BUSINESS CORRESSPONDENCE

In today's booming economy, the business letter is more in demand than ever before. The world is sending memos, emails, and faxes at the rate of millions a day. So it's important to know the basics of a professional, cleanly-written business letter. Use the following ten steps as a guide to your business correspondences: 1. Heading A heading containing your address and the address of the person receiving the letter is crucial. Always place your address at the top or top and right of the page. Place the address of the person you are sending the letter to on the left side of the page under you address. Include names, phone numbers, email and web addresses in both addresses. It is fine to abbreviate street, avenue, etc., but do not use too many shortened terms. 2. Date Always include a date, so that the person you are sending the letter to can have a reference for when the letter came. Never abbreviate month names. Place the date underneath the address of the person you are sending the letter to. Include a space for a professional look. 3. Greeting Always make sure that your greeting is appropriate to your reader. A personal greeting is always preferable. If it will help the reader, place a subject sentence under your salutation. Example: Re: The Sending of Memos and Faxes to Argentina. 4. Paragraph Paragraphs should be concise and neat. Always indent, and devote each paragraph to establishing a single point. Read your paragraphs over at least once to make sure that you are clearly stating your case or purpose. 5. Writing Make sure that you are writing in the manner that someone would speak. Do not abbreviate frequently or use technical prose and jargon unless the reader is likely to understand you. Cut out all unnecessary descriptive adjectives. Spell-check and proofread your letter at least once. 6. Prose Style

Try and let your letter be formal even if it is one of extreme emotion. For instance, write cordially to a close friend, when in a business setting. If you are writing an angry letter, always use all style conventions and polite prose. 7. Expressing Thanks Make sure that the person knows that you are grateful for their time. A sentence to this effect in the last paragraph is always a polite gesture. It invites further correspondence from their end. 8. Signing-off and Signature Give an appropriate signing-off that reflects the contents of your letter. Make sure that the pen used for the signature matches the color of the ink used in the letter. Signatures should be clear and neat, and not overlapping any words. Type your name and company position clearly after your signature. 9. Enclosures If there is something added with your letter, indicate this right below the last letter paragraph. You can simply include the word "Enclosure," or you can add a list of the enclosed contents. 10. Overall Appearance Make sure that your whole package is nice and neat. Get an envelope that does not exceed the size of the paper, and typed envelopes are always nice. Make sure that ink and paper colors match. Thicker paper and non-run ink give a sense of professionalism, so try and use these. http://www.chrmglobal.com/Replies/1369/1/Business-Correspondence.html