First, being a good writer helps you stand out from the crowd and improves your chances for a promotion or raise . It can help convince your boss to take action on projects and ideas you're passionate about. Good writing makes you appear more intelligent, credible, and professional. It helps avoid confusion and misinterpretation, build trust and rapport with colleagues, and win clients.

Good writing is especially important because of our increased use of social media . We've all seen professionals on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook misspell words or use a word incorrectly. Not only is this embarrassing when it happens to you, but it can also affect your reputation and credibility in the future.

Great writing takes time and practice. As iconic businessman David Ogilvy said, "Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well."

There are several ways you can quickly make improvements to your own writing.

Before you start writing anything, stop and think about what you want and need to say. Ask yourself, "What does this person need to know or understand after reading this email?"

You can also use the "5 Ws + H" that all journalists use when crafting their work:

• Who : Who is my audience?
• What : What do they need to know?
• When : When does this apply, when did this happen, or when do they need to know it by?
• Where : Where is this happening?
• Why : Why do they need this information?
• How :How should they use this information?

You also need to ask yourself, "Do I really need to send this email?"

Professionals in every sector are inundated with emails every day, many of which are unnecessary. Save yourself and your reader time by making sure that each email you send is truly necessary and relevant.