The way we communicate has changed. Today, we’re more likely to connect with people digitally than face-to-face. But if you’re engaged in any type of business online or off, you need to be able to convey your ideas and interact effectively with your audience. That’s where business writing comes in.
Business writing is any type of writing you do in the course of your business ¬– it includes everything from emails to blog posts to sales pages. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a “writer,” these forms of written communication are essential to master.
For most types of business writing, the purpose is to convince the reader to take a specific action. In order to do this effectively, your writing needs to have a few key attributes:
- Business writing is clear and gets your point across, whether it’s in a sales page or an email.
- Good business writing demonstrates that you’re professional and credible.
- You must set a high standard and ensure that everything you write meets a consistent level of quality.
The ability to write well in any business situation is an invaluable skill, but it’s something many people struggle with. In this report, you’ll learn the five most common mistakes people make in their work-related writing and how you can avoid them.
Mistake #1: Not Knowing Your Audience
A good writer knows their audience. This is true of all types of writing, but it’s especially relevant to business. You should be able to adapt your content and tone to the specific audience you’re writing for.
First, you need to speak your audience’s language. There are certain words and phrases that your audience uses. They speak at a certain level of formality. You should be writing in this way to ensure your words resonate with them.
For example, people sharing content on Facebook will use a very casual tone, while a professional email may take a more formal tone.
Finally, you need to understand your readers so you can avoid anything that might offend, mislead, or confuse them.
Getting to Know Your Audience
Start by identifying your audience. Clarify who they are. For example, your audience might be IT professionals, a high-ranking person in a company you want to have a joint venture with, or potential customers on social media.
If you’re targeting more than one demographic, identify all major potential audiences. Use any data you have available, such as your social media followers and past customers.
When you’re writing, look at the type of content your audience usually consumes. What tone does the writer use? How formal or how casual is their language?
Consider what the reader hopes to gain from your content. What is important them? Knowing their motives will help you understand how to write for them.
Keep in mind your audience’s knowledge of the subject. If you’re not sure, err on the side of over-explaining. It’s better to be too clear than to leave out something important. You can also refer the reader to any links or resources for further explanation.
Next Steps:
- Identify your audience and the level of knowledge they have about your topic. For example, “People starting home-based businesses at a beginner level.”
- Read your audience’s content or the content they consume to get a feel for the proper language to use.
Mistake #2: Poor Planning
Even a short email requires some planning to make it as effective and impactful as possible. You should always take some time to plan and figure out the structure of what you’re going to write before you start writing it.
Here are some mistakes you might be making with planning and structure:
Neglecting the Intro
This happens when you jump right into your subject with no introduction. Always start the text in a clear, concise way that sets up the rest of your writing for success. If you’re having trouble, it often helps to write your introduction AFTER you’ve written your main content.
Lack of Flow
If the various parts of your writing don’t fit together or move logically from one to the other, then your writing lacks flow. This often happens if you don’t first look at the “big picture” and plan accordingly before writing.
Rambling
Avoid writing that is too long, too repetitive, and includes unnecessary information. This will only serve to distract readers from your main point. If this is the case, tighten up your prose.
One way to eliminate these writing issues is to start with an outline. This gives you a “big picture” view of what you’re going to say. With an outline, you can select an appropriate order, move things around, add or remove parts, and so on. You essentially pre-write before you write, which ensures your writing will be smooth and consistent.
Outlining Best Practices
- Outlines usually move from the general to the specific. Think of a press release: It starts with a quick overview of the what, when, who, where, why, and how, and then explains each in more detail. Use this structure for your own writing. Your introduction sets up the piece, the body content fills out the details, and the conclusion wraps up and tells the reader what to do next.
- Make sure each part of your text has a specific purpose. If there are any parts where you can’t identify a purpose, they should probably be removed. This will help tighten up your writing and prevent rambling.
- The beginning is the “hook” that gets people to keep reading. This is especially true for web content, where you have very little time to grab people’s attention. For personal communication, start with the most important information or background.
- For a long composition, break it up into parts. For example, if you’re writing a report or eBook, think of it as a collection of related articles.
Your outline doesn’t have to be formal or complex. It could be notes jotted down in a logical order or bullet points. What’s most important is that it is effectively organized. You’ll know you have a good outline when you can start at the top and write your way through without having to do any more organization or research.
For a deep dive into outlining for success, check out this post here.
Next Step:
For your next piece of writing, create an outline where you identify each part and its purpose. Prepare it so that you can start at the top and work your way through to the end without making any changes or doing additional research.
Mistake #3: Writing Mistakes
Spelling and grammar mistakes are a big deal. These errors make you look unprofessional, which can undercut your goal of establishing credibility. You’ll lose trust in your readers’ eyes, which is something no writer wants.
Some common writing mistakes include:
- Typos
- Misspellings
- Incorrect punctuation
- Grammatical errors
- Misused words
- Repetition
Here are a few ways you can combat these easy-to-make mistakes:
Use A Reference
Choose a trusted reference such as Merriam-Webster to check when you’re unsure about a word’s spelling or punctuation rules. It doesn’t matter what source you choose, as long as you choose one and are consistent with it.
Edit Twice
Don’t just rely on spellcheck. Always take the time to read back and edit what you wrote, even for a simple email. You’ll catch obvious mistakes you didn’t notice when you were writing.
Know Your Mistakes
There are certain common errors that trip up even the most skilled writers. Try to become aware of where you tend to make mistakes in your own writing, especially those you make repeatedly. Some common errors include misusing “there/their/they’re” and “it’s/its.”
Don’t Repeat Yourself
If you feel like you’re often repeating certain words and phrases, try to cut these down by using alternatives. Use the search function in your word processor to find exactly how many times you’ve used a certain word or phrase. Substitute the repetitive word with synonyms. You can use a thesaurus for this if you get stuck.
Use Another Pair of Eyes
Have someone else look at your text. You can hire a professional proofreader or just have someone who you trust read through your work. Having a fresh pair of eyes on your text helps a lot, since they’ll catch things you didn’t even notice.
Next Steps:
- Choose a reference to use to check your work.
- Familiarize yourself with common mistakes writers make.
- Choose someone to be your proofreader.
Mistake #4: Lack of Clarity
Clarity is essential in all types of business writing. You have important information to communicate, so you need to ensure you’re getting your point across clearly. Here are some things that can wreck your writing’s clarity:
Run-On Sentences
Overly long, run-on sentences make text difficult to read. If you have too many or not enough commas or clauses, the reader will forget what you’re talking about by the time they reach the end.
Try breaking up your sentences in a logical place with a period and separating them into two. As a general guideline, keep sentences at about 20 words or less. You’ll end up with more sentences, but your writing will be much easier to digest.
Jargon
Jargon refers to specialized words within a topic or industry that anyone outside that field may not understand. Using jargon in your writing requires the reader to do too much thinking, which can present a barrier to understanding.
Cut out any unnecessary jargon in your writing. For some pieces, it may be necessary and appropriate to use jargon. When this happens, make sure to explain each term in a quick and concise way when you first introduce it. Afterward, you can use the word as-is.
Lack of Background
As we mentioned earlier, if you’re not sure how much your audience knows about a subject, it’s better to over-explain than to leave out important information.
But what if this background gets in the way of your flow? One way around this is to include a link to more information or add notes at the end of your text. This way, a person who’s less familiar with the information can quickly and easily learn about it.
Too Tough for Text
There may be cases where what you’re trying to convey just doesn’t work in a text-based format. It may be impossible to explain clearly using just words.
If you’re trying to explain a complicated process, you might opt to create a video or image to demonstrate it. For example, statistical data tends to work better as a visual. Use these visuals to accompany your text and help your readers better understand the subject.
In personal communications, sometimes it’s better to simply pick up the phone than try to explain something over email.
Next Step:
Go back over your writing and read it as your reader. Is it clear enough or do you need to explain something further? Get others to read it as well and check for comprehension.
Mistake #5: No Action
Many forms of business writing involve urging people to take action. You may be writing purely to inform someone, but usually you’re trying to get the person on the other end to do something.
This doesn’t necessarily have to be a sales action. You might be trying to get someone to convert to your point of view. It may be a negotiation where you’re trying to get the other party to accept your terms and conditions. For marketing materials, you may be helping your audience to solve a problem and giving them actionable tips to do that.
In addition to the information you provide in your text, you also need to tell the reader exactly what they need to do.
One way to do this is to write “Action Steps” at the end of your text. This makes it clear that now, you’re asking the reader to do something.
You might put a call to action at the end of your piece. The best calls to action include a quick reminder of why the person should take the desired action; in other words, a reminder of the benefits they’ll receive by taking action.
Next Step:
Check whether your text has a clear call to action at the end for the reader to take.
Sharpen Your Business Writing for Better Results
Business writing is an essential skill for anyone in business. Learning just a few good techniques can help you reach your goals, whether it’s more effective management of your employees or getting your audience to buy.
Even if you’re not a self-proclaimed “writer,” don’t despair. At the end of the day, good writing is all about good communication. If you can learn how to communicate effectively through text, you’re as good as any professional writer out there.