• The memo to employees
• The note to a supplier.
• The letter to a customer.

All are persuasion in printSo is the production manager, hoping to extract a few more percent effort from employees. And the accounts department hoping to persuade employees to follow the system. The chief who needs to persuade his management team to trim down on costs.

And of course – the sales manager who needs to bring in more sales.

The fact is too, that if you want to succeed on a massive scale, you cannot possibly speak to every customer one by one. There are not enough hours in the day – so your ability to sell will also be in large measure your ability to sell in writing.

To succeed you need the power of salesmanship in print. And that is why Business Writing Courses are so vital.

That skill does not come automatically to most people, as witness that fact that if you scan the yellow pages you will see that most of the adverts break the rules of successful advertising.

So it follows that every business needs to discover the psychology of persuasion

See most poor adverts and business letters, and you will see that they say:

• This is who I am.
• This is what I do.
• This is what I want.

Where the formula that succeeds is:

• Grab attention and give benefit for reading
• If you do what I say, here is what is in it for you to do it
• This is the benefit for doing it quickly so please do it!

The differences…are far reaching – not just content, but also style.

You cannot bore people into reading the message, you can only interest them

Successful business writing speaks in colloquial english, as you would over a coffee – using short sentences – because people react better to a letter which speaks directly to them. A good sales letter gives the reader a feeling that it speaks only to them.

Where formal english is always very hard to read.

This does not come easily to most people. For example one secret to successful sales, is to sell on emotion, and justify with fact – yet most letters are formal and lack emotion entirely.

Over many years the great copy writers have tested many fine details. Single words changed can make a massive difference.

The ability to persuade in writing is one of the most valuable skills in business

So that is why BUSINESS WRITING COURSES are so important and particularly so for small business.

I would like to let you into a secret! – effective writing does not require a degree in English – in fact some of the worlds best copywriters even failed Engish at school.

Effective business writing involves…

• Looking at the world through the eyes of the recipient and explaining in terms of their interests not yours
• Understanding the psychology of persuasion – the key factors needed to persuade – and the seven or eight things you must do to sell!
• Knowing some of the key test results – did you know that simple quotations around a headline will make more people read? – and understanding the importance of testing.
• Understanding the importance of the emotional side of the brain – and that most decisions are made there and justified later by the anaytical mind, not the other way round!

To become a great copywriter is a lifelong quest.

To become an effective writer is something that everyone can aspire to do, if they study the basics in a business writing course.

That small detail – putting a headline in quotations to get more people to read. There are at least another one hundred test results it is well worth knowing to increase the response to any letter.

In the course of the next few posts – I will explore that formula in greater detail, and what it means for different types of situation.

For this my first post, however I would like to leave you with one more thought – effective writing is deeply bound up with the psychology of influence.

So as a background to every business writing course – and before studying the techniques of writing – I suggest every one should study Robert Cialdini’s epic book “Influence” – in which he examines the psychological factors crucial to influencing people. It is scary! – how some of these factors can fly in under the radar, and make you do things unaware!

So please take a look at this!!

Background To Business Writing Courses

• Five Top Tips for Catching Errors in Your … – Below are five tips you can employ to drastically decrease the chance of mistakes finding their way into your business writing, whether it be a proposal, a website, or a newsletter. 1 ??? Utilize an editor …

• Errors that Writers and Authors Make – http://www.sellingbooks.com/five-top-tips-for-catching-and-correcting-errors-in-your-business-writing. Read this article, especially if you are writing fiction. http://www.eclectics.com/articles/selfediting.html …