Gordon Hamilton - Freelance Writer on Squidoo and Beyond

When Gordon Hamilton first started out, both on Squidoo and on Helium, the subject which he wrote upon almost - if not quite - exclusively was food and drink. He had loved to cook since childhood and invent not only new dishes but new ways to prepare established ones. He actually used to find this a very relaxing and therapeutic activity, so it made sense that he write about and hopefully earn from the process. He has created a great many Squidoo lenses on this subject, some of the most popular of which can be found linked to below.

The year 2007 was a tough, varied and challenging one for Gordon Hamilton in several different ways. The principal one, however, in relation to the content of this page, is that he took the daunting step of leaving his secure job in what had ultimately become Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS plc) and embarking on a solo career as a Freelance Writer and Online Marketer. The number of different activities and projects he has since undertaken or become involved in are too numerous even for him to recall, never mind mention here.

Gordon Hamilton had by this time moved to Edinburgh, before subsequently moving to Uxbridge, Middlesex, Greater London. The marketing work Gordon was doing immediately following his move to Uxbridge was going extremely well until, in October 2008, Credit Crunch hit him - hard! His income from this venture dried up completely within the space of just a fortnight and urgent diversification was required. It was at this time that he began writing almost full time for Websites and this very much remains his principal activity up to the present day.

Due to a change in life circumstances beyond his control, Gordon Hamilton was on the move again, just before Christmas 2008, back to Wishaw to stay with family in the short term until he resolved a great many issues within his life. Residences have changed a couple of times since then but are largely settled for the moment.

Travel was the second major topic which Gordon Hamilton began writing about online. He has always loved to travel, both around Scotland - very often in relation to his great love of sea fishing - and far beyond. He has created quite a few sites here on Squidoo about places and destinations in Scotland and below are a sample of some of the ones which have proven most popular over the period of time since their creation.

When Gordon Hamilton lived in Edinburgh and when he first moved to Uxbridge, providing marketing advice and assistance to small businesses was a big part of what he did on a day to day basis. He had personally developed a great many innovative techniques to market and promote businesses online and in this way delighted a great many business owners both with the results he achieved on their behalf and the modest prices he charged. He assisted a wide variety of different types of businesses, from pubs, to printers, to independant food outlets and lots more!

It was of course the devastating blow dealt by Credit Crunch in the Autumn (Fall) of 2008 which put paid at least temporarily to this aspect of Gordon Hamilton's career. Small businesses found themselves in almost the definitive, "Catch 22," situation in that they were struggling to stay afloat but could not afford to spend the money on the advertising or marketing which would assist them to do so.

The list of famous Scotsmen who have created marvellous inventions, made life-saving discoveries or in some other way changed the world forever would of course be an extremely long one. Most people know that a Scotsman invented the telephone and the television and that it was a Scotsman who discovered penicillin...but did you know that it was a Scotsman who invented the bicycle?

Gordon Hamilton has created a few pages on Squidoo on some of these famous Scotsmen, down through the ages. Again, a sample of them may be found below.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World:
The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It

How the Scots Invented the Modern World

Scotland is of course renowned the world over for its whisky. In 2007, however, Gordon Hamilton got a major surprise. He happened to notice in the window of a pub which he occasionally visited in Edinburgh a newspaper article referring to blaand, a drink which he was amazed to find preceded whisky in Scotland. Blaand is made from the fermented whey of sheep's milk but it was not until July 2008 that he discovered the pub - The Tass, at 1 The High Street, on Edinburgh's Royal Mile - actually sold the drink! He joined the owner, Allan Cameron, in a glass of blaand and was very surprised by what he found.

Blaand looks like white wine and is of similar alcoholic strength. The taste, however, is incomparable to anything else ever previously tasted. If you get the opportunity to visit Edinburgh, pop in to The Tass and try it. It is, however, one of those drinks which you should probably be prepared to either love or hate.