Author Maureen Castellon

Good afternoon,
I am the advertising copywriter for El Dorado Furniture, a freelance corporate ghostwriter and a writing professor at Miami Dade College. I believe my experience makes me a good fit for the (name of job) position according to your ad. For samples of my work, please visit www.sirenpublications.com. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kindest regards,
Maureen Castellon
Writer/Siren Publications

Above is my elevator pitch email I send when applying for freelance jobs. It does not follow my three-sentence rule for business communications because an introduction should be just a sentence longer than your regular emails to make a strong impression.

Salutation
Good afternoon is used as an opener and I add a specific name if it is known, along with a polite Mr. or Ms. as a mark of respect. Notice that the salutation is formal. Do not use ‘Hey’ or ‘You know I am the one you are looking to hire’. Informality and cuteness is abrasive in business emails.

Just the facts
No one likes a stranger who brags. When you go to a party and get cornered by a vegan or a struggling musician, the conversation is all about them. A few seconds in, you are looking for the exit because conversations must have a balance of give and take. State your qualifications as facts.

Follow the ad
Allow the recipient to make the call on whether they are impressive. If you say ‘I am the most qualified’ or ‘I am the best copywriter ever,’ you will turn off your audience. Turn the attention back to the recipient and make yourself humble by relating your qualifications to their needs. Get the name of the job into your email so there will not be a cause for confusion; corporations have multiple openings at the same time.

Give a destination link
Your portfolio needs to be online. Everything is digital nowadays and your potential employer wants everything to be easy. He or she has a full day outside of the hiring process and wants to get back to work, not hunt for your portfolio pieces. Build a website; even a basic one is better than zero digital presence.

Be polite
Nobody has a gun to their back forcing them to look at your work. The fact that someone has taken the time out of their day to review your qualifications is something to acknowledge. Thank them for their time and consideration. Every single person is busy and manners are always appreciated Also keep in mind that a hiring manager is looking for someone who will be a complement to the working environment, and manners go hand in hand.

Closing
‘Kind regards’ is the international favorite for the last line before your name. Something crass like ‘Your future employee’ or ‘The best and brightest’ will inspire an eye roll at best and a banishment to the trash bin at worst. Stop selling yourself at this point and acknowledge the recipient’s humanity. Add your name and send.

Takeaway
The email you send for a potential job opportunity should be polite and humble. Start with respectful formality and address the recipient as Ms. or Mr. State your qualifications without being a braggart and relate your expertise back to what the recipient wants. Have a working portfolio link ready for review. Be grateful and acknowledge that they made time for you. Sign off in such a way that makes the reader feel that you will be pleasant to work with on a daily basis. Take the email and make it your own, but always be polite.

A meeting or a phone call with a valued person is a cause for celebration. People, however, many not keep the event in the forefront of their mind as you would. However, not everyone will keep your business communications at the forefront of their minds. If you are awaiting a green light to begin a project, you must follow up on your lead. Do not follow up hours after you first approach your new client afterwards; instead, wait at least three days. What is important to you is not crucial for everyone. Being forward will come across as pushy, which could cost you the project. After at least three days, send a follow up communication that is polite and professional, like the one below.

Good morning Mr. Donovan,
Thank you for the {meeting, project, or call}. It was great speaking with you and I just wanted to follow up to check if further information was needed. I look forward to working with you.
Kindest regards,
Maureen Castellon

Greeting
Unless the person or people you communicated with state otherwise, never use their first name. Some professionals will tell you right away to call them Dave or Bucky right away. Others will just assume you understand that they want to be addressed formally by not allowing the formalities to drop. Follow their lead – if they do not allow the formalities to drop, neither should you. Making yourself comfortable with them is tacky and a touch disrespectful.

Be specifically grateful
The person that who gave you their time did not have to do so. Acknowledge this with a simple thank you. Be specific with about the nature of the communication in case as, sadly, they may have forgotten your big moment. This is not to say that you are unimportant, but busy people can sometimes forget anything that isn’t circled in red on their calendars.

Gently remind
If the project has failed to advance and you are unsure as to why lay the blame on yourself. Get them your client off the hook by simply writing something as innocent as checking that asking them if they have everything needed. This gives them an out in case they forgot and are embarrassed to say so, and it. This will put you in a more favorable light with them because you were not pushy.

Make a connection
People want to be acknowledged. Writing ‘I look forward to working with you’ forges a connection that will grow as you work together makes a connection that may solidify. It is also a way of saying there are no hard feelings resulting from the delay. An alternative would be to say ‘I look forward to making this project a reality’. Do not say ‘I can’t wait to begin’ or something that implies a deadline. The priority is the person and not the project. Close out the email with ‘Kindest regards,’ followed by your name.

Takeaway
Be formal in your greeting unless stated otherwise by the recipient(s). Be specific about something they did for you as a professional, as it was on their time. Allow yourself to be the scapegoat by taking a light form of responsibility via not enough information on your part for the delay. For the final few lines, connect with the recipients as humans who are also hustling.

Everyone has a word they hate or avoid. Some recoil at ‘moist’ while others detest ‘delish’. Pet peeves aside, words sent in emails cannot be taken back so choose them carefully and do not include the following words in any business communication, regardless of the context.
Sample :
Good morning Greg,
Thank you for your input [or attendance] at yesterday’s meeting. Consider the impression you are making on your colleagues with informal manners or gestures. Let’s keep our environment as professional as possible.
Sincerely,
Mr. Donovan

Hey
Business associates and clients are not your friends. They may be friendly, but they are not your ride or die friends. You can use this greeting in conversation, but when written down it is not acceptable. Hello is fine to use in a thread, but never as the opening salutation on a new email. Using ‘hey’ with the wrong recipient is akin to calling a teacher by their first name: insulting to a professional for its informal nature.

↓ Hey Mr. Donovan,
↑ Good morning Mr. Donovan,

Unprofessional
On a scale of one to ten, this word ranks at a twenty. Unprofessional is what can only be deemed as a fighting word. Using it to describe a person rather than their actions will result in an unpleasant and defensive response. People are worried about their livelihoods and this word casts judgement on their abilities.
↓You were unprofessional in the meeting today when you put your feet on the table.
↑Putting your feet on the table was not an appropriate action today at the meeting.
A situation can be unprofessional, but a person should not be called unprofessional unless you want to throw the gauntlet. There are a number of ways you can rephrase a sentence to avoid the word all together.

↓High-fiving people at meetings is unprofessional.
↑Consider the impression you are making on your colleagues with informal manners or gestures such as a high-five.

Awesome or trill
Everyone is desperate to appeal to Millennials to the point of detriment. Using their slang in business communications is not good for your professional image. Save it for personal emails. Good or great are the best adjectives to use in a business communication.

↓Your presentation was so legit trill today.
↑Great job on the presentation today.

Takeaway
Your words are you on paper. Consider your communication choices when expressing yourself to other professionals. Hey is too informal. Unprofessional is a word that will result in defensiveness, as it is quite judgmental. Save slang for your personal communications. Make the right impression with your words.

Business writing is essential to solidifying the message of your brand. All content is marketing. From emails to tweets to blog posts as well as emails, your audience wants to rely on an expert and any mistake on your part will be a strike against your product or service. Let’s begin with emails and all the intricacies they entail.

Length
Each email should aim to be only three sentences long. In American culture, the strong silent type is revered by most. The less you say, the better because emails are never truly private and they can be used against you. Three sentences will is get straight to the point and does will not allow from for the dreaded long-winded, and self-congratulatory messages that some tend to prefer to write. A person that who sends long emails is considered a windbag: pompous and annoying. Recipients do not want to read Tolstoy’s War and Peace every time they receive an email from you.

Formula

1. Greeting
2. Personal
3. Professional
4. Personal
5. Closing

Greeting
Start with a Good morning, afternoon, or evening. Be careful to note only the G is capitalized in the salutation. This is formal and you do not have to be as formal throughout the ensuing email, but it this greeting is considered more professional than a hey or hello. Save the informalities for personal communications.

Personal
The next line is should more personal and maybe even a bit cheesy. ‘Hope you enjoyed your vacation’ or ‘I hear Minnesota is getting a lot of snow.’ Something that speaks to them as a human will be looked on favorably. Americans have acquired the a reputation of for being friendly only when they want a favor. This is not true, but the perception warrants a diligence when addressing an international associate. Personal does not mean being intrusive. Keep it light and casual, more small talk than existential angst driven.

Professional
Next, get down to the ask, question, or your intent. It will take practice to condense your words, but in general, the professional line sentence should be about stay within the limits of ten words. long. Next [week/month/whatever], we’ll talk about tightening this sentence. A post will be dedicated to tightening this sentence. Do not be overly detailed or exaggerate the situation.

Personal
The second personal line should be the last sentence in your email. ‘I look forward to working with you on ____ ’ or ‘Let’s take care of __________.the meeting notes sooner so we can continue progressing with our common goals.’ Write something so to acknowledge the recipient for past, present, or future professionalism. You are writing to them as a member of your business community, so you must recognize a shared goal, spoken or understood.

Closing
The closer is the last line of the email before you sign off with your name. “’Best’” is dismissive and “’Best wishes’” is more appropriate for a celebratory card, such as a cat’s birthday party or a wedding. ‘Kindest regards’ is the internationally the most favorite closer. These two words convey warmth and acknowledgement. Think carefully what you want your last impression to be, especially when communicating with someone of a higher status.

Sample
Good morning Anais,
Glad to have you back from vacation. The meeting notes from the China project have been formalized and are attached. We look forward to hearing your feedback.
Kindest regards,
Barbara
Takeaway
Three sentences is the ideal length for professional emails. Your greeting should be capitalized correctly. The personal line should acknowledge your recipient ’s life without being forward. Make your intent known in the next line and be as concise as possible. Afterwards, generate the last professional line to align the common goal, yourself, and the recipient. ‘Kindest regards’ is the most popular closer, as it is friendly without sending a stage five 5-clinger vibe.

Burning house!

Alien attack!

Run! There is a Star Wars Convention!

Your story’s conflict can be boiled down to man vs. man, man vs. nature, or man vs. self. A crisis plays into the conflict but cannot stand alone within the memoir’s structure. Examples of a crisis could be the stock market crashing or an alien attack, states of emergency. Complications are not the conflict, and neither is the crisis. With so many literary terms used in memoirs, it is easy to get confused. Complications are a series of minor conflicts, and a crisis is an emotional or physical emergency that can be related to conflict, but stands apart from it.

To stay in the Mean Girls vein, the conflict is old Cady versus new Cady i.e. man versus self. Cady’s conflict is within. She is trying to maintain a balance between her light and dark side. The crisis is when Regina George unleashes the fury of the student body via the North Shore Burn Book. Emotions are chaotic and the halls are not unlike the jungles of Cady’s youth. Cady is pushed to desperately act in the present before normalcy is destroyed forever. The emergency event has left her no choice but to be brave.

To recap this section, the crisis is sudden and emotionally violent. More than one crisis heightens the emotional state of the protagonist and gets him/her to take drastic measures thus reaching a resolution via accelerated shedding of insecurities. Most of us will not act or change unless no other option is left. Consider these human elements when developing your protagonist.