Blogging is one of the most important promotional tools for a graphic designer. A neat, clean, professional blog is a great way to create a first impression for new clients, build a reputation in the industry, and boost sales and profits. A poorly written blog, on the other hand, is the fastest way to make yourself look like a rank amateur, and get passed over by potential clients for a graphic designer who may be less suited or qualified for the job.
Image by John Hope Franklin
Do you cringe when someone says “grammar”, remembering long, boring sessions with your butt going numb as you diagrammed sentences in hard plastic elementary school chair? Do your Word documents look as if they’re crawling with squiggly red, blue and green worms? Were you voted “least likely to win the spelling bee” in school?
Photo by Richard Harrison
Don’t worry. You can write a blog. Honest. Not only can you write a blog, you can create a blog that will create a professional image that promotes your work and gets your name talked about as “that guy/gal who really knows their stuff”.
Step one: Learn to diagram a sentence.
Ok, ok, I’m KIDDING! No. There is no diagramming necessary. Writing is not that hard, honest. You don’t have to know the difference between an “em dash” and an “en dash” to write a successful blog.
What you do need is a desktop publishing program like Word or even Open Office, a freebie version of Word that includes spelling and grammar help. Consider using Mozilla Firefox’s free browser- it also contains a spellchecker. A caveat about relying on spell check and grammar helpers- A computer does not know the difference between “threw” and “through” or “your” and “you’re”. You will need to learn and practice basic spelling and grammar. If you don’t know the difference between “to”, “too” and “two”, you may want to check out the many simple grammar help sites available on the ‘web.
Photo by Chris Chan
Keep your entries concise. Most blog entries are between 300 and 500 words. Try to keep to one or two ideas, and offer facts to back up your opinions, especially when writing about industry trends or other news.
Still not sure of your writing abilities? One last tip- Hire a freelance writer and/or editor. Depending on your confidence (and interest) in writing your blog entries yourself, you can hire a freelancer to write your entries, or to edit the posts you’ve written. Remember, that you get what you pay for. Check job boards like oDesk.com for freelancer contractors.
However you produce your blog, offer interesting content and good information, and don’t let it get obscured by bad grammar or poor spelling. Your blog is a representation of you as a professional. Make that first impression a solid one.
 |
Tom Chu works for PsPrint and PsPrint Blog. When he’s not sitting behind a computer, Tom likes watching sci-fi movies and Japanese cartoons, hitting the golf course and playing with his four dogs. You can connect with Tom via Google+ or Twitter. |
