Being a successful businessman is not just having great knowledge of management and organization. This is all about communication as well. No matter how big your business is, you have to communicate with many people to make it successful and profitable; and you must admit, that the biggest part of your communication with investors, co-workers, or clients comes through writing. I am sure, you write e-mails or business letters quite often, but sometimes you also have to work with many other documents to promote your business: media presentations, different kinds of requests, business requirements or proposals, etc. And the main skill for you to have here is business writing.
The truth is, that many today’s businessmen are not good with writing, because this skill was not their major concern during their studies at business schools. You must admit, that you did not plan to study writing when you entered business schools or decided to start your business. But you can’t deny the fact, that good writing can help you promote your business better and improve your reputation as well.
It’s unnecessary to be Leo Tolstoy or Stephen King to write a good business letter or presentation of course, but being a businessman, you should remember and follow some really simple tips which can help you improve your writing skills and make your business communication better. So, here they are.
1. Be laconiс
It may sound strange to you, but people do not like reading much today, though they admit the fact that written information is very important for them to have. It means, the less you write – the better, but you should know how to give them all necessary information in 500 words instead of 2000 for example. So, learn to be laconiс.
2. Do not avoid proofreading
Even if you are sure that your grammar and spelling are perfect, do not be lazy to check your business letters or other documents after you’ve finished writing them. Do it just after they are ready, and wait one-two hours to check them again. Sure, we all are people, and typos happen, but there is nothing more embarrassing for a serious and respectful businessman than wrong spellings in important documents.
3. Save all templates
The big chances are, that you will use the same documents in the future: you will need to send business letters, write e-mails, and so on. So, why not to save some templates, that can be used in the future and save your time on writing? Just re-read the document, change names, genders, and companies names, and a letter is ready! It will also help you avoid misspelling.
4. Pay attention to names!
What can be even more embarrasssing than typos? This is a situation when you call Mr. Ryan “Ms. Ryan” in a document, or you name their job titles in a wrong way. If you are not sure, you can ask their assistants to help you here, or just use some genral pronouns with no connections to a gender. “They” or “their” become more and more popular today.
5. Do not give them too many choices
When you write a business letter and want to set time for a meeting for example, do not write anything like “Choose your time. It can 11 am, 2pm, 4pm, or 5.30pm”. Many choices paralize the decision actually. Just set a time, or give two options to choose from.
6. Welcome freelancers
If writing is not your strongest side, and you have no time to learn all nuances of content writing for your business site for example, you may always ask for help. There are many freelancers online, who write really cool texts, and they can easily do this job for you. Just give them all criteria, tell them what you need, and pay for their job (if you are ready to spend some part of your budget on it of course).
But you should still remember, that no freelancer will write business letters and e-mails for you, that is why writing still remains one of the most important skills for you to get.
Photo Credit: Flickr/jonny goldstein
