Writing Effective Business Letters or Emails

Writing a business letter or email that effectively communicates a precise message is a skill that can and should be learned by anyone in business. Effective business letters are clear, concise and understandable. A business letter should leave a lasting impression of the writer and company. Business letters can be written for any number of reasons including introducing new products to attempting to settle an account or unpaid invoice. Writing an effective business letter that clearly communicates a particular request or message is not a difficult task.

5 Tips to Write an Effective Business Letter or email

• Simple is Better. Make sure the letter follows a well organized format, and is easy to read. Don' use a lot of different typefaces. Pick one and stick with that. Multiple fonts will only make the letter appear unorganized and without focus.

• First Impressions. Decide up front what impression should be communicated by the business letter. The tone and style of the writing should be consistent with this impression. A business letter asking for a sale will have a different tone and style than a business letter dismissing an employee.

• Logical Flow. The effective business letter will have a consistent, logical flow or sequence. A letter should not jump around to different subjects. Multiple ideas or requests should be handled in a structured process. For example, a sales letter would describe benefits of a particular product before giving details of purchase.

• Tell Them What You Want. Surprisingly, some business letters go on and on without ever directing the reader toward a desired response. An effective letter directs the reader toward a specific response - to call, send something, or buy something.

• Check and Double Check. There is nothing worse than a letter that contains misspelled words. Even one misspelled word is unacceptable. Misspellings make the writer appear careless or unintelligent. These will definitely leave a lasting bad impression of the writer or business.

Writing an effective, powerful business letter or email that communicates precisely what the writer intends is an absolutely essential tool in today's business world.