Infuriating, isn’t it?
You follow a few blogs about writing.
And diligently read their posts.
You even devoured a few books about business writing.
But when you try to implement the advice?
You feel overwhelmed.
Where should you start? What’s the most important advice?
Today, I’ve gathered my 17 favorite business writing tips. Finding 17 tips too many? Focus on the first three tips is a great start for making your content more engaging and enchanting.
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Recommended reading on business writing:
The basics of good business content
3 business writing exercises to spice up drab content
How to improve your business writing skills
Absolutely love this infographic. Every single post of yours is a motivation to write better. Thanks Henneke
That’s a lovely compliment. Thank you, Poovanesh 🙂
Loved all of this. Gave me a buzz to read it AND it’s useable and shareable. My favourite? 17 on embrace quirks and wonkiness.
Yes, I put “embrace quirks and wonkiness” at the end because I like it as a final suggestion. Thank you for your lovely comment, Tilla.
Hi Henneke,
Love it! A truly unique and shareable infographic. Makes Tip #18: Be Different (and Individual).
You’re right, #1,2 & 3 are the most useful. Having one goal for each piece of content is how you get traffic. It helps you get to the heart of what your audience wants to know so you can deliver it.
It’s also how you keep coming back for more.
It’s all comes down to knowing who your audience is and what it is they want.
Off to share. Cheers!
Ha, yes! I love your suggestion for tip #18. Let’s dare to be different more often 🙂
And I agree with you about knowing your audience and finding out what they want.
Thank you for stopping by again, Tom. I appreciate it.
Love your infographic. I’ve been a writer in one way or another for most of my career but I’m struggling to get it right for blogging. I really feel like I have a lot to offer my audience if I can just get their attention. Your words of wisdom are going to help me focus my efforts going forward. Thank you for sharing.
Yes, blogging seems to require a different approach to writing. It’s more or less how I started to write. First blogging, then copywriting.
I’m sure as an experienced writer you can find your blogging groove! Let me know if you have any specific questions?
My search for writing skills ends after landing on your blog page.
Thanks a lot for sharing such wonderful tips on writing.
Enjoy!
I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned 15. All of these tips are evident in your writing; I think it’s the sensory words that set you apart.
I try to mimic your powerful and precise word choices when I find too many adverbs, really and actually, when I edit my work.
These simple tips are the 20% of effort that produce 80% of the value. The “little extra” that Zig Ziglar said is the difference between ordinary and extraordinary.
Well written and well drawn. Thank you.
Does Henrietta’s puppy have a name?
What a lovely comment, Scott! I like the point about the “little extra” that’s the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. Thank you for sharing. (And yes, #15 is one of my secret favorites!)
Henrietta’s puppy is called Arthur – he’s named after King Arthur 🙂
I love this, straight to the point, calms the reader’s ecstacy, heart endearing… Should I go on, Henneke?
If you wouldn’t mind, you can mail the infographics only, I think I’ll like to print it with your name attached and paste it on my wall in front of my writing desk.
Thanks for that tense-easing, warm input.
You can save the image by right clicking it, and then print it. Glad you enjoyed it!
I like the self made info graph. Ain’t you something. It’s great. I’d bet it relaxes you.
Do you mind if I print it and hang it where I write? I really need a reminder not to fill pages with just adverbs. I think this will actually help. 🙂
It will be like have a couple friends I have come to know with me.
Yes, it was very relaxing to create!
Of course you can print it and hang it on your wall. I’d be honored 🙂
I was hoping you’d like the little dog in the drawing, Barry.
What a fantastic way to remind us of your brilliant writing tips! I’ve printed and posted it front ad center on my desk. Thank you!
I feel honored you’ve printed it to post it near your desk. Thank you, Marie 🙂
Hi Henneke,
My God! You are an amazing artist too!
I loved the infographic, quite evident you drew it by hand?
I loved the points 3 & 4. They are killer tips to dive deep into your readers’ minds and kindle trust in them. 🙂
Yes, white space is SO necessary. I cannot stand clumsy sites, at all. 🙂
BTW, what do you call the girl we have been talking about? Is she Henneke, the Junior? 😀
Thanks Henneke.
Have a great week ahead! 🙂
-Swadhin
She’s called Henrietta and she’s my alter ego. A little younger, a little more outgoing and braver than me 🙂
And yep, all drawn by hand. I did draw a few guidelines with a pencil and ruler so the text would not go totally wonky.
Thank you for stopping by again, Swadhin!
Hey Henneke,
Using an infographic like this makes it easy to grasp. Sometimes you don’t need a long explanation to learn and apply something of value.
Thanks for creating this infographic! Have a good one !
Glad you enjoyed this one, Sherman!
And thank you for sharing 🙂
As always, brilliant. Thanks Henneke! And your drawings are just so nice, they really set you apart from the rest of the bloggers. It’s wonderful to be different and stand out! You go girl!
And thank YOU for being one of the various people to nudge me to create collections of my most useful articles so it becomes easier to find advice. I’m not finished yet, but I’m getting there step by step!
Good to see you again, Elvire 🙂
Sweeeeet Henneke:)
You ooze talent and I love your handmade infographic!
Oh my goodness. I think I mess up starting at #1. There’s always so many points to cover on a topic I know I need to narrow myself to THE ONE—now that you point it out! Ouch.
Thanks for the fun approach with your hard work. Take care. Sue-Ann
Sometimes the one purpose can be to give a quick overview of a topic or checklist for a specific task – so in that case, you can include more than one point!
I’m glad you enjoyed the infographic. Drawing it didn’t feel like work at all. I was having fun and relaxing 🙂
Thank you for stopping by again!
Wonderful to see Henrietta back in action explaining it simply. Loved the post Henneke 🙂
Henrietta will soon be cooking again! 🙂
Just loved your infographic! So insightful!
(BTW, I had a good chuckle when I read the passive voice one. “Mistakes were made.” Goodness, that alone is worthy of a blog post. People just don’t get the power of active voice to completely transform their communication and perhaps even their lives.)
Sharing!
Yes, that’s so true… could probably write a whole post with examples of passive sentences and how to make them active!
Thank you for sharing, Saleem 🙂
Brilliant! Can you make a poster out of this?
I’m going to look into this. I’m not sure what’s required to make it a printable poster.
A lovely infographic! It summarizes a lot of your articles so far, and is a good guideline in general. Was happy to share this with my team 🙂
Thank you for sharing, Harikesh!
Hey Henneke,
Really nice draw-graphic there.
And it certainly is a check list for people to follow if they want to enhance their writing.
#7 is something I’ll be focused on fixing. Sometimes I fall back into the habit of writing in a passive voice but I’m making improvement.
Enjoyed this a lot.
Have a great rest of the week.
– Andrew
I’ve noticed that some people use the passive voice a lot. I don’t know where that comes from, but changes all those passive sentences into active sentences instantly makes a huge difference to the tone of an article.
Happy writing, Andrew! I’m glad you like this one 🙂
Henneke,
Great post as always. What about you offer this in a 18×24 or 24×36 poster?
Have a great day and thanks again for the post and drawing.
I might need to investigate that. Thank you for the nudge, Joe!
Yes … ONE goal to ONE person!
That emphasis on singularity is key.
And the infographic format was (again) incredibly helpful.
Yep, singularity is key, but it can feel difficult to adhere to.
Glad you like the format, Aaron. Your point in one of your guest posts about simplifying content was one of the many nudges to create this.
Very sharp and easy to implement. Thanks!
Glad you like it, Ksenia!
17 points is like jems chocolates, Thank you Henneke
You’re welcome, Singaravelu 🙂
After 6 years of blogging, writing still hurts my head. Thank you for simplifying this to the core elements.
Sharing this everywhere!
When my mind hurts from writing, then drawing is a welcome alternative 🙂
Thank you for sharing, Marlene!
I LOVE this! So different to all the other infographic type posts out there.
Thank you, Claire! I appreciate your lovely comment 🙂
Brilliant! You’ve been busy drawing! Somehow this is SO memorable!
I love this and cannot wait to share it! <3
Yes, it took ages to draw this. But it was a fun and relaxing exercise.
Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Folks in my writing group have loved it! Yay!
yay! 🙂
Thank you for sharing, Katharine.
This is such a fun cheat sheet! I’m going to print this and keep it by my computer as my check list. 🙂
Thanks for the list of articles as well. Fantastic references.
Hope you enjoyed the holiday!
I love my mini-holidays. Spent most of yesterday hand-lettering an infographic. It was very relaxing! 😉
Loved the idea of a hand drawn infographic- so much swag 😉
Thanks for a straight to the point guide. I am printing this one to put it on the board in front of my desk. In my opinion, the most effective one is number six, it keeps the content natural and more like a conversation.
The editing tips were much appreciated too!
#6 is one of my favorite writing tricks. Introducing a few questions to a blog post or sales copy can instantly change the tone of the content.
#6 and #2 (write for one person) is a power duo 🙂