Writing to Win Business
A lot of the subjects that were addressed in the reading were
also talked about in the Pro-Practice class that I took last year. We
talked about the importance of cover letters and practices writing some
of them. Travis also touched on how important hand written letters are
for follow ups and having unique Thank-you cards for when someone meets
with you. We had someone come in from the Business Center and talked to
us about how 20% of your time should be used working on your business
development, as they mentioned in the reading. When completing my
internship with Barber-Spangle Design, they talked to me often about
how important it was to have everything in writing in a contract, and
how you may need to add or change things about the contract based on the
client and the project.
The reading also talked about a
lot of stuff that I wasn't aware of and found really interesting. For
example, I didn't know that the salutation should be followed by a
colon, unless it is a thank you note. I also wasn't aware that "CC" used
to stand for "Carbon Copies" back in the old days with typewriters and
that it has changed to mean " Courtesy Copies" now. The story about how
"P.S." or "postscript" originated from the times when they used fancy
parchment and quill pens and they wrote in Latin, very slowly so they
didn't want to mark out words or write in the margins was also very
interesting. I found it interesting to learn that a certain percentage
of government work must go to a business that is owned by a minority or a
woman. I think that would help small businesses that might not get any
work, to get some work to help build their portfolio.
Some
things that the reading talked about will definitely help me in my
professional goals. The article talked about the importance of writing
simply, instead of adding flowery words because it is straight and to
the point. I also think that it would help a person to skim, which they
are likely to do. Also using the project or company name in the
documents will help it to seem like it was written specifically for
them. The table of "Complimentary Closings" on page 178 I find to be
very helpful because it lists different ways that you can end a letter
or other kind of document based on how formal it is. I like the idea of
including what you have enclosed by writing it clearly. I hadn't thought
about looking or posting a listing in the newspaper to help find new
clients because many people believe that no one reads the newspapers,
but that is far from the truth. The outline of the elements of a
prospective letter really helped me to write my cover letter because it
explains exactly what should go in each paragraph. I liked that the
reading included some different ways to bill the client because its good
to know that you have options. I was unaware that we are able to
include letters of recommendation or other supporting information such
as CD's to improve our chances of getting the job.
Eakins, P. (2005). Writing for interior design. (1st ed., pp. 172-215). Fairchild Books.
