How to Write a Business Letter

In the business  world it is not uncommon that you will have to write a formal business letter at one point in your career. There is however, a specific format when writing a business letter that should be followed if you want to look professional. Before writing your letter first choose a font that is readable and professional also your margins must be 1 inch. After you have completed this you can then begin to write your letter. 

Sender's Address
This is the first step in writing a business letter. This includes the senders information at the top of the page in this order: street address, city, postal code and the full written date. The sender's address should not include their name as it will be stated at the closing of the letter. All of this information should be single spaced, leaving an extra space for the date, and indented at least 4 inches to the left. An example would be:

                                    2301 Coventry Lane 
                                    Mississauga, ON 
                                    L7P3J3

                                    June 7, 2013

Recipient's Address
This is the second step in writing a business letter. For a professional letter the recipient's first and last name, their street address, city and postal code is required. This is very similar to writing the senders address, all information is single spaced as before however the recipient's address remains on the left side of the letter. This is done to balance the letter and the all together look. There is also no date included. An example of this would be:


Ted Mosby
4490 York Boulevard
Mississauga, ON
L7P 1M1 

Salutations
After you write the recipients address leave a space and you can enter your salutations. There are many different ways you can do this depending on your relationship with the recipient of the letter. If you are writing a formal letter to an individual you can use the more common greeting's such as: Dear Mr. Johnson, or Dear Craig Johnson. However if you know the recipient quite well you can use salutations such as: Hey, Hi, Hello, or just the recipients name, either first name or whole name. When you have finished your salutations you must also leave a comma at the end of the recipient's name and leave a space for your body paragraph(s) to follow.

Body
The body of your letter will include the main messages, points and information that you are trying to communicate in your letter. For every new subject of the letter there should be a new paragraph started. As the rest of the letter has been single spaced, the body paragraphs will also follow this format.

Closing
The format of the closing is very simple, and much like the senders address. Due to the fact that this is a business letter, many closing salutations will make use of "Sincerely" or "Thank you". You must always capitalize your closing and leave a comma at the end. Leave at least a few spaces for your signature and then type your name. The closing salutation should line up with the date of the senders address. If this letter is to be given in a hard copy,  sign where you left the spaces above your typed name. An example would be:

                                        Thank you,


                                         Craig Johnson  

A full sample of all these aspects should look like this: 

   

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