7 Steps to a better business letter

Seems like people who can talk perfectly well, or write an interesting letter to a friend, suddenly freeze up and turn into someone else when they sit down to write a "serious" letter.

Serious as in "This letter needs to be good so these people will want to do business with me." They get all nervous and worried about being proper, and their letters come out sounding stiff and, frankly, pretty boring.

Along with reminding you that your letter has to be "about" your reader and that you're always writing to one person, I've harped for a long time about forgetting most of the rules of grammar and just writing like you speak. But still, that inner critic can sometimes ruin a perfectly good message.

So yesterday, when a friend shared something she'd learned at a writer's conference over the week-end, I decided I had to share it with you. One of the speakers was a law school professor, and she shared the 4-step method she teaches her law school students to use whenever they have to write anything. Here's her steps, along with my comments:

Step 1: Turn loose the madman. Just write down whatever you're thinking you want to say. Get all your thoughts on the paper where you can see them - and where they can't suddenly escape. I especially like this step, because your creativity isn't hampered at all, and you may find a gem of an idea when you read what you wrote.

Step 2: Bring in the architect to arrange those thoughts and give your message a good structure.

Step 3: Call the carpenters and other "finish work" guys to fine-tune it. This is where you'd check to make sure you have good transitions between paragraphs, smooth out any awkward spots that can stop a reader cold, and even eliminate a few sentences that don't add strength to your message. Reading it aloud will alert you to any stumbling blocks. (Yes, do it even though it feels silly.)

Step 4: It's finally time for the Judge. Until this point, your judge has not been allowed into the room. But be careful here. If he starts talking to you about the rules of grammar rather than the power of the message, show him the door.

Since those 4 steps are all done on your own, I'd add a few more.

Step 5: Have someone else read the message to make sure it clearly conveys what you want to say. Just don't take every criticism as gospel, because each of us has our own opinion. Three readers could well give you three opinions. Listen to what they suggest, consider it, and then accept or reject a change based on your own instincts.

This step is scary for a timid writer - believe me I know! But consider this: Wouldn't you rather hear from a friend that a sentence is unclear than have a customer round file your message because they didn't quite "get it?"

Step 6: Get someone to proofread your work for the sole purpose of making sure you haven't missed any typos. When you know what you've written it is far too easy to miss a spot where you might have written something like: "it it far too easy" in the sentence above.

Step 7: Relax, smile, and think about the positive responses your letter will bring. It's called using the Law of Attraction.

Finally, if you can't seem to make your words come together the way you want, get in touch!

I'll take your thoughts and ideas and arrange them for you. There's no second chance to make a first impression, so be sure every letter you send makes the impression you want.