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A grocery delivery seems like an odd place for a blog inspiration to lurk, but as I was stacking tins of beans in my cupboard I noticed something:

Having lived in Asia for a time, I’m used to the odd print error in marketing collateral/packaging/street signs – a take away joint mear my house offered Fist Food, although the shop boasting a Brain For Rent was somewhat of a mystery,  and this kind of thing was regular on the menu at favourite eateries.

And while ‘strickly’ speaking, typos in packaging are not good business, my interest was then piqued by this Copyblogger post by Associate Editor Jonathan Morrow, who makes some great points about why being wrong in a world striving for rightness can sometimes lead to brilliance, or at least get people more interested in what you are doing.

Here’s what Mr Morrow said:

1. Be wrong: The world is full of people trying to do the right things. It’s become so common that many of us are bored by it. We long for someone that is willing to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, be the wrong thing. If you have the courage to be that person, you’ll find lots of people paying attention to you.

2. Be right: You can also gain attention by being right… but only if you’re more right than everyone else. Run a mile faster than anyone else, explain your topic more clearly than anyone else, be funnier than everyone else. Embody perfection, and people will take notice.

Getting things wrong the right way can be turn out to be a boon and perhaps it’s happened to you already. Whether it’s because it helps you to learn from your on mistakes, or brings you the kind of attention you want (even if not the way you intended) the odd mistake here and there can make all the difference.

A good example of this can be found on some of the blogospheres most popular pages. look through them and you’ll find typos galore. Why? becuase it keeps the author human in the eyes of the readership.

Alternatively, whoever printed that vege box up there can’t cash in the same way, so you have to be wrong at the right time.

Jonathan is also right about being, er, right – it seems for every expert out there, there are eleventy million ‘experts’ touting blogs, ebooks and white papers for a sum of your hard earned cash. I know, I know, Spamducators are my bug bear and I really ought to learn to deal with it on my own.

But I think what we all agree that getting things the wrong kind of wrong makes you look bad, while getting things the right kind of wrong or the right kind of right may just help you become a better brain for rent!