Carefully edit your profile!

General Real Estate Investing
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Carefully edit your profile!

Cal C.
Investor · Peachtree Corners, GA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

I've read several people's profiles and I have seen a number of grammatical mistakes. I understand this is not English class and I understand that when we are creating posts or post replies, we write quickly and aren't always careful about mistakes; however, your profile is a totally different animal.

When someone wants to know a little about you, they will check your profile, if it is filled with grammatical errors that can only detract from their opinion of you. Whether they will admit it or not, people who want to interact with you will be negatively affected by a grammatically error filled profile.

I'm not saying you should have the world's best write up, I'm just saying that it would be very beneficial if you didn't have any grammatical errors in your profile. So spend five minutes making sure your profile has no glaring grammatical errors.

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Bill Gulley
Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
12y

Well, I tried. Mine is probably full of "run-on" sentences. My avatar I believe projects my intent here, to let the sunshine through clouded issues. If you look really hard, you'll see me floating on the cloud in the center. I realize it's hard to see me in that white robe and long white beard.

Is there a suggestion here that I'm not a memorable member?

I realize my posts are full of writing errors, not just grammatical mistakes. My fingers fly faster than my synapse fires at times. LOL

Great suggestion for those trying to do business here. I do form preconceived notions with poor grammar being used. Some need to try harder and pay attention. BTW, I don't have these issues with bi-lingual types, that I can respect. :)

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  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    Great advice, @Cal C. . That said, I'd add to that . . . use a profile image of yourself instead of some generic pic. Not only does it help you build credibility, but it also helps people become more familiar with you as you engage on the site.

    Complete profiles without typos combined with a profile pic is a formula for more successful networking here on BP.

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  • Cal C.
    OP
    Investor · Peachtree Corners, GA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Touche


    0Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    My point wasn't 100% to call you out,@Cal C. but I wanted to add to your point.

    Here's why it matters . . . @Brandon Turner and I often talk about our members. Every few days we'll see a user who has hundreds of posts on the site and we'll realize that we have NO IDEA who they are. Using our generic avatar or just some random non-personal one doesn't help you to be memorable.

    Part of social networking is making it so people can know you better -- a personal pic helps with that.

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  • Jean BolgerPro Member
    Aurora, CO · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    As I've mentioned on at least one other thread, I am willing to proofread stuff for BP colleagues. So feel free to message me if you'd like me to take a look. I'm not a professional editor, but I am a bit of a grammar geek. My dad was an english professor; I can't help myself...

    True story: I admit to sending a colleague request because I was so happy to see someone spell the word "pique" correctly.

    See there? It really can help your networking ;)

    2Reply
  • Cal C.
    OP
    Investor · Peachtree Corners, GA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    LOL I piqued that out too.

    0Reply
  • Will BarnardPro Member
    Moderator
    Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    12y

    I concur. Having proper grammar in your profile along with a photo is crucial if you expect the best possible results.

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  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    Well, I tried. Mine is probably full of "run-on" sentences. My avatar I believe projects my intent here, to let the sunshine through clouded issues. If you look really hard, you'll see me floating on the cloud in the center. I realize it's hard to see me in that white robe and long white beard.

    Is there a suggestion here that I'm not a memorable member?

    I realize my posts are full of writing errors, not just grammatical mistakes. My fingers fly faster than my synapse fires at times. LOL

    Great suggestion for those trying to do business here. I do form preconceived notions with poor grammar being used. Some need to try harder and pay attention. BTW, I don't have these issues with bi-lingual types, that I can respect. :)

    3Reply
  • Joshua D.Pro Member
    BiggerPockets Founder · HI · Member since 2008 · 16k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    @Bill Gulley - No attack on you or others who don't use a personal pic, but studies show that social media profiles with personal photos are FAR more effective for networking and trust factors.

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    12y

    Cal - Does a split infinitive in a post title count? ;-)

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  • Nicole A.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    My 9-5 job title is "Editor III", and it does bug me when someone has a lot of grammar mistakes. I can look over the obvious typo though. My true "passion" of this job is formatting. It's like working on a puzzle when making a document look pretty. Luckily for me, my supervisor has noticed this and lets me mostly just format instead of edit lol.

    1Reply
  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    I'm sure that's true for the young and beautiful, but what do studies show about old, very heavy set little people with long white hair and one blue eye, a patch over the other ?

    Okay, so long as we aren't being discriminated against, ugly old people have rights too ya know! Not everyone can be in movies and TV you know!

    Not everyone can be a Calvin Klein underwear model like Will. Even the Hunchback of Notre Dame got some respect and love for who he was!

    I'll just have to be satisfied with myself as the social outcast of BP I guess and I'll do my best to be grammatically correct.

    But, if you don't look like me, get your real picture up on your avatar people! :)

    1Reply
  • Mark UpdegraffBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Rochester, NY · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 689 votes
    12y

    The one that gets me the most is you're / your. My mother is a writer and I proof read her work growing up. Nothing better than perfect practice to make perfect.

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  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Mark Updegraff:
    Nothing better than perfect practice to make perfect.

    Mark, if one practices perfectly what's the point of practice? Perhaps you should expand your repertoire so that practice can make perfect! :)

    Forgot, @Joshua D.

    and @Will Barnard

    :)

    0Reply
  • Ionie Scott
    Bridgeport, CT · Member since 2014 · 15 posts · 2 votes
    12y

    Hey Cal, I endorse your post regarding grammatical errors wholeheartedly. However, we are living in a day and time, whereby, proper spelling, grammar, verbiage etc. - have flown straight through the window; and instead 'slang' that require no great effort to express one's self, has replace the standard English language. I was on a Webinar last night (Not BP - of course), and the word 'which' came up several times as 'witch'; 'their' came up as 'there'; 'you're' came up as 'your'.

    The quality of what we produce, whether in writing, on the job, or how we relate to each other speaks volume about us; because first impression lasts. We have been taught how to present our deals to private money lenders, in a way that will be appealing to them; so that the 'unasked question - What's in it for me?' will be answered, whenever we approach them for money. This takes some preparation and research, as well as a built up self-confidence, in order to achieve the desired result. However, whenever we are writing, it is done in a substandard manner. With the advent of 'text', no one seem to bother about correct spelling anymore.

    Brandon I also completely agree with you. Responding to someone without a face, is like speaking to a wall. This comes back to 'our presentation' that I mentioned previously. People do business with people that they know (or can see - for that matter). It does not take much to upload a picture, so why do people refuse to do it?

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  • Ionie Scott
    Bridgeport, CT · Member since 2014 · 15 posts · 2 votes
    12y

    Oops!! I mean Josh - not Brandon.

    0Reply
  • Timothy Riley
    Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 451 posts · 96 votes
    12y

    I know mine is ruff, but 90% of the time im using my cell phone to enter BP information while on the go.

    0Reply
  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y

    I do appreciate pictures even when people get them sideways. And even when

    @Bill Gulley posts his picture of the clouds I immediately know who is posting and associate that person with previous posts and background so it is not lost to post something unique. Although I am sure the real picture with the pirate look I am sure will be fine too.

    I have to make this point at work too since I am a virtual employee. I see all these empty blue faces at the bottom of my emails and I have to keep asking can you add your picture since I could pass you on the street and never know you. Face it the picture is .5 inches tall I might not know you anyway but lets give it a try...

    The spelling gets me and I cringe when I post something and realize it has a serious spelling or word error. your for you 're or something like that. I'm not so good with grammar though.

    2Reply
  • Dawn AnastasiPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Jean Bolger:
    As I've mentioned on at least one other thread, I am willing to proofread stuff for BP colleagues. So feel free to message me if you'd like me to take a look. I'm not a professional editor, but I am a bit of a grammar geek. My dad was an english professor; I can't help myself...

    Nowadays, authors will have websites and Facebook accounts. I have been reading many books on the Kindle and have actually posted on an author's Facebook page about an error in two of their books. So believe me, I completely understand when you say "I can't help myself"!

    Is it just me, or are there just more errors in books nowadays versus in the past? Or am I just noticing them more?

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  • Mark UpdegraffBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Rochester, NY · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 689 votes
    12y

    @Bill Gulley practice practice practice, until your practice becomes perfect. Then practice perfection!

    My guitar teacher drove that home for me, and I'm a believer. It is anything but easy to do.

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    12y

    Probably related to higher percentage of self-published books.

    I'm a grammar nazi, my wife is a stickler for proof-reading, Josh Dorkin and Brandon Turner are both very intelligent, and yet, despite all four of us proof-reading my books, I still get grammar/spelling corrections from my readers.

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    1Reply
  • Troy Fisher
    Specialist · Kirkland, WA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 817 votes
    12y

    And as I keep getting reminded of when I go to a Meetup is to keep the picture current. For those of us who think one week a little facial hair looks good and then shave it off a week later.

    0Reply
  • Cal C.
    OP
    Investor · Peachtree Corners, GA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    OK so I added a unique picture. Granted it is not me, but I can't find any pictures of myself that isn't a selfie with my wife.

    0Reply
  • Bobby Beard
    Real Estate Investor · Panama City, FL · Member since 2012 · 265 posts · 58 votes
    12y
    Ok how's my profile? Lol
    0Reply
  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Mark Updegraff:
    @Bill Gulley practice practice practice, until your practice becomes perfect. Then practice perfection!
    My guitar teacher drove that home for me, and I'm a believer. It is anything but easy to do.

    LOL, another music teacher! I grew up with one, don't we have to reach a level of accomplishment to practice it (?) so how is perfection practiced? Maybe we could practice toward perfection. I know, practice, practice, practice. Ever notice how professionals only practice and never reach perfection? The attorney practices law, the doctor practices medicine, I'd rather have either that didn't need to practice anymore, especially on me!

    I'll leave you to your 6 string and Flight of the Bumble Bee and don't tap your foot!. LOL :))

    0Reply
  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    12y

    I would say for me I am strong in some aspects of English and not others.

    I was a spelling master in school. I can find typos all the time in books and newspapers. I was already reading advanced college books as a freshman in high school. When asked to read a passage the teachers would always say anyone but Joel raise your hand!

    They just knew I didn't need it versus some kids that had slipped by that had problems reading a complete sentence. When I get into all the other stuff with run-on sentences and prepositions I do not get it right 100% of the time. My GPA in high school was in the 90's.

    Someone I believe a general had a saying that says " Don't wait to get it perfect just get it going "

    I agree that pictures are helpful on a profile. Mine is a few years old but not decades or something............ : ) I think it's funny when some agents hand me a card and they look like in their 40's and the person standing in front of me is 65 ! lol

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