by Sharon Ernst | Apr 18, 2025 | Business Writing Skills
Originally published October 2019, Updated April 2025. Let’s talk about business writing essentials. Why? So we can avoid several common mistakes that get in the way of clear communication at work. How Business Writing Essentials Help You Avoid Common Mistakes Have you ever realized you’ve been making the same mistake over and over, unaware it was a mistake? I have. Growing up I had a friend who would say “for all intents and purposes.” I thought she kept saying “for all intensive purposes.” I didn’t know what it meant but she...
by Sharon Ernst | Nov 19, 2024 | Business Email Writing
Get business email writing tips and spend less time on email. We all want to spend less time on email, right? Whether you’re a typical office worker logging in the 40 hours (plus) per week, or a freelancer hustling to make money, you are working a lot. And much of that time is time spent on email. It’s not anecdotal. It’s real. You’ve probably seen the numbers, like that we spend one-third of our work hours on email. Bleh! But what if there was a better way? What if you could spend less time on email? What could you...
by Sharon Ernst | Sep 27, 2024 | Business Email Writing
Originally published May 2020. Updated September 2024. Why should you care about effective business emails? Because they save time, both for you and for the people you email. How do they save time? Because you write fewer emails when you are better at it. When you’re a competent and considerate writer of emails, you cut down on the unnecessary back-and-forth email traffic and the clutter in your inbox. And your reward? You get back time. Better emails = better brand + time saved In my last post on business email writing, I talked...
by Sharon Ernst | Sep 24, 2024 | Business Email Writing
Originally written April 2020. Updated September 2024. Writing emails at work is something we do on automatic pilot but shouldn’t, because how you email matters. Would you show up for work in rumpled pajamas and bed hair? Would you slouch in your chair scrolling through your Instagram feed on your phone while in a one-on-one meeting with your boss? No and no, because you know your appearance and body language are a reflection of your professionalism (and brand) in the workplace. But do you realize the same is true of the emails you...
by Sharon Ernst | Jan 8, 2024 | Business Email Writing
How business email best practices can make everything better… I was soooo lucky and I didn’t know it. How? During my 20 years as a freelance copywriter, I worked primarily with smart people who communicated well and made smart use of email. That means I thought the average person was equally good at email. I was wrong. When I closed up We Know Words at the end of 2019 to focus on our farm and Better Faster Writer, I also started doing a lot of volunteer work as part of a marriage ministry that we had to take over. (That’s a...
