If your going to write something, you’ve got to anticipate the affect that you’re writing had on people.  Its going to be a reflection of not only your brand or company but of you personnelly so it needs to be something that truely represents what you half to bring to the table since you have alot to loose.

If these two sentences did not make you laugh, scoff, cry, or pull your hair out, I really don’t know what will. Any idea how many mistakes are in that first bit?  Go ahead, take a guess.

There are about 12, give or take.  The incorrect use of your and you’re, affect vs. effect, improper use of its, the misspelled words, and the inaccurate subject-verb agreement leaves readers asking, what is going on here?  And that second sentence, can you say run-on?  A complete lack of punctuation makes the reader feel lost and annoyed.

To be honest, it took me longer to write the first two sentences than the next four paragraphs.  Why?  Because they are so unbelievably incorrect that it’s difficult for me to even think to use words that way.  Nonetheless, some of the grammatical errors featured above are ones that we see all to often (too…just kidding).

While my message still gets across to the readers, they definitely aren’t going to take me seriously.  We all hope that what we have to say is more important than some trivial grammatical errors, but the truth is that these kinds of errors make me look straight up dumb.  You’re not immune either; they make you look dumb too.

This is exactly why good writing is not just an added bonus, it’s a necessity.  You only get one chance to make a first impression, and that impression is not going to be a good one if your writing is filled with elementary school mistakes.  I’m not trying to say that my writing is always perfect in the eyes of the grammar gods, but I am saying that knowing how to write is vital to the success of your business.

However, it can get a little tricky.  In certain writing situations we find ourselves bending those inflexible grammatical laws and blurring the lines of what’s acceptable and what’s not.  Take this blog for example.  I have definitely used commas in places I shouldn’t have, and I’ve broken a few rules in the grammar department by starting sentences with words like  “and” and “because.”  I also used an ellipsis to denote a pause in my speech.  Contrary to popular belief, that’s not what ellipses are for.

Yet, this is the nature of blogging and copywriting.  Welcome to the world of new media writing.  We write how we talk.  We have to, and so do you.  In order to make it out there, you must use your diction to remain engaging and interactive, but that leaves no room for bad writing.  Absolutely none.