diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d2314c3..0e49acb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ from markitdown import MarkItDown
 md = MarkItDown()
 result = md.convert("test.xlsx")
 print(result.text_content)
+result.save("test.md")
 ```
 
 To use Large Language Models for image descriptions, provide `llm_client` and `llm_model`:
diff --git a/src/markitdown/__main__.py b/src/markitdown/__main__.py
index b6cf963..7f662e4 100644
--- a/src/markitdown/__main__.py
+++ b/src/markitdown/__main__.py
@@ -57,6 +57,12 @@ def main():
         "--output",
         help="Output file name. If not provided, output is written to stdout.",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "-e",
+        "--encoding",
+        help="Encoding of the output file. Defaults to utf-8.",
+        default="utf-8",
+    )
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     if args.filename is None:
@@ -72,8 +78,7 @@ def main():
 def _handle_output(args, result: DocumentConverterResult):
     """Handle output to stdout or file"""
     if args.output:
-        with open(args.output, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-            f.write(result.text_content)
+        result.save(args.output, encoding=args.encoding)
     else:
         print(result.text_content)
 
diff --git a/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py b/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py
index 789c1e5..2873817 100644
--- a/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py
+++ b/src/markitdown/_markitdown.py
@@ -147,6 +147,17 @@ def __init__(self, title: Union[str, None] = None, text_content: str = ""):
         self.title: Union[str, None] = title
         self.text_content: str = text_content
 
+    def save(self, file_path: str, encoding: str = "utf-8") -> None:
+        """
+        Save the converted document result `text_content` to a file.
+
+        params:
+            file_path: The path to save the document result to.
+            encoding: The encoding to use when writing the document.
+        """
+        with open(file_path, "w", encoding=encoding) as f:
+            f.write(self.text_content)
+
 
 class DocumentConverter:
     """Abstract superclass of all DocumentConverters."""