ADVERTISING LITERATURE PREPARED IN ENGLISH BY A NATIVE SPEAKER

Writing a good advert in the style of Native English speaker is not an easy task (even for many Native speakers!), but to attract the interest of a foreigner you need to be able to produce information that they can relate to. This requires some knowledge of their culture, humour, politics, religion and country. The more you know about your "target", the deeper you can enter their minds.

Some of the principles of advertising work in any country, almost everyone knows that $9.99 sounds better than $10.00, but there are many subtle differences.

Places like the USA and Britain (and many other European countries) have been subjected to the very latest "selling techniques" for many years and they can take some convincing (you may find some examples of this on our site).

It is surprising that some companies in Russia are still using the phrase "Only for you!", something that was frequently heard in the early nineties. This is perhaps another example of using the dictionary badly, or an extract from an old English school book? Most people would say "Just for you!"

You may think that the above example is too similar to be of importance, but we can assure you that it is not. One sounds like it was written by a Russian, and the other by a foreigner. This difference is easy to notice (by a foreigner), as we are sure it would be if you were reading some Russian written by an Englishman (for example).

Some people are nervous about doing business with companies in other countries (especially Russia), and it is best to avoid giving reminders of your location by using the wrong choice of words. In an ideal world, the product or service you are offering should be the most important factor, and occasionally this is the case (if what you are offering is unique and well priced). But in the majority of cases, this does not apply.

Customers need to be able to "trust" the company they are dealing with, and image is the first step on this road. By providing well written adverts (with no errors) shows that you pay attention to detail and this indicates professionalism. If you follow this up with equally well written business letters, you will have every chance of success.

Please send us an email to: englishservice@profindsearch.com if you would like to discuss this with us further, including your contact details so that we can call you back as soon as possible. To avoid having your email treated as spam, please place the following words in the subject area "English Literature enquiry"