Acceptable Business Letter Formats and Components
Depending on the purpose of your business letter, there are several formats from which business letter writers can choose. The most widely used business letter formats are full block, alternate block, modified block, and memo. Remember, the format of the letter helps to establish its tone.
FULL BLOCK FORMAT
This is the most modern of the formats and the one most
widely used by business letter writers; its clean direct look
lends itself well to technical communication, and its simple
vertical format tends to reduce the error rate since you
simply do not have to be concerned about horizontal
spacing to indicate new paragraphs.
ALTERNATE BLOCK FORM
The only difference between the alternate block and the
full block is that the alternate block has a subject line. The
subject line can save time for the receiver by informing
her/him of the purpose of the business letter writer. The
subject line is situated between the recipient's address
and the opening salutation. Skip two vertical lines down from
the address and skip another two vertical lines before the
salutation.
MODIFIED BLOCK FORMAT
Modified block format differs from full block in the placement
of the heading, date, complimentary close, signature, and
identification lines. These components should all start about
halfway across the page, and be aligned vertically. The
sample also shows that you begin the paragraphs of a
modified block letter with a one-tab or three to five space
indentation. You should retain the vertical doublespace
between paragraphs. Although professional business letter
writers seem to prefer full block format, modified block is
acceptable. Many people consider the modified block's
appearance more balanced and traditional.
MEMO FORM
Memos are mainly used for inter-office, institutional or
organizational communication; however, increasingly, the memo
letter format is being used for formal, external communications
as well as in informal, internal communications. If the memo is
used for inter-office purposes, leave out the "Dear" salutation
and the "Yours truly" complimentary closure, and initial the
memo to the right of your name.
At CREATIVE SYNERGY...a literary nexus, we understand that it
is a personal touch that will set your business letter apart from
all the others, enhance your earnings or advance your career.
We believe professional freelance writing and editorial services
are the right choice. The bottom line is that they won't consider
the job done until they have worked with you to produce a
document that stands out, effectively meets your literary goals,
and makes you proud of your work.
Write like a professional -
We offer you over 500 topics and more than 2,100 prewritten letters, so you'll never be at a loss for words again.
Create top-quality business letters -
We give you user-friendly, step-by-step instructions, along with thousands of sample sentences and phrases.
Handle business correspondence with confidence -
With Easy Letters at your fingertips, you can quickly handle hundreds of writing tasks with knowledge, skill, and confidence.
Save valuable time and effort -
We provide a powerful search engine so you can find the topic, then the right phrase and sentence to express every idea perfectly.
Save money -
You can create effective professional correspondence without paying high-priced writers.
Insert letters directly into Microsoft® Word -
Easy Letters works with all Windows XP, 2000, 98, 95, Me, and NT word processors and installs on the Tools Menu of Microsoft Word 2003, 2002, 2000, 97, and Word 7.0. The Macintosh version may be used with Word via the clipboard.
