I recently landed on the website of a 30-something selling a \u201chow to be a successful freelance writer even though you\u2019re not a writer and have no writing experience or journalism education\u201d training program.<\/p>\n

This individual had no writing training or experience herself, but decided to become a freelance writer while unemployed. She turned what she learned from that experience into an online course.<\/p>\n

Because I have a journalism degree and work as a freelance writer, I was more than curious about what she had to say. So I added myself to her email list . . . and got an education. But it wasn\u2019t the one I was expecting.<\/p>\n

Oh, the things you can learn!<\/h2>\n

I realized pretty quickly \u2013 as in the second email \u2013 that we weren’t a good match.<\/p>\n

She used \u201cthe f-bomb\u201d in the subject line and throughout the message itself. Subsequent messages used the same, um, \u201csalty\u201d language. In addition, they were often snarky and lacked substance.<\/p>\n

I unsubscribed.<\/p>\n

Words have power<\/h2>\n

While I didn\u2019t learn much about her perspective on how to become a freelance writer, I\u2019m glad I subscribed. The messages presented me with an \u201caha\u201d moment: Our book promotion language — the words we use in our messages — can either attract or repel readers.<\/p>\n

[novashare_tweet tweet=”Our book promotion language — the words we use in our messages — can either attract or repel readers.” hide_hashtags=”true”]<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible \u2013 even likely \u2013 that this entrepreneur knew this and chose her words carefully so she could weed out people like me who won\u2019t appreciate her on-camera approach. By tossing a few four-letter words into her email messages, she\u2019s saying, \u201cIf you don\u2019t like this, you\u2019ll really dislike my training style! Go away!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Message received. Buh-bye.<\/p>\n