Sharon Hurley Hall

This is not so much a new writing gig, as a successor to an old one. I used to write for Garden and Hearth, which eventually became part of Life123.  Hence, a new site and new articles, covering not only writing, but parenting and health issues. Here’s a list of what I’ve posted on that site so far:

Freelance Writing

• Five Freelance Writing Lessons
• How to Set Writing Goals
• Create a Home Office for Writing
• How to Write with One Hand
• Essential Writing Tools for Freelancers
• Freelancers: Build Web-Writing Skills
• Three Quick Ways to Create Freelance Writing Clips
• A Writers’ Guide to Copyright Law
• Freelance Writing Markets
• A Guide to Ghostwriting
• Promoting Your Freelance Writing

Home and Garden

• Quick Guide to Stain Removal
• Save Money with Natural Cleaning Products from the Pantry
• How To Organize Schedules For Cleaning
• How To Buy A Used Car From A Private Party

Pregnancy and Parenting

• Understanding Pregnancy Ultrasounds
• Preventing Stretch Marks
• Coping with Postpartum Depression
• A Guide To Fertility Treatments
• Creating A  Birth Plan
• A Guide To Your Fertility Cycle
• Facts About Open Adoption
• Finding A Nanny
• Understanding Closed Adoption

Health and Safety

• A Parents’ Guide to Teenage Obesity
• Staying Healthy Over 50
• What Are ADD and ADHD
• Eating Well Over 50
• How We Age
• Back to School Safety Tips for Parents
• Vacation and Travel Safety for Kids
• Water Safety for Kids
• Issues With Teens And Social Networking
• Air Travel Tips For Flying With Children

I’ll be updating the links as the articles go live.

Well, I couldn’t resist adding my name to another site, especially when it comes from Google. I’ve just published my first Knol using a sample article on off plan property that I had lying around.  It was very easy to publish and I think I’ll put more of my work there in the future. To go along with it, I’ve also published Written A Knol Yet? – my review of the process on TechGerm.

If you are starting out with a home based business, the chances are that your budget for promotion does not exist. When you are new to working at home, you may be lucky to afford all the electronic equipment you will need. However, promotion is essential if you are to grow your business and make a success of it. Here are some tips which can help you to promote for free.

First of all, set up a website or blog. Although it is better to spring for the cost of registering and hosting your own domain, you can also take advantage of free blogging sites such as WordPress and Blogger. WordPress is slightly better because there is less spam and you can set up a static home page that looks like a normal website.

Use your site or blog to publish details of your skills, services and products so everyone can see them. Be sure to do some research and include keywords relevant to your home based business in your site content. That will help people to find your site through the search engines.

Next, let people know it is there. Write an article related to your business area and submit it to a free article directory such as EzineArticles or GoArticle. Be sure to include a bio box at the end that says what you do, links to your site and includes a call to action. This article will be reprinted on hundreds of sites, all of which will have a link to yours.

Register with forums that relate to your business. Post and comment regularly, using a link to your site in your signature. People will click on the link and will find your business.

With any luck the word will start to spread, but you can still help it along by commenting on relevant blogs and including a link to your website. No spam, please – keep your comments targeted and relevant and that’s exactly the kind of traffic you will get.

Of course, not all your promotional efforts have to be online. You can also put a sticker in your car window showing the address of your website or blog. You can also take out free ads both offline and online which will describe your business and make it attractive to prospective buyers.

All of these strategies will help you to raise the profile of your home based business and they won’t cost you anything but the time it takes to do them. This time is well worth spending if it means that your business is a success.

Want to use this article on your site?  Contact me about licensing rights.

Here’s one of my latest pieces on Lake Anna, Virginia. It’s part travel piece, part real estate piece and it’s on the home page of a new site on this beautiful area.

Here’s a travel piece that I never used. It’s about an attraction in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

If you’re looking for something to see when you visit Brisbane, Queensland, then look no further than Mount Coot-tha. This mountain, which has given its name to the suburb that surrounds it, rises 287 meters above sea level. You can see it from most parts of Brisbane, and it’s a distinctive feature of the city’s landscape. Mount Coot-tha is about seven kilometers west of the city centre and is part of the Taylor mountain range. At its base is a 220 hectare nature reserve of the same name, as well as the 52 hectare Brisbane Botanic Gardens. Mount Coot-tha makes a great day out for anyone visiting this bustling city.

History

Mount Coot-tha was once home to the Turrbal Aboriginal people who occupied this part of Australia for tens of thousands of years before European settlement. Some time after settlement the summit was cleared, leaving a single eucalpyt tree. This gave rise to the name One Tree Hill, which remained in force until 1880, when the area became a public recreation reserve. The name Coot-tha (also known as Kuta) comes from name given to the area by the Aboriginal inhabitants. This was an area where the Aboriginal people collected honey from the stingless bee which is native to the area. Coot-tha means ‘place of wild honey’.

Attractions

Getting to Mount Cooth-tha is as simple as catching a bus. There are regular buses from the corner of Adelaide and Albert Streets, and there’s a daily City Heights tour in the afternoons. Once you get there, you’ll see why this mountain is a must-see. The lookout gives you a panoramic view of most of Brisbane – you’ll never get a better chance to see how the city flows around the 214 mile long Brisbane River. On a clear day you can see as far as Moreton Bay in the east and the Glasshouse Mountains in the west.

There are equally great views from many of the walking trails that cover the area. These vary in difficulty, so make sure you’re ready for an uphill walk. Check out the Aboriginal art trail to see stunning examples of rock paintings and tree carvings. Before you head down the mountain, check out the gifts available in the Kuta gift shop or relax with an ice cream in the café. The Summit Restaurant provides fine dining.

Back at the base, there’s still more to see. The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, which opened in 1978, includes a planetarium theatre and an observatory. And don’t forget to check out the Botanic Gardens, the best subtropical botanic gardens in Queensland. When you visit you can go for a wander, or benefit from a guided walk to learn about the plants. See bonsai, cacti, ferns, herbs and much more. Explore the rainforest or relax in the bamboo grove. It’s the best that nature can offer, and it’s at Mount Coot-tha.

How To Write With One Hand is my latest article on Garden and Hearth. It’s an example of how I used a personal experience as a starting point for an informative article. The research I did into the condition for my own information proved very useful when writing.

Tendonitis can strike at any time. One day you’re putting the finishing touches on a written masterpiece, the next you can barely move your hand. It’s an inflammation of the tendons brought on by repetitive motion – and you can’t get much more repetitive than typing. So how can freelance writers cope with their work if it strikes?

It’s always nice when you get published and get paid too. I’ve been neglecting this blog a bit, which means I’ve got quite a few portfolio items to add over the coming weeks. Here’s the first one, an article on the history of reiki.

It’s called Reiki: History of the Healing Touch.