Tim Hicks, Content Strategist

I am currently and recently retired from being a communicator for the government of British Columbia, Canada. For now, I'm going to work on becoming a communications curmudgeon. Perhaps that makes me more believable because I'm not trying to sell you anything.

I'm going to use this site to try to explain business communications, which so many people in the business and government world still don't really understand.

I think of myself as a content strategist. That's a person who helps you work out what to say to each of your target audiences, how to say it clearly and effectively, and even when and where to say it. A strategist will even ask you why you want to say it, to make sure you are in line with your business goals. And he'll make sure your words are right for the Web.

Web site content - As a writer and a technical specialist, I have studied Web best practices since the Web started. I used to advise my government colleagues on how to plan, organize, and write their Web pages for maximum effectiveness, and now I get to do it here. [ more ]

Business writing - I've written articles for a marketing company and for employee magazines, and all the text associated with promoting and running conferences. I've helped provincial government clients simplify and clarify important presentations and service descriptions, announcements and web content. [ more about my writing ]

Usage advice, wordplay and fun with words

• Grammar Hall of Shame

• The Fun Page, with: quotes & rules for business
  daffy definitions -- Latin for today -- mangled movies