Strange as it might seem, there are very few resources on the web about writing business correspondence as a whole. There are a lot of sites about business letters and maybe even more about email, with good advice on how to write both. Web pages about memos are not so common, and you would need to look real hard to find sites about writing faxes. You could argue that faxes are dying a slow death and that is almost true, they are also merging with email, but nowadays they are still used by a lot of businesses and individuals.
So, there are four distinct types of business correspondence:
letters, emails, memos and faxes
And those of us who write business correspondence (and that’s practically anyone who works in a contemporary office), whether every day or from time to time, would really like to have a comprehensive resource with recommendations on writing all types of business correspondence, samples, formats and such.
Each type of business correspondence has its own place and role, and its own peculiarities.
Business letters are the most formal of all, there are quite a few rules that you need to remember or at least be aware of in writing business letters. They have a few distinctive formats and business letter formats are slightly different in the US and the UK. They can also be subdivided into two huge groups, business-to-business and business-to-customer letters (or customer-to-business, though we usually don’t distinguish those). There’s also such thing as an envelope… And since business letters are now less common than about ten years ago it would be great to just have at hand a reference resource that would outline all those small but important issues.
Writing a business email message is easier than writing a business letter. The email message is formatted for you, so there are much fewer format related peculiarities to take into consideration. But on the other hand, email is a relatively new means of communication and it is sent instantly, those are probably the major reasons for so many email blunders. Email’s inherent ability to pile up is also something everyone of us needs to learn how to deal with, and this problem is becoming more and more serious.
Memos are now often sent by email, but they are still a separate type of business correspondence. They are usually printed out and filed, which is less common in dealing with email (though it happens to email messages, too). Memos have also preserved their format and are mostly sent as email attachments, not email messages as such.
Faxes… They resemble memos a lot, but mostly in format. Faxes have a cover page which makes them different from other types of business correspondence. They also include page count, and somehow we often wonder whether the cover page needs to be included in the fax page count (oh yes!). Faxes are still very good for transmitting hand written forms, signed pages, newspaper clips, handwritten notes, etc.
There’s nothing complicated about writing any and all types of business correspondence. But there are some little things that people don’t really like to remember and would prefer to look up just as they need to write a letter, an email message, a memo or a fax.
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Archive for December 2011
If you know your product like the back of your hand, have researched your target market inside and out, and can read well enough to understand this sentence, then you can write an online article that will win more customers and bring in big dollars.
But, if you’ve been writing articles for a while, now might be time to raise the bar and start finding ways to make your online writing even better.
One quick, easy way to make your writing smoother and your online article easier to read, is to occasionally combine more than one idea into one sentence.
We do it all the time when we speak and when we write. For example, here’s what it would sound like if I used only one idea per sentence in the above paragraph:
“Here is one quick, easy to make your writing smoother. It will also make your online article easer to read. Occasionally combine more than one idea into one sentence.”
A quick grammar lesson here -
You can choose from several words to combine more than one idea into a single sentence. You might remember from your high school grammar lessons that these “connecting words” are officially called “conjunctions.” Some examples of conjunctions are: and, but, so, because.
OK, end of boring grammar lesson and onto what this actually means to your article writing.
Do make an effort to occasionally combine more than one idea into one sentence. It makes your articles sound smoother and makes them easier to understand.
But, be careful of which conjunction you use to do so. Choosing the wrong word to join your ideas might give your sentence a different meaning than you intended, or a meaning that’s not as effective as you had hoped for.
If you’re joining two or more ideas that are equally important, you’ll want to choose from this list of common conjunctions: or, and, nor, but, for, yet.
Here’s an example of two combined ideas that are equally important:
“I write an online article once a month and I see I spike in traffic when I submit it to the article directories.”
Because you used the conjunction “and,” your reader will understand that both ideas – (1) you write an online article once a month and (2) you see a spike in traffic when you submit it – are of equal importance.
Sometimes, though, you’ll want your reader to understand that one of your ideas is more important than the other.
“I write an online article once a month because I see I spike in traffic when I submit it to the article directories.”
In the above sentence, the word “because” tells your reader that whatever comes after it is not as important as what comes before. “I write an online article once a month” is the important idea in that sentence.
Here are some of the conjunctions you can use to show that one of your ideas is more important than the other:
After
As
As if
As though
Before
Even if
If
Since
When
Though
Unless
Until
While
Before you start putting your ideas together, think about what you want you reader to understand about your subject. Then choose the conjunction that will tell them exactly what you want them to know.