Nature of Business Letter

Nature of Business Letters
A letter is a written message sent to an individual or a group of people (Green and Ripley, 1998). It may either be a business letter or a social letter. business letter
Is used to transact business. Its tone and style should be formal and business like.
SOCIAL LETTER
Is a friendly letter intended to convey personal messages to the people close to the writer.
AIMS OF BUSINESS LETTERS
Essentially speaking, all business letters are classified as sales letters because no matter what the purpose is, you still sell something to the reader. This can be a service or idea. Hence, selling here as implied by the word business does not only involve monetary considerations but also other factors such as explanations, friendship, goodwill, apologies, acceptance, refusal, suggestion, comments, complaint, invitation, proposal, and others. More than these, they serve as a part of the country’s permanent records, written documents, and written contracts.
Effective Business Letters
A business letter is not effective if it is impersonal, longwinded, and difficult to understand; when the writer utilizes overused, trite phrases and expressions, and an over-formal approach; when one or more of the following elements considered essential for standard business letters are missing: heading, inside address, salutation, body (text), complementary closing, and signature; and finally, when the layout, that is, its visual appeal and balance does not follow the standard one.
Typewritten Letters VS handwritten letters
Generally speaking, all business letters should be typewritten or encoded because they are easier to read and they give the letter an official and formal look. However, there are some companies and institutions which prefer handwritten letters specifically application letters because they can reveal an aspect of the personality of the writer.
FormaT
According to Dumont and Lannon (1985), format is the mechanical arrangement of words on the page; indention, margins, spacing, typeface, headings, page numbering, and division of letter sections. It contributes to the readability and general appearance of the letter which attract the reader to pay attention to it. It also influences reader’s perception of the message.
FULL BLOCK STYLE
Using this style, all parts of the entire letter are left adjusted. This is considered the most popular and easiest of all the styles because the encoder or the typist is no longer concerned with indentions, thus, saving time and effort; however, this style shows an imbalanced letter. The left side seems so full while the right parts becomes barren. ________________

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Modified Block Style
In this type, the body of the letter is left adjusted. However, the date and complementary close begin near the center going to the right margin. This gives a balanced look to the letter. _______________________
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Semi-Block Style
It is much like the modified block style except that each paragraph is indented instead of left justified. It is most balanced of all styles. _______________________
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Simplified letter style
This style popularized by the National Office Management Association (NOMA) omits the salutation and the complementary close; however, it has a subject line written in capital letters. All lines are flushed at the left margin. But when there is a listing in the body, this is indented five spaces from the left margin except when the items are numbered or lettered. In the Philippines, this is seldom used. However, its use is encouraged. ________________

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Writing Materials to be Used
Since our letter speaks of ourselves, care should be employed in all its aspects beginning with the kind of paper to be used to how the letter is folded. Our letter reflects our professionalism; hence, we have to see to it that our paper conforms to the standards set by the society.

Business letters are always written on 8 ½”x11” stationary or bond paper. The paper must be white, clean, unruled, uncrumpled, unfolded, and of sufficient weight and thickness. Its surface must not be glossy to avoid running or blurring ink. It should also be free from fingerprints and other marks. AS a rule, the writing material should not show cheapness or extravagance.

Font Style
For encoded letters, the widely accepted font is Times New Roman, size 12. However, other fonts such as Arial and sizes such as 13 or 14 may be used depending upon the kind of reader/s you have and the length of the body. The ink must be sufficient to have a good result. The letter should be free from erasures or masks of correction fluid or correction tape.

Envelopes
The standard size of the envelope to match the short bond paper is approximately 4”x91/2.” It has two regular parts: the outside address and the inside address.

The outside address and the return address both contain the name, title, position, agency and the address of the addressee and the sender, respectively.

The outside address which is identical with the inside address is in the middle of the envelope, beginning approximately halfway down while the return address is in the upper left hand corner. On the other hand, the special mailing instruction is placed below the stamps.

If a business envelope with a window is used, the letter is folded in such a way that the inside address appears through the window. A window envelope has an open space or a space covered with a transparent paper, through which the address on the letter enclosed is visible. This is used for bills and statements of accounts.

There are instances when an attention line is written on the envelope for routing purposes. In this case it should be placed near the lower left corner.

Folding a Standard letter
A business letter is folded twice into horizontal thirds and placed into an envelope. This makes the letter easy to unfold after opening the envelope.

If an envelope window is used, the address of the letter should face out of it by having the second fold in the same location but opposite direction. The letter will then be folded.

Punctuation Styles
Punctuation style refers to the absence or presence of punctuation marks at the end of the lines of the conventional heading, inside address, salutation and complimentary closing.
Almost all business letters we encounter every day have punctuation marks at the end of the lines of the salutation (colon) and complimentary closing (comma). This could either be mixed punctuation style or close punctuation style depending upon the absence or presence of punctuations marks at the end of the lines of the heading and inside address. If they are present, it is close while if they do not bear them, it is mixed. On the other hand, if there are no punctuation marks at the end of those lines mentioned, it is called open punctuation style. However, the most widely accepted style is the mixed or standard style.