To get your creative juices flowing, here are five tried and true formulas that can work for either e-mail or printed letters.

1. Tell a story — from either your point of view or a customer's.

Example: '"When I started my own business, I was very nervous about keeping my books. I'm not a numbers person and wanted nothing to do with it! Then I purchased 'EZ-CASH-BOOKS' software. Instantly, all my accounting "dirty work" disappeared. I gained instant peace of mind, and now I can focus on my real job — finding and keeping customers!"

Copy written in a story format has great appeal. By telling a short story that relates to reader's situation, you create empathy with her. People are also familiar with stories and enjoy hearing them (they appear daily in newspapers, magazines, TV, etc.). If your letter happens to be a long one, you can draw out your story for added suspense, saving outcome for end. (However, as we'll mention later, it's safest to send a short letter.)

2. Ask questions.

Example: "Have you ever stared at yourself in mirror and wanted to cry? If we told you we have a product guaranteed to help you lose weight while you sleep, would you be interested? And what if we told you this product sells for less than $30?"

Basic psychology dictates that when you ask a question, reader feels compelled to answer it. You're involving them immediately in issue at hand. Many effective sales letters ask a series of questions that are all likely answered with a "yes" from reader.

3. Offer something for free.

"Visit our Web site, http://www.ezinequeen.com, today, and sign up for our FREE biweekly tips for e-zine publishers."

Sadly, these sorts of mistakes are result of major misconception that you have to be cold and impersonal in your copy if you want to seem professional. If you're guilty of this copywriting crime, you probably learned this rule from a well-meaning, but misguided communicator who doesn't understand that business writing is designed to sell.

But fear not -- there's no reason for your B to B marketing to be bland and ineffective. You just need to know what to look out for. In this article, I've outlined 3 copywriting blunders that happen most and can be easily avoided in future.

These B to B marketing mistakes include:

1. Avoiding use of word "you" in your copy. Apparently many companies are under impression that business people like their human sides to be ignored -- to which I say, Au contraire.

Last I checked, most of us in business world still want to feel included in copy we read. Wearing a suit or working for a large corporation doesn't magically turn that need to connect off. Speak to person directly using words "you" and "your," and your results will be stronger.

2. Using technospeak when user-friendly copy better suits non-technical audience. Sure, some people in your industry know what word "interoperability" means. But they're rare and probably aren't ones making marketing decisions.

To illustrate my point, I would invite you to consider this: