Guest post from: Laura Helen Walsh

You can’t judge a book by its cover, right?

Not exactly. Your customers judge you all the time by your words.

Like it or not, right or wrong, your words are your reputation.

But, you know this already. When talking to a customer, you always put your best foot forward. You see each conversation as an opportunity, right?

Blogging is no different.

Your blog is a conversation on steroids.

Your blog lets you speak with hundreds (even thousands) of your customers at once.

When speaking face-to-face with a customer, you wouldn’t mumble, slur your words, curse a lot, or speak in a dialect your customer didn’t understand. You’d make a poor impression, lose your customer’s confidence, and (ultimately) his or her business.

Typos, unfinished thoughts, poor grammar, and jargon will cost you business.

Let me be clear: I’m not the typo police or a grammar dictator. Far from it.

You don’t have to become a grammarian or lexicographer to write better blog posts. As The New York Times noted, even William Safire (the “Language Maven”) came to embrace “the everyday voice of the native speaker”.

I’m not even suggesting you write more formally or use words you don’t regularly use when talking.

You don’t have to be anyone but yourself to be a better writer. Just be the best version of yourself when you write.

Because better writing makes you more attractive (to customers).

Here are 5 things you can do right away to improve your blog writing:

1. Write as if you were speaking directly to your customer.

Your customers want you to speak directly to them. So, write as if you were having a face-to-face conversation.

Speak in the first person. Use “I”. Never use “we” or the disembodied and disconnected third person. Address your readers using the pronoun “you”.

I’ll give you an example. Imagine you’re a marketing director reading my blog.

Would you want to read this?
Consumers just aren’t spending. Marketers have been forced to reduce costs. We believe marketers can still grow business by taking advantage of less expensive social media tools.

Or, would you prefer to read this?
Your customers just aren’t spending. You’ve been forced to reduce costs. I believe you can still grow your business by taking advantage of less expensive social media tools.

By substituting just a few words, you can dramatically improve the impact your message has on your blog’s readers.

But what if writing comes to you as easily as herding cats?
If you’re more comfortable speaking, you might consider recording your blog entries and then having them translated. Or, try using speech recognition software like Dragon Naturally Speaking or MacSpeech Dictate. Once your words are captured in print, all you have to do is lightly edit for readability.

2. Use clear headings, shorter words and sentences, and small paragraphs.

Doing all of these things will help you keep your theme on-track, your ideas crisp, and your thoughts clear.

Also, online readers often find longer paragraphs tedious and difficult to digest. Even if you write well, your readers may grow disinterested and lose your message.

3. Use a thesaurus.

Speaking of tedious…just kidding. A thesaurus is a blog writer’s best friend. Use it to find smarter, shorter substitutes for jargon and longer words.

4. Read it aloud for clarity and flow.

By slowly reading your blog entry aloud, you can hear where you may have written a run-on sentence, left a thought unfinished, or used an incorrect word tense.

I read aloud every blog entry (and every other piece I write) to make sure my thoughts are clear, complete, and helpful to readers.

5. Print it out and review it backwards for typos.

Isn’t it frustrating to read something 100 times and still not see the glaring typo you made?

Yuo cna raed htis, rigth?

It’s because of your very smart brain. Your brain makes the correction for you automatically based on a number of factors better explained by a neuroscientist than me. Reading your writing backwards helps to interrupt this auto-correct function.

Full disclaimer: I still make typos. Hard as I try not to, I make them every now and then. It’s an honest mistake your readers are likely to forgive, as long as it doesn’t happen often.

Write better. Attract more customers. Make more money.

Better writing builds trust with readers. Along with all of the other trust-building activities you engage in, your blog can persuade readers to become evangelists of your ideas and your brand (and, eventually, paying customers for your products and services).

Want proof?

Ask yourself this: “Would I recommend, email to a friend, or Tweet a link to a blog post that was impersonal, non-sensical, or chock full of blunders and typos? Would I trust the person who wrote it to deliver a high-quality product or service?”

Me neither.

Laura Helen Walsh is a business writer, content strategist and owner of Wordwealthy Consulting. She helps high-growth companies, and mature companies with new products or services, boost their visibility and profit potential with customer-focused, education-driven content. She blogs at wordwealthy.com/blog, offering writing tips and information on content marketing trends to her readers.