Putting in her two cents.

Name: June Hall

Ages: 34

Occupations: Syndicated newspaper columnist 

Location: Fort Lauderdale, florida 

Duties: Advising readers on topics like metal health, relationships and social issues

As a teenager, Hall constantly read the advice columns in local newspapers and practiced her future vocation by giving advice to friends. She thought she'd become a schoolteacher, but after college she decided that while "teaching was wonderful, it limited whom I could touch. I wanted to do something that would reach people," she says.

After graduating from business school in 1994, Hall took a job as a temporary secretary at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Soon after; she approached the editor with her desire to write an advice column. The column, she thought, would add diversity to the paper's content.

Hall's dream became a reality three months after that meeting: her column is published in the Sun-Sentinel every Thursday and Saturday. Her commentary also appears in the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, the Suburban Shopper in Boston, as well as in several weekly papers throughout the country published by Tribune Media Services.

Salary: While a syndicated columnist's pay is largely dependent on the size of the paper, salary can start at $40,000. The combined circulation of the papers in which Hall is published is more than 500,000 and she makes approximately $50,000.

Training: While an English or journalism background is helpful, no specific training is required to be a columnist. Hall developed her writing skills while pursuing an associate's degree in business administration, a bachelor's degree in social psychology and a master's degree in mental health counseling.

"You [need] a niche that will attract [an] editor," says Hall, whose behavioral science education and counseling experience provide the foundation for the content matter of her column. "Editorial and communications courses will help you [further] enhance your skills," she says.

In addition to writing a weekly column, Hall has taken her commentary live as a regular guest on the morning news at WFOR-4, the CBS affiliate in Miami. A book of her columns, No More Pity Parties: A Guide to Celebrating Your Way Through Life, is slated for release next month.