On-the-Dot Business Blogging

I love getting Todd Hunt’s e-newsletter about "Communication Bleeps and Blunders in Business".  Besides being good for a chuckle, these pieces invariably contain valuable tips that relate to business blogging.

Does it really matter whether your punctuation is correct in a business blog?  After all, as Compendium Blogware’s CEO Chris Baggott points out, blogging for business is about instant customer gratification. But that is precisely why punctuation matters so much – if online readers can’t get the gist of what you’re saying, they’ll simply click away.

To illustrate the point that punctuation matters, Todd Hunt brings back a 2004 humorous piece by reporter Jeff Rubin about a love letter written to John from Gloria.
 
Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is all about.  You are generous, kind, thoughtful.  People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior.  You have ruined me for other men.  I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart.  I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours? 
Gloria

Now, with all words the same and only the punctuation changed, the entire tone of the letter is transformed.

Dear John,
I want a man who knows what love is.  All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people who are not like you.  Admit to being useless and inferior.  You have ruined me.  For other men I yearn. For you I have no feelings whatsoever.  When we’re apart I can be forever happy.  Will you let me be? Yours,
Gloria

As a professional ghost blogger and business blogging trainer, I cannot tell you how often I hear the argument about blogs being more informal and more conversational in tone than websites.  The conclusion drawn is that punctuation and spelling don’t matter in bloging.  That’s a mistake.  "It’s a mistake because it confounds readers’ expectations," says wordstogoodeffect.com. "Anything that puzzles the reader… or brings them up short – even for just a second…interferes with their smooth reading and understanding of the text."

I couldn’t agree more.  After all, isn’t understanding and engagement what we’re trying to accomplish in our business blogs?