Sharon Hurley Hall

December was one of my best months ever, not just because of the work I did, but because of the interest people expressed in using my services in the New Year. Those people have started to come back to me now and I’m confidently expecting to work with a couple of new people on ebook writing and publishing and blog editing and management. Since those are some of my favorite things to do, I’m excited about the opportunities they present. I’ll tell you more when they become a reality, but until then, Happy New Year, and have a wonderful and productive year.

Dear clients and friends, thanks for a great 2011. I hope you enjoy this holiday greeting:

I recently completed some web copy for a new client, Arleene McFarlane, who is in the process of updating her website. The new copy will be live in the New Year.

“I hired Sharon to breathe some life into the contents of my website, as I wanted to make it more engaging and reflective of what my job entails.

I found her very methodical and organised. She responded quickly to my mails, met the deadlines set, and most of all, I found her flexible; she willingly tweaked my copy (more than once), offered many solutions to problems encountered and I felt involved and at the centre of the project.

I am very happy with the results and would not hesitate about hiring her for another project should the need arise!”

Thanks, Arleene; it was a pleasure working with you, too.

November was a busy month, with some of the posts I wrote spilling over into December posting. Here’s a roundup.

Authopublisher

• Ghostwriting: Does It Matter If You Don’t Get The Credit?
• Google+ For Writers and Self-Publishers, Redux

Basic Blog Tips

• Six Reasons Why I Won’t Be Blogging on Your Site
• Seven Reasons Why I Won’t Share Your Post on Twitter

Growmap

• Key Aspects of Your Business Website for Writers (and Small Businesses and Others)

Live Without A Job – interview

• Location Independent Freelance Writer: Sharon Hurley Hall

Live Your Love

• Twimbow – Reviewing The Rainbow Twitter Tool

Living Better at 50+

• Business in the Cloud: Is it Really Workable?
• Winter Weight Loss: Slow Carb Dieting for the Long Haul

Simply Stated Business

• Cloud Computing

Successful Blogging

• 7 Stress Free Ways To Run Your Blog

The Blog Shop

• Business Blogging: Why Your Business Should Guest Blog

Writing It Right For You

• Working From A Coffee Shop: Pros and Cons

Posts for Clients

• Scotland’s History and Culture – A Snapshot
• Chocolate: A History of Innovation
• A Whisky Tour of Scotland
• Five Favorite Scottish Foods And Drinks
• Cheap Airport Parking – Two Top Tips
• Five Things To Do in Scotland
• Looking For Luxury At Christmas? Try a Scottish Hamper
• Give the Gift of Coffee
• Zero Waste: Can We Achieve It?
• How To Save Water Around the Home
• Water: Four Questions Answered
• Five Things Brazil is Famous For
• Five Famous Colombian Exports
• Greener Business – A Call to Action
• Scotland – Cool Climate, Warm Welcome
• How To Select Self-Catering Accommodation
• Five Reasons to Choose A UK Cottage for Your Next Holiday
• Raining on Your Vacation? Don’t Be Depressed
• Four Reasons to Book A Short Term Rental
• Five Areas to See When You Visit Edinburgh
• Four Trips You Can Take from Edinburgh
• How to Prepare to Study Abroad
• Leaving University? How to Get Ready
• How to Get the Most Out of University Life
• and many more. These are just a selection.

In addition, I have several posts on the Global Good Group site and the RAG New York site and I’ve been writing travel posts for a site that hasn’t launched yet. If you want to see posts like these on your site, you know what you have to do – hire me!

I don’t usually brag, but I had great validation for my resume writing services from a recent client who started his first day on a new job today. I’ll be getting a proper testimonial from him soon, but here’s what he said.

A couple of months ago he was sending in his resume and wasn’t getting far. I took a look at it and translated his technical qualifications into a list of identifiable skills and attributes. I even threw in an extra version which was a British style CV.

After I revamped it, he sent the resume into one of the companies that had rejected his old one and got an interview and call back for a second interview.  That’s proof that it was the resume change that made the difference, because he’s the same person with the same skill set. The same happened at another firm – and now he’s got a job!

He’s doing the happy dance – and so am I!

I recently did some work for one of my long-standing clients. I’ve worked with her intermittently for three or four years. Here’s the testimonial she gave me:

“I hired Sharon for her editorial services. She delivered excellently and on time. She was very thorough as always. That’s why I keep going back to her. I have used her services a few times and will definitely use her again” – Shahida Rahman.

Thanks, Shahida.

A couple of weeks ago I helped a client with a series of articles for an email marketing campaign. Here’s what he had to say:

“I’ve worked with Sharon for a couple of years now on different projects and her articles are always knowledgeable, of a very high quality and require no editing. Sharon’s a superb writer – she comes very highly recommended by me” – Charles Cridland.

Thanks, Charles.

It’s been a while since my last guest post roundup but I haven’t been idle. Here are a few of the posts and articles I’ve published in the last two months.

Authopublisher

• Thinking About Ebook Design: Self Publishing Case Study
• Book Planning with WorkFlowy: Self Publishing Case Study
• The Writing Process – Self Publishing Case Study
• Ebook Research: Self Publishing Case Study

BasicBlogTips

Does Guest Blogging Really Build Traffic? The Stats Say Yes!

Live Your Love

Guest Blogging Face-Off: MyBlogGuest and BloggerLinkUp

Freelance Folder

The Accidental Blogger

Living Better at 50+

• How To Eat Well Over 50
• Being an Older Mom – Triumphs and Tribulations

Traffic Generation Cafe

How to Make Your Twitter Traffic Sticky

Words on the Page

Guest Post: Working Remotely

Writing it Right For You

Writing Then and Now

I was also interviewed by Annabel Candy of Successful Blogging.

Posts for clients:

• 5 Ways to Get the Best Deals on Airport Parking
• Four Reasons Why The Coffee Break Rocks!
• Five Commercial Electric Vehicle Manufacturers To Watch
• Is your business carbon neutral?
• How To Choose The Perfect Coffee Machine
• Three Reasons To Spend More Time Round The Water Cooler
• Buying a coffee machine? Think about this
• Why Fundraising With Coffee Is a Great Idea
• Why and How To Make Your Own Soda
• Coffee — It’s a Matter of Taste
• Improve Productivity With an Office Coffee Machine
• 5 Ways to Show Your Customers You Care About the Environment
• 5 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint At Home

Since my July roundup of guest blog posts published in June, I’ve been busy, and now I’ve got a few more to add to the list. Here’s what I’ve been working on in the last month or so.

BasicBlogTips

• Follow Up On CloudFlare And The Impact On My Blog Traffic Stats
• Why I’m Loving Google+

Authopublisher

• How Self Publishers Can Make the Most of Google+
• Lessons From My First Attempt at Self-Publishing
• Time To Get Started with Kindle Publishing
• Five Easy Ways For Self Publishers To Promote Their Books
• Thinking About Ebook Design: Self Publishing Case Study

Living Better at 50+

• Is Your Business Suffering From Self-Sabotage?
• How I Dropped a Size in Two Months with Slow-Carb
• Tips On Staying Healthy Over 50

Quips and Tips for Successful Writers

• How to Use Speech Recognition Software – 5 Tips for Writers

Miscellaneous posts:

• Five Favorite Coffee Machine Drinks
• Is Coffee Good or Bad for You?
• Five Ways To Run A Greener Business
• Fat Loss And Other Benefits Of Drinking Water
• Three Greener Ways To Deliver The Goods
• Five Innovative Ways To Recycle Water Cooler Bottles

Bonus posts:

• How To Encourage Your Prospects to Engage with You Online – my Word Chef blog carnival entry
• 8 proofreading tips and techniques – an article I wrote for Daily Writing Tips reprinted on ragan.com

Want to see more? Check out my full list of blogging credits or just request a quote for my blogging services.

I’ve had a great week of guest blogging and writing (if I say so myself), contributing posts or articles to three sites. Here are the posts, which I’ve also added to my blogger for hire page.

• Getting Paid to Write – It’s More Than Just Writing – on GrowMap
• Feedly – Better Feed Reading – on Basic Blog Tips
• 5 Things About Managing Money I Learned From My Mom – on Living Better at 50+

Hope you enjoy them!