How to Write a Business Letter

The format of a business letter is an important thing to consider before sending out your business missive. Your words will have a long term impact, be it positive or negative and the best way to write it is to firstly organize your thoughts. Think of what you would like to say in your letter and how you can best say it to your recipient. Once this is done you need to format a business letter properly.

The following tips will help you format a business letter properly:

• Make sure that your font size is readable and does not overcrowd the body. You can experiment with different fonts sizes to see which one looks best for you but always remember to make the font size readable. If the font size is too small then the reader will not be able to understand what is written on your letter properly. On the other hand, if the font size is too big it will be difficult to read and you may find yourself cutting and losing readers.
• It is very important to spell check your business letters. The easiest way to do this is to highlight the most important letters or phrases in your document and check whether they are spelled correctly. If so, then delete the erroneous text. Do not forget to spell check the names of the people you are mailing the letter to as well. Many times we make the mistake of neglecting to spell check our documents because of lack of time. Hence, when you format a letter it should be done in a timely manner.
• If you format a business letter in Courier, the recipients will most probably assume that you are a professional. If you format it in Littleton or Atlanta you will seem like you are from another era. To avoid this make sure that you format your business letter in standard Courier. Do not format your documents in any other font as it will still look unprofessional. If you format a business letter in a hand written font, there is a greater chance that the recipient may assume that you wrote the letter on a piece of paper. This will most likely increase your rejection rate.
• When you format a business letter in Palatino, it is more difficult to understand. Many people say that the font used for business letters should be same as the one used in other types of letters. However, if you format a letter in Palatino it will look more formal. Use different fonts and choose a different size for the letter head. There are many advantages of using Palatino for formatting. Not only the letters will look different, you can use italics or boldface for emphasis.
• In many instances, the format of a business letter is determined by the type of recipient you are sending the letter to. For example if you are mailing a thank you note to a colleague or vendor, then your format of a business letter will most likely be formal. You can also make use of business card templates to format a business letter effectively. Use this template to format a business letter to indicate your thanks or gratitude for a recent acquisition, a new client, or a valuable reference.