Why Studying Your Business Competitors is Crucial
​by Samuel Gitukui

Take athletes. They spend hours going through previous matches on video. They do this to learn about their competition and why they are performing as well as they are. They can then replicate this and improve their own performance.

The same goes for business. If you really want to succeed, you need to be aware of what your competitors are doing. This is an invaluable skill. By learning what makes your competitors successful, you can include this in your business and perhaps even do it better than they do.

Let’s find out how you can study your competitors. A great place to begin is the internet.

     1.      Go Online

Start off by creating a list of all your competitors. These includes those who are doing better than you as well as those who are lagging behind. Visit their social media pages and their websites. You would be surprised at the amount of information you can gather. 

For example, by reading their blogs, you can see which posts have the most comments and attract the most interest. As you compare the information, you will start to see the difference.

You can then use this to improve your own products or customer service.

     2.      Blogs with the Most Buzz

By figuring out which blog posts have the most interest, you can create similar posts on your website and draw traffic. Luckily there are tools that can help make this entire process simple for you.

Buzzsumo is one of those great tools. You can use it to figure out which topics or posts create the most interest on social media.

You will also need to learn how the competition draws traffic to their site. And there is a tool for this as well. SimilarWeb will help you figure out which channels the competitors are using to generate traffic.

     3.      Your Competitor’s Competition

It’s time to take things a notch higher. Not only is it important to study your competitors, but it is equally important to analyze their competition as well. SimilarWeb will help you do this by giving you information on what your competitors are doing to stay ahead of the game.

     4.      Finding the Right Keywords

One of the main ways through which websites receive traffic is through creating interesting and engaging content around certain keywords. You can find out which keywords your competitors are using to generate traffic through tools such as SpyFu.

With the right keywords now available to you, it is now time to create content that is even more engaging, in-depth and fun to read based around those keywords.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that conducting competitor analysis does not mean you copy exactly what they are doing. The aim is to pick their best points and incorporate these into your strategy.

Competitor analysis is not a one-time thing and you will need to regularly keep yourself updated on what they are up to. This way you will always remain ahead of the game.

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Business
​by Samuel Gitukui

Surprisingly, in this day and age, people still continue to struggle with communication. Maybe it’s the technology that is driving us towards a culture of anti-social behavior. One thing is certain, there is a large number of individuals who lack emotional intelligence.

EQ or emotional intelligence is what makes us aware of our own as well as the feelings of others and helps us manage those emotions.

When the business is mainly human resource driven, EQ can be an invaluable tool to increase productivity through better management of the workforce. Let’s find out how.

     1.      Reduced Stress Levels

Stress comes with many serious health concerns. It compromises our body’s natural immune system which makes us more susceptible to disease. What’s more, health issues such as high blood pressure, heart attacks and even infertility have been linked to high stress levels.

When the employer has EQ, he or she can better deal with the emotions of their employees to keep their productivity levels high.  

     2.      A Better State of Mind

It is highly unlikely that you will be able to maintain a high production when dealing with depression and anxiety. Your focus is affected. What’s more, so is your health.

Take an employee who is constantly being criticized about the quality of their work and who is also having to deal with personal matters. A break up for example.

When the supervisor is emotionally intelligence, they will be able to notice that the employee is not in the best frame of mind and find a calm way to help get them out of it. This creates a feeling of care and the employee is that much more likely to increase production.
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     3.      Better Conflict Resolution

One of the mistakes that people make during conflict resolution is to expect that those around you are driven by common sense and logic. Yes, people will try to do what is sensible, but up to a certain point.

Dale Carnegie said, “When dealing with people, let us remember that we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotions, creatures bristling with prejudices and driven by price and vanity.”

By being emotionally aware, we can find the best way to handle conflicts as opposed to expecting people to know what they are always supposed to be doing.

     4.      Improved Work Relationships

EQ creates better working relationships for everyone. You know when to avoid someone and when to keep things brief. Respect is accorded to everybody. Once someone does something annoying, you will know better than to react in an aggressive manner.
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Such things help make the work place more tolerable and thus productivity goes up.

     5.      Effective Leadership

For a business to thrive, one of the most important things is the right workforce. It also needs good and effective leaders.

Being able to pick the right tone to use on your employees, what to say to keep them motivated, the right way to reprimand them without causing feelings of resentment, all comes from being emotionally aware.

Ambiguity and Other Factors that Test Translators
by Mike Takkeiddine

At its very core, a successful translation requires that the translator be proficient at reading and assimilating the content in the source text (ST), and that he or she also be proficient at writing clearly and accurately in the target language (TL). As you can imagine however, there are numerous factors that challenge that simplistic depiction of the translator’s task, many of them non-linguistic.

Deadlines, for example, come to mind, as does size and client expectancies. In one extreme case, the client could be Deutsche Bank, a Frankfurt-based bank that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Every day, early in the morning, the bank receives analyst reports in German on a number of other listed companies. It needs the reports translated to English and disseminated to its many clients before the opening of the market, a daily job that involves rapid turnaround times, time-sensitive deadlines, voluminous work, complex multi-file translations, and user-related consistency, day after day.

Cultural influences also come to mind, as they are hurdles that the translation must surmount if it is to be effective for the end user. From the day we are born, culture is a main influence in our lives. In fact, it can be said that we are born into a culture, and that culture keeps wielding influence over us throughout our lives. Moreover, culture is often viewed as our set of values, lifestyle, outlook on life, the way we think—and on our idioms and the way we speak and relate to one another.

Because us humans are cultural beings, and translation is a human activity, it follows that translation must have a cultural dimension that may be viewed as “truth in language”. When you use a sentence, others who are culturally linked to you instantly understand your meaning and inflections. However, what happens then when cultures differ greatly between countries, or even within the same country? To be effective, the bilingual translator must therefore have a dynamic understanding of both languages, including the syntax, semantics, idioms, proverbs, colloquialisms, and various other dimensions of each.

Language Ambiguity: Did you know that the verb “run” has more than six hundred different meanings? Or that the Oxford Dictionary places the word “set” next at 546 different meanings? Multiple meanings for the same word invariably give a language depth and richness, at the cost of adding to the complexity factor.

Misunderstandings: When we speak with one another, we usually aim to express one meaning, considering language as a clear medium for accurately conveying concepts and views. And yet, misunderstandings unavoidably come to pass, if only because meanings shift and are interpreted in different ways. Besides, most words have both apparent and hidden meanings or, as in novels and poetry, they may be used figuratively. In literature, double discourse (or double entendre as the French would say), is part and parcel of the intended allegory or metaphor. Poetry in particular thrives on that, allowing the reader to look through the all too apparent meaning of words.

Context: Because we are adept at adding context to our speech, double discourse in everyday life, as well as the other language complexities, are hardly ever a serious challenge. Our brains add context and cultural interpretation routinely and with hardly an effort, something that cannot be said for computers. So, “you can take this to the bank” doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stop everything you’re doing and literally walk to the bank; it means the speaker is merely adding emphatic authority to what they’re saying.

Computers: That in essence is what distinguishes the translator’s work from a computational translation. “Computers are hopeless at disambiguation,” says Dr. Stephen Clark, an expert in Computational Linguistics and Natural Language Processing, “[and] at understanding which of multiple meanings is correct—because they don’t have our world knowledge.” Dr. Clark goes on to explain that although modern online translation devices can “learn” the rapport between words in diverse languages, unless new methods are devised to process language, even the latest software is hard-pressed to truly understand words.

Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT): There is nevertheless no shortage of online translating tools, and even experienced and sought-after translators have switched from pen and paper to sophisticated electronic tools, using CAT software to expedite their tasks. And although CAT tools such as basic word processors and electronic dictionaries and encyclopedias have become one of the translator’s principal staples, they are nevertheless rarely used on their own if the final product is to be truly well-expressed.

Knowledge and life experience: On that note, whether computer-assisted or rendered by high-level professional services, ambiguity figures mightily when it pertains to translation, for the translator is ultimately construing the text through the prism of their own knowledge and life experience, except that they have to steer the process from  one language to another.

In so far as ambiguity offers a means for people to naturally convey messages and feelings, it also historically presented a pitfall by which entire communities could not express themselves at all. Before the advent of CAT tools, ambiguity caused endless obstacles, since human translation demanded that extreme faithfulness to the source text.

The Bible: Going back through time, that was the reason why the Roman Catholic Church required that the Bible be left in Latin for centuries on end. Later on, the translations of this most critical work endured endless scrutiny, with Christianity itself, and even Islam, having to derive their own interpretations by going back to Judaism and an even older holy scripture, the Torah. Over the eras that ensued, specific ambiguities caused wars, persecution, and much human conquest and suffering.

German words: Lastly, some languages have more inherently ambiguous words than others. For example, the word “heimat” in German often befuddles translators. Translated literally into English, it can mean “home”, “homeland”, or “heritage”. However, when folks in Munich utter the word heimat, they use it to convey familiarity or belonging—perhaps also feelings associated with being among family and friends in childhood. There is even a Heimat Ministry (or Ministry of Home Affairs) within the interior Ministry.

Similarly, the German word “sympathicsh” frequently causes even the seasoned translator to pause and reflect. In English, it can beckon words such as “likeable” or “friendly”. That however is only half the story, for the same interlocutor out of Munich may easily be attempting to convey more than that, as in “trusting” and “feeling close to the listener”. Again, even a seasoned translator might have to ponder how he or she wants to translate that word.

Final Thoughts
By necessity, language is replete with ambiguity, embodying variety and value-added richness as well as confusion and frustration. The translator can only rely on “relative truths” that derive from people’s cultural systems, heritage, idioms, thought habits, and speech patterns.

But prior to ambiguity comes a set of other complexities, for every language has its own rules and traditions. Ambiguity for example only adds to the horde of idioms and figures of speech that professional translators may often regard as considerable stumbling blocks. Machines, they assert, can never tackle those successfully, regardless of what heights artificial intelligence attains—or so they claim.

There is also the difficulty with compound words that derive from joining two or more words together, the end result having little to do with each of the words; or the use of two-word verbs like “fill out” and “break down”, or words that translate differently depending on where they fall in a sentence.

And, finally, what about sarcasm? How does the translator deal with the bitter sharpness involved in a style of expression that usually depicts the precise opposite of its literal translation? That can be a discerning factor between one translator and another.

When you hire a translator to ‘transcreate’ a text in another language, naturally you expect the order of events, the composition of items and the structuring of processes to remain the same in the target language text. Your success crucially depends on your customers understanding how a machine works, in which order to carry out certain tasks, who did what or what was on the mind of your hero in that spell-binding scene.

Short of using visually self-explanatory bullet lists throughout, however, you want to be as concise and clear as possible without resorting to cumbersome, roundabout ways of saying things. The English language offers a construction which scores high on elegance but provides plenty of pitfalls when it comes to making your meaning clear: the non-finite or verbless clause with an implied subject.

The what? Okay, let’s start at the beginning and look at some examples. In the following sentence you can see that the subject in the two clauses – the non-finite one at the beginning and the superordinate one that follows – are intended, or ‘implied’ to be identical.

            When ripe, the oranges are picked and sorted.

It’s the oranges you’re thinking about when reading the sentence, right? Similarly, in the following sentence, the subjects are identical: the ‘he’ mentioned in the superordinate clause.

             He took up anthropology, stimulated by our enthusiasm.

 (Source: Quirk & Greenbaum, A University Grammar of English) 

Right. No problem there. But what about the following examples?
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             ?Since leaving her, life has seemed empty.
             *Reading the evening paper, a dog started barking.
 
A bit weird, aren’t they? In fact, the sentence with the dog would be marked as ‘unacceptable’. Who is doing what? Did ‘life’ leave ‘her’, and did ‘a dog’ read the evening paper? Now consider these:

             Dazed, instinct told her to flee.
             After unpacking, Susan’s stomach sounded a loud protest…
             Designed with xxx, we are proud to offer…
 
Hardly acceptable. Certainly inelegant.

             A unique concept of x, directional changes can be achieved at nearly any point…
 
Acceptable? Yes, but don’t forget the context. Because it's not actually the changes which are unique here. (Would a computer take this into account? I wonder.)

Is this just nit-picking? Well,…no, actually. There are circumstances where this can become a serious, life-threatening issue even. Think of machine handling instructions, care manuals or handbooks of medicine, for example. Would you want to leave it up to your reader to figure out what you meant? Don’t pull that lever before you open this chute, for Christ’s sake! No, no, no, the needle goes in first!  Misunderstandings aren’t something you want to aim for, are they?

I come across the occasional unattached phrase (also called a ‘pendant’ or ‘dangling’ clause) when I translate from English to German for my clients. Normally, these warrant no further thought, and I simply translate the correct or logical meaning by choosing an ‘attachment’ for the non-finite phrase. Occasionally, I will draw my client’s attention to any potential problem, time permitting.

Having said this, don’t let me take the fun out of writing for you. Go on, splurge out on words! (And let your editor or translator take care of the rest.)

The Top 6 Skills You Need to Succeed in Business
​by Samuel Gitukui

For anyone who has contemplated on starting a new business, you know that thought that lingers at the back of your mind and causes you to doubt yourself. “Do I have what it takes?” Being successful in business in part requires certain skills. The good news is they can be developed over time.

So, what are these 6 important skills that every entrepreneur needs in order to be successful? Let’s find out!

1.     Money Management Skills

You will not be able to manage the money that is flowing to your business if you are unable to manage your personal finances. Ask yourself a couple of important questions. Do I make more money than I spend? Do I know how I spend my money each month?

The answers to these questions will give you insight on your money management skills. Start by learning to manage your personal money, only then will you be able to manage your business’s finances.

2.     Learn to Be Productive

Research has shown that the most successful entrepreneurs have an uncanny ability to be productive. In fact, they work over 12 hours more than full time employees.

Find out when you are most productive. Is it in the morning, evening, or during day time hours? It is important to also track your progress and find out where you waste the most time. You can then use this information to reduce wasted effort and make yourself more efficient.

3.     Be Able to Brand Yourself

Business is moving more and more towards shorter term contracts in what is known as the “gig” economy. What’s more, there is a lot of competition. This is why you need to enter the market with a strong brand to help set your business apart.

So how can you build on your brand? Well, by working on your customer relations, employees and professional reputation. Make sure people are satisfied with what you offer.

4.     Conducting a SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A good entrepreneur requires the ability to evaluate these. By understanding your strengths as well as your weaknesses, you can make the best decisions as to the type of venture you will undertake or the partners you might bring into the business.

5.     Hiring the Best People

A company is only as good as its employees. If you want your business to thrive, you need the right caliber people working for you.

This point goes hand in hand with understanding your weaknesses. Once you know what you are not good at, you will be able to pick the best people for the task.

6.     Learning to Close the Deal

Sales and marketing are the lifeblood of any business whether it’s a sole proprietorship or a multi-national. You have to learn the skills of closing a deal if you are going to succeed.

Often many entrepreneurs think that they can simply hire sales people. However, it is paramount that you learn the skill before the business grows to a point where you are increasing number of employees. 

Mobile Payments - Top 5 Reasons Why You Need Them in Your Business
by Samuel Gitukui

People use mobile phones more than any other device. Whether it’s browsing for the next purchase or actually completing an order, plenty of transactions are taking place through regular smartphones. In fact, there is a trend where transactions are steadily flowing away from the traditional exchange of coins and notes.

There are plenty of mobile apps that have come up to facilitate these types of transactions. A great example is Apple Pay which shows no sign of slowing down. Other examples include PayPal and Stripe. That right there, is why you need to include mobile payment options for your business. Your customers will find it easy to place an order and send you the payments.

Here are more top reasons to include mobile payments to your business.

1.     Efficient and Convenient

When making transactions through mobile, customers do not have to wait in a line to purchase something. All they are required to do is quickly make a purchase on their mobile devices.

The need to carry credit cards or physical money is eliminated. Societies could benefit from cashless transactions. In fact, Sweden aims to achieve this by the year 2021.

2.     It Is Safer

Whether it’s the customer or the business, mobile payments are perhaps the safest option. Indeed, mobile payment companies do find the need to improve the security features. After all there are hackers out and about. However, compared to carrying credit cards or physical money, mobile payments are in a league of their own.

Take for example Apple pay. When you download the app and fill in your credit card details, the credit card number is replaced with a token. The token in turn has a password and a card ID. This makes hacking next to impossible.

3.     Earn More

A recent study has shown that people tend to make more purchases online than they would when buying physically. Adding mobile payments to your business exposes you to many more opportunities.

Businesses that adopt this new and modern way of doing things stand the chance of getting loyal customers. It is also a great way to stay updated and ahead of the game. If your business is among the first to adopt new, more efficient technology, you will obviously have an edge over your competitors.

4.     It Is Easy to Maintain Accounts

Mobile payments come with automatic recording of every transaction. This makes book keeping a lot easier. Your accounts will also be accurate since you will not miss any details.

Compare this to manual book keeping where a backlog might mean that some information is skipped. Your business may end up paying the wrong tax and get penalized for it.

Some mobile payments feature accounting apps that allow you to record transactions and generate reports such as balance sheets and cashflow statements.

5.     Improved Business and Customer Experience

Look at it this way. Mobile payments are easy, efficient and convenient to use. Transactions are quick and it provides your customers with the chance to make purchases at any time.

This is an enhanced way of making transactions and most customers welcome it with open arms. As you are doing business would you not like to enjoy the experience?

by Samuel Gitukui

Business can be tricky. If you are having a steady flow of income, this can very easily create an impression that things are going as they should, leaving you oblivious to the fact that they can get even better. The idea here is to grow, but if you are continuously making these mistakes, then you will forever be in a plateau with no real forward motion.

But what am I talking about? What are these mistakes that many people in business are making without being aware? Well, these issues mainly relate to marketing and as we well know, marketing is the lifeblood of your business.

1.     Using Too Many Paid Ads

Most business people spend quite a considerable amount on paid ads without having any real connection with their customers. The best type of marketing is customer focused meaning that you are aware of who they are, where they are as well as what they want.

Now there is nothing wrong with paid ads and they will benefit your business but only when the CPA or cost per acquisition is lower than the CLV or customer lifetime value.

Needless to say, if you are spending more to get a customer than what the customer is actually worth, then your business is losing valuable cash. So, it pays to know the value of your customers which you will then compare with the cost of the ads.

2.     Don’t Be Too Quick in Affiliate Marketing

This is yet another mistake that many business people are guilty of…going straight into affiliate marketing. I agree that the end goal is to sell but before you can get to this stage, you need to gain the trust of your affiliate.

Start off by building a relationship and kick things on from there. Once the trust is established, selling should be easy.

3.     Broadcasting on Social Media

Like we mentioned above, marketing centers around knowing where your customers are. If most are on a social media platform, then it makes sense to establish your presence there. If they are on Facebook then you should also be on Facebook, the same goes for Instagram and twitter.

However, a major mistake that often works against business people is staking out the availability of something. For example, you might say “I have launched this new product, check it out!” This is broadcasting and by no means does it establish a rapport with your clients.

The best approach is to create a good relationship first where you interact with your clients and then introduce the product.

4.     Paying “Experts” for Tasks You Are Not Conversant With

I know what you are thinking. You need experts and you can’t surely handle everything yourself. However, when you do decide to get external help in your marketing campaign, be sure to ask about the points that you do not understand.

That way, you will shield yourself from being duped by these “experts”.

5.     Procrastination

This is often something that business people have to deal with. But it can really ruin your business in the long run. When you want to launch that new product, it’s paramount that you do not wait any more than is absolutely necessary. Otherwise you might not get the product in the market soon enough!

Top 5 Proven Marketing Strategies for Your Small Business
​by Samuel Gitukui

Marketing is among the most important parts of any business regardless of whether it is small or a large multinational. Without it the business would literally cease to function. When it comes to the small businesses however, marketing seems to not be given as much priority compared to the larger businesses. The reason is because the owner may have a lot to deal with and may not delegate tasks.

But in order for the small business to grow, you need to prioritize on marketing. Let’s find out some clever ways to boost marketing for your small business.

1.     Research on Your Competitors.

If you want to be as successful as your competitor, you need to find out what they are doing right so that you can also implement this to your business. It is equally important to figure out what doesn’t work for them so as to avoid repeating their mistakes.

And the best way to keep the data and information that you collect is through noting it down. During analysis you can compare your performance with that of your competitor and find out which areas you will need to improve.

2.     Develop an Online Presence

In this era of social media, many people will spend their time online as they do research and make purchase decisions. You want to make it easy for them to find your business and you can do this through platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, twitter or Google.

Keep in mind that 78% of online searches result in an offline purchase decision by a customer. So, it doesn’t matter whether you are selling online. You want to make it known that your business is available and make it easy for customers to find you.

3.     Get Reviews

When building your online presence, you want to build on client trust. This will mean loyal customers that will continue to buy your products. You can do this by getting reviews. In fact, research shows that customers are more likely to buy a product that has been reviewed than one that has not.
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There are many different platforms on which your business customers can leave reviews such as Google My Business, Facebook and Trip Advisor. You need to urge them to do so however as people will often require a gentle nudge to give their opinions.

The best time to ask for a review is when customers have bought a product.

4.     Impress Your Customers

You need to focus your energy into impressing your customers and going beyond their expectations. That “wow” factor is what you are aiming to achieve. When the customer is satisfied with the product or service, they will likely pass on the information to other potential customers. Soon you will notice your client base begin to grow.

In fact, word of mouth and referrals has been shown to be over 10 times more effective than other forms of marketing. There are many ways to exceed your customer expectations such as sending gift cards or offering a lifetime warranty. It’s up to you to anticipate the needs of your customer and find the best way to please them.

5.     Get an Email List

One of the best ways through which smaller businesses can gain a much-needed boost on their sales is through email marketing. It offers a superb way for businesses to develop relationships with their customers.

However, before businesses can take advantage of all the amazing benefits of email marketing, the first step is to come up with a long email list. One proven way to do this is by providing lead offers. This is a benefit that the potential customer will get when they provide you with their contact details.

For example, you can ask for your client’s email address so that you register them for special discounts.

Conclusion

These 5 marketing strategies have been proven to result in a larger client base and increased sales. Some will overlap and need to be used together. By following the strategies, your business will stand out from the crowd and set itself on the path of success!

Presuppositions and the Art of Textual Persuasion
by Summer Worsley
 
It is no secret that language can wield great power and impact. From metaphors that shape and influence our ideas to idioms that reflect our allegiance to a given community, our day-to-day speech is peppered with numerous communication strategies. Oftentimes, we are not even aware of our use of these tactics, they roll off our tongues like water off a duck’s back.

One such strategy which is deeply embedded in our speech and written works is presupposition. Here, we take a look at how this linguistic function works in text and how it can be used as a powerful and persuasive tool in business copy writing and advertisements.
 
What is Presupposition? 

Simply put, presupposition is an implicit assumption contained within a statement. Let’s look at a basic example:

“John kissed Kate, too.”

Inside this sentence we find the implication or presupposition that someone other than Kate was kissed by John.
Now let’s look at an example of marketing-driven copy from an advertisement for an air conditioning company:

“Don’t suffer again this Summer.”

This sentence contains several tacit understandings between the writer and intended reader. Namely, it presupposes that the addressee has suffered in the past during hot Summer seasons and may suffer again if they don’t take action. In the case of this particular advert, the inference is that installing an air conditioner is the best course of action available to the reader.

People have been studying presuppositions for a long time, they are of interest not only to linguists but to philosophers and logicians too. As an aspect of language, presuppositions are seemingly innocuous, yet they’ve been proven to directly influence the way we conceptualise events and actions.

If you’re interested in delving a little deeper into the mechanics of presupposition and pragmatic theory, this entry from Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy is an excellent place to start.

What Can Presuppositions do For Your Copy? 

At its core, the language of advertising and marketing is persuasive. All possible linguistic means are utilised by writers to serve the purpose of the advert to convert the reader into a client, customer, or consumer. Presupposition is a heavily employed tactic.

Used judiciously and subtly, presuppositions can give rise to a host of associations and concepts in the mind of the reader. Note that the above headline contains the assumption that you, the reader, need copy!

Used poorly and they can come across as hackneyed and cliched. Consider the following:

“Don’t delay, buy today!”

We’ve all been exposed to this statement for so long that the assumption that we will buy has largely lost all its potency.

Let’s compare that with this statement:

“who isn’t in search of that elusive prize for a job well done, the empty inbox?”
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In this blog post the company, which sells slippers, creates an affinity with the readers by presupposing that they too are over-worked. They then suggest that slippers are an essential part of relaxation and down-time. The blog contains writing of value and of interest to the reader. And the presuppositions contained within aim to align the reader to the company’s values.
 
Analyse This! Presuppositions in Advertisements. 

In combination with non-linguistic cues like photos or graphs in advertisements, presuppositions can act as an anchor to steady the meaning, or they can be used to direct a reader’s attention to a certain aspect of the advertisement.

One of my favourite examples of presupposition in longer-form advertising copy hails from the 40s.

Here, we can see that “More Doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette” presupposes that doctors do smoke and that when they do, Camel is their go-to brand.

The image of the self-satisfied doctor with his Camel to hand provides non-linguistic assurance which backs up the statement. Note too, the red colouring on the M in ‘more’ and the D in ‘doctor’, red is a prestige colour, one that supports the “professionalism” of the good doctor in the image.
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This not-so-subtle style of presupposition would not have anywhere near as much impact in today’s world. We are continuously exposed to an avalanche of media from all possible angles and ‘ad fatigue’ is a very real concern for marketeers!
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The Art of Textual Persuasion 

The growth of content marketing in our current and bustling net society is testament to the fact that words are the currency of the internet.

When we see an ad or marketing copy online our eyes are immediately drawn to the wording, spelling, and even the capitalisation of the letters. Small and minor errors often give way to the assumption that the company isn’t up to par with our expectations. In a world where many seem to want to find something to nit-pick online, having perfectly-worded and grammatically-correct copy is essential.

Textual persuasion is an art. One that is achieved and polished through communication strategies like framing, rhetorical devices, and of course, presupposition. Embed these tactics within compelling, interesting, and readable copy and you have a veritable recipe for success – literally!

Now, presupposing that you’d like some more information, please get in touch with us or drop us a comment below.

Effective Business Communication
​by Sarah O.

In a generation where communication has reached its highest peak, in what is now a more mainstream society, more and more people are seeing the greater benefits with the introduction of business communication – especially in the commercial industry. Companies from various sectors are using this approach through social media platforms and work-related applications, that are proving very effective in reaching new audiences. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and many others are ever popular – showcasing business achievements, international progression and let’s not forget…the odd selfie here and there!

Social media platforms in business communication expands business awareness on a worldwide scale. It reaches out to areas to market company objectives and amazingly provides an added benefit of immediate customer communication. Consumers are targeted and can readily learn more about businesses and their favourite brands. Now we understand its use and popularity, in a nutshell though, can we explain – what is business communication?
​Business communication is a shared process that involves one or several bodies or organisations that share information or messages – one that all parties together can understand. Examining its performance however, what would you say is the key to making business communication effective? Have a guess! It all relates to interfacing connections. The coming together, the blend of characteristics and expertise all combined that join individuals with such abilities, sparking a creative and inspiring fusion.

Think for a moment about how this strategy would be of advantage to your business? Do you crave success? Do you want to thrive? Here is how you grab it!

Presentation

Preparation in advance for your presentation is vital when it comes to business communication. You need to know what you need to say and own it. What does your company specialise in? What makes you stand out? How would this then, be of advantage to the other party you are liaising with? Don’t be afraid to be different! This is just the beginning, the non-verbal part of communication that prepares you for this step. Including a plan of action and how you will go about implementing your message to benefit your audience, will carry weight to your presentation and will make the best first impression. This will add great value to your business and your skills and will most importantly have a high impact on your listeners.

Clear & Straight-Forward Language

No long-winded dialogue needed – the executing of your proposal will require using language that appeals in every aspect. What may sound inviting, may not be achievable, so keep in mind of the need to be reasonable and give attention to your system of words when communicating. There can be barriers when it comes to this ability and your aim is to break them down. Using clear and concise language enhances your message and deters any distractions that may come to your listeners.

An important aspect of using concise language involves ensuring that your listeners know why they should hear your message, aside from what you have to say. Fill all those present with information that they understand and that clearly details their role and why their contribution is important. This will then mesh with your overall message and you’ll reach your desired effect.

Approach

The biggest say so in history to use in your favour! Confidence – How you approach your listeners! Your confidence when communicating should generate truth, as it serves to provide credibility to your work and to your business. Mind thy false tongue…smile and project yourself professionally and speak of what you know. Your confident approach becomes a reflection of yourself and your business, here are a few thoughts to consider: -

Motivation – The message or content you provide should motivate your listeners; you are approaching potentials with a goal to inspire action. Use this chance to showcase any benefits, to demonstrate targets and to instill curiosity for possible future developments.

Educate – Have in mind the importance of enlightening your audience. Statistical information goes a long way, especially when listeners can see numbers or facts. It is important then, to make sure that tools are on hand with these detailed results, that they can then evaluate to solidify their decision. Emphasise critical points that you think would make a deeper impact on your listeners and that will initiate an interest from their perspective.

Methods

What will you use to communicate? The technological world continues to advance with people across the globe communicating via text, phone, email - you name it! And this avenue continues to appeal to businesses as its global reaching capacity serves as a great advantage. Once you have determined your choice words, you need to examine what method would be more suitable to convey to your listeners. Here are other methods to examine, on a more local business arrangement: -

Team Building Exercises – This is an all too common exercise that many use to ‘break the ice’. It can be quite nerve-wracking to communicate with other business members, so this is a suggestion that might suit your needs. This will bring an air of ease to those involved and will promote your business as one that has a great interest in long-term progressive working relationships.

Suggestion Boxes – This can be very effective, as it already tells your audience that you are willing to take criticism and additional recommendations. Suggestions from your audience will allow them to give their ideas, as to what they believe would elevate your approach.

Listening

This can be a communication killer, if not reciprocated. DO NOT forget to listen to those you are addressing. If you want to be heard – listening is at the heart of attention. This is a skill that promotes productivity, as it builds harmony and an understanding between you and your audience. When this happens, it allows your audience an opportunity to provide feedback to you which can only become an asset attainable, if listening is implemented. Listening, in the business world, fosters good working relationships between you and your audience which then improves the dynamic of the setting.

By applying the following, you are enabling an opportunity to engage your audience and accomplish your business goals. Your business relationships are strengthened, and you develop communication skills that will carry you up the ladder of success.

In the coming months, there will again be regular posts on this blog, and they will be written by expert writers whom I managed to entice to write for me while I take care of your translations, transcriptions and sundry linguistic matters. You can look forward to thoroughly thought-provoking and engaging contributions by wonderful wordsmiths, eloquent experts and budding blog poets. (And not one alliteration in sight.) Enjoy! 

I do so love browsers and search engines, and from an SEO perspective I always find it interesting to see how variations of search terms and phrases will take you on trips or detours you never imagined you'd find out there in the wide expanse of the web. (You are probably already aware that the most commonly misspelled words need to go into your keywords list.)

Today, I was reminded of the importance of spelling. Take the word 'segue', for instance. (It's one of those words that I usually misspell when I'm typing up an audio.) I was trying to get back to a page I recently discovered (This one: http://www.gingersoftware.com/features), where I had found 'segue' by chance. 

So, I typed in: 'segue ginger'. Guess whose sites were returned in top positions on the results list ...  

Hello everybody!

Happy New Year! (Belated, I know, sorry, but I’ve been really busy.) I hope you‘ve transitioned well into the new year. (Don’t forget to put 2018 when you’re writing the date!)

Phew! You might say the annual seasonal shopping frenzy has finally settled down. Or maybe it’s just starting in your segment?

Maybe you’ve decided to expand your business globally and enter new markets in Europe. If, for example, you’re thinking of selling through European online marketplaces such as the European websites of Amazon, you may want to start by looking for advice on how to reach out to your new customer base.

To give you some idea of what’s involved, and for some clever and proven ideas, check out this article by David Barry in the Payoneer blog on “The 3 biggest mistakes that hurt your sales on Amazon Europe”: https://blog.payoneer.com/e-sellers/industry-tips-sellers/3-mistakes-hurt-sales-amazon-europe/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=cams&utm_campaign=Monthly_NL_January2018_complete

There are some nice hints in that blogpost on how not to waste time or money getting your product listings ready for Amazon Europe. For tips on getting the best out of your translation budget, read the paragraphs under “Mistake #3”. It’s sad (and somewhat strange) that the author thinks that to “hire a freelancer online” to translate listings would be a mistake. Ignore that bit and read the sensible hints that follow.

As any self-respecting translator worth his money will tell you, it’s essential that:

1. Your listings and sales copy are localised and adapted to the target audience and the cultural setting of your chosen market;

2. The translator performs proper keyword research to ensure that only keyword translations relevant to the target market make it onto your final list of essential, high-frequency and semantically related terms.
​
Because, as the author warns, “Failure to do keyword research in the local language is one of the biggest reasons why sellers struggle when moving to Amazon’s non-English speaking marketplaces.” And if your audience has never heard of Daisy Duke, well, then you’ll have to provide some explanation as to what makes your shorts so special and covetable.

Okay, so, you’ve been warned. But what about the next step? And how do you go about finding a freelance translator or translation agency familiar with these requirements?

It’s simple, really. Here are my tips for how to get your money’s worth of quality product listing translations:

1. As with any business-related process, there ought to be built-in quality control mechanisms. Check for those. Large translation services providers, for instance, rely on a wide network of (freelance) experts, databases and control mechanisms to ensure their output is homogeneous and meets specific quality criteria. Smaller outfits, such as one-person businesses and self-employed freelancers, usually integrate small-scale quality control mechanisms into their workflow. If you are in doubt about the capabilities of your chosen translation services provider, contact the person in charge (in person, by phone or by email – oh dear, that’s an “online” technology, isn’t it?) and ask about quality control and options for localising your content.

2. No doubt you’ve been told to look for a “native speaker” of your target language. To be honest, I don’t really know what that means. (Well, I do, but for the sake of argument let’s assume I don’t.) Naturally, you would want to go for someone who was raised and schooled in an immersion setting, i.e. speaking the language (as a first or second language, for example) from morning till nightfall, but what if that person later moved to another country? Would a lack of exposure to contemporary cultural and linguistic developments in that language not make translation more difficult? Well, it might. Or it might not. Because it all depends on whether that person is a “translator” or not. Translation isn’t about telling you what something means. Anyone can do that. Probably even some machines. (Well, sort of.) Translation is three parts research and one part finding equivalent and appropriate expressions. And making the target language text sound good, of course. So, if you’ve included a fair bit of colloquialisms (like “brewski”) or technical jargon (“slip torque”) or something isn’t used the same way everywhere (like a “throw pillow”) or what linguists call a “false friend” (an English “commission” can be a German “Kommission” but also a “Provision” etc.; an “icon” is rarely an “Ikone”), your professional language services provider will know what to do.

3. Machines aren’t infallible. It’s tempting to save money, I know, by plonking that short product description into one of those oh-so-inviting boxes in your browser and – hey presto! – out comes a translation. Yes and no. (Emphatically no, most of the time.) Because, you see, machines need databases to refer back to. They are the wizards of words only in as far as they can go to a partition (or whatever those spaces are called – I’ll look it up, I promise!) and pick out a predetermined match! Therefore, if you are intent on saving money and time by using automated translation, get your text checked!

4. Avoid propagating mistakes. Check out the competition by all means, but don’t copy everything that you see. A client of mine once told me that is how they built their website: they looked at other sites and copied what they liked. Quite frankly, judging by the strange terms they picked up, they really should have “copied” a dictionary or encyclopaedia for a change! I’m not saying that you shouldn’t let your chosen translator loose on the web; on the contrary, your competitors are out there and that is also where your translator should look for inspiration. Do make sure, however, that your sales copy and product specifications are given the real and honest attention they deserve.

I think I’ve said enough for today. I hope you’ve found this useful. And if you would like to discuss the matter further, feel free to contact me. Happy 2018! May your business thrive!

​Check out this fantastic new feature in the shop! Apple Pay and Android Pay options have gone live and you can now use the mobile wallet of your phone to pay for my services. I call that a very nifty feature. What do you say?

...to look more professional on paper.

​Sign up to the newsletter this month and get the final blog post in the series "Effective Business Communication" sent directly to your email inbox.

Four Steps to Writing a Killer Business Proposal

               A business proposal is an important way of selling your company’s goods or services to a client—either a company or an individual. Sometimes you may send a business proposal to a potential client unsolicited; other times a business will send you an RFP (request for proposal) (1). Whatever the situation, knowing how to write a precise, informative, and effective business proposal is imperative.  Here I lay out four steps to make your business proposals shine:

1.      Make sure the job is doable: Before you start writing a business proposal, you need to make sure that your business will be able to meet the client’s needs.  You need to make sure that you understand exactly what the client is asking for. Often clients don’t know exactly what the job they’re asking for entails, so make sure that you do. Writing a proposal for a job that your company can’t do will end in embarrassment and will be bad for your company’s reputation.

2.      Evaluate how your business will meet the client’s needs: Once you’ve decided that your business is capable of meeting the client’s needs, figure out exactly how your business will do the job. Decide how much money you will charge to your client and decide all of the steps your business will take to complete the job. The more information you give the client, the more comfortable they will feel accepting your proposal.

3.      Decide how you will outshine your competitors: You will almost always have competitors who are also proposing their services to your potential client. You need to decide what your company can do that its competitors cannot. Ask yourself why the client would choose your services over those of other companies.

4.      Write a well-written proposal: Shervin Freed, coauthor of Writing Winning Business Proposals (McGraw-Hill) said: "To me, good writing is symptomatic of your basic abilities. Poor writing and poor grammar would make me ask, 'How good can these people be if they can't even express themselves intelligently?'" (1). Not only does the information in your proposal need to be adequate and precise, it needs to be presented in writing without grammatical or structural errors.  Take great pains to make your business proposal fantastic. Write it meticulously and then proofread it several times over.  After you’ve finished proofreading it, have at least two other people proofread it several times.

To summarize: first make sure that your business can accomplish the job the client needs done, then decide how your company will do the job, next decide how you will stand out among your competitors, then finally present all of this information in a crystal-clear, cleanly written business proposal. Follow this four-step formula and your business will attract loyal, long-term clients.

Source(s):
1.http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/21834

Why People Buy What They Buy
by Matthieu M.

Whatever your role in the business world, you’re going to have to sell something at one point or another. Whether you are selling your skill set to a potential employer, selling your business’s services to a client, or selling products to customers, the skill of selling is essential. Many books and articles have been written about how to sell effectively, but the most important selling technique lies in the buyer’s decision making process.
What is it that motivates us to buy something? I try to eat as healthy as possible. When I shop for food, I buy a brand of butter that is grass-fed and imported from Ireland. The packaging is simple and straightforward. While there are brands whose packaging is covered in elaborate lists of reasons why their butter is better than that of other brands, I feel like the Irish butter I buy is the best. The reason for this is that the company packages its product in such a way that I feel that the brand’s mission is to produce simple, healthy butter.

Notice my use of the word “feel.” I didn’t analyze the brand’s specifications and production methods to decide whether or not to buy this butter; I could have, but I didn’t. I bought the product because of the company’s mission, not because of the product’s qualifications. When it comes down to final buying decisions, we don’t buy a product based on its features and specifications, we buy a product because it feels like it’s the right choice. A product may have all of the features that we could dream of, but if it doesn’t feel right, we won’t buy it.
So, next time you sell something, try to make your potential client, customer, or employer feel like they should choose you or your product over other choices. Make them feel like you or your company has a mission to accomplish, and make them feel that your mission is theirs. For example, if you’re selling advertising consultation services, don’t start by telling your potential client all of the things your company will do for them, first, emphasize to him/her that your company’s mission is to help all of its clients rise to the top of any competitive market. After he/she understands that that is your mission, you can tell him/her about the services you provide.
Use this method whenever you write business proposals, cover letters, or sales copies; you will see great results.
The inspiration for this article came from a TED talk that I watched several months ago, I encourage you to watch it here: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en

Continuing in my series on effective business communication, I would like to share with you this month some more ideas -- succinctly expressed by a fellow freelancer -- on how to make your business a success. (Feel free to comment!)

​How to Not Be Boring

Throughout my career, I’ve read a lot of business’s proposals trying to sell me their services. To be honest, I delete most of these proposals after reading the first two sentences. Perhaps I’m too harsh, but if the first sentence reads, “We are an SEO company who has been in the industry for over five years, our team uses the best SEO techniques in the market…” I’m instantly bored.

There is an innate reason why we enjoy working with exciting, entertaining people. Everybody, deep down inside, is unique and exciting. We all have interesting personalities. We all have fresh opinions and ideas to bring to the table, but so often we repress our true feelings and our best ideas because we are afraid of what people will think of us. If we don’t put our true self out there, people won’t be able to judge us for who we really are. We admire those who don’t care what people think of them, because we wish that we could be like them.

Those who do not let other people’s opinions limit what they do and say are able to achieve their full potential. This makes them not only fun and interesting to work with, but also makes them far better contractors, employees, and clients.

Now, in the context of business writing, though a certain level of formality needs to be maintained, you can and should let your personality shine through. Rather than writing, “We are an SEO company who has been in the industry for over five years, our team uses the best SEO techniques in the market…” try opening your proposal with, “Our experts are dedicated to getting your website to the #1 position in Google as fast as possible.” Opening your proposal like this shows that you are both confident in your business’s capabilities and passionate about your SEO work. Why would I want to buy your services if they weren’t your passion?

Whatever you do, whether you’re writing business proposals, making corporate presentations, or spending time with your family, be yourself. Let your true personality shine regardless of other’s opinions or societal norms. Few people do this; if you do it, people will notice. If you are your true self, people will respect you; nothing will stop you from reaching your true potential.
​

Less is More

       “When you are writing complicated papers or business proposals or business letters for the business that employs you or for your personal business purposes or for any other purpose it is necessary and very important to make sure that you don’t write too many words such as and, but, or, that, thing, and other words like that or else the person reading your paper or letter or proposal will get bored and won’t be able to understand what you want to say and will get lost and confused.”

Whew! That was a mouthful, wasn’t it? This veritable paragraph of a sentence could be written as follows while still maintaining its meaning:

       “When you write, it’s important not to use more words than needed.”

Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that I will look more credible if I write more words. I think this instinct stems from high school, where my English teacher would tell l me that I had to write a 500 word essay; naturally, I would express my ideas using as many words as possible. However, now that I’m in the real world, it’s different.

When you write something for business purposes, remember that whoever reads what you write is probably very busy. The last thing a busy person wants to do is read through a super-wordy, 10 page proposal. As I demonstrated above, often we use far more words than are necessary to convey our point. If you eliminate unnecessary words from your writing, not only will it be more enjoyable to read, but much easier to understand.

Note that I said to eliminate unnecessary words, not necessary words. You will certainly need to write a certain amount to convey your point; however, if you use only the words necessary, your writing will be much more effective. For example, the phrase “I will look it up on my iPhone after dinner” could be condensed into “I will look it up after dinner,” unless the fact that you are using your iPhone is crucial to the meaning of the sentence.

Eliminating unnecessary words also often eliminates grammatical errors. For example, the sentence “I looked up the stock prices who the major investors are the subcontractors that the company uses” is a run-on sentence; however, if I eliminate unnecessary words, the problem virtually solves itself: “I looked up the company’s stock prices, major investors, and subcontractors” a grammatically correct and easy-to-understand sentence!

When I finish writing this article, I am going to re-read it several times, each time trying to make each sentence as short as possible while still maintaining its meaning. I encourage you to do the same. The more unnecessary words you eliminate, the more fun it will be to read your writing, and the better you will get your point across.​

Having trouble with your superiors or colleagues? Here's some very sensible advice from Matthieu M. on how to make communication run smoothly.

3 Steps for Dealing with Difficult People in Business

I was sitting on the train the other day speaking with an ex-military-entrepreneur-business-student (yeah he’s done a lot of stuff) friend of mine. He had taken some business courses, then joined the military, and is now out of the military studying business again and doing some business of his own. We talked about lots of stuff: life, family, business, and politics, but one thing he said stood out to me.

My friend said that back when he was in the military he was supposed to report to guard duty, but suddenly came down with a nasty case of bronchitis. He told his supervising officer that he was so sick he couldn’t even leave his bed. This officer was supposed to report to the guy in charge of guard duty that my friend wouldn’t be there, but he didn’t.

Because the officer didn’t tell the guy in charge of guard duty that my friend wasn’t going to show up, the guy in charge of guard duty got in big trouble for being one guy short. As far as he was concerned, my friend was missing-in-action. He then called my friend, furious, and yelled at him for not being at guard duty. My friend’s first impulse was to react and yell back, but then he remembered a business communications course that he had taken before joining the military.

In his business communications course he had learned that the most effective way to deal with difficult people is to be rational. He ended the phone call, then waited a couple of days so that his emotions wouldn’t influence his reaction, then he wrote an email. In the email he started out by telling the guy in charge of guard duty that he was very sorry that his not showing up had gotten him into hot water. He then explained coolly that he had been so sick with bronchitis that he couldn’t leave his bed and that he had told the officer directly above him that he wouldn’t be at guard duty. He explained that it was not his fault that his supervising officer hadn’t passed along the information.
My friend sent the email and received no response. However, a couple of weeks later, he saw the guy again. The guy, who had been so angry at him before, came and shook his hand, apologized for being angry, and told him not to worry about it.
My friend’s rational approach to dealing with a difficult officer works in any situation. This approach works in dealing with difficult colleagues, difficult clients, family members, and other people with whom we associate. Let’s take a look at the important steps my friend took when he dealt with this officer:

1. He didn’t react immediately. If we react immediately to such issues, our response will be derived from our emotions rather than from reason, leading more likely to an argument. My friend did well in waiting a couple of days to respond.
   
2. He started his email with an apology. This made it clear to the officer that he was not writing an email to attack him.
   
3. He explained the problem using rational logic. Now that emotions were out of the game, he made clear to the officer exactly what had happened and why neither of them were to blame.
   

Use these three steps whenever you’re dealing with an upset colleague, customer, client, or anybody else. Just remember: wait to respond, start with an apology, and explain with logic. Your professional and personal life will run much more smoothly and you’ll have a lot more success.

It's carnival time in Germany! Prepare to meet dangerous pirates and dashing musketeers wherever you go. Elaborate masks are more the Venetian style, although masks are always popular both on and off the theatre stage, not just in ancient Greek drama, where they used to be an integral part of performances. Which brings me to this month's special topic in our series on effective business communication: From a Greek Philosopher - 3 Lessons in Persuasive Writing. Let Aristotle remind you of how to write with persuasion and conviction. Have fun!       

From a Greek Philosopher: 3 Lessons on Persuasive Writing

In business, when we write, it is often to convince somebody of something. We may be trying to convince a customer to buy a product, trying to convince a client to buy our service, trying to convince a supplier to sell us product, or trying to convince somebody to hire us. The Greek philosopher Aristotle understood that we often need to persuade people to our side, so he fathered what he called rhetoric.

Rhetoric is the art of using words to convince people to agree with us. Rhetoric consists of three tools: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. We can use these three methods of persuasion in either writing or speech.

• Ethos: Ethos is an appeal to authority; either to your own, or to that of another entity. For example, if you are writing a sales copy for a nutritional supplement that contains ingredient A, you may cite a Harvard university study that found that ingredient A lowers blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart disease, etc. By citing a study done by Harvard—one of the most prestigious universities in the world—your statement becomes far more convincing. You are thus borrowing Harvard’s credibility to convince your reader to buy your product.
  
  
• Pathos: Pathos is an appeal to emotion. Imagine that you go to a job interview and you tell the interviewer that you’ve been unemployed for over a year, your sixteen-year-old son is working full-time to feed your family, and if you don’t find a job soon your family will starve. Though your family’s situation has nothing to do with your ability to fill the position for which you are being interviewed, your plight makes your potential employer feel like he should hire you. This is because you used pathos to appeal to his emotions. Pathos is a valuable asset in persuasive writing and speech.
  

• Logos: Logos is an appeal to logic. To use logos, simply explain the logic behind your proposal. If you are selling a product, explain why a customer should buy it. How will it help them? How will it help their family? How are you giving them a better deal than other sellers? It’s powerful and simple.
  

So there they are, straight from one of history’s greatest thinkers. These three rhetorical tools have lasted thousands of years and are still applicable today. If you use them, your writing will carry a powerful persuasive punch.

Look in again next month, when the topic will be "How to deal with difficult people".
Best of luck in all your endeavours!

Talking to customers and companies is fun.

No, really. When you know how it's done, it's just like cycling or swimming or... Ah, but you had to learn and practise those, didn't you? Well, for those of you still looking for a little guidance on what constitutes effective business communication, here it is: the first in a series of guest posts I'll be posting throughout the coming months.

For this series of articles, expert writer Matthieu M. has kindly agreed to put together for us some thoughts on what works and what doesn't. And because January is a busy time for most of us, part 1 looks at how to get straight to the point in your letters and emails. So simple, really...

3 Steps to Writing an Effective Business Letter

Say you’re contacting new suppliers to work with your business, or contacting anybody for a business matter. You want to get fast responses and good results. This article will explain three key steps to write a killer business letter, poignantly draw the attention of its recipient, and incite a rapid response.

• Step 1: 90% of your letter is the first line. In today’s world we lead incredibly busy lives. The recipient of your letter probably gets tons of letters, emails, and social media messages every day. If your recipient is like me, he/she probably skims through emails and letters glancing at each one for around 3 seconds to see if it’s important to him/her. The first line of your letter needs to be direct and to the point so that your recipient knows it’s worth reading. If you start your letter, “We are an internet fashion retail business that has been in the industry for over 5 years…” it is more likely to be thrown in the trash than read and replied to. A better introductory phrase would be “Our business would like to order at least 500 men’s winter coats.” This sentence immediately shows the recipient that you mean business. He/she will be intrigued and will keep reading.
• Step 2: Clarity, clarity, clarity. People are far less likely to respond to your letter if they’re not sure what you’re saying. Be crystal clear about what you want. The sentence, “We would like to know the pricing of your men’s winter coats” communicates a general message, but the sentence “We would like to know how much it would cost to order 100 of your brown men’s winter leather jackets” tells the recipient exactly what you want. If you write a clear and concise business letter, you will get a clear, concise, and timely response.
• Step 3: A call to action. You’ve written a clear and concise letter with a poignant headline, but what is your recipient supposed to do with it? Finish your letter by telling your recipient exactly what to do next. Don’t say “please contact us at example@example.com for more information.” Request that your recipient do something specific, for example, “Email the prices to us at example@example.com before January 12, 2016. We are interested in purchasing as soon as possible.”

Follow these 3 steps: a poignant first line, a crystal clear request, and a call to action, and you’ll get a fast and informative response to your business letter. Not only that, but you’ll gain a reputation in the business world as someone who is straight forward, means business, and is easy to work with.

Please visit after the holidays to find two wonderful new additions to the site: a close look at what makes business communication effective and a first look at the new store! 

We may have a few tips on ​how you can reach the parts that others can't with what you say and how you say it. Or you could take a walk around the first Witinall online shop.


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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