A few weeks ago I was desperate for some money. I decided that something HAD TO GO. Regretfully I decided to sell my laptop.

It is now time for the interview and you need to get your interview approach right. There is no better approach to an interview than to prepare well and in time. By preparing carefully and well in advance, all details are taken care of in an organized manner. So you have prepared for all kinds of commonly asked questions, practiced your answers, got your industry and company information ready, your questions ready, you are dressed out well for the interview and now here it is ?the big hour. You are nervous. Despite all your preparation the interviewer could ask you the one thing that you might not have prepared for or the one thing that you might forget. You conjure up images of all that could go wrong, you are sweaty in the palms and nervous as you anticipate the interviewers tearing you apart. What if they find someone much before your turn comes? How come everyone else looks more relaxed and knowledgeable? What if you cannot answer a single question? Here is where your interview approach comes in. Relax. Close your eyes and take a deep breath into your abdomen. Feel the abdomen rise and fall like a baby抯. Do it a couple of times until you feel your nerves steadying a bit. The first thing you need to do as you approach the interview is to relax.

Networking. What an overwhelming concept it can be at first. When starting up a business one marketing strategy is “networking,” when laid off and searching for employment one strategy is “networking.” You might be wondering what exactly “networking” is. Well, networking is: Interacting or engaging in informal communication with others for mutual assistance or support. When I think of networking the first thing that comes to mind is “I don't know anyone”. Ok, I do know some people. So I get my pen an paper and eventually come up with a list of names of people. The next step of personal fear is when I go into the “I don't want to impose on friends” mode and find myself back at square one. Networking is not imposing. What you may consider imposing can turn out to be a win/win situation. If you are looking for a new position you may network with a friend that has a position open in her company. This company may have a referral award and if you get the job your friend gets a bonus. A nice word from a friend and a company may be filling an open position with a competent employee, you. As for businesses, you may have services the people you network with actually need and can benefit from. You may find the people you have chosen to network with may have services you can use as well. So free your inhibitions and network! Take this list and give them a call, be upbeat, let them know of your circumstance and move on to the next contact. Where do you start? First take out a pen and paper and start listing friends and family. Add the ex co-workers. Do you patronize any business where you chat while doing business? (Example hairstylists, the person at the espresso bar you talk to while getting your morning coffee), college/alumni buddies, church or social activities? This list will get you started but don't stop there. Be creative. Do you go to PTA meetings? Collect business cards! Second, be prepared. Keep a folder in the car of resumes or brochures. Keep a healthy stack of business cards with you. Develop a verbal presentation. If it is for employment, be creative and prepared in ways to approach the subject of possible openings. If it is business related, have a verbal description of what your business is and how you can (and have) benefit others. When you are at that hairstylist, during the course of a casual conversation you may bring up you were laid off (or you have a virtual assistant business) a simple “May I leave my resume with you? If you hear of someone needing my qualifications you can pass it on” (or business cards/brochures if networking for your business). Leads can come from the simplest of situations. Having your "marketing you" speech prepared will take most of the fear out of approaching others and make networking not such a scary concept. You will find that most people are more then willing to help out. If you find someone who passes your information back, don't take it personally and move on to the next individual. Through your information someone else may benefit. It never hurts to ask, but you will never get a yes if you don't ask. You never know, the people on the list you are networking with may use you for their networking needs in the future, so get out and network today! Susan Silva is the Editor of DeskDemon, a website for office professionals of all types with useful resources, articles, message boards and a bit of fun mixed in. You can visit DeskDemon site at http://www.deskdemon.com or sign up for the monthly newsletter AdminAdvantage at http://us.deskdemon.com/pages/us/adminadvantage/signup.

There are many articles written describing the advantages to mailing your own newsletter. Few of them, however, detail how to prepare a successful one that will appeal to your clients and encourage their business. A poorly created newsletter can actually serve to drive your clients away. Follow these six easy steps to a successful company newsletter, and your business relationships will vastly improve. 1. DECIDE YOUR MARKET. You must decide who will receive your newsletter. Do you want to send them to all of your clients, or just a special few? Do you want to send out multiple newsletters – one for small businesses, one for residential clients, and one for large businesses? Do you want to serve only one of these groups, perhaps the one who gives you the most profits – or the one whose profit margin you would like to increase? How you slant your newsletter will depend on your market. However you do it, I would suggest you speak with the customer – either by phone, email, snail mail, or by allowing them to sign up at your web site – before sending the newsletter. Otherwise, you increase the chances that it will be thrown in the trash – and it does you no good there.

eBay membership sites can be the quickest way to jump on the eBay bandwagon & start building an predictable & reliable cashflow from the internet. With the popularity of eBay growing every day, if your not yet selling on eBay your already losing sales. In this series of articles, I've been compiled the top seven questions you should ask before you join any eBay membership site. 4) How often is your content updated?