Business Letter

By: Robert Thomson Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Letter
A business letter is a type of letter that is written in formal language. It is commonly used for writing business-related concerns or correspondence, from one business organization to another or for clients to their customers. Its style is dependent on the relationship of the concerned parties.
Business Letter Parts
In the US, a typical business letter should include the following:
1. Date it is written
2. The return address
3. The recipient's address
4. Greeting or Salutation
5. The body of the letter or the message
6. Closing
7. The printed name, signature and the sender's position.
There are also other business letters that have these pieces of information:
* cc: - Carbon Copy Recipients
* Encl: - Enclosure
* The typist's reference initials
Format of a Business Letter
Date

Sender's Name
Address

Receiver's Name
Address
Dear Mrs. Y:

Although there are different styles for business letter, this would be the most typical ton use. You don't need to make indentations and all the lines are on the left margin, which also includes the date, complimentary close and the signature. This is also called the''modified block with clock paragraphs''.
If you will use this style, you can have a mixture of the standard punctuation. After the salutation is a colon. As for the complimentary close, use a comma. This is very typical in most business correspondences.

Don't forget to leave a space in-between the name and the valediction so that the person who sends this can have a lot of room for signing.

Sincerely,

-Signature-
Jane Doe, Consultant

cc: Dr. Ethan James, Provost
Tips in Writing Business Letters
If you will be writing a business letter, you need to use an 8.5'' x 11'' unlined paper. 24 pound papers having 100 brightness can be a bit more expensive but it can surely provide a better impression as compared to the usual copy paper.
Make use of 1 inch margins for all sides. The best font to use is the Georgia 11 or Times Roman 12. Business letters should also be single-spaced and types using a computer. The letter should only be printed on one side of the paper. Then, fold it horizontally into thirds.
Use a No. 10 security envelope for your letter. Its dimensions are 4 1/8 inches x 9 Â½ inches. Then, mail your letter.
Although there are many formats you can use for business letters. They are still divided into 2 basic groups. This includes the block format and those with various indented formats.
The most common is the block format but the others are just as acceptable. This is since all conventional formats have similar features.
1. The return address should be like this:
1535 Mango Street
Springfield, Texas 12345

2. The date can appear in 2 ways:
April 20, 2009 or
20 April 2009

3. Use the full name, title as well as the address of your recipient. Use ''Mr.'' or ''Ms.'' It should go like this:
Mr. Gene Cortes, Chair
Department of Logistics
Abraham State University
5345 College Drive
Ashton, TX 12345

4. The salutation needs a colon.
Dear Mr. Cortes:

5. The body of the letter should be short and straight to the point. It should only consume one page with 3 to 4 paragraphs, singled spaced and double-spaced in between paragraphs.

6. The most common closing to use is ''Sincerely'' and follow it up with a comma. Then, skip 4 single lines for your name and sign on the provided space above it.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Wilson

7. If you will be enclosing extra information like a CV or resume, skip 2 single lines after your name and then type ''Enclosure''. If there are many, you can state its number in a parenthesis.
Enclosures (3)