Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon courtesy and politeness between business personnel. Etiquette, and especially business etiquette, is a means of maximising your potential by presenting yourself positively.

Writing a business letter is not simply a matter of expressing your ideas clearly. The way you write a letter and the etiquette you employ may have a significant impact on your success or failure in business.

Failure to observe correct business letter etiquette can result in you adopting an inappropriate tone, causing offense or misunderstandings, lack of clarity or purpose and hostility or soured relations.

The foundation of good business letter etiquette is Think before you write. You should be considering who the letter is addressed to, how and why? This will then influence style, content and structure.

Here we cover some of the main issues relating to good business letter etiquette:

Addressing the Letter

Always make sure you have spelt the recipients name correctly. It may sound simple, but you would be surprised at how many people fail to do so. The recipients name should include titles, honours or qualifications if deemed necessary.

Many people use the Dear Sir/Yours Faithfully formula when addressing the receiver. Although this is acceptable for routine matters it is impersonal and should not be used when dealing with those you know, queries or complaints. With these the Dear Mr./Yours Sincerely formula should be adopted.

Once a certain level of familiarity is reached it is not considered bad etiquette to use phrases such as Kind Regards or All the best at the end of the letter.

Confidentiality

If the content of the letter is sensitive, personal or confidential it must be marked appropriately. Marking the letter confidential will suffice in highlighting this fact. If you only want the letter read by the receiver without the interception of a secretary or PA, mark it as Private, Personal or Strictly Confidential. If you have received such a business letter it is good etiquette to reciprocate and ensure that all future correspondence is kept at that level of confidentiality.

Style

Proper business letter etiquette requires that a consistent and clear approach, combined with courtesy, be employed. As a rule of thumb, aim to keep all business letters formal in style. Even when the receiver is familiar to you, it is advisable maintain a certain level of business etiquette as the letter may be seen by others or referred to by a third party in the future.

However, this does not mean you should use long or uncommon words to express yourself. This merely looks odd and makes the letter unreadable. It is best to read a letter first and consider whether you would speak to that person face to face in the same way. If not, then re-write it.

Letters should be signed personally. It looks unprofessional, cold and somewhat lazy if a letter is left unsigned. However, having a secretary or PA sign on your behalf is not considered a breach of business etiquette.

Humour

Humour can be used in business letters but only when the writer is completely positive the recipient will understand the joke or pun. From a business etiquette perspective it may be wise to avoid humour. This is because firstly, the letter may be read during a crisis, after receiving bad news or on a sombre occasion. Any other time the humour may have been appreciated but under these circumstances it may dramatically backfire. Secondly, the written word is open to misinterpretation. Your sarcastic or ironic remark may be taken the wrong way. Thirdly, it is possible that the letter may be read by a third party who may deem the humour inappropriate and pursue a complaint of some sort.

Responding

Good business letter etiquette calls for letters to be responded to promptly or within certain guidelines. This may normally be considered as 5 working days. If this is not possible then some sort of acknowledgement should be sent either by letter, fax, phone or e-mail.

Always use reference numbers or clearly state the purpose of the letter at the top, for example, Re: Business Letter Etiquette Enquiry. This allows the receiver to trace correspondence and immediately set your letter within a context.

When replying to points or questions the proper etiquette is to respond in the same order as they were asked.

Managing Conflict

Letters are often an arena for conflicts or disputes. Even in these circumstances there are rules of business letter etiquette that should be adhered to.

If you initiate the dispute then, 1) Explain and set out your case simply and clearly to the most appropriate person, 2) Offer information that may be required by the other party to help answer questions, 3) Indicate a time scale by which you expect a reply or the matter to be resolved.

If you are receiving the dispute then 1) inform senior colleagues who may be affected or who may be able to offer assistance, 2) Submit all replies in draft form for a senior colleague to check, 3) Stick to the facts and the merits of the case and do not allow emotions to become involved, 4) Be polite, patient and courteous.

Using business etiquette in all matters and especially in business letters will ensure you communicate effectively, avoid misunderstandings and maximise your business potential.

Author: Neil Payne
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV

Many people in business heaved a sigh of relief when email began to take over most of their day-to-day correspondence. Processing business letters – even today – is fiddly and fussy, compared with the blissful simplicity of email.

However as you know there are still times when ink on paper is essential. Many of the so-called “professions” (legal, accountancy, etc) in the UK at least still insist on correspondence being done via printed letters. They have a deep mistrust of email and for good reason, as its confidentiality can never be guaranteed. Business letters are at least fairly private – you have to assume it’s easier and faster to snoop on email than it is to steam envelopes open over boiling water.

In other instances, too, printed letters provide a more tamper-proof formal record of business arrangements, complaints, employee warnings/terminations and other issues that need to be carved into tablets of stone. (Well, paper, anyway.)

Old fashioned structure, modern style

Highlighted and ridiculed by the casual nature of email, the quaint formality of the old fashioned business letter seems positively Dickensian and totally inappropriate for the way we do business now.

There is an answer, though. Use the formality of structure that makes the business letter the bullet-proof form of communication it has come to be. Combine that with the short, straight-talking style of writing more common to emails, and you have a good compromise.

Let’s start with the structure – or rather, the etiquette which supplies the structure.

There are variations between accepted etiquette used in the different English language markets. Here are the main British forms of address. I have also included the US/Canadian equivalents where I know them, but I’m afraid I’m not aware of those used in Australia, NZ or SA.

Formal letters

The addressee will either be a title, e.g. “The Chief Executive Officer” or to an organization or company when you don’t know to whom your letter should be addressed. When you write to a title the salutation is “Dear Sir,” “Dear Madam,” or if you want to play it safe, “Dear Sir/Madam.” When you write to an organization it’s “Dear Sirs,” Dear “Mesdames,” or again if you want to play it safe (but labor the point) “Dear Sirs/Mesdames.”

Your sign off will be “Yours faithfully” (UK) or “Yours truly” (US and Canada.)

Less formal letters

This is where you have a name. And this is where you can get into hot water if you’re not sure of the gender of the person. Someone called J C Jennings could be a Jack or a Joanna. Someone called Leslie Matthews could also be either (traditionally the female version of the name is spelled “Lesley” and the male “Leslie,” but I know at least one lady Leslie.)

Equally beware of unisex names like Jody, Jo, Bobbie, Alex, Rob, Robin, Carol (yes, really,) Billie, Chris, Darryl, Eddie, Sam, Jackie, Nicky, Frances (f) vs Francis (m), Freddie, Gabrielle (f) vs Gabriel (m), Georgie, Gerry/Jerry, Charlie, Nat, Harry, Jessie (f) vs Jesse (m), Stevie, Mel, Pat, Ronnie, Sacha, Sandy, etc. And that’s before we get started on names from non English-language cultures.

People these days usually don’t advertise whether they’re “Mr” or “Ms” or whatever. When in doubt don’t risk embarrassment; phone the organization concerned and ask.

Some people borrow an awful technique from email and use a person’s whole name in the salutation, e.g. “Dear Suzan St Maur.” I don’t know about you, but this irritates the h*ll out of me and I would not recommend it.

So, when your letter is addressed to “Mr J C Jennings” your salutation is “Dear Mr Jennings.” If the information you have is simply “Joanna C Jennings” you can probably take a chance and write a salutation of “Dear Ms Jennings.” I don’t know many male Joannas, but don’t count on it…

Your sign off will be “Yours sincerely.”

Even less formal letters

This is where the internet’s influence can be allowed to come into it and give you some freedom from the formalities expected in, well, more formal letters.

If you’re writing to someone whom you know on first name terms then your salutation is going to be “Dear (name)” and you don’t need to sign off with a “yours” anything unless you particularly want to. Common forms of sign off include “warm regards” (US,) “kind regards,” “best wishes,” etc.

Layout

This isn’t as strictly followed as it used to be, and now it’s considered OK to design the layout of a letter around the design of the company letterhead. The elements you need, wherever you put them, should include:

Your company name and address (usually done in the letterhead’s design)
The date
The addressee’s name, title, company name and address
The salutation (“dear so-and-so”)
The topic of the letter (“re:” whatever)
The body of the letter
The sign off (“Yours whatever”)
Your own name and title

Traditionally, your own address should go at the top right of the letter, with the date underneath it on the right. On the next line at the left margin, you put the addressee’s name and address. After one or two spaces, the “Dear (whoever)” goes underneath that. Two spaces below that, you can put your “re: (topic)” or just the topic in bold and/or underlined.

Once you’ve done the body of the letter, create one or two spaces and put the sign-off either ranged left or indented a few tabs along towards the right. Create a sufficient number of spaces for your signature and then key in your name (and title if appropriate) so it starts directly under the “Y” of “Yours.”

If your letter goes on to a second page, where it breaks on page 1 create a space then to the right key in “cont’d.” You can start page 2 just by keying in “page 2″ and starting again two or three spaces below. Some people create a mini-heading for the second page with the addressee’s name on the left, the date in the middle, and the page number on the right, followed by an underline that crosses the whole page. This is useful if the two pages become detached from one another.

Okay. Now we’ve established the ground rules, what do we say?

Keep the style sharp and simple

Business letters are not literary works. They are verbal workhorses with a purpose only to convey information, and what you want the reader to do with it, as quickly and clearly as possible.

Start by making notes as if to yourself. These notes will come out in a direct style naturally, because you’re not intimidated or disquieted when writing to yourself. Don’t restrict yourself to a structure at this stage. Just write out everything you can think of that should go into the letter.

Now, match your notes to the sequence in one of the “skeletons” described below. Discard any notes that aren’t relevant.

If you build up your letter along these lines you’ll find that your style is clear and straightforward, with no unnecessary adjectives, adverbs, business phrases, “corporate speak” or other business BS that some people use in business letters.

All you need to do then is tidy up with a good edit and spelling and grammar check. (Although many people take a lenient view over spelling and grammatical mistakes in emails, they stick out like sore thumbs in printed letters and make you look very amateurish.)

Build your content on a “skeleton”

Normally you’ll identify the topic of the letter with “re: Your Outstanding Account” or less formally, “Your Outstanding Account” in bold and/or underlined. Then make notes or bullet points of the main issues you need to include, on a skeleton like this:

Typically, these would be:

1. Background
I see from our records that you were first invoiced for this amount four months ago and statements have been sent out to you each month since then

2. The sticky issue
This can’t go on, especially as you haven’t contacted us to discuss extending your credit

3. What I want to happen now
Pay up in the next seven days

4. Or else
We will be obliged to start legal proceedings against you

5. Sweetener
If you do pay up by return, we won’t take any further action and will restart your 30 days’ credit as before

6. Next move
Please contact me urgently and let me know what you intend to do

Same skeleton, different content

You could use this skeleton for a number of business letter purposes. Not all business letters have you sitting so comfortably in the driving seat, however. Let’s say you were the recipient of this letter and want to winkle out more time to pay. The elements remain the same, but we approach from a different angle…

1. Background
Thank you for bringing this to my attention – I had no idea we were so late paying

2. The sticky issue
We’re experiencing serious cashflow problems at the moment but we have taken steps to rectify this and anticipate the problem will be solved in the next 3 weeks

3. What I want to happen now
Would you consider extending our credit for a while longer, perhaps with interest being chargeable at a rate we can agree?

4. Or else
We really would like to continue buying our supplies from you but if we enter into a dispute the goodwill will be lost and our business relationship will be over

5. Sweetener
I can assure you our cashflow problem is temporary and we want to preserve our business relationship with you if possible

6. Next move
I will phone you in the next few days to discuss payment terms

Build your own skeleton

Obviously that 6-point skeleton isn’t going to work for every business letter, but a shortened version of it will be useful because you can build it back up so it’s tailored to any number of different needs. Here’s the basic one that I use:

1. Background
2. The key issue
3. What will or should happen
4. What to do next

Any further tips? Only that business letters should always be as short as possible. That’s not as simple as it sounds. Somebody famous (can’t remember who) once apologized for writing someone a long letter, as he didn’t have time to write a short one. It’s hard to write concisely, but if you use the style and skeleton tips above you’ll find it somewhat easier.

If you need to go into detail, separate that off into a different (but attached) document and use the letter only as a summary of the issue and a call to action.

I’m no social psychologist so I can’t quote you a scientific reason, but separating detail from key points usually means that both get read more thoroughly. It’s probably because by separating the two elements you provide readers with more digestible looking chunks. Anyway, it works!

Author: Suzan St Maur
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital TV, HDTV, Satellite TV

Many years ago most personal letters, after an extremely formal salutation, began “I take my pen in hand.” We do not see that at all nowadays, but the spirit of that saying still lingers. Pick up the average letter and you cannot fail to notice that the writer has grimly taken his pen in hand and, filled with one thought, has attacked the paper. That one thought is to get the letter writing over with.

And perhaps this attitude of getting the writing over with at all costs is not so bad after all. There are those who grieve over the passing of the formal and dignified letter and others who regret that the “literary” letter – the kind of letter that can be published – is no longer with us. But the old letter of ceremony is not really more useful than a powdered wig to a modern man, and as for the sort of letter that delights the heart and lightens the work of the writer – well, that is still being written by the kind of person who can write it. It is better that a letter should be written because the writer has something to say than as a token of culture.

THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTER

No one can go far wrong in writing any sort of letter if first the care is taken to set out the exact object and desire of the letter. A letter always has an object – otherwise why write it? But somehow, and particularly in the dictated letter, the object frequently gets lost in the words. A handwritten letter is not suitable to be too wordy – it would take too much time and trouble to write. But someone dictating may, especially if interrupted by telephone calls, ramble on about what they want to say and in the end have used two pages for what should have been said in three lines. On the other hand, letters may be so brief as to produce an impression of abrupt rudeness. It is a rare writer who can say all that need be said in one line and not seem rude. But it can be done.

The single purpose of a letter is to convey thought. That thought may have to do with facts, and the further purpose may be to have the thought to produce action. But plainly the action depends solely upon how well the thought is transferred or conveyed in the letter. Words are used in a letter as a vehicles for thought, but every single word is not a vehicle for thought, because it may not be the kind of word that goes to the place where you want your thought to go; or, to put it another way, there is a wide variation in the understanding of words. Where an exactly phrased letter might completely convey an exact thought to a person of education, that same letter might be meaningless to a person with less understanding of complex words. Therefore, it is unwise in general letter writing to resort to using unusual words.

There is something of a feeling that letters should be elegant, that if you wanted to express yourself simply and clearly, it is because of some lack of sophistication, and that true sophistication breaks out in long, deep words and complicated constructions. There could be no greater mistake. A person who really knows the language will write simply. A person who does not know the language too well, and is affecting something, which he thinks is culture, has what might be called a sense of linguistic insecurity, which is similar to the sense of social insecurity. Now and again you meet a person who is afraid of making a social error. He is afraid of picking up the wrong fork in a restaurant, or of doing something else that is not done in polite society. They have an uncomfortable time of it, but any one used to social etiquette takes it for granted. It is the same with the writing of a letter.

There is no reason for writing a letter unless the objective is clearly defined. Writing a letter is like shooting at a target. The target may be hit by accident, but it is more likely to be hit if a careful aim has been taken.

CHILDREN AND LETTER WRITING

In this modern age of email and text messages, the act of sitting down and writing a letter by hand is quite a dying art. It’s a shame to think that the current generation of young children may grow up never having to write a letter by hand, so why not encourage them to sit and write to grandparents and family members who may not possess a computer, or even know how to send a text message. These letters will be received with great pleasure and affection, and will often become treasured possessions.

Before you know it, even writing a letter to Santa will be done on a word processor. How much more fun is writing a letter to Santa when you can get creative with paper, pen and colourful crayons.

The World Wide Web is a great resource for information, so why not research some pen pal sites that encourage communication between children in different countries using the traditional pen and paper. What can be better than that sense of anticipation awaiting the next letter full of thoughtful and personal messages from a friend in another country?

Author: M Newbold
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Multi-cooker

We like to write letters and the same time to love to receive them also. We get many letters in our mail everyday. We sort these out mechanically as we retrieve them from our mailboxes. These mails are categorized as business letters, professional letters, personal letters, employment letters, billing or collection letters and many more kinds of letters.

But the kind of letters we always look forward to is the personal ones. All of us receive this kind of letter, be it on special occasions or on just on ordinary days. Personal letters can be simple thank you note, invitations to a party or reunion, messages of apology, appreciation letters, notes of condolences to a family, and the most common is the love letter.

Love letters are precious. It never fails to make a heart beat faster as we read it word for word. People would never get tired reading and rereading love letters, until they have taken to heart every single word. What makes love letters exceptional is that unlike others, it sends an emotional high to the readers.

For single males, love letters are sure fire ways of courting their crushes. It is also an effective means of communicating with their girlfriends. But love letters need not always be romantic expressions. It can also be written for family members or favorite grandmother. It is a way of admiring the persons these single males love or owe their lives to.

Married males write love letters to their wives and children. It is their way of telling them how much they appreciate the concern and support being shown. It also a good way of telling them how important they are, that they work hard to make them happy. Married males may also send love notes to their parents or siblings. It may likewise be notes of appreciation, that they became good husbands because of them.

Single females use love letters to communicate their feelings more easily to guys they like. This sometimes rids these girls of the awkwardness of telling their feelings face to face to the guy. They use letters to be more direct with what they want to say.

It is also an effective way to communicate with their boyfriends. It becomes more romantic sometimes to write letters instead of telling it in person. Love letters perpetualize the emotions. It can be read over and over again.
Single females also write love letters to their parents and siblings, or even friends. They let them know how much they are appreciated, and extend their gratitude for taking care of them, and being there for them when they need it.

Married women will communicate with their husbands through letters also sometimes. They let their men know how much they love them, how much they appreciate the way their men take care of the family. Married women also write to their sons and daughters, letting them know how much joy it brought them when they were born.

Love letters can be written for several reasons. The very common reason is to simply express love. Saying “I love you” is made more beautiful through written words. It can also be made more romantic by striking up a good rhyme that one would love to read repeatedly. There are many people who affect our lives dearly, and we want to tell them how much we love them. They may be our parents, siblings, friends, mentor or significant others.

Telling someone how much we miss them is also an expression of love. People send out such love letters to their lovers or friends living from miles away, and who they have not seen for a long time already. It is an indication that though not physically together, they are remembered and held dearly in their hearts.

A romantic love note brightens the day of the sender’s sweetheart. It can just be any topic under the sun, liking writing the favorite chorus of a song, telling what happened in their week, or what went on in their jobs.

Not all love letters are joyous and happy to read. Some love letters are sad, like saying goodbye or breaking up with a significant other. The loving feeling emanates throughout the message, but the reason behind writing it is heartbreaking.

Sweet love notes are collection of love notes. Most are just short everyday messages written in small papers like post-it notes. It is just meant for romantic purposes that normally brighten up a day when the receiver finds it upon waking up. These love notes can be posted on the bathroom mirror such that it will be easily noticed when the receiver wakes up. Or it may be posted on the receiver’s favorite cup of coffee.

Friendly letters are exchanges of stories between two buddies. These letters are expressions of friendly love. As the two exchange their personal stories, it manifests how much they mean to each other that they will be the first to hear the significant events that happen to them. An example would be relating the excitement of getting accepted in a job.

Love letters can also be by way of apology. It is normal that misunderstandings will occur sometimes in any relationship. Letters of apology express how much the other person mean to us, that we would want to make amends any way we can.

The most important thing about love letters is that it should express the true feelings of a sender. It should state how much the sender feels for his receiver. It may be asking the receiver to answer the courtship that he has done, join him for a meal or a movie or anything else. The ones who receive a love letter do not necessarily mean that he/she should answer the letter. This letter is given voluntarily so answers of these letters should also be voluntarily written.

Author: David Urmann
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable pressure cooker

Letters can be anything from welcoming new clients, promoting your goods and services, chasing up unpaid bills or dealing with your employees as well as the never ending answering of emails. But what makes a great business letter?

Fantastic business letters are clear, understandable and inspire people into action. They create a feeling of what it is like to work with your business as well as leave a lasting impression in the minds of the readers.

No matter the reason for your letter, here are twenty things to help you create a great business letter.

* Plan your communication. Dashing off a letter in just a few minutes is generally a bad idea. You need to think through your communication before you commit pen to paper in order to get the best possible results. Remember professional writers can spend weeks on just one letter to get it right. Letters done in a rush don’t get results. There is a saying amongst writers – you can have it great or you can have it fast – pick one.

* Work out the intended audience or reader. Think about the people reading your letters. What is their likely literacy level? When in doubt, keep your language simple and jargon free. Think about what is important to them and what makes them tick before you start writing.

* Think about the impression you want to make. Do you want to be seen as warm and welcoming, stern and in control, or professional and to the point? The words you choose will help convey the feeling you want to give out. Start with working on the feeling and the words will then follow.

* Gather your facts together. You need to make sure you have all of the facts, information and key ideas gathered together before you start to write. Jot them down in dot point form on a notebook so you don’t forget to include all of the points.

* Check names and details. A person’s name is very important to them, so make sure you have spelt it correctly. Also double check any place names, street addresses, phone numbers, websites or business names you refer to in your letter. It is very easy to mix up letters or numbers and cause lots of frustration for readers.

Write a business letter

* Keep your design simple. Business letters need a simple, easy to read design. Using lots of different fonts increases the reading difficulty and can overload the message.

Keep your different font styles and sizes to a maximum of two. Make sure you use the same font style and sizes across all of your communication to reinforce your corporate brand.

* Date your letter. Always include a date on your letters.

* Start off on the right foot. When you meet someone for the first time, generally you don’t just launch into conversation. You say hello first. The same with your letter. Traditionally we start our letters with “Dear Name”. But it doesn’t have to always be that way. You can use “Hi”, “Hello”, “Welcome” or a host of other words to start your letters off.

* What name to use? If you don’t know the person’s name, then you can use the person’s title or a descriptor of them. For example, “Dear Colleague”, “Fellow IT Geek”, “Dear Scrapbooker”, “Dear Editor”.

* All letters need headlines. Headlines grab attention and help provide context for the rest of the communication. Make sure your headline is interesting and logical. Help people understand why you are writing to them. Headlines can be as simple as “Welcome” through to “Your feedback is priceless”.

* Create a logical flow or sequence in your letter. Many letters jump around, with different ideas and thoughts scattered across the page. Clump like ideas together. Put logical sentences together. Create a flow leading the reader through your letter from one idea to the next.

* Add in sub-headlines. Break the letter up with sub-headlines to help those people who scan letters for key points. Sub-headlines also help create flow and link ideas throughout your letter.

* Short isn’t always better. In sales letters, long copy outperforms short copy every time. Long letters help give all of the facts and highlight all of the important selling features of the product or service. The key here is don’t ramble – keep every point relentlessly building on the previous point rather than just word padding.

* Punch up the words. Make sure the words you use are interesting, convey emotion and are powerful. Sizzling words make a huge difference in readability and getting people to take action. Once you have written your letter, go back and check if there are any words that are too soft and need spicing up.

* But watch the flower. One common error people make (particularly if English is their second language) is being too flowery in their language. Too much over the top language such as “requesting your esteemed business” can put readers off. Flowery language is not the same as powerful language. When in doubt prune back on the flowers.

* Strong call to action. This sounds simple but it is the most common mistake we see in business letters. You need to tell people loudly and clearly the action you want them to take as a result of the letter. Do you want them to call you, send you something, buy something, file the letter for future reference? Be specific and you will increase the response rate.

* Most letters could use a PS. PS’s are the second most read part of a letter (after the headline). Use your PS to reiterate key points you want to make.

* Edit your letter. Writing is only one part of the puzzle. You need to go back and edit your letter. Read it back for flow, ease of understanding and readability. Read the letter out loud to see where you stumble over words or where you need to take a breath in the middle of a sentence. Take out padding words and shorten sentences.

* Check your spelling. Spelling does matter and poorly spelt letters that are full of grammatical errors send a certain impression about you and your business. If you are like me and your brain thinks faster than you type, it is very easy to miss words out in total (and swear they were there). Go back and read the letter backwards – it helps to find the missing words and misspelt words.

* Check your attachments. If you say you are attaching a document, then make sure it is attached before you seal the letter. Many people type the letters “Att” or “Enc” at the bottom of the letter after the signature to remind themselves there is an attachment mentioned in the letter.

Writing a business letter doesn’t have to be hard. If you take the time to plan your thoughts, polish your words and double-check your details you will create a powerful response.

Author: Ingrid Cliff
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Hybrid and Electric Cars

We encounter different kinds of letters daily. We get personal letters from friends. We receive business letters at work, and some collection letters from the bank. These letters have integral to our lives since we were babies. It is interesting to learn the different kinds of letters.

Below are sample letters:
Welcome Letter
Letter of Appreciation
Apology Letter
Collection Letter
Invoice Letter Template
Letter of Invitation
Marketing Letter
Letter of rejection

Welcome Letter states the feeling of happiness and gratitude to the recipient for becoming a member of an institution or group. The employer writes a welcome letter to a newly hired employee. A student may receive a welcome letter from a college that he passed. Store owners may also send letters to their customers welcoming them to try their latest products and promos.

A Letter of Appreciation is a written expression of gratitude. It contains notes of appreciation for the kind deed of the recipient.

An Apology Letter is a sorry letter, often with a supporting explanation. Verbal apologis are usually more difficult that people resort to letters instead. Such letters are a good way to reach out and extend to the other party.

Collection Letter is a business reminder of outstanding credits due, or overdue credits that must be paid immediately. It is a written reminder of your obligation to settle necessary payments.

Invoice Letter is a written request for the invoice number of a sales transaction.

Letter of Invitation is a formal written request for the presence of the recipient on an occasion. It may be informal gatherings like a birthday or Christmas party. It can also be a business invitation to a meeting. The important details of the occasion are included in the letter like the name of host, date, time and venue.

A Marketing Letter sells products to customers. These are usually mass-produced and distributed to many. This is a good way to disseminate information about new products being sold.

Letter of Rejection states that a certain requested has been denied. A supporting explanation usually follows. As an example, a university sends rejection letters to students who failed their entrance exams. The student will not be allowed to enroll in their school.

Letters are important means of expressing different feelings and needs. Writing them down helps to organize thoughts and states a clearer message.

Author: David Urmann
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff

Based on the feedback that I have been getting from visitors
to my writinghelp-central.com Web site, letter writing is
definitely the area where most people are looking for help
or guidance when it comes to day-to-day writing.

Over 55% of the visitors to my site are seeking some sort of
letter writing information or assistance. The following
lists the Top Ten letters that people request information
on, in order of popularity:

* recommendation letter

* resignation letter

* thank you letter

* reference letter

* business letter

* complaint letter

* cover letter

* sales letter

* introduction letter

* apology letter

The 7 Strategies

Here are a few practical letter-writing tips and strategies
to help you when writing that next letter:

1. Keep It Short And To The Point

Letters involving business (personal or corporate) should be
concise, factual, and focused. Try to never exceed one page
or you will be at risk of losing your reader. A typical
letter page will hold 350 to 450 words. If you can’t get
your point across with that many words you probably haven’t
done enough preparatory work. If necessary, call the
recipient on the phone to clarify any fuzzy points and then
use the letter just to summarize the overall situation.

2. Make It Clear, Concise, And Logical

Before sitting down to write, make a brief point-form
outline of the matters you need to cover in the letter.
Organize those points into a logical progression that you
can use as your guide as you write the letter. The logical
blocks of the letter should be: 1. introduction/purpose,
background/explanation, summary/conclusion, action required
statement. Use this outline process to organize your
approach and your thoughts, and to eliminate any unnecessary
repetition or redundancy.

3. Focus On The Recipient’s Needs

While writing the letter, focus on the information
requirements of your audience, the intended addressee. If
you can, in your “mind’s eye”, imagine the intended
recipient seated across a desk or boardroom table from you
while you are explaining the subject of the letter. What
essential information does that person need to know through
this communication? What will be their expectations when
they open the letter? Have you addressed all these issues?

4. Use Simple And Appropriate Language

Your letter should use simple straightforward language, for
clarity and precision. Use short sentences and don’t let
paragraphs exceed three or four sentences. As much as
possible, use language and terminology familiar to the
intended recipient. Do not use technical terms and acronyms
without explaining them, unless you are certain that the
addressee is familiar with them.

5. Use Short Sentences And Paragraphs

Keep your sentences as short as possible, and break the text
up into brief paragraphs. Ideally, a paragraph should not
exceed two to three sentences. This will make the letter
more easily readable, which will entice the recipient to
read it sooner, rather than later.

6. Review And Revise It

Do a first draft, and then carefully review and revise it.
Put yourself in the place of the addressee. Imagine yourself
receiving the letter. How would you react to it? Would it
answer all of your questions? Does it deal with all of the
key issues? Are the language and tone appropriate? Sometimes
reading it out loud to one’s self can help. When you
actually “hear” the words it is easy to tell if it “sounds”
right or not.

7. Double Check Spelling And Grammar

A letter is a direct reflection of the person sending it,
and by extension, the organization that person works for.
When the final content of the letter is settled, make sure
that you run it through a spelling and grammar checker. To
send a letter with obvious spelling and grammatical errors
is sloppy and unprofessional. In such cases, the recipient
can’t really be blamed for seeing this as an indication as
to how you (and/or your organization) probably do most other
things.

The foregoing basic letter writing strategies and tips are
mostly common sense. Nevertheless, you would be amazed how
often these very basic “rules of thumb” are not employed
when people write letters.

2005 by Shaun Fawcett

Author: Shaun Fawcett
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Hybrid and Electric Cars

My two “writing help” websites receive well over two million visitors per year looking for information and templates to help them with their writing. With that many visitors I get a pretty accurate idea of exactly what people are looking for in the way of letter writing help. In fact, a significant number of people arrive at my site based on the search phrase “business letter”.

Now, at first glance the term “business letter” makes sense. But, just wait a minute here! What exactly do they mean by “business letter”? Well, it turns out that they’re not sure. What it boils down to in many cases is that the person doing the search is involved in some kind of “business” (as owner or employee) and they need to write some kind of “letter” related to their business. Hence, their search phrase of “business letter”.

I often get e-mails from people asking me if I have any business letter templates, or if I can write them a business letter. Invariably, I have to reply to them asking “what type of business letter, what is the specific purpose”? The fact is; “business letter” is a very general term that can mean one of many different specific letter types.

Accordingly, the rest of this article is going to explain exactly what business letters really are.

Despite the widespread use of e-mail in commerce today, traditional business letters are still the main way that the majority of businesses officially communicate with their customers and other businesses.

This is especially true when businesses want to formalize an agreement or an understanding. So far, emails are great for all of the preparatory work, but a formal business letter is still most often needed to “seal the deal”.

There are two overall categories of business letters: business-to-business, and business-to-customer.

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS LETTERS

Most business-to-business letters are written to confirm things that have already been discussed among officials in meetings, on the telephone, or via e-mail.

Can you imagine the letters that would have to go back and forth to cover all of the questions and possibilities that can be covered in a one-hour meeting, a half-hour phone call, or a few quick e-mails?

The main purpose of a typical business letter is to formalize the details that were arrived at in those discussions, and to provide any additional information that was agreed upon.

Over the years, certain general standards have evolved in the business world that the vast majority of businesses use in drafting their business to business correspondence. The Top 10 business-to-business letters that people search for at my writing help websites, in order of popularity, are as follows:

1. thank you letter

2. introduction letter

3. cover letter

4. financial letter

5. marketing letter

6. sales letter

7. project letter

8. invitation letter

9. employee letter

10. congratulations letter

Even though the above terms are much more specific than the general term “business letter” there are multiple types of each of the above letters, depending on the purpose of the letter. For example, a business-to-business “financial letter” could be: collection letter, credit approval letter, credit refusal letter, invoice, price quotation, etc.

BUSINESS TO CUSTOMER LETTERS

There are many different types of business-to-customer letters. They include: sales and marketing letters, information letters, order acknowledgement letters, order status letters, collection letters, among others.

As with business-to-business letters, over the years certain general standards have evolved in the business world that the vast majority of businesses use in drafting letters to existing and potential customers.

Of course, going in the other direction are customer-to-business letters. These include: order letters, order status inquiry letters, complaint letters, and others.

Since these are customer-generated letters, there is no particular expectation that they follow any particular letter-writing standard. Typically, they are handled just like any other piece of personal correspondence.

The Top 10 business-to-customer letters that people search for at my writing help Web sites, in order of popularity, are as follows:

1. cover letter

2. customer relations letter

3. financial letter

4. credit letter

5. introduction letter

6. order-status letter

7. sales letter

8. marketing letter

9. announcement letter

10. apology letter

Similar to the situation with business-to-business letters covered in the previous section; even though the above business-to-customer letter types are much more specific than the general term “business letter”, there are also multiple types of each of the above letters, depending on the purpose of the letter. For example, a business-to-customer “customer relations letter” could be any one of : response to a complaint, follow-up with a new customer, interrupted service notice, letter of acknowledgement, special invitation, welcome to new customers, etc.

BOTTOM-LINE

As you can see from the above, specifying that you are looking for a “business letter” is not very helpful. You need to be specific and define the purpose of the letter; that is, exactly what is the letter meant to communicate?

It’s important not to confuse non-business letters with business letters. For example: job application letters, cv and resume cover letters, employment and college related letters of recommendation, character references, resignation letters, etc. are NOT business letters.

You might be surprised to learn that over 75% of all visitors to my main writing help website are searching for information on how to write just the Top 20 letters listed above. In fact, it turns out that a full 90% of the more than 1.5 million people that visit that site each year looking for letter writing help are looking for help with one of a list of 25 letters.

That’s why all of my letter writing toolkits focus on multiple variations of about 40 specific letter types that cover over 95% of ALL letters ever written.

Author: Shaun Fawcett
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff

One of the most important things you have to learn when you going in business online is how to write a Web sales letter. Writing a Web sales letter is one of the most difficult things you will learn to do, unless creating a website is extremely difficult for you. However once you get past that hurdle writing a Web sales letter is the most difficult thing. Why is writing a Web sales letter so difficult?

One of the biggest reasons is that people both off-line and online, are used to reading the very best, the most compelling sales letters ever. They are written by people who make anywhere from $5000 to $20,000 per letter. They are really good letters. You have to compete against those letters.

One of the easiest ways to develop Web sales letter writing skills is to copy by hand one sales letter per day. Copy the very best sales letters per day, by hand, longhand. This will embed the principles of sales letter writing in your mind in your head.

So what are Web sales letter writing basics?

The first thing your Web sales letter needs is a compelling headline. A headline is the most important thing on your Web sales letter before they get to the content. If they don’t read your headline, if they don’t like your headline, they will never get to the sales letter itself. They will never get to the buy here button.

The second thing your Web sales letter needs is a bulleted list of benefits. These benefits are things that you are product does for the purchaser, not features. Benefits are things that your product does for the purchaser, features are things that describe the product itself. Benefits sell, features do not.

The third thing your Web sales letter needs is a compelling letter. This must be compelling content, including a story, information about the product, and what the product will do for the reader.

The fourth thing your Web sales letter needs is a compelling call to action. This call to action should include a guarantee and give the reader specific instructions on how to purchase a product.

Author: Sean R Mize
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Import duty tariff

Letter writing is somewhat of an art, whether you’re writing a business or a personal letter, although you can use the same basic format for both.

Many letters tend to waffle on somewhat & never get to the point, taking the reader on a circular journey to nowhere.

Grandma just loves receiving these letters, but in the business world it’s not how to write a letter, rather it’s ‘give me the facts & only the facts.’

Other letters just do not make any sense at all. In fact, many secretaries and typesetters simply do not read what they’ve just typed. They’ll leave it entirely up to the person who wrote the letter to proof read it.

And if there’s a typo they’ll simply do that specific task and hand it back for checking.

Doing you own proof checking is dangerous because after you’ve read your own letter a number of times, you become blind to any errors.

The most important issue is that the letter clearly conveys the message that you wish to send.

The Format…

Letter writing follows a fairly basic format although there are variances.

Most letters contain:

The letter date

Name and address of the writer

The name & address of the person receiving the letter

Some sort of greeting

The letter body

The salutation

The writer’s signature

Learning how to write a letter for business is slightly different. Business letters may contain a wide variety of additional information and address many different issues but, generally speaking, they too are written in somewhat of a standard format.

A personal letter doesn’t really require any of the technical stuff that a business letter would normally include, so they can be totally casual if you want them to be.

Things You Need To Be Aware Of When Learning How To Write a Letter…

The receiver is unaware of the context in which the letter is written and cannot “see” your body language, so how & what you write may be taken literally.

There is no option for follow-up questions, so be precise in your choice of words.

Misspelling can make you look stupid, so be sure to use a spellchecker if you’re looking to make a good impression.

Also, make sure the context of the letter and the grammar is correct. Obviously it’s less important if the letter is to a close friend or relative.

After You Write The Letter…

Read it over to make sure that it actually says what you really want it to say. If you are conveying any details, check to make sure they are accurate – particularly if the letter announces a date, time, and place.

Take the time and learn how to write a letter correctly, it will pay off for the rest of your life.

Author: Peter Kirkham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty tariff