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Using Cover Letters as Marketing Tools

July 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

01310676172_generalinterestletter.jpgA well written cover letter can make a lasting impression on job recruiters and is an additional way to showcase skills and achievements that may not appear on your resume.

Using Cover Letters as Marketing Tools: Research the Company
Researching the company and including a statement that references familiarity with the company’s growth and business model shows professionalism and an interest in the industry the company operates in.

Cover letters should never be generic. Cover letters that could be written for any company, in any industry will quickly be discarded and may only lead to your resume being scanned for two seconds or disregarded entirely.
Using Cover Letters as Marketing Tools: Include Additional Metrics
Cover letters can be used to include additional metrics (i.e. managed quarterly budget of 2.5 million) that you may not have been able to include in your resume due to space or formatting requirements.

A bulleted list works well when listing additional employment metrics and is easy to scan by prospective employers.
Using Cover Letters as Marketing Tools: Include the Benefits You Will Bring to the Company
A cover letter may be the perfect place to showcase additional benefits you will bring to the company if chosen for employment. Benefits should focus on what you can do for the company, such as extensive experience that gives you insight into the company’s industry.

You may also want to include a brief synopsis of one of your biggest accomplishments that benefited your former or present employer.
Using Cover Letters as Marketing Tools: Include Additional Training
It is often difficult to list all the continuing educational courses or certifications you have earned on your resume. Including these in your cover letter will ensure all pertinent training is documented.

A paragraph or bulleted list is the easiest way to show additional training that you have completed.
Using Cover Letters as Marketing Tools: Clear up any Discrepancies
If you have a large gap in employment (6 months or more), your cover letter is the perfect place to clear any questions up if you have a valid explanation. Stating that you took time off to take care of a sick relative, go back to school or volunteer overseas shows that you are aware that your resume has a hole in it and understand this might be a concern.

Keep explanations to one or two sentences only, prospective employers do not need to know your life story. If an additional explanation is needed, you’ll be asked during your interview.

Crafting a cover letter can be time consuming, but doing so can help give you an edge in the long run.

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Formats And Fonts For Business Letters

July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

21310676173_businessletter.jpgWriting for any business purposes? Usually, business letter are more common in negotiating or addressing someone formally and talk about some important business issues or professional concerns.

Even though any offices practice this kind of letter writing, every student must learn how to write one. That is why every school nowadays taught their students on how to write a business letter effectively and correctly.

But it is not too late for those writers who wanted to learn more on business writing even if they are no longer school learners. Besides, not all writers are experienced enough to write a business letter and not all are equipped enough to do so.

Business letter writing, as we all know, is more about formality and is written in a professional tone. However, we should also consider about what are the fonts and correct formats that we should strictly follow in any business writing.

Just come to think of it, you are going to write a business letter and you are using a font size that is extremely small or extremely big. You might even use an inappropriate font for your text. Ever imagine how your recipient will react with your letter? They might even dump your letter at their first glance.

Then how are they going to read your message? That is why choosing the correct and proper fonts and formats in writing a business letter is very important and a writer must always take note of it.

Want your business letters to be taken seriously? Do it on your end first. If youre serious about it, theres a good chance those receiving your letters will reciprocate.

Apart from carefully writing your letters and using a good grammar software for correctness, its a good idea to follow standard business formats and fonts to keep it as professional as possible. If youre not familiar with standard business layouts, the following should serve as a good guide to follow.

Formats

Different organizations will use their own preferred formats. The following are the most common ones employed.

Block Format. In this format, the whole letter is left-justified, with single space lines. Use a double space only between paragraphs.

Modified Block Format. Like the block format, text is left-justified and single-spaced. Letter date and closing, however, are set in the center.

Semi-Block Format. This one is presented in much the same way as the modified block, except the paragraphs are indented, instead of left-justified.

Fonts

For fonts, the most important thing is readability. Using one of the common types (Times New Roman, Arial, Tahoma) with a size of 11 or 12 is usually enough. If its a conservative company youre writing to, stick to Times New Roman.

With these guides in selecting the correct and proper way of using fonts and formats, your business letter will look presentable in the eyes of your recipients. Since businessmen and other professionals are very busy with their activities, just be sure that your business letter will catch their attention and they will be able to read it in no time.

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Writing Business Letters – Tutorial 1: Letter Format

July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

11310676175_coverletterdarkwaterproductions.jpgIt’s unavoidable if you want to run your business or just stay in touch with your suppliers and clients. How well … or not so well … you write reflects on you and your business. Write poorly constructed letters with unprofessional layout and format and you will look like a rank amateur, no matter how good you are at plumbing, cooking or whatever it is you do.
If you are a seasoned letter writer who has completed a business communication course, this series of articles is probably not for you. It will help, however, if you haven’t been educated in communication skills. You will be able to improve your writing very quickly just by following a few simple rules.
Letter Format
The easiest, quickest and most efficient letter format is known as “full block” or simply “Block”. A block letter has all its text left justified ie, there are no indents. This method is very popular because it is simple to produce. Here’s an example using Australian address formats – modify it for your own country:
Parker Morgan Finnigan
Lawyers
PO Box 2345
SYDNEY NSW 2000
29 October 2010
Ms Janette Jameison
PO Box 34687
NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2005
Dear Ms Jameison
CONTRACT WITH ACME FINANCE CORPORATION
I refer to our previous correspondence requesting a copy of the contract between you and Acme Finance Corporation.
If you do not provide us with a copy of the original contract, I’m afraid we will not be able to act on your behalf. We need the contract to accurately assess the claims you have made and to question legal staff from Acme Finance Corporation.
Please send us a copy of the contract at the earliest so we can get this matter under way.
Yours sincerely
Parker Johannson
Principal Legal Consultant
PARKER MORGAN FINNIGAN
Whether you use Letter or ISO A4 paper, this format looks good and saves time. Your paper needs to have a border all round of 2.5cm (1″) and you should endeavour to place the total content of the letter so that it is symmetrical on the page ie, don’t have more text in the top half of the page than on the bottom half. A balance of black and white and good position on the page makes the letter look good.
You’ll see that there is no punctuation except within the body of the letter. This is called ‘open punctuation’ because the text is open where punctuation doesn’t add significantly to the reader’s understanding of the letter.
Using Letterheads
Some letterheads I see are poorly designed. While they look good from a graphics and colour perspective, the flow between logo and letters is poor eg, when you run your eye down the left column, there is no, or poor alignment between text and letterhead elements.
If you design a letterhead page that is left or right justified, design it so that the left most portion of the letterhead graphic or text is 2.5cm (1″) in from the left or right sides. The best design is one that is centered on the page. This is because it doesn’t ‘force’ a right or left margin allowing users to set margins of any width that still appear balanced on the page. When you have a short letter you can bring your left and right margin in a little to make the text area look larger.
Tutorial two of this series discusses the parts of a letter.
Copyright 2005 Robin Henry

Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet marketer. He helps small to middle-sized businesses and individuals improve performance by using smart technology, smart processes, and personal development. He runs his business Desert Wave Enterprises from Alice Springs, Central Australia and can be found at http://www.dwave.com.au or http://www.winagovtjob.com

 

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