Writing a Business Letter

A business letter is a letter that is written to conduct some kind of business.  The business may be an application for a job, a complaint about a product or service, an inquiry, or a letter requesting some kind of action. It is different from a friendly letter in both its format and content.

A business letter should be typed. Use a word processing program and choose a plain font such as Courier or Times New Roman set to size 10 or 12. The left and right margins should be justified, meaning that text is aligned on both the right and left sides of the letter. In a business letter, all margins should be at least 1/2 inch, if not larger, and all text begins at the left margin.

The first part of a business letter, the HEADING, is located at the top of the page, starting at the left margin.  Type your address here.  If you are using business letterhead that already has the address, there is no need to retype this; otherwise, use your full mailing address, as it would appear on the envelope.  Do not include your name here, but if writing on behalf of a company, include its name:

Vacations R Us, Inc.
327 Happytime Street
Funville CA 55333

The second part of a business letter is the DATE.  Be sure to skip a line and then type the full date as follows.  This is an extremely important part of any business letter, as it may be used not only for later reference by you or the receiver, but may also be used for filing purposes.

September 15, 2000

After the date comes the OPENING of the business letter.  The opening consists should consist of the persons name that you are writing to, his/her title and department name, the name of the company you're writing to, and its mailing address as follows:

Mr. Jerry Jackrabbit
Manager, Sales and Service
Come Bath With Us, Inc.
723 Shower Avenue
Washville WA 55444

Dear Sir/Madam: OR Dear Mr. Jackrabbit:

The "Dear …" is the GREETING part of the OPENING.  When typing the greeting, if you know the person's family name that you are writing to, then use it; otherwise, simply use "Dear Sir/Madam:"  Remember to always use a colon (:) at the end of a business greeting.

The next part of a business letter is the BODY of the letter.  The first paragraph should clearly state the purpose of the letter:

I am writing to make a complaint…

I wish to apply for the position of secretary…

I am writing to ask…

Finish the body of the letter, expanding on the things mentioned in the first paragraph.  Remember NOT to indent each paragraph, but DO skip a line between them.

Be sure you explain things with enough detail so the reader of your letter can take the action you desire.  For example, if you are applying for a job, clearly list the qualities and experience that make you a suitable candidate for the position.  If you are writing a letter of complaint, give all the relevant information that has lead you to complaining.  Before you end your letter, refer to any attachments that you may be enclosing so that the reader understands why they are there: ()