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2. Avoid being the network jerk. Lots of people don't like networking because of "networks jerks:" annoying pariahs who shuffle around the room, talking only about themselves and poorly feigning interest in those around them (sometimes they at least provide a sturdy business card you can clean your teeth with though).

To avoid this characterization, it's important to focus on building relationships rather than unabashedly pandering for favors once you lose your job. With that in mind, you would be well-advised to first see what you can offer network contacts before reaching out for a favor.

One of the easiest strategies is simply paying attention to the professional and personal interests of a contact, then starting a conversation or sending over resources that speak to those interests.

For example, if you wanted to tap a contact in marketing, start a dialogue around a Gartner study that suggests chief marketing officers will be investing more on tech than chief information officers by 2015. Or, if you discover your contact is a big Lakers fan, mention how impressed you've been with Kobe's monster season. This will likely leave your network contacts feeling warmer and more positive toward you, exponentially increasing the chances that they'll use their resources for your benefit.

In such a competitive job market, it's not uncommon for professionals in any industry and at any pay grade to find themselves out of work. Nonetheless, there is no way around the fact that the lack of steady income and stimulation that accompany unemployment can be incredibly stressful.

However, the worst thing you can do while unemployed is spend your days sulking in a bathrobe, dwelling on how bad the situation is while drowning your sorrows in a bowl of Cocoa Puffs.

To avoid that unfortunate scenario, here are a few strategies to help fight the uphill battle into a new job.

1. Remember that your new job is finding a job. When you're let go or if you spontaneously quit, you likely want to get back on the horse quickly. And when starting out, it's of dire importance to be proactive rather than reactive.

With that in mind, it's wise to get up early, shower and get fully dressed to maintain a professional mind set as if you were going to the office. The only difference is now, your responsibilities include being the first to evaluate new openings on job boards, follow up with recruiters and employment leads, reach out to your network, write emails and make phone calls.

If you lost the chance to interview for a great job because someone else got the wheels turning first, that extra hour or two of shut-eye won't be nearly as satisfying.

Also, because a call or message with your next opportunity could come in at any moment, it's important to have a professional email address and voice mail. While it may have been acceptable to keep your adolescent AOL account and eighth grade voice mail while you had a job, you don't want those kinds of easily changeable characteristics to leave a negative impression on hiring managers and recruiters and stand in the way.

If you do decide to sleep until noon, consider letting your professional calls go until you wash the sleepies from your eyes and can talk without sounding like you just woke up.

In such a competitive job market, it's not
uncommon for professionals in any industry and
at any pay grade to find themselves out of work.
Nonetheless, there is no way around the fact that
the lack of steady income and stimulation that
accompany unemployment can be incredibly
stressful.
However, the worst thing you can do while
unemployed is spend your days sulking in a
bathrobe, dwelling on how bad the situation is while
drowning your sorrows in a bowl of Cocoa Puffs.
To avoid that unfortunate scenario, here are a few
strategies to help fight the uphill battle into a new
job.
1. Remember that your new job is finding a
job. When you're let go or if you spontaneously
quit, you likely want to get back on the horse
quickly. And when starting out, it's of dire
importance to be proactive rather than reactive.
With that in mind, it's wise to get up early, shower
and get fully dressed to maintain a professional
mind set as if you were going to the office. The only
difference is now, your responsibilities include
being the first to evaluate new openings on job
boards, follow up with recruiters and employment
leads, reach out to your network, write emails and
make phone calls.
If you lost the chance to interview for a great job
because someone else got the wheels turning first,
that extra hour or two of shut-eye won't be nearly
as satisfying.
Also, because a call or message with your next
opportunity could come in at any moment, it's
important to have a professional email address and
voice mail. While it may have been acceptable to
keep your adolescent AOL account and eighth grade
voice mail while you had a job, you don't want
those kinds of easily changeable characteristics to
leave a negative impression on hiring managers
and recruiters and stand in the way.
If you do decide to sleep until noon, consider letting
your professional calls go until you wash the
sleepies from your eyes and can talk without
sounding like you just woke up.
2. Avoid being the network jerk. Lots of people
don't like networking because of "networks jerks:"
annoying pariahs who shuffle around the room,
talking only about themselves and poorly feigning
interest in those around them (sometimes they at
least provide a sturdy business card you can clean
your teeth with though).
To avoid this characterization, it's important to
focus on building relationships rather than
unabashedly pandering for favors once you lose
your job. With that in mind, you would be well-
advised to first see what you can offer network
contacts before reaching out for a favor.
One of the easiest strategies is simply paying
attention to the professional and personal interests
of a contact, then starting a conversation or sending
over resources that speak to those interests.
For example, if you wanted to tap a contact in
marketing, start a dialogue around a Gartner study
that suggests chief marketing officers will be
investing more on tech than chief information
officers by 2015. Or, if you discover your contact is
a big Lakers fan, mention how impressed you've
been with Kobe's monster season. This will likely
leave your network contacts feeling warmer and
more positive toward you, exponentially increasing
the chances that they'll use their resources for your
benefit.
3. Make sure you stay on top of your skills.
Too often, professionals who lose their job allow
their skills to rust while searching for the next
opportunity. Similarly, professionals formerly
responsible for only one type of task may fail to
broaden their knowledge base once they
discontinue employment somewhere.
To avoid this scenario, it's smart to use the
moments between sending out applications and
following up with leads sharpening your abilities to
increase your appeal. This is especially important
for technical professionals who need to stay on top
of new software iterations and trending programs to
retain a competitive edge over the legions of others
seeking new work.
4. Take effective notes. In the interview world,
there are few excuses for getting the same question
wrong twice. So whether you crumbled under the
pressure of a problem-solving question, whiffed a
technical question or lost your composure at the
"biggest weakness" bomb, be sure to do your
research and prepare next time with the best
answer possible to that question. You have the
opportunity to recognize and fix your shortcomings
while seeking new work, so take note of where you
can improve and prepare to patch the holes when
you next have the chance.
5. Don't come off as desperate (even if you
are). This one is tough. The bills could pile up and
your self-confidence badly bruise when you're not
working. But, while you might need to have a little
personal freak out every now and again, you should
maintain an even keel when you go into a job
interview for a prospective position. Few employers
are drawn to candidates who are virtually begging.
If you spend your days refining your abilities and
mending gaps in your skills, there's no reason why
you can't meet a hiring manager with the
confidence and poise of a man or woman with many
options elsewhere.
Think of it like dating. You might have the worst
slump of your life, but nonetheless, you have to
play it cool when that special someone comes
along, lest you ruin your chances of developing a
relationship.

I've been banking with GTB for some years now and all I can say is that they are very innovative, they try to always be at †нε forefront in any aspect of banking. This is a welcome development though, and let's see how evolutionary it'll be

What a beautiful sight....

online master: 600k a montham sorry dat is hyperbole....I dnt blv u and her...lolzzzzzzzz....am not new into personal adsense so you can tll me dat any company can pay u 600k a month 2 advertise for them and I wll blv u..dats a fat lie...
No offence oooo...bt its impozible...

Like seun am sure he runs his own personla add nt google or anyoda compnies ads...oya go and check his advertisement price acoording to banner and see d rate or u can contact him for that...
So d lindaikeji and 600k a month for advertisement is a fet lie unless u are talking abt her google adsense account nt her personal ads

Check her interview with Toolz on ndani.tv. Talking about nairaland, you can't compare the type of companies that trade both sites. Check linda's site, it's laced with ads of corporate companies, the likes of etisalat, glo nd all, (remember we are talking per month). I think big companies favour her site a lot more than nairaland, even with lesser traffic. She has a squad of followers, and advertisers like that.

If you compare her charges with international pricings, I don't think it's out of place.

Guy, be weary of information overload though, just highlight 3 of the businesses that fit your budget and disregard the rest. it'll save you time of countless analysis

How old are these guys again?

kcc515: Pls, like how much does Linda Ikeji earn monthly?

Linda Ikeji is now into ad placement (though like a 50/50 thing with google's adsense). I had her say that each ad placement is about 600k a month - some are way more than that (like the background ad she runs). She has more than 6 ads on her site, so you can begin to do the calculations

Like someone said, the best thing is to ask for a statement of account, at least that gives a well documented transaction details on the account, after which he can begin to ask questions. I believe your guy is not one of those people that prefers not to do anything because 'it is destined to be that way', Let him ask questions and press charges if situation warrants it.

Guys, it's not really a good advice posting your email addresses on a public forum, you are inviting spammers and scammers to your doorstep, the best thing is to send email to the guy via his profile, not posting your email addresses.

tomholly: Hi,just laid my hands on some books on business success.if you need the FREE CopIES post ur mail will send it or text ur mail to 08094542680.it my contribution to Small Scale Biz.

Guy, do you mind uploading the ebooks on a public domain, if it is possible?
thanks

Good luck to you guys, remember, always have a plan B when everything don't go as planned...

@ Cold blooded, I beleive those numbers are for thier employees, though it doesn't sound right, but I guess they are free to use any number they choose to.

Harvard-Grad:
I think its better when the cherry is popped early, babysitting a 27 year old virgin is extremely frustrating. I wan resign abeg.

Guy, thank God for what you have, it's not that she isn't matured (she's 27 for God's sake) but for the fact that she's saying NO until marriage doesn't mean you have to babbysit her in every issue...

I believe this is already what we know, the research just confirms it...

sdymanagers: Starting a business even as a student is the smartest thing a student can do in these hard times. Apart from making a little money on the side, you learn practical and invaluable business lessons.

Here is my own experience which still helps me till today. I bought a dozen pack of St Micheal pants and came to school to sell them. My friends and room mates "rushed" them on credit to pay later. One week down the line none paid me. By the second week when they still didn't pay, my business went bust because i had no more capital to continue. Thanks but no thanks to my friends. Hard lesson which remains with me and now dictates how i do business with friends.

Hard lesson you learnt there, that's the entrepreneural spirit - never give up, but learn from failures

Google doesn't require any introduction, (if you need one, simply google it :-) ).

I’m not a fan of it's aggressive tactics – it kills competition (think of Google Trader and Tradestable).

Nonetheless, I was blown away when I saw a chrome ad on goal.com. God, I was only browsing for football news, how could my attention by taken by a mere ad? Out of curiosity, I downloaded chrome and, sincerely, there is no better browser. For a novice, chrome is a free browser from the big G.

From then on, I've been curious of the activities of Google - how it operates. I must admit that I have tend to love the company from the business standpoint. Unlike Microsoft, Google is just too professional. it knows what it wants and how to get it.

This is a two part series, I'll detail 3 of the 6 business lessons from Google I've learnt and you should, if you are serious of building a failure-proof business.

1. FREE is The Next Big Thing

More often than not, you see people trying to benefit from the little knowledge they have. I've seen some folks selling cheat codes at some ridiculous prices. Despite that these codes are bugs; still, they'll try to rip you off because they (think) are privy to the cheats.

It’s so rampant in the online world: some claim to have made ‘millions’ online only to ask for recharge vouchers when giving out the secret formula. You wonder; if they've made the millions, how on earth will they be so much interested in recharge vouchers?

If you think well of your business, then you should know that such paltry information should be given out for free – yes, for FREE! This, is the 1st of business lesson I've learnt from Google. Google offers the best search engine for free but makes money through ads. This is the system that works. You need to give your customers a bait; something that will pull them in.

It’s amazing how we don’t use common sense in business even when we use it in our daily lives. We are so much emotionally attached to money that we disregard common sense. You can’t go fishing without a bait, it’s impossible. Bait is what traps the fish – it is what pulls it in.

This same common sense is required in business. You need something to pull your customers in - they are uninterested in the first place. You need something to catch their attention and that is by offering something as a decoy.

Google does this well, most of Google products are free – Gmail, Chrome, the free Google Drive. These are baits to pull in customers.

2. Give The Best Bait!

Yahoo Inc started before Google, but the word “google” is now a verb according to the oxford dictionary. This is the result of being the best. The Google search engine is the best there is. It has a nice user interface; it takes less than a minute to give search results for any query. It’s that good.

It is unfortunate that entrepreneurs don't do this. Due to the nature of my work, I subscribe to different newsletters and often times, I unsubscribe within a month. This is not for the information that is provided, but for the quality offered. Common, don’t be cheap!

Though you are giving out a bait, let it be the best bait you can ever give. Develop a brand: a good brand pulls in customers. Google search engine controls more than 60 percent of the search market; it offers the best service in the best way it can be offered. That – my dear – is the only way to attract lots of customers.

3. Secure Your Stronghold

A decade ago, Google started as a search engine, now it is a conglomerate of enterprises. Think of Gmail (the best email provider), Youtube (the 3rd most visited site in the world), Android (it controls 70 percent of the smartphone global market share), Google maps, Chrome and Google+. These products were only possible because Google was able to secure its stronghold – the search engine.

While in high school, a teacher used to tell me this:

understand one chapter before moving to the other even if there is not enough time.
Looking back know, I realize the wisdom behind it. Had it been I heeded the advice, I'd have known everything there is to know about any course whatsoever. I’d have been able to solve any problem on any subject, instead of reading all subjects but failing to understand any.

In order words – GO DEEP, DON’T GO WIDE! This is where lots of business owners fail – they go wide instead of going deep.

Back to the online world – don't claim to know how to blog, how to do affiliate marketing, at the same time how to build lists. My advice – perfect one before heading to the other.

Linda Ikeji is to blogging as Seun Osewa is to managing a forum; that is it. Seun may fail as a blogger and Linda will fail as a forum manager. They both know their respective strengths and perfected them.

Don’t be a jack of all trade and master of none. If you want to do something, perfect it before heading to the next. Have one thing on your mind at a particular time, secure it, and then expand.

Here you have it, the first of a two part series, I have detailed 3 very important business lessons from Google that you can incorporate into your business to see it skyrocket. Next week will be the concluding part. Till then, stay focused!

Starting up a business sounds good at first, but it becomes tough when things start to go the direct opposite of what was planned at the beginning.

This is usually the most difficult part of any business venture, this is the point that determines the success/failure of the business.

Most people panic at this point, ditching the business idea all together. This is why most startups fail before the 5th year

Of course, blogging is lucrative but takes more than guts to start earning real money from it.

Think blogging, think Linda Ikeji, but people forget to realise that it took her close to 4 years before she started earning big.

I've always said it, no business is a goldmine, it takes focus and perseverance before things start taking shape.

kramer: This has front page material written all over it

Because na Laila ikeji's thread. Wassup with laila ikeji nd front page? Almost all her threads land on the front page... I wonder o

the site now functions properly, I had to uninstall all plugins, it seemed I installed a particular plugin that made a mess of the codes.

thanks everyone for your concern

bros12345: yusuf pls dont wipe off everythin. calm down. resize ur browser or use a mobile simulator and try. u can also use browser view to check.

Of course, wiping everything should be the last alternative, but I'm just a little lost as I don't really understand the problem. So many ppl also complained of the same thing to me - my site wasn't able to load on their browsers.

Anyways, thanks.... I'll look into what you said and I hope it solves the problem once and for all

Thanks

brine: It opens fine here on IE8,IE9 and opera mobile emulator. What version of Internet Explorer did you try to access it from? BTW,i'll suggest you use wp super cache to cache some of your pages so it can increases loading speed of your site

I'm using IE7 (not sure though), sometimes when I refresh (several times), it loads. I believe the problem arises when I type in the url to the address bar of any browser (chrome inclusive).

I deactivated some plugins but the problem still remains.... I'm thinking of wiping everything off and starting all over again (the site is a new one) since I don't seem to know what the problem is.

I think that wp super cache is a great idea, I'll try that out

And the theme is responsive (I'm using standard theme)

Hello webmasters

My blog www.allaboutyusuf.com fails to upload on mobile browsers, I keep getting this redirection message especially from opera browsers.

I thought it was opera, but when I tried to open it from explorer, it couldn't load, I don't know what the problem is.

I'm new to wordpress and I'm not used to it, I'll be happy if someone shld help me with it.

BTW, it opens on chrome

JazakAllahu Kayran for the reminder.... A great reminder it is

hi webmasters,

I bought a nice optin page for my site and I chose getresponse as my email client. unlike aweber, I'm finding it difficult to incorporate GR into the customized webform from my page. Please, can someone tell me how I can incorporate the GR as my email client into my customized optin page without losing anything in the page. thanks in advance

Seriously, it's getting crazy... Thing is, it's pretty difficult to get †ЂΞ prepaid meter now, but charges on the old meter is just outrageous. Another thing is this: they charge almost any amount once ur meter is not on their register, this I just got to know... Heard that the payment of such charges goes to some people in PHCN, not the govt. So, to register ur meter now attracts a fee of about 10k (it's done illegally though).

Thing is, I'm just tired of this outrageous billing, it's killing my pocket!!!

In no particular order

Microsoft Security Essentials (the best free antivirus out there)

VLC (no more to talk about)

Chrome - ever since I started using chrome, I've never used †ЂΞ mediocre browser called firefox

Adobe Reader - of course, I still read pdf

Lock a Folder - what a way to hide files u don't want in open glare

Mini Bin - I love my desktop clean, I delete all icons and ∂α† includes the recycle bin

Recuva - recovers deleted files even if they are 6 months old

The little I can remember.

Logicboy03: I can avoid shame and do all these things and still be a psychopathic murderer

is that what you are taught?