When it comes to business writing, there is a lot of information out there. You can find tips in books, blogs, and online articles. But what if you don’t want to read through all the different points of advice? That’s where this blog post comes in! In less than 1000 words we will give you five effective business writing tips that can help improve your understanding of what is expected from a professional writer in business and why it’s important to have a business editing service like editmypaper.ca in your list of resources for succeeding in the workplace. Although they specialize in academic editing, their editing staff has been amazing at editing by business documents, which we will discuss in the last section.
- Know Your Audience (and understand the difference between business writing and academic writing)
Whether transitioning from an academic environment or recalling your writing lessons from ages ago, it’s important to write so your audience will understand and be engaged in your product, service or business offerings.
Business writing focuses on getting readers to take action, like buying a product or service. Academic writing is usually focused on the quality of information and supporting ideas with logical reasoning. The idea behind business writing is that it should be persuasive enough so consumers will want to take an intended course of action. As such, it’s important to conduct some market research, such as sending a surveymonkey to potential customers, or previous customers if you’re trying to get their opinion on your new business idea or new service you may offer in the future. Knowing your audience can go a long way to creating the perfect product!
- Avoid lengthy descriptions or wordy sentences. Get right to the point and be concise.
The second tip for writing better business documents is to avoid lengthy descriptions or wordy sentences. Get right to the point and be concise. In fact, according to a study by Harvard Business Review, too much detail can actually hinder your reader’s comprehension of the document you’re trying to tell them about!
Be clear, concise and get right to the point
This doesn’t mean that you should never use descriptive language in your work; rather, it means that you should make sure not to be too verbose – especially when writing reports with long paragraphs. You want readers to be drawn into what they are reading so they finish quickly without having any questions left unanswered at the end of their journey learning about your business. If you’re just writing marketing material for a product, short and concise sentences is what you will want to consider.
- Writing emails with a professional tone
No matter who you’re writing will be read by, always put the most effort as possible into it. Business marketing material, drafts, and email conversations can and are shared very easily these days. So, it’s important to maintain a professional image by writing in an easy-to-read tone. Aim for at 10th grade tone so 99% of consumers will be able to understand your writing. Remember – keep it short and simple!
- Finalizing your writing by sharing it with friends or colleagues
Consider asking a friend or colleague to review your writing. Feedback is important. It can help you not only fix grammar issues, but also give you ideas about readability and content problems. Writing business advertisements can also be reviewed by your colleagues. Consider having them review your work before sending it to the client. After all, a properly written ad, or business document, can go a long way to gaining trust with your clients.
You can also read your writing out loud to see how it sounds. Is it easy to read? Does it sound awkward or do you need to repeat the sentence twice to fully understand the content? Paying attention to things like this can help you ace your business writing tasks and become a better writer.
- Consider hiring a professional service to edit your writing.
Professionals, like your business, often specialize in something. They may specialize in designing business road maps, writing amazing marketing guides or editing specific content. As such, it’s important to consider investing in your writing to ensure what you present to consumers is your best possible work.
Where can I find a professional editor or proofreading service for my business?
There are many services available online that can help with your general editing needs, or provide more specific assistance such as in-depth English editing. The service we mentioned at the outset of the article is one that I’ve personally used post-graduation for general business documents. That being said, it’s always best to run a quick test by submitting a short letter or document to be edited. This is often more affordable than finding a personal editor, or hiring one for your business as you may not have a consistent stream of documents for the editor to edit.
It’s clear that knowing your audience and understanding what level to write at is the key to creating amazing business copy. The words you use, the way in which your sentences are structured and how long your writing is, all impact how well someone might grasp what you’re trying to say. Following these tips will ensure you’re writing in a way that’s simple, yet elegant.
