Problem: Article: No matter what you hope to spread to the masses, you need to know as much about it as possible before you start telling others about it. This is true of any cause, event, business, or other activity. When you're dealing with an external cause, gather all the facts and figures you'll need to persuade others to care about it as much as you do. If you're spreading the word about a business or event you started, prepare to answer questions about why your work warrants attention. In many cases, there are already related communities and resources in existence. Find out if you can use these resources to spread your own specific message to the masses. For example, join communities made up of other people who fight for your cause or work in a similar trade. Even if you cannot use these resources to spread your message to the general masses, you might at least be able to spread the word to those within these related communities. People are more likely to pay attention when they'll get something from it. Similarly, people are also more likely to spread the word to others if they'll benefit from doing so. Encourage people to act quickly by offering an incentive limited by time or quantity. For example, the cost of your product, service, or event tickets might be cut to 50% for anyone who purchases by the end of the week or for the first 25 customers. Encourage your current contacts to help you reach more people by offer referral incentives. Tell your contacts that they have the opportunity to win a prize if they share your link on Facebook or Twitter. Alternatively, offer a 15% discount on an existing customer's next purchase for every successful referral. You might have more success reaching the masses if you focus your efforts during a period of time when the masses are most likely to listen. Consider community events and activities. If your city hosts a popular event, consider advertising during that event. Try pitching your business or cause during different holidays. For instance, people might be more interested in purchasing a novelty gift around a major gift-giving holiday than they would be during the rest of the year.
Summary: Inform yourself. Piggyback on existing resources. Offer incentives. Time it right.

Problem: Article: Selling some stuff you don't need or want can be a good way to get a little extra money. The first to do is to go through your things and work out what you can spare. Things like college and school books, clothes and shoes can all fetch good prices. But CDs and DVDs may not go for so much. You can check some online shops to see what kind of price you can get. Textbooks that you are finished with can be some of the most valuable things you have, especially the very expensive medical and engineering books that all students on those courses have to buy. Be sure to describe the condition they are in accurately, and look around to see the kind of prices second hand copies are going for. Lots of people will be trying to sell old books, so be realistic in your valuation. Advertise on campus as well as online. One good to way to shift a variety of bits and pieces that you have, without having to list them online and pay for postage and packing, is to have a yard sale, or go to a car boot sale. You will not be getting big prices for what you are selling, so have realistic expectations. But you can do a few things to increase your chances of making more money. Promote it well, so you get good footfall. Have a clear pricing strategy so people don't think you are just making it up as you go along. Sell some drinks and snacks to your shoppers. There is also the added bonus of getting rid of some of your old stuff. If you really need to bring in some money, it might be easier to sell a few things that can fetch a big price. You won't get much for dozens of old CDs, but a good stereo or piece of electrical equipment could be very lucrative. Things like musical instruments can be worth a lot of money. Don't make any rash decisions though. Once it's gone, you can't get it back.
Summary: Work out what you can get rid of. Sell old college books. Have a yard sale. For more cash, sell big ticket items.

Problem: Article: Select "App Store" from the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen and check for software updates. Keeping your software up to date helps keep your laptop running fast. Click on the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen and select "System Preferences". Select "Users and Groups" followed by "Login Items". Check the box next to the each program you no longer want to open automatically at startup and then click "-" to delete the items from the list. Preventing programs and apps from opening automatically at startup is another great way to increase your laptop's speed. Your laptop runs a variety of programs in the background. These background processes can monopolize your laptop's memory, causing it to run slowly. Ending the background processes will improve the speed of your laptop. Open the "Applications" folder, then launch "Utilities". Open "Activity Monitor", click on the "Memory" tab, then the "Memory" filter. Double-click on a program you want to quit and then click "Quit". To end the program, click "Quit" again. Only close programs that you are familiar with. The memory filter will sort the programs by the amount of memory they are using. The program using the most memory will appear at the top of the list. Visual effects, such as the way your laptop minimizes windows, can also slow down your laptop. To turn these off, click on the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen and select "System Preferences". Select "Dock". Change the "Minimize windows using" preference from "Genie effect" to "Scale effect". Return to "System Preferences" main menu and open "Accessibility". Check the box next to "Reduce transparency". This will decrease the transparency of drop-down menus, the dock, etc.
Summary:
Click the Apple menu to check for software updates. Limit the number of programs that open automatically under "System Preferences". End unnecessary background processes with the "Activity Monitor". Disable your laptop's visual effects through the "System Preferences".