Tips for Writing Business Letter

The business letter is quite different from the ones for friends. It requires you to follow the formal format so that it can help you to communicate formally and successfully with other companies. There are many key pints that you should know when you are planning to write a formal business letter. The following guides may give you some help.

Firstly, you should prepare a printed letterhead and a word processor. For informal letters, you may use the handwriting. However, you must use the word processor to make your letters formal and this can also avoid misunderstanding. Then, you need to have a letterhead of your own which add more personality. If you do not have one, you may choose to type some contact information at the top to make a simple letterhead.

Secondly, you should type the letter by following the format. You should make the date below the letterhead and there should be two to six lines between them. Then, you could decide the alignment for your text. After two lines, you may type the name, title and address. You must pay attention to type the information correctly.

The last but not least, you may start the body and try to make your purpose easier to be understood. The content depends on the issue you are going to communicate for. And you should make your description or instruction brief and concise. Like all of the letters, you should add the word like best wishes, sincerely to the end of the letter. For your signature and title, you should leave more than four lines so that there will be enough space for you to sign.

Tips on How Write a Business Letter

While writing a business letter, you should understand the basic format to be used.

Every business letter should include the sender's address. If you are writing on behalf of a company, the address will already be printed on the letterhead. If you are sending out the letter personally, the address should be centre aligned and placed at the top of the page.

The date is an important element of a business letter. This should be placed a few lines beneath the sender's address.

The next important component of a business letter is the address of the person to whom you are writing. You should leave two lines of space after the date and then type in this address. The correct format is to include the complete name of the person, the name of the company, the street address, the name of the city, the name of the state and the zip code or postal code. If the receiver of the letter is located overseas, mention the name of the country. You may also want to include the receiver's title such as Mr., Dr. etc, although many people omit this part nowadays.

The salutation comes in next. Leave two lines after the receiver's address and begin with the salutation. It is acceptable practice to use the first name of the person if you know them well. Else address the letter to Mr. X or Ms Y as the case may be. If you are not sure of the salutation to use, it is wiser to be formal rather than risk being too casual. The salutation is followed by a colon or a comma, both of which are correct.

The main body of the letter contains the message that you need to communicate. This should be written in simple, clear and concise language.

The body of the letter is followed by the complimentary close. Between the last line of the body and the complimentary close there should be a space of two lines. The complimentary close could be in the form of 'yours sincerely', 'yours faithfully', etc. Nowadays it is acceptable to end a letter merely with using 'regards' as the complimentary close.

After the complimentary close, leave a four to six line space before adding in your signature. This should be signed by hand. Mention your name and your designation beneath the signature. Normally the designation should appear in the line after the writer's name.

Need a Hot Tip on Writing Business Letter That Sells?

On the Internet, the competition is fierce. If your business is going to compete successfully you need to possess the ability to write persuasive sales letters. It's that critical if you want to be an online success.

There are hundreds or thousands of marketers out there with exactly the same type of service or product you are selling; If you want to get your share of the market, you need to stand out among the crowd. And mastering the art of writing effective copy will help you very much.

Don't let this scare you! No one was born a copywriter. Copywriting is a learnable skill and one you should practice for yourself.

Learning how to write business letter is not difficult. You can learn the proper business format for writing a letter by studying successful sales letters.

No wonder advertisers and copywriters are using collections of tip on writing business letter and software, to assist them in writing their adcopies. They just select the sales letter that fits their product from their collections, make some changes and they are ready to start selling.

Your sales letter is your virtual salesperson. No matter how good your product is, you cannot earn even a penny from it if you have a lousy salesperson. Likewise, no matter how good your product is, you cannot sell even one copy of it with a weak salesletter. therefore, it is vital to have a persuasive salesletter that will pull the prospect right into it and see clearly the benefits that are presented against the very reasonable price you are charging.

Studying Successful sales letter can be your ticket to a wealth explosion!

When you study successful sales letters and know a few rules of ad copywriting you'll discover how easy it is to write well.

The best and the most used way to succeed in writing response-producing sales letters is by studying an rewriting the greatest sales letters you can find. So if you write your own copy and seriously aspire to be better at it, save any sales letter that grabs and hold your attention in a safe place.

Make yourself a collection of tip on writing business letter. Then, when writing your own adcopy, pull out the file and look through it for inspiration and for copy and techniques you can adapt and use.

Read the sales letters as many time as you can and try to understand all elements and rules used. Pay attention to every word, every sentence. Why did the writer use that word, that phrasing? Once you understand how to apply these elements and rules to your selling effort s you will automatically experience greater success. Grab your reader's attention

A good salesletter will first catch the attention of the reader by resonating with the reader's needs and desires. That's why you often see headlines such as "Have you ever felt..." or "Does ... sound familiar"? They work because they empathize with the reader's needs, problems or desires. The Internet is like a very busy freeway and everyone's in a rush. Only a strong headline like that in big, bold letters will stop your target audience dead in their tracks to read through your salesletter.

Tell Your story

Once you've obtained your reader's attention, you want to spend the first few paragraphs on telling your story - how you have gone through what your reader probably has, the agony of the whole experience, etc. Once you get your reader thinking "he's one of us", you would be perceived as an understanding individual offering a solution and not an anonymous marketer looking to sell his product.

Ensure the message matches the needs of the target audience. Does your offer of products and/or services match the needs of the recipient? Don't make your pitch to a company president if your message only applies to the marketing staff.

Sell benefits not futures

Next, you have to elaborate on the benefits of the product you are selling. List them all on a piece of scrap paper until you have quite a long list; then write your salesletter from there. In your salesletter, highlight the benefits in point form and elaborate on each benefit. Be sure to point out how your product helps the reader instead of pointing out the features of the product. For example, instead of saying "this gizmo cures headaches", say "this gizmo can relieve your headaches". Make it relevant to the reader.

Then, write a paragraph or two on how the reader's life could be changed if the problem he is facing can be totally solved with your product. It is important to use very descriptive words so that the reader can fall into the imagination more easily.

Include a guarantee.

If you can offer a guarantee - be it your follow-up, delivery, customer service, or pricing - do it. By offering a guarantee, you offer integrity and credibility to your products/services.

Ad testimonials

Testimonials from excited customers whose lives have been changed will only guarantee sales.

the postscript (P.S.)

The second most important part of the letter is the postscript. This is where you will be giving an incentive for someone to respond immediately to what you have to offer. With the offer, you want to make sure that this explains in great detail what a person will receive if they take you up on your offer. The postscript will offer further incentives so that the person will respond immediately.

Call for action

Last of all, make a strong call for action! Your final objective is to make your readers buy your product, so it is important to make a final, strong call for action, be it "click the Buy button", "whip out your credit card" and so on. Do not make the mistake of forgetting such an important step after coaxing your reader through the lengthy paragraphs.

Follow this tip on writing business letter All these techniques make an excellent sales copy with a lot of hours of tweaking the writing so it sounds perfect.

Writing Business Letters - Tutorial 2: Parts of a Business Letter

In this short tutorial you will learn about the different parts of a business letter and for what they are used. You are already familiar with most of the parts, but may not know their names or all their functions.

Parts of a Letter

Parker Morgan Finnigan

Lawyers

PO Box 2345

SYDNEY NSW 2000

[The part above is called the sender's address block]

29 October 2010

[This is, of course the date of the letter and it should be in long format]

Ms Janette Jameison

PO Box 34687

NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2005

[This is the Receiver's address block]

Dear Ms Jameison

[Complimentary address or opening]

CONTRACT WITH ACME FINANCE CORPORATION - OUR PPB:234/239/10

[Subject line - usually block letters and bold]

I refer to our previous correspondence requesting a copy of the contract between you and Acme Finance Corporation.

[The first sentence is called the opening sentence which we'll discuss in depth in a later tutorial]

If you do not provide us with a copy of the original contract, I'm afraid we will not be able to act on your behalf. We need the contract to accurately assess the claims you have made and to question legal staff from Acme Finance Corporation.

Please send us a copy of the contract at the earliest so we can get this matter under way.

Yours sincerely [Complimentary close]

Parker Johannson

Principal Legal Consultant

PARKER MORGAN FINNIGAN

[Subscription block]

Supplementary Annotations

At the bottom of your letters you may have some or all of the following annotations:

Encl or Encl(3) [This advises that something is enclosed with the letter]

Att or (Att (3) [This advises that something is attached to the letter]

Both of these annotations are intended to advise mail room clerks that an enclosure or attachment was required to be inserted/attached before the letter was sent. Also, it advises the person receiving it at the other end that something is supposed to be enclosed or attached. If it isn't, then the recipient can call the sender and advise that the enclosure/attachment was missing from the envelope.

rh [If someone else types the letter for signature, his/her initials may appear underneath]

CC [This stands for 'carbon copy', but as nobody uses carbon copy paper anymore, should be changed to PC for photocopy]

BCC [Blind Carbon Copy - never shown on the original, only on the file copy indicates to whom copies have been sent without the knowledge of the original addressee. Should now perhaps be changed to BPC]

Handling File Referencing

File referencing can either quote the sender's reference or the recipient's reference and should indicate clearly which it is. Some people use a separate line for file references, often at the very first line of the letter above the address block. I prefer to place it with the subject line, but that's purely a personal choice.

By now you should be ofay with the parts of a letter and, if you read Tutorial One, how to format them. Tutorial Three advises how to write a good quality letter and has tips for opening and ending sentences.

Copyright 2005 Robin Henry

Write Effective Business Letters With the Help of Templates

Formal business letter writing is one of the most vital parts in business communication as it contributes in establishing long lasting professional relations. Many times, you must have felt the need to write formal letters as a part of your professional responsibilities. You must try to improve your written communication skills if you want to draft a business letter perfectly. You should be aware of the formal issues, apart from choosing the right format for preparing an impressive letter. However, if you are tech-savvy, you can make use of business letter templates to lighten the heavy burden from your shoulders. By choosing a good quality software, you can access various templates in its library of templates, and choose the most appropriate one, according to your requirement.

A well-written and professionally formatted letter helps to mark a strong impact on the recipient, and gain his favors. Thus, you can't ignore the power of templates in binding the strings of communications, and help achieving your business targets. It is said that it is easier to convince the other person through verbal communication, but it becomes hard to recall the main points that were included in the discussions, as you can forget them with the passage of time. Perhaps, these tips are going to be extremely useful for writing letters for various business purposes:

Write down the points that are needed to be discussed. Plan the different paragraphs so that you do not break the sequence while discussing the technical and financial aspects. Prepare a rough draft and proof-read before making a final copy of the business letter

If, you have been using templates, you must be aware of the key points in different types of business letters. However, you can't rely merely upon the pre-drafted content that it has written by the experts, because every business has some specific needs, and you should include those points that are required to be mentioned.

It is recommended to use formal language for writing letters. Try not to use slangs because it will simply irritate the reader. Furthermore, selecting the right tone makes it easier to streamline the communication.

Since, in the corporate culture, you do not require to develop personal relationship with each and everyone who comes into your touch. Thus, there is no need to add the personal views in the business letter. Remember, you are writing to a person sitting on the authoritative chair, even if he is a well-acquainted person. His emails and official records are going to be organization's belongings.

How to Format A Business Letter

A business letter is different compared to a normal informal letter. If you want to write one, it is important to know all the steps and procedures. This article will help you in writing one. There are people all over the world who do not know how to write a business letter, and end up making mistakes. With the help of these few tips and guidelines, you need not ever make the mistakes again.

Date -

The date should be mentioned at least 2 or 3 lines, below the letterhead. And it should be given in full, i.e. date, month and year.

Address -

The basics of writing a good business letter are easy to learn and very important. When it comes to formatting, you will be required to write the address of the person or the company at the top left of the paper. The address of your company should be at the right of the center of the page. In the inside address write the name and address of the person to whom the letter is addressed to. Remember to include everything in the to and from address, including the street address, city and zip code.

Salutation -

The salutation should be typed in the left side, below the address. While typing the salutation you must write Dear Mr/Ms ABC followed by a colon.

Body -

While writing a letter, it is very important to know the audience who is going to be reading the letter. You will need to introduce yourself in the beginning, before proceeding onto the contents of the letter. After introducing yourself, it is good to give an introduction about the subject matter as well. Remember to sound as professional as possible. There needs to be a balance between explaining the matter under discussion and doing into a deep explanation about the topic. You will need to give the information that is necessary, at the same time not make it boring. To make your letter professional you need to give all the facts, figures, reasons and even examples to help make the topic clear.

While finishing the letter it is also just as important to not only explain the problem or the situation in hand, but also to offer an appropriate solution or propose the next step. It is crucial for you to end the letter with a solution in hand, as without it your letter is incomplete. If needed you may also ask the reader of the letter for a solution or their opinions on the matter at hand. Also make sure you have given your contact address or phone number, if the reader of the letter wishes to contact you. It is important to note that in case you are enclosing any letters or documents along with your business letter, please mention them in the letter as well. And if you are referring to any particular person in the letter, who maybe anyone except the intended reader, it is good to mention their details as well.

Closing of the letter -

The closing of the letter is done by typing "Yours sincerely" or "Thank you", and on the next line the signature of the sender is affixed. Make sure the letter is signed in black or blue ink only.

6 Tips For Writing Highly Effective Business Letters

Writing a business letter that clearly reflects your ability to communicate with others in a professional environment can take up much of your time. In today's professional environment people are being judged more and more based upon their communication ability and with technology becoming an integral part of business operations written communication has become a vital part of the day. The importance of business communication skills cannot be underestimated and taking the time to improve upon your current skills can greatly improve your professional image.

A high quality business letter communicates your level of enthusiasm and professionalism to the recipient and if neither is reflected chances are you will lose the attention of your reader. There are a few key steps you can take to improve upon your written communication in the professional environment:

  1. Prepare the purpose of your business letters - Before you begin your letter take some time to plan out what you want to say. Ask yourself, "What result do I want to achieve?" Make a list of the various things you would like to communicate and then review. Remove the various items on your list that do not support what you're trying to communicate, as a good business letter stays on the topic and has a very strong sense of purpose.
  2. Get straight to the point - If you wish others to view you as a professional, then refrain from filling your business letter with a lot of fluff - make sure that you state your business letters' purpose in the first paragraph. As you prepare your written communication make sure that you put yourself in the place of the reader and continuously think to yourself, "How would I respond?"
  3. Use plain English- Make sure that your language does not become overly complicated or technical. A business letter must reflect professionalism; however, it must also reflect your personality. It's best to write like you talk, keep the tone natural and refrain from long and drawn out sentences. Also, make sure that your business letters speaks directly to the reader by addressing them by name, as a letter should reflect a personal tone.
  4. Refrain from passive voice - Readers become confused when business letters are written in passive voice.
  5. Review and Edit before sending - After you've finished writing the first draft of your business letters review and edit the documents. Cut out words and sentences that do not contribute to the topic at hand. Do not be afraid to edit out entire paragraphs and make sure that the point you're trying to make is clearly stated. Pay attention to the adjectives in the text, this will often take the strength from the words you have chosen.
  6. Presentation is Everything - Your business letters may be well-written and contain no mistakes in grammar or punctuation; however, if you present the text without clean formatting the professional image you're trying to create will be destroyed. Refrain from using graphical images or colors that distracts the reader from the text and use a very clean, easy to read format.
Business communication skills are crucial when trying to build a quality professional image. Perfecting your ability to properly compose professional business letters will help improve every aspect of your written communication so that your readers clearly comprehend the topic you're trying to communicate.

Letter Format - The Body of A Letter Matters

People of all ages seem to have to write letters from time to time. When the opportunity presents itself, it can be difficult to construct words and phrases into meaning, because the formality of actually producing a written document is arduous at best. Some people just aren't familiar with the process, and have found it difficult to manage. For those that are not familiar with writing in the letter format required for any type of communication, consider the following tips and tricks.

The first thing to remember is to always have a good introduction, whether formal or not, you need to introduce the letter with "Dear", or "To Whom It May Concern", or a greeting of sorts for the person that the letter is addressed to. Remember, this is the start of a letter, and doesn't need to be long, just keep it simple and traditional.

The second thing to remember in regards to writing in a letter format is to communicate your thoughts clearly. It might take a few drafts to get all the information out and in a concise manner. You have to keep in mind that you want an audience for your writing, and that their time is precious. Do not get too longwinded; so make sure you hit the points you need to hit with concise speech and rhetoric. Start with an introduction paragraph that describes what you're going to talk about in the following writing, just do not make it too vague or too detailed, and find a happy medium.

Another good tip is in regards to the body of the letter format. The body should have an informal touch to it, as if you're talking to someone that you know well. If you're giving instructions, asking for information, or anything that is not necessarily too formal, keep it friendly, light and to the point. Remember, you're writing a letter not necessarily a novel.

Lastly, when communicating in this format make sure that you close with an ending paragraph that sums up the aforementioned items you're talking about, and with the tag line "sincerely", "in your regard", or something similar before putting down your name. Adding a post script can help get a last point of interest in and should always be underneath the signature with the letters, "PS", which directs the reader to an additional kernel of information.

Drafting a sample can be helpful and depending on the reason for the scribing of a document, you will find that there are many different options to explore in regards to writing. It's crucial to know how to write a formal, non-formal, and other types of written documents, as it is vital for everyday life, even with the ubiquitous usage of the Internet. Businesses of all types still send out letters through the mail, and do not always rely heavily on email to do their communications. Learning how to construct thoughts and ideas in the old-fashioned manner can really set you apart from others, as it is a dying art form in many ways.

9 Tips to Write an Effective Sales Letter That Will Get Results - Example of Business Letter

Selling online is a great way to grow business. But it differs from selling face to face. Therefore, your words are very important; they make or break your business. Your words can relieve tour prospects doubts, convey that you are a real person and explain to your targeted market what you are selling and why.

Unless you have a great deal of experience in writing sales letter, you will need to learn how to write killer ad sales copy and headlines for your business. If you are in business for a while I'm sure you have realized the benefits of writing your own ad copy and sales letters.

There's so many ways on how you can improve your copywriting direct marketing skills. But, the best and easiest way is using example of business letter to learn from. All successful marketers have used this method. They own dozens or even hundreds of ready to use business format for writing a letter. Their libraries are full of example of business letter about every kind. When they want to write an ad copy or a sales letter they select an example of business letter pick the better business letter writing - useful phrases make some changes, stick their names and the letter is ready for instant use!

Sales letters and ads don't work by accident there is a very precise business format for writing a letter.

Here are tips on how to write an ad copy that pulls!

- Get into the mind of your readers - To write a compelling sales letter, you need to get into the minds of your readers. You should know who your customer base is, what age group, gender, income level, professional group, etc. What is their problem? What they want? What newsletter they reading? Etc.

- Use psychology - You need to use psychology and tactics to develop a better and more successful sales letter that will draw your readers to buy immediately. Your sales copy should be attractive so that your customer keep reading from the start to the end, however long it is. Some sales letters are 15 pages long, but still hold the readers attention.

- Use stories to sell - Successful direct sales letters often include a good story. The story in a direct sales letter usually show how the product or service is making life better for someone using it such as: How your product has helped someone making more money, being healthier, saving more time, getting better looking, etc.

- Use all means to make your readers feel comfortable when reading your sales letter - Trust is key when selling online. So, make sure your readers trust you and your product is absolutely the best.

- Describe your product in detail - Provide information about your product. Try to answer all anticipated questions on your sales letter. Include special features and benefits. Clarify the focus or the purpose of the product so that the reader understands completely what is being sold.

- Creating a sense of urgency so prospects can deal with their fears and make decisions - The sales letter should make the reader feel that s/he may lose a good deal, a quality product, etc... if s/he don't act right away. You can limit the number of the ecourse, ebooks, memberships or any other product you are selling. Limit the time; there may be a certain time where the product will not be for sale anymore.

- Use Testimonials to Overcome Buyers' Fears - No matter how you're marketing your business, if your claims don't have credibility, your prospects won't be influenced. Testimonials from excited customers whose lives have been changed will only guarantee sales.

- Make your order page visible and easy to use - place an order button on every page. You want your order form to be visible and the price should have a strike mark through it indicating that there was a price reduction.

- Use Bonuses and gifts to sell - If done correctly, bonuses and gifts raises perceived value and expectations; increase your prospects' desire to buy. You want to position diverse bonuses in order to hit different buyer resistance points.

All these techniques make better business letter writing and the example of business letter will guide you through the process of creating an excellent sales copy that sells your product like crazy.

The Business Letter - Write it Right and Succeed

A business letter is not an ordinary communication.

A business letter is one in which some information is passed that should be important enough to put into writing, and more, should evoke some kind of a response.

Write your business letter right and you will succeed.

The Business Letter Form

Remember the business letter is NOT a report. It is a letter.

In today' world you will be lucky to hold attention to three paragraphs, let alone a whole page.

Decide what it is you wish to say, and be prepared to say it in three short paragraphs.

If you have a long letter to write, do not write it as a letter, but as a report.

A letter is a letter. Be brief, succinct, avoid value judgments, make every word count, write nothing banal, and most of all, keep in mind what kind of a response you wish to invoke.

The Business Letter Format

The Subject.

Always begin your business letter with a subject reference. Do not mix subjects, or include more than one.

The Introduction.

Here in one paragraph you introduce your subject, as well as any crucial information about it.

Imply in the introduction what response you wish to evoke.

The Body.

The body of the business letter is the longest paragraph.

In this paragraph get down to details, but keep them brief and to the point.

Do not give value judgments and do not introduce new material.

The Summary Conclusion.

Here you sell your point and summarize all the points you have made before.

The Salutation.

Develop you own signature salutation.

You can you standard ones like Best Regards or Kind Regards, or find something new that suits you.

Let this be your signature salutation, and stick to it in all your business letters and communications.

The Business Letter vs. Email Letter.

In today's world the formal business letter is fast becoming a rarity, and is taking the new form of the email letter. However, remember its only a different form or delivery. Follow the same rules as above.

Some business like to write the business letter now on company stationary in electronic form and include them as attachments to an email. This is not a bad idea, and still retains some form privacy.

Business Letter Language Guide

Here are a few tips from communication experts that may help you frame your use of language in your business letter or email.

Speak in the present tense. Avoid a lot of "I will; it should be, and ..." Use simple words. Do not show off your superior vocabulary.

There are very effective words that are commonplace. There are power words, and all of them are simple and impossible to misinterpret

Be direct.

Go to your point, and do not speak in ambiguous terms

Avoid homilies

Remember who it is you are talking to.

If you are speaking to a superior, maintain your distance of respect, while still selling your points across.

Avoid value judgments. Leave these for the letter recipient to decide for themselves.

One needs to pay special attention to the language while writing a business letter. It should be formal and even sensitive issues should be addressed with proper care and ensure that it does not come across as offensive. For example, in case of complaint letters. 

Tips for Writing Business Letters 

Some guidelines for writing the letter might prove to be useful. The main aim of writing the letter is to convey a specific message as opposed to personal letters written to friends and relatives, etc. 

Message: Conveying the message properly is the main criteria that one should pay attention to. Keep the paragraphs brief and clear. Try to be as concise as possible but replete with relevant details and information. For example, in case of business proposal letters one needs to give out all details about the proposed project

Format: Make sure that the information in the letter is systematically presented to save time as well as avoid ambiguity. Make sure that the dates and other important details you write in the letter follows the same format throughout Length: Although there is no specific limitation for the length of a business letter, the content reigns high. As long as you are giving the required information as mentioned in the subject line of your letter, there is no hard and fast rule for the length/

Business Letter Format 

The format of writing a letter is American. The content is intended to the left, everything from the sender's address to the closing of the letter. The following are the sections of a business letter: 

Business Letter Template 

This template is meant for associate a new business associate who is being apprised of the terms and conditions of the new venture. 

Sender's Address (postal and e-mail)  Date  Addressee's Details Address Line1 Address Line2 (designation and company's name)  Salutation,  We are pleased to have you as our associate in our new venture. We welcome you wholeheartedly and wish our association will be the beginning of making a great future. This is to inform you of the conditions of our new venture, as per the telephonic conversation:  point 1 point 2 point 3

Should there be need for any clarifications, kindly get in touch with me.  Thank you.  Regards, Name and Surname Designation Company Name (e-Mail & contact number) 

Following these guidelines for writing letters will help you stay focused and send the message across unambiguously and effectively.

9 Tips For Writing Better Business Letters

It's quite amazing how often business people fail to follow basic guidelines when it comes to writing their business correspondence. That might explain why so many people come to my writing help websites looking for help with their business letter writing. Just as businesses need to be focused and efficient to thrive and succeed, so too does the primary communications tool of most businesses - the business letter.

Following are a number of tips and guidelines that I have compiled while reading and writing many hundreds of business letters over the past 25+ years.

1. Limit Them To One Page

By definition, business letters should be short and to the point, preferably one page in length. Studies have found that busy business people do not like to read beyond the first page, and will actually delay reading longer letters. So, if you don't want your letter to gather dust in an in-basket, keep it as short as possible.

2. Be Reader-Friendly

Always try to focus on the needs of the reader and make an effort to see things from their perspective. Put yourself in their position and imagine what it would be like for you to be receiving your letter. Anyone can do this, since we are all "customers" of some other business in some part of our lives.

3. Keep The Tone Formal And Factual

Generally speaking, the tone and content of business letters should be formal and factual. Feelings and emotions do not have a place in business letters. So, avoid phrases like "we feel" and use "we believe" or "we think" instead. A cordial, friendly approach is fine. Just keep it businesslike, but avoid overly formal terms like "heretofor", "as per", "herewith", etc.

4. Carefully Plan Your Letter

Before writing the letter, take a few minutes to list all of the specific points you need to cover. Sometimes it may even mean a phone call to the recipient or his/her company to confirm a specific point. Remember, the purpose of the letter is to tie up all of the details on the subject at hand, so that more letters won't have to be written back and forth.

5. Make It Clear, Concise And Logical

Use a clear and direct writing style that uses simple words and straightforward phrases. Make sure that your flow follows a logical progression, first identifying the main subject, elaborating on it, and then drawing the logical conclusion.

6. Accuracy And Timeliness Are Key

By their very nature, business letters need to be accurate and timely. They almost always have financial implications and related impacts on other businesses and/or people. Double-check all of the facts stated in the letter, and make sure that any future dates specified give others enough time to realistically complete what is expected of them.

7. Relegate Technical Details To Attachments

Often it is necessary to include detailed technical information as part of a business letter package. In such cases, use the main letter as a cover letter that lists and briefly explains and references the attached (or enclosed) documents.

8. Use Non-Discriminatory Language

Make sure that you avoid language that is specific to gender, race, or religion in all business letters, either to other businesses, or to customers. For example, use "workforce" instead of "manpower", or "chairperson" rather than "chairman". Most style guides contain detailed lists of the offensive terms and some suggested substitutes.

9. Eliminate Redundant Words And Phrases

There are certain words and phrases that one often sees in business correspondence that tend to make the language more complicated and cumbersome than necessary. For example, instead of the phrase "in spite of the fact that" use "although"; or instead of "in the normal course of events" use "normally". There are many such redundant phrases, so review your letter and eliminate them.

If you are running any type of business in which business letters are important communication tools, you would do well to take careful heed of the above tips and advice. Remember, the business correspondence that you issue is a direct reflection of the overall products and/or services offered by your business. Poorly-written, amateurish, and/or shoddy business letters will surely result in lost sales.

To see some fully-formatted real-life business letter templates, check out the following link:

http://writinghelp-central.com/sample-letters-business.html

Copyright © Shaun R. Fawcett. All rights reserved.

5 Points About Writing a Business Letter

Letter writing was sure an art and it still remains the same, but with the electronic mails coming of age, the format and language of writing the content is surely changing. For example, referring to the subject matter, i.e. giving reference to context and writing the introduction section, etc. It is being more informal these days, though a well drafted business letter can make a lot of difference in the actual business professional world.

Tips for Writing Business Letters

The convention of letter writing remains like the olden days with the basic rules with reference to the content of a letter. It remains the same as any formal letter, that is to say, the sender's address, date, recipient, introduction of the letter, body, and closing of the same. In the following, find some useful tips for writing a business letter.

Layout: The layout of the formal business letter is the blocked one, which is also known as the American letter writing format. Unlike before, the British writing format has been long gone and it has been replaced with intending all the contents to the left of the page.

Structure: The skeleton of the business letter has an additional section for mentioning details about the issue referred in the letter. It starts with the addresses and subject line. Be brief while writing the subject section. It should just be a pointer.

Content: Here you should mention the purpose of writing the letter. You may mention the business deal or proposal you are referring to in case it is about something related to that. If it is for a different purpose, then you may write it in the subject line, for example if it is an inquiry. It is required to give technical details, though in the first paragraph only. For example, the date, invoice, reference or deal no., etc.

Tone: Depending on your purpose, you can vary your tone of writing the letter. For example, if it is a business proposal you are drafting, it needs to be persuasive in nature. If it is a thank you letter, you need to be courteous. Use jargon with the appropriate recipient.

Reference: The last section of business letters are very important. You are required to mention the references to the issue you are talking about, along with names and contact details of the people associated with the same.

These were some tips for knowing how to write a business letter. Last but not the least, you may include a section naming 'Enclosures' at the end of the letter. This again depends on the nature of your subject.

How to Write a Business Letter - Super Tips to Create a Stunning Business Letter

If you are planning to start a business, you cannot afford to neglect knowing how to write a business letter.

Even if your business may be just a small entrepreneurial startup, knowing how to write a business letter is a key skill that you, or at least one of your assistants, should know.

Before we go on with the technicalities of an effective business letter, let's lay down the reasons why a business owner should have excellent writing skills.

Business letters are the primary means by which your company would communicate to investors. They should give a great impression of you and your company. They could actually prove crucial to your business taking off or to its survival.

Business letters should be understandable, be able to communicate exactly what needs to be done, or state communication in a very clear manner. Without clarity, miscommunication may lead to misunderstandings, or worse, botched jobs.

Want to write a business letter that rocks? Then it has to possess these characteristics:

1. The standard format of letter writing applies. Ideally, a business letter should contain the following information, in order:

- Letterhead (the sender's address) - Current date - Recipient name and address - Subject (optional) - Salutation/Greeting - Message (body of the letter) - Closing salutation - Signature (including the corporate designation/position of the sender)

2. The business letter should be written in block style.

3. Use double space; and as much as possible, keep the letter in the center of the paper you use.

4. Do not shorten your words and verb forms. "Do not" should not be written as "don't," and so on. Otherwise, the letter gives an impression of informality.

5. Keep the letter brief and concise, but be sure to include all the information you need to communicate.

In knowing how to write a business letter, make sure that it elicits the desired results. Keep the following in mind:

- Include a reference to an event, matter, or information that is pertinent to your letter, or is the reason for your writing the letter even. - Obviously, you would need to include the reasons for your writing. Whether the letter is a request, agreeing to a request, delivering bad news, etc., don't be so busy as to actually forget what you need to communicate. - Remember to enclose the important documents that the letter should come with. - Provide a reference to where the recipient could contact you after reading the letter. - Always keep a copy of the letter with you.

As you can see, knowing how to write a business letter is rather simple. Just bear in mind that this letter aims to communicate and that the main objective is to communicate what you need to in the clearest and most concise manner possible.

5 Points About Writing a Business Letter

Letter writing was sure an art and it still remains the same, but with the electronic mails coming of age, the format and language of writing the content is surely changing. For example, referring to the subject matter, i.e. giving reference to context and writing the introduction section, etc. It is being more informal these days, though a well drafted business letter can make a lot of difference in the actual business professional world.

Tips for Writing Business Letters

The convention of letter writing remains like the olden days with the basic rules with reference to the content of a letter. It remains the same as any formal letter, that is to say, the sender's address, date, recipient, introduction of the letter, body, and closing of the same. In the following, find some useful tips for writing a business letter.

Layout: The layout of the formal business letter is the blocked one, which is also known as the American letter writing format. Unlike before, the British writing format has been long gone and it has been replaced with intending all the contents to the left of the page.

Structure: The skeleton of the business letter has an additional section for mentioning details about the issue referred in the letter. It starts with the addresses and subject line. Be brief while writing the subject section. It should just be a pointer.

Content: Here you should mention the purpose of writing the letter. You may mention the business deal or proposal you are referring to in case it is about something related to that. If it is for a different purpose, then you may write it in the subject line, for example if it is an inquiry. It is required to give technical details, though in the first paragraph only. For example, the date, invoice, reference or deal no., etc.

Tone: Depending on your purpose, you can vary your tone of writing the letter. For example, if it is a business proposal you are drafting, it needs to be persuasive in nature. If it is a thank you letter, you need to be courteous. Use jargon with the appropriate recipient.

Reference: The last section of business letters are very important. You are required to mention the references to the issue you are talking about, along with names and contact details of the people associated with the same.

These were some tips for knowing how to write a business letter. Last but not the least, you may include a section naming 'Enclosures' at the end of the letter. This again depends on the nature of your subject.

Jennifer is a expert author who writes on wide range of subjects related to career, letters. She is expert in various topic like business letter format and letter writing tips and many more.