Writing 101 At AdLand Pro

Writing 101
By Trina L.C. Schiller

If you are from an non-English speaking culture, and are struggling to communicate with English speaking folk, don't be hard on yourself. Most English speaking Americans have difficulty with their own language.

I spend a lot of time reading in forums, and I am constantly amazed by the way people write. This has prompted me to start a forum at AdLand Pro called:Writing 101.

On the Internet, the way we communicate, most often, with others is to write. Unfortunately, most people do not write well. The inability to write well diminishes the professional persona needed to transact business with others.

First of all, people tend to assume that you are only as intelligent as you speak. On the Internet, that translates into how well you write. Now think about this a moment:

Would you hire a PR consultant to market your business if you found their web site difficult to read? Would you hire an attorney who appeared to have spelling challenges?

Like it or not, as human beings, we judge others all the time. Subconsciously we rate people by these things:

• Appearance
• Speech
• Body language

Since body language is not apparent on the Internet, more emphasis is placed on appearance and speech [writing].

We all know that having a photograph of yourself, on your web site, increases response in visitors. With a photo, others can put a face to a name; thereby making you a real person in their own mind.

Well, if your copy isn't well written, no one will take you seriously either. The thought behind this is: "If he can't write worth a darn, how can I be sure he really knows what he's talking about?" You can be another Einstien, but if you write like a third grader, who is going to listen? Poor writing decreases credibility.

The worst of it is that, if you write bad copy, you may not be able to communicate to the reader at all. If you don't get your point across, then all your effort has been a waste.

It is not just ad copy, or site copy that all of this applies to either. Everything you write needs to be written well. Everything!

• email
• chat conversations
• forum posts
• articles

and so on...

Always put your best foot forward. Communicate your professionalism through your words; build your credibility as well as your visability. It doesn't matter if the world sees you if they doubt, or misunderstand you.

Copyright © 2005
The Trii-Zine Ezine
www.ezines1.com

Keywords: writing, English writing, copy writing, writing 101