Business writing is writing for professional purposes, whether you are just writing an official email or taking minutes in a meeting.
A business writer is a person who writes business documents like proposals, media content, presentations, memos, letters, and copies
A business document seeks to serve a purpose and conveys information to a particular audience in a clear and concise manner, often formal, structured and devoid of grammatical errors and unnecessary elements that could distract or confuse the reader.
Who can write business documents?
Business writing can be done by anyone depending on the level of your skills.
Since communication is at the heart of every business, businesses will always require the services of writers who can help them create well written documents that can drive their goals. Writing business documents is a well sought-for skill with which you can land well-paying jobs and build meaningful connections, but first you must hone your skills through learning and practice.
As a business writer, you are expected to:
- understand the goals and ideas of the customer, business or what they intend to write about
- communicate them in a way that conveys the intended message.
Common business writing mistakes
The highly professional and formal nature of business documents makes business writing an error-prone type of writing, especially where one is inexperienced. If you are a business writer or are considering it, the following guides can help you prevent mistakes:
1. Spelling Errors
Since words are the building blocks of any type of writing, making a mistake with them can affect the overall impact of your work. Writing is not only about the content, it is also about the carefully selected words you use to pass your message across. The English Language is filled with grammatical variations like verb tenses and context formats like “it’s” and “its”. There are also the common spelling issues that we often encounter, like “conceive” “receive”, “achieve”, “definitely” . . . etc.
If you have a challenge with spellings, spell checkers like a cheat sheet can come in handy.
A cheat sheet is a collection of notes that serve as a handy reference. On this, you may write the correct spellings of confusing words.
There are also online cheat sheet tools that you may use if carrying a paper is inconvenient. Using a cheat sheet can help you avoid common mistakes, broaden your vocabulary, gain proofreading skills and write with accuracy.
2. Wrong Language
Unless you are writing an ad or creating content for a campaign, the tone of business writing is formal and direct. Everything written for a business must be perceived in as professional a manner as possible and revised thoroughly. The language of a business document is easy to read, direct and engaging.
3. Repetitions
Repeating words and phrases, using personal pronouns, using filler words, and using modifiers that offer the same information more than once is unacceptable in a business document.
4. Cliches
A business document should be original; devoid of statements and analogies that could distract or irritate the reader.
5. Grammar
Good clean grammar immediately communicates to your employer that you pay attention to details. Avoid mix ups like excessive prepositions, wrong use of nouns, prepositions at the end of sentences, and subject-verb inaccuracy.
6. Readability
A business document should contain elements like headings, subheadings, titles, choice of font, numbering, graphs, margins, bullets and many more that allows the reader to get the message easily. It is the writer’s job to figure out what elements best complement the document they are writing according to its content and style.
7. Structure
A business document is a non-fictitious piece of writing that must have a defined structure. Depending on the kind of document, you'll generally need to create a table of content, a title page, an opening statement, summary, reference, research findings, conclusion and appendices.
Again, mastery of business writing requires constant reading and practice. You must also look out for elements that clutter your writing, like brackets and other unnecessary punctuations.
A poorly written document is bad news for you as a writer. Not only will it achieve the opposite of what it was intended to do, but it will also portray you in a bad light or cost you your job. Hone your business writing skills by learning more about writing, and reading as often as you can.
Need Professional Business Writing Service?
Your business can greatly benefit from a professional business writing service. You need a professional writer for everything from social media content and emails to website content, proposals, and strategizing.
We offer professional result-based services that are in line with what you need. Contact us now to get started.
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Victor
