Blogging Tips: Let Your Mistakes be a Teacher

If you spend even five minutes in front of someone's inspirational quote Pinterest board, you're going to learn a thing or two about mistakes. Specifically, you're going to learn how mistakes aren't bad. If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying new things. If you're not making mistakes, you're not creating space to grow. What I've learned from these quotes is this: mistakes can be your teacher.

Mistakes and Business Blogging

As a full-time writer, there is no shortage of opportunities to make mistakes. I make many of them, daily. One (of the many) great things about my job is that there are ample opportunities for those mistakes to be found and corrected before content is published.

Messing Up the Subject Matter

I've written on some pretty unfamiliar topics throughout my career. Some days, I've gone from literally not knowing what something is to understanding how something works, why people would want it, and how to describe its best features to others. To me, that's pretty freakin' neat. 

But, because I move so quickly from not knowing to knowing, sometimes I mess things up. I draw conclusions that aren't really there or get something wrong. Here too, I have a great team to help me catch any of these slip-ups, and I always have the opportunity to correct things and learn the right way.

Using the Wrong Word

As a writer and a reader, few things can be as cringe-worthy as a typo finding its way into publication. Typos come in all shapes and sizes - some of the most common ones I see are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings are common in this area, words like:

• There, They're, Their
• To, Too, Two

Similarly, words with similar spelling but different meaning are often confused in writing. Some examples are:

• Affect/Effect
• Compliment/Complement

Thankfully, once the content is published we're still able to go in and make edits. And yes, I have found an eight-month-old typo in a business blog and corrected it on the spot.  

Burying the Lead

The phrase "burying the lead" is a journalism term. Here, "the lead" is the main point you're trying to get across with your content, and "burying it" refers to covering, hiding, and/or obscuring that main idea. In effect, burying the lead means your reader or audience will have a difficult time identifying the point your business blog is trying to get across.

Staying on message helps to ensure your readers take away from your blog the information and understanding that you want them too. If you find yourself burying the lead, know that this too is a mistake that can be learned from. 

In order to successfully blog for business, it's vital to be aware of what it is you're trying to say and using the words that will communicate that message to your audience. As you write, don't be afraid of making mistakes, as that will only slow you down. Instead, remember that mistakes can be your teacher.