The essentials which go to make up a good business letter may be divided into two classes – mechanical make-up, and contents. Before a letter can come into existence the mechanical side must be attended to. The subject matter may be pertinent and well composed and yet the letter itself be so arranged typo-graphically and so disposed on the page that the unity of the whole is lost.

The display as a whole should balance. Before the stenographer starts the address, calculation should be made as to how many lines the letter will run and as to how it should be disposed on the page. The body of the letter should neither be crowded near the top nor bottom of the sheet, but should be so placed that, viewed in connection with the letter head, it presents a well balanced and artistic effect.

This effect is often underrated, being in fact passed by without a thought by the average stenographer, and the ordinary business man is so busy seeing that his dictation is correctly transcribed that he gives little thought to this essential. Harmony of color effect should be observed. A yellow paper bearing the firm announcement in blue, the letter in green and signed with purple ink is not to be recommended.

Letters blurred in copying and wet from the press or otherwise violating the rule of neatness cannot help but produce an unfavorable impression. Orthography and capitalization, particularly of proper names, should be exact and uniform.

A misspelled word in the body of a letter, particularly if a mere transposition of letters in typewriting, may occasionally slip in and do no particular damage, but the misspelling of the name of the party addressed may lose an order, and cannot help but militate against the general effect of the letter. Neatness uncompromising neatness – that should be the first effect of a letter, giving the idea that the firm putting out the writing is thorough master of the minor (as well as the major) details of its business.

Contents

In letter-writing, contents may be divided into subject matter and expression. The subject matter is, broadly speaking, what the writer says. This should coincide with two other things:

(1) what the writer wants to say, and

(2) what the one addressed wants to know.

Something which is the a b c of life and a mere matter of routine to the writer in a certain line may be abstruse and complicated to a non-technical reader. To avoid an offensive simplicity of language on the one hand and excessive technicality on the other is one of the tests of a good business correspondent. There is a tendency to slight simple questions asked by different inquirers day after day, which must be avoided by putting oneself in the place of the one asking the question, and giving the knowledge for which he is looking.

One of the most, if not the most, important essentials of a good business letter lies in correct expression. The one thing which causes more failures in business correspondence than any other, is the incorporation of personal peculiarities in a letter. There may be called to mind, in fact, more than one established business backed by ample capital, having a broad field and financed by capable and conservative business men, that is at the mercy of a poor correspondent. This is ably expressed by Forrest Crissy, who says:

“So apparent must be the importance of this branch (tact and tone in business letters) of business systematization, that scarcely a word of argument is needed to enforce its necessity. Very recently a large whole-sale merchant said to me:

‘I have recently been obliged to discharge the head of my credit department – my confidential man. He is honest, conservative and shrewd, but recently I have been awakened to the fact that his incapacity to write a letter which does not leave a sting, a chill, or at least a sense of lofty indifference, is hurting my business more than would some downright reckless blunders. When he writes a letter granting a good customer a larger line of credit he gives it a twist that somehow makes that customer wish he hadn’t asked for credit and thus placed himself under added obligations. And if he refuses to meet the request for such a favor the refusal is so put that it seems a studied effort to conceal a strong unwillingness to give any credit at all.

Yet this man has always considered him-self an adept in letter-writing – and for a time he completely hypnotized me into that view. But at last the steady withdrawal of patronage and the occasional out-spoken retorts which his letters provoked forced upon me a recognition of the real condition of affairs. Then I went out after a man who could write a business letter that had just the right ring to it; that was neither so sloppy that it sounded hypocritical or so stiff and stilted that there was no tone of good hearty business friendliness in it.

I have found him. He comes high, but the difference in results is remarkable. Of course, there are other things required than this form of literary ability – that’s what you’d call it. He must have business experience, business judgment and all the other cardinal business virtues; but the addition of this peculiar capacity to write business letters that hit the mark is a rare gift and makes him a star man.’ “

Simplicity and clearness as an element of expression cannot be rated too highly. The saying of a thing in the plain language of the common people, not only adds to the style and dignity of a letter, but has the most vital element of being understandable. As Chas. R. Weirs says, “Eloquence, either real or imaginary, has no place in a business letter.”

Whatever else may be neglected in writing, courtesy should not be slighted. A man may be told nearly anything face to face – it is qualified by the bearing, tone of voice, manner and earnestness of the speaker. A sentence may be given an entirely different meaning by a tone or gesture – it may even be diplomatically changed after partly spoken, to make it conform to the unconscious demand of the listener, and most of all spoken speech is transient. What is written, on the other hand, is put down in black and white to stay. The record is permanent. It can be offered in evidence, can be dug up years afterwards from a musty file, and discourteously written can queer, not only an immediate sale, but the sales of a decade.

Length

Letters often tend to verbosity from the fact that they are dictated instead of written. Were a man to write his letters himself with pen and ink he would study brevity and conciseness of expression, but having letters written for him, he will dictate more than he would write. Brevity is not always desirable. Some people – particularly those receiving few letters – like to receive lengthy correspondence. Getting few letters, they wish those long and newsy.

A letter is an event to some patrons and cannot be too long for a careful perusal. In this class of letters the party ad-dressed may be often appealed to in conversational style; as, “Judge of the goods yourself, Mr. Brown,” “We ask you, Mr. Smith, if we have not treated you fairly?” etc. At the other extreme is the business man, particularly the city business man. To him, brevity to the point of curtness is always welcome. As someone has alliteratively said, the formula for a business letter to a busy man is: Sir: Say it. Stop!

Judging the Other Man’s Letter.

One of the pre-requisites of a good correspondent is the ability, inherent or acquired to judge the general character and status of the writer by means of his letters. Until the last few years the letter-head of a firm was a considerable guide to the standing of the company putting It out, but good printing is now much more common and many one-horse concerns put out conservative, well-gotten-up stationery.

Ability to recognize the efforts of an amateur or schoolboy inquiring for a catalog with no intention of buying and to treat the writer accordingly, call for almost occult powers. T
he president of one of the large machinery companies putting out a cement mixer selling at $850.00, relates that one of the company travelers visited Detroit in response to an apparently good lead and found a twelve-year-old boy wanted a dozen cement mixers “to go into the mail-order business with.”

Some companies putting out expensive catalogs write a letter asking a doubtful inquirer to fill out an information blank before sending a catalog. The correct interpretation of the personality of a writer means the saving of dollars of expenditure as well as the ability to write him correctly. In a fire insurance concern employing hundreds of agents it would be easy for a manager to inform himself through his special agents as to each agent’s nationality, education, experience in the business, etc., and vary his correspondence accordingly, while a mail order house might have no means of judging a man but by his bare letter.

Form Letters

A form letter is one of a series of letters, to be sent on similar occasions. Such letters are usually in imitation typewriting with blanks left for the name of the party addressed, and when carefully executed are a close imitation of a typewritten letter. Form letters vary from those not to be distinguished from actual typewriting, to the stock letters of collection agencies, in which no attempt is made to imitate the machine. Some writers use a number of short forms or inserts which they use in dictating to avoid a repetition of dictation.

Letters of Recommendation

The promiscuous writing of letters of recommendation has done much to cheapen the effect of recommends. Many firms refuse such letters entirely. Perhaps the best plan is to have an employee, when leaving, use his former employer’s name as a reference.

Indiana’s state capital is Indianapolis. It is a beautiful city that has a lot to offer especially when it comes to celebrities and famous inventions.

Indianapolis is Indiana’s capital. It is also Marion County’s county seat. In 2006, the estimated population of Indianapolis has reached 795,458. This is excluding the towns. This made Indianapolis, the largest city of Indiana and the United Sates’ fourteenth largest city. In the Midwest, it ranks as the 3rd largest city. It also ranks the 2nd most populous state capital, following Arizona ad Phoenix.

With the current diversified economy of Indianapolis, it contributes to the fields of healthcare, education and finance. Another vital part of its economy is its Tourism industry, especially since it hosts numerous sporting events and conventions. Amongst these, the most loved and popular is the Indianapolis 500 Race. Aside from this, they hosted the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament as well as the Allstate 400.

Interesting Facts about Indiana

The 1st long-distance auto race was held here on May 30, 1911 at the Indianapolis /motor Speedway. The winner had an average of 75 miles per hour, bagging the 1st place with $14,000. The average speed is currently estimated to be more than 167 miles per hour, with the prize reaching $1.2 million. This has made the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the site for the greatest sports spectacle, the Indianapolis 500. This is held every weekend of Memorial Day, right along Hoosier capital city. It is about 500 miles or 200 laps long.

At the age of 7, Abraham Lincoln reportedly moved to Indiana, and he lived most of his boyhood in Spencer County. He lived with his proud parents, Nancy and Thomas Lincoln.

From Fort Vincennes, explorers Clark and Lewis set out to explore the Northwest Territory.

In Huntingburg, the “Hard Rain” movie was filmed.

The P-47 fighter plane was reportedly manufactured At Republic Aviation in Evansville and used during World War II.

In the year 1914, the Raggedy Ann doll was created by Indianapolis’ Marcella Gruelle.

On May 4, 1871, in Fort Wayne, they played the 1st professional baseball game.

On February 8, 1941, a popular movie star of the late 1950’s known as “James Dean” was born in Marion. He became popular for movies like “Rebel without a Cause” and “East of Eden”. Hence, at the age of 24, he died because of an automobile crash.

On April 12, 1947, the popular television host of “Late Show with David Letterman,” David Letterman was born in Indianapolis.

Santa Clause is city and namesake of the popular Christmas figure. The locals believe that the city receives more than half a million requests and letters during the Christmas season.

Indianapolis is where they publish The Saturday Evening Post.

Amidst the meaning of “Indiana” as the “Land of the Indians,” is it noted that there are no more than 8,000 Native Americans residing here now.

The “Circus Capital of America” was formerly Peru, Indiana.

In the years 1816 up to 1825, Corydon was Indiana’s state capital. When Indiana was still a territory, Vincennes served as its capital. Now, Indianapolis is its capital city.

The rapid-fire machine gun was invented by Indianapolis’ Richard Gatling in the year 1862.

Sarah Walker is one of the region’s first woman millionaires. She is more known as Madame J. C. Walker, and she started as a door-to-door saleswoman of her very own concoction of a conditioning treatment meant for straightening hair. Later on, she amassed millions with her invention.

In the year 1804, in Vincennes, the 1st newspaper of Indiana, Indiana Gazette was published.

There are messages everywhere in society telling us how we should live. It often seems like the media becomes the scapegoat for many of society’s bad habits, but the fact is many people imitate what they see on television or in the movies, whether they are consciously aware of it or not. If your favorite television personality is wearing the latest pair of Manolo Blahniks or driving BMW’s newest model, it can make you want these same luxuries.

The problem with imitating what we see on television and in magazines is that most consumers simply can’t afford to live the same lifestyle as a television or movie star. Rather than realizing this lifestyle is currently beyond their means and working harder to afford it, the “must have it immediately” way of thinking that many people have causes them to use credit cards and personal loans to live the lifestyle they desire. This is where the trouble begins.

If you have to use credit to obtain a way of life, it follows that you will also have to use credit to maintain that lifestyle. Unless you dramatically increase your income, it is impossible to catch up on your bills while continuing to live the life of luxury. Many people build up a large amount of debt simply to buy consumable goods like clothes, food, shoes, and transportation.

Most of these things begin to depreciate immediately after they’ve been purchased. You wouldn’t even be able to sell them to pay off the debt incurred to buy them. Worse yet, in a few years, you might not even use these items, yet you will continue to receive a monthly bill for them. Taking into consideration the interest charges, you could end up paying over a thousand dollars for an item that may have only cost a hundred dollars.

Debt keeps you from building up a personal savings. Chances are, if you’re using credit to pay for your lifestyle, you aren’t saving any money. What’s going to happen in the case of an emergency, if you suddenly find yourself unemployed? Would you be able to continue to pay your bills as well as pay for your daily needs such as food and housing? You can’t rely on your credit cards, especially if they’ve been maxed out on consumable items like clothes and shoes. Depending on your how much you owe, you may not be able to apply for a personal loan to help get yourself back on your feet again.

A lifestyle supported by credit and loans is not a responsible one. You can only live beyond your means for a short amount of time. Living a life that’s debt-free doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be free of all worries, but at least you will be free of money worries.