old German tourist who wanted to visit his girlfriend in the Australian metropolis Sydney landed 13,000 kilometers (8,077 miles) away near Sidney, Montana, after mistyping his destination on a flight booking Web site.

Dressed for the Australian summer in T-shirt and shorts, Tobi Gutt left Germany on Saturday for a four-week holiday.

Instead of arriving "down under", Gutt found himself on a different continent and bound for the chilly state of Montana.

"I did wonder but I didn't want to say anything," Gutt told the Bild newspaper. "I thought to myself, you can fly to Australia via the United States."

Gutt's airline ticket routed him via the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon, to Billings, Montana. Only as he was about to board a commuter flight to Sidney -- an oil town of about 5,000 people -- did he realize his mistake.

The hapless tourist, who had only a thin jacket to keep out the winter cold, spent three days in Billings airport before he was able to buy a new ticket to Australia with 600 euros in cash that his parents and friends sent over from Germany.

"I didn't notice the mistake as my son is usually good with computers," his mother, Sabine, told Reuters.

Be optimistic! You'll live longer

Did you hear the story about the optimist and the pessimist? The pessimist turns to the optimist and says, "It can't get any worse." The optimist replies, "Of course it can." All irony aside, it's important for business writers, which we all are, to be optimistic in our communications with prospects, partners and clients. Optimism instills confidence, and the key to selling anything is giving them confidence in the product or service being sold.

What do we mean when we say be optimistic? It means never give up hope. If you're notifying a client about a drop in sales, be sure not to stop there. Point out steps that are being taken to reverse the decrease. If you have to tell a potential affiliate that their application to join a program is denied, make sure you offer a few tips that could help them make the cut next time. If you find yourself speaking about pitfalls in your industry, make sure your speech includes thoughts about how these pitfalls can be overcome in the future.

Things go wrong. People make mistakes. Campaigns have bad months. What's important is that you don't become overwhelmed by the negative side of things. Here are some different ways to think about optimists and pessimists. Whenever you find yourself slipping into negativity, read these and turn that frown upside down:

* An optimist thinks that this is the best possible world. A pessimist fears that this is true.

* An optimist laughs to forget. A pessimist forgets to laugh.

* A pessimist complains about the noise when opportunity knocks.

* The optimist is as often wrong as the pessimist, but is far happier.

* I'm an optimist, but I don't think it helps.

* Optimists are nostalgic about the future.

* It doesn't hurt to be optimistic. You can always cry later.

* Always borrow money from a pessimist. He or she doesn't expect to be paid back.

* The optimist says, "My cup runneth over, what a blessing." The pessimist says, "My cup runneth over, what a mess."

* A pessimist is one who sees in others his or her own worst characteristics.

* No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."

Wishing you a grammatically correct holiday season!

Many of you are probably just now sitting down to write and send your holiday cards for family and friends. That's why in this week's copywriting lesson I thought it would be nice to review the correct way to address holiday cards.

Rule No. 1: Never use an apostrophe when writing the family's name because you are addressing the entire family - not something they own.
Example of INCORRECT usage:
The Smith's
900 Merry Lane
Kansas City, MO 64110

Example of CORRECT usage omits the apostrophe:
The Smiths
900 Merry Lane
Kansas City, MO 64110

Rule No. 2: You must add "es" to the end of any family name that ends in "ch," "s," "sh," "x" or "z."

Examples of INCORRECT usage:
The Thomas's
212 Oak St.
Overbrook, KS 66524

Example of CORRECT usage:
The Thomases
212 Oak St.
Overbrook, KS 66524

If this seems a little strange to you, you can also omit the "es" and add the word family to the end.

Example:
The Thomas Family
212 Oak St.
Overbrook, KS 66524