Bookmarking Made Easy

I’ve just found a new resource, thanks to the Admin on WriteNiche. It’s called OnlyWire and says it’s ‘The Only BookMarklet You’ll Ever Need!’. Simply speaking, OnlyWire submits your site to many of the top social bookmarking services. It’s free and it’s efficient. I’ve only started using this today, but I’ve already seen an increase in traffic to some of my old blog posts. It’s a great way to get your stuff seen and it’s very easy. All you have to do is sign up for the services, put your logins and passwords on OnlyWire’s services page, and drag the bookmarklet to your browser’s toolbar. Once there, it works like pretty much any other bookmarking service. You enter tags and comments, press save and it’s done. The only feature I would like to see is one where it automatically puts highlighted text in the comments section, which is a feature I use a lot on other social bookmarking services. But losing that feature is a small price to pay for the convenience of OnlyWire.

Hassle-free apartments that are fireproof, soundproof and spacious? It almost sounds too good to be true, especially when you add a gym, tennis courts, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a valet trash service. A web release from Gebhart Properties promises that their Briarcliff Apartments have all these amenities and more. If I were in the market for some Baltimore Real Estate, I would definitely call Gebhart on 410 666 1340. Those apartments have to be worth a look.

Doublehdesign site updates – 26 April 06

I’ve added a couple of new things to the site. The most important is the new copywriting page. Lisa Downer is a professional copywriter specialising in internet marketing. Check out some of her work and see how she can help with copywriting. This is a new specialist service that will be offered from doublehdesign.com.

I’ve also added a couple of blocks showing who is linking to the site and this blog, and I’m continuing to work on sharonhurleyhall.com. I’ve added a few more of my free to reprint articles to that blog today.

Career Management For Freelance Writers

As you know, I’ve been writing on InspiredAuthor.com on freelance writing and writing skills. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve uploaded a few articles you might find interesting on various issues that freelance writers need to handle. Here’s a preview:

Five Questions Every Freelance Writer Should Ask – What writers should pay attention to if they want to get paid and get published.

How To Reduce Writing Mistakes – Techniques for reducing errors in writing.

Rejected? Don’t Be Dejected – Rejection does not always mean that a piece of writing is bad. Here are five reasons why writers might be rejected.

Five Ways To Get Published – How writers can make editors and publishers sit up and take notice of their writing

What Editors Want From Query Letters – Four questions that query letters should answer for editors

The site is going well, with hundreds of articles uploaded and several free online courses for writers. Why not have a look?

I’m A Sucker For Purple

I’ve done it again. Just as I’d simplified my blogging life, I got sucked into another blog. I couldn’t help it. The site is pretty (purple and white, yum!) and works well. It’s called WriteNiche and my blog is called Writing Life. Like many of the new blog sites, it’s got Adsense revenue sharing (on Fridays you get to keep all of the money) and is based on the Drupal software. A great feature is the ability to ping most of the blog services from the same screen where you’ve written a post. It’s also easy to put in technorati tags, and submit a post to del.icio.us or reddit. It also features freelance writing jobs. Write Niche is part of the GoldenProse family and it’s worth visiting the main site to see some of the other great features on offer. Although the site is still young, I think it’s going to be a real winner for all those interested in writing.

Writing Lab News – sneak preview

Last month, I launched my WritingLab newsletter, with lots of information that’s useful for writers. It included articles on:

• So You Want To Be A Freelance Writer?
• How To Write Copy That Pays The Bills
• Article Secrets For Writers
• Resources For Writers

If you want to see what was in it, an archived copy is on my new website.

Today, I’ve been working on the next issue, due May 1st. The May 2006 edition of WritingLab News has even more info. Articles in that issue will be:

• Freelance Writers – Four Reasons To Get On The Net
• Turn One Moment Into One Hundred Years
• Diary Of A Working Writer
• Free Resources For Writers
• How I Get Paid To Blog

There are also links to sites I’ve found useful for earning money and promoting myself as a writer.

Here’s where you can sign up for WritingLab News. There’ll be more useful articles to come. I’d also welcome your feedback on the first issue.

SharonHurleyHall.com – the beginning

I finally took the plunge and started to work on sharonhurleyhall.com. There’s not much there at the moment, but I’m going to try creating the site as a blog (using WordPress 2). I plan to create some static pages and then input my portfolio as individual posts, using a case study approach. I’ll keep you posted on how this works, as this is a new venture for me. Feel free to drop by, comment on the new template and give suggestions for useful plugins and other improvements. I’ll be working on the site over the next few weeks, before releasing it to the ping services and blog directories. Wish me luck!

Welcome to SharonHurleyHall.com

Who is Sharon Hurley Hall?

In 50 words or less …

I have worked in journalism for 18 years, writing articles and editing and designing books, web sites and magazines. I have also lectured on journalism for the past five years and am a competent ghost writer. I am highly computer literate and speak fluent French and Spanish.

How can I help you?

I do any type of freelance writing. Ghost writing, article writing, web design, editing, logo and letterhead design, copywriting and layout for brochures … you get the idea. I can write your life story or design your website. Check out my career highlights, see examples of my web design and corporate identity work and find answers to your questions about ghost writing. Contact me to negotiate a price or check out my fees guide.

Recent work

• Edited a research report for a client
• Wrote a sales letter for a new legal services ebook
• Produced a new legal services ebook (available soon)
• Updated brochure for Nottingham, Derby and District funeral plans
• Redesigned Silver Birch Solutions website
• Logo and letterhead redesign for Stephen Hall Associates
• Website for The Will Writing Company

These are just a few of the writing, editing and web design projects I’ve completed. You can also look at my reviews and publications credits and check out my free articles.

Current projects

• Moderating part of a new writer’s forum
• Writing content for InspiredAuthor.com
• Creating a new lens on website promotion at Squidoo

SharonHurleyHall.com is currently being updated. For more information about my work and skills, please check out doublehdesign.com

Soulmate Saga – Part 7: Three Long Seconds

We decided to have a holiday in Barbados early in 2000, and to tie that in with a visit to friends and family. It was the perfect holiday. We saw the sights, spent time with friends, went to the beach every day and found the perfect place for coffee and cake. All too soon it was the last day and nearly time to leave.

March 26th was a gloomy day, befitting the end of a holiday. We’d talked about going to the beach, but I was doubtful. It looked far too overcast to me. Stephen wanted to go, though, and reluctantly I agreed. We drove to our favourite beach, Browns, on the outskirts of Bridgetown and went for a swim. We were larking around as usual when Stephen looked at me seriously and asked me to marry him. I was stunned. He said later that it had been the longest three seconds of his life. I picked my jaw up off the ocean floor and said yes. This was the perfect spot for a proposal, in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, on our favourite beach, in our favourite holiday spot.

We floated off the beach, into the car and went to our favourite place for coffee so we could calm down before making a general announcement. Neither of us could stop smiling. This felt like the natural way to continue the relationship that had started in August 1998 on our first date. We were together and we were happy. Now, all we had to do was plan the wedding.

Primestyle.com has issued a web release which gives information about the Hope diamond. This rare and beautiful gem has intrigued people for centuries, and many of its owners have died in mysterious or horrible ways. The diamond is now in the Smithsonian Institution. Although you won’t get the Hope diamond from Primestyle, you can find diamond bracelets and other diamond jewelry at low prices.

Shameless Self-Promotion: A Free Guide

As you know I’ve been doing some work for InspiredAuthor.com. Yesterday I completed a free online course based on my Squidoo lens and related posts on WritingUp. This is what the course is about:

Shameless self-promotion. That’s what freelance writers need to do to
get their names and their writing in front of editors and publishers.
Writers can market themselves cheaply and easily using a few proven
strategies for promotion. This goal of this topic is help freelance writers learn to promote
themselves by creating an online presence.

It includes:

Promotion For Freelance Writers: Introduction
Promotion For Freelance Writers: Find A Direction (And A Host)
Promotion For Freelance Writers: Optimization With Keyword Research
Promotion For Freelance Writers: Optimization With Keyword Placement
Promotion For Freelance Writers: Linking And Mapping
Promotion For Freelance Writers: Search Engine Submission Strategies
Promotion For Freelance Writers: Marketing With Articles
Promotion For Freelance Writers: Six Ways To Keep Website Traffic

This is all stuff that I learned while I was developing my own site and I’m pleased to be able to share it with everyone. Why not have a look?

Soulmate Saga – Part 6: Interlude

Stephen turned out to be quite the romantic. He was always organising treats he thought I would like and would often buy flowers and surprise me with them – and he loved surprises. Here are a few examples:

One day he told me to get dressed as we were going out to see a few old friends. It turned out that the ‘old friends’ were Dionne Warwick and Randy Crawford in concert at the NEC in Birmingham.

Another time he said we were going to see some art. I didn’t see how that could be a whole evening’s entertainment (especially as I knew he could take art or leave it) but it made sense when it turned out to be Art Garfunkel.

These are just a couple of examples – there have been many more over the years. It’s enough to say that we’ve always had a great time together and soon the time came to make it permanent.

Next instalment: A holiday and a proposal.