Natalie Canavor - Business Writing For Dummies

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Business Writing For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, www.wiley.com

This edition first published 2013

2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex.

John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-118-58364-7 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-58361-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-58362-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-58363-0 (ebk)

Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

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Introduction

A funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century. The ability to write well turned into a power tool for success.

Whether youre a manager who wants to rise, an entrepreneur who hopes to do it your way, a professional or a specialist of any kind, good writing helps you accomplish your goals.

If youre reading this book, you already know that, but I think youll be surprised by how many more ways good writing can reward you than you now suspect. Research shows that good writers are hired first and promoted early, particularly in todays growth industries. No surprise there! Companies, non-profits, and government agencies alike must communicate well to survive and thrive. Good writers are increasingly at a premium in every field.

The growing role of writing is a rarely mentioned by-product of the digital revolution. Earlier, decision-makers used slews of people to help them look good in written form, from secretaries who rewrote their memos to public relations staffers to speak for the company. Now, with delivery systems so accessible, few managers are so sheltered. You stand on your own for everyday messaging. And you depend on writing for entre to a world of nearly overwhelming opportunity.

Today you still need the memos, letters, reports, proposals and articles plus newer media like websites, blogs, marketing emails, and social media posts. Whenever a new communication venue emerges, the writing challenge grows.

No wonder communication professionals proclaim that Content is king. In this new democratized world where anybody can reach anyone else, you need writing to connect with people and opportunities. The Internet is the biggest consumer of written content that anyone ever imagined and good content wins.

I wrote this book to give you a high-stakes tool for accomplishing your own goals and dreams. The method here is totally pragmatic. Every idea and technique is ready to use and fully demonstrated. I base everything on my own decades of trial and error as a journalist, magazine editor, corporate communications director, and consultant.

I created writing-for-results workshops during every phase of my career because I noticed how in every setting, people missed their opportunities and undermined themselves with mediocre writing. So every piece of advice in this book has been field tested by business people, public relations professionals, corporate communicators, and non-profit leaders.

This book gives you a complete foundation for good business writing as well as guidelines to instantly improve your own writing. I hope the following chapters inspire you to keep improving what you write, a process I see as an endlessly rewarding quest.

Conventions Used in This Book

When I introduce a new term, I write it in italics and then define what it means. The only other conventions in this book are that web and email addresses are in monofont and the action part of numbered steps and the key concepts in a list are in bold.