In this post we take a look at the 10 key benefits of having a personal, private and professional coach.

1. Help Clarify Values and Important Goals
   Many people don’t have the slightest idea about what they want to do with their lives. Many times they select their values from a list of worthy sounding ideals. And their goals tend to be vague and/or seemingly unattainable. Sadly, this is a common problem for most people.Good professional coaches are trained to help a person understand what really matters in his/her life. They can help clarify values and then make sure they’re in harmony with a person’s core desires. It’s the first major step for getting a life on track and it’s the first major role of a good coach.
2. Provide Extreme Personal Care
   Coaching is a safe place for a person to be. It’s a place where injustices, fears, frustrations and anger can be vented. It’s a place where dreams, fantasies and hopes surface and are openly discussed. It’s a place where confidentiality is of the highest order. It’s a place where someone can be herself without fear of sounding weak, insecure or scared. The coaching relationship is also a place where truth is king. The coach has no vested interest in the relationship other than helping the person have every advantage possible to lead the kind of life she wants for herself and her family.
3. Work on the WHOLE Person
   A person needs balance in his/her life. It’s possible to be hugely successful in terms of a career and still be miserable most of the time. For example, people who work all of the time often will neglect their health, their spiritual life, and recreational activities. They will neglect their family, friends, and loved ones in lieu of a successful business career.By examining a person’s whole life, a coach can identify where that person is out of balance and then help him take manageable steps towards having a well-rounded life. Many corporate business executives are attracted to hiring a personal coach for these very reasons.
4. Uncover Natural Talents and Gifts
   A good coach can motivate a client to do something they didn’t know they were capable of doing. By having a natural curiosity about what makes people tick and utilizing special coaching tools, professional coaches are able to uncover talents, abilities and gifts that many people don’t even know they have. It can be a truly enlightening experience for a person to go through this discovery with their coach.
5. Craft Action Plans
   What good are values and goals without a good action plan? The best action plans are the ones where the client has complete “free will” to choose a path that is comfortable for him/her self. The coach simply finds out what the client wants to accomplish and then helps them to take action.Motivation is much more likely to occur when there is no pressure or “shoulds” in a relationship like this. But the coach is no fool. Forwarding the action or deepening the learning must always take place to make the coaching experience worthwhile. A coach just simply makes this whole process a little easier.
6. Provide Accountability
   A key ingredient for a successful coaching relationship is for the person to be accountable for the things that he says he will do. However, there are no judgements, disappointments or guilt trips laid on the client in the event of non-action, but there is accountability. The person must let the coach know what he did (or did not do) from each coaching session to the next.
7. Eliminate the Energy Drains
   What are you tolerating in your life that you wish was not there, but it’s not a big enough deal to make an issue out of it? Are you tolerating a cluttered desk? Are you tolerating that hubcap that needs replacing? Are you allowing people to invade your space and time and infringe on your personal boundaries? Are you tolerating something from a significant other that is silently having an adverse affect on the relationship?When coaches make this request, most people can come up with a list of a hundred or more tolerations that have been eating away at them over a period of time. Coaches are all too familiar with how they sap the energy right out of a person’s life, energy that could be used to build a business or fulfill a life. Coaches use special tools early in the relationship to systematically eliminate things their clients tolerate.
8. Prevent Relapse
   When a person cannot get the support that is needed to build their business, it’s very easy to let things slide and not get them done. It’s also possible to allow the many distractions that happen every day bring us down. It’s sad that this is the way it is sometimes, but it’s true.A coach’s role is to be there for their clients in a supportive environment. That’s what they get paid for. Most professional coaches even allow email and telephone support in between coaching sessions that further deepen the relationship. Many clients report that the relationship between their coaches and themselves becomes so meaningful that they look to their coaching calls as one of the main highlights of their week.
9. Have a Silent Business Partner
   How would you like to have a business partner that makes this promise to you: “As your coach, I have a special relationship where I help you get very clear on your goals and then together, we craft an action plan that systematically gets you into manageable action steps. As you take these action steps you bring more balance into your life so that every aspect of your life is enhanced. Each week I will hold you accountable for those action steps, but without any judgement whatsoever, if you don’t do the things you say you will do. I am your silent business partner who is dedicated to your success, but where you get to keep all of the profits.”
10. Coaches Help Their Clients Become Coaches
    Many clients gain so much benefit from their coaching sessions that they naturally want to help others by becoming coaches themselves. In the process of being coached by a professional coach, clients learn some of the basics on how to coach others. The tools and skills that most coaches use are mostly skills that we already know from our life experiences and training. A good coach teaches how to use those skills and enhance them to a powerful and even professional level.

I welcome your comments.

Glenn Andrew
www.glennandrew.com

• Success Through Helping Others There are natural laws that are at play as we journey on the road to success and one of those natural laws is the law of causation.  Simply put, the law of causation states that what goes around, comes around.  When we go out and help others succeed, we in......
• Problem Solver Or Solution Provider Let me ask you this question. Do you consider yourself a... Problem Solver or a Solution Provider? I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, "If you are not a part of the solution, then you are a part of the problem". Most people that I’ve talked to tell me that being......
• Social Media Friend Strategy Growing your friend network on social media is pretty easy.  If you are interested in growing yours, here is one method you may want to try: Join a number of groups that interest you that have 100+ members.  Have some fun with this.  You will find likeminded people who have......
• Effective Networking Your network is one of your most valuable resources.  And yet it is overlooked by most people.  Networking skills are essential in today's business environment. For me, the value of a network can be summed up in the following quote: It's not who you know, but who knows you! Here......
• Goal Setting Goal setting is one of the most important activities you will ever do in your personal and business life.  It is an activity that all successful people engage in and this is why so much has been written and spoken about it.  In this article, I share a few thoughts......

• Achieving Your Blogging Vision - The Gratitude Letter Get detailed. Express gratitude for your successes in specific terms, e.g., "I am grateful that I have made $115,000 this year just from advertising revenue from my blog"; "I am thankful that my blog has sent 4,200 new customers to my business website this year"; "I appreciate that my blog...
• Reinvention worry #1 One of my chief concerns when I pulled the rip cord was whether I'd miss the excitement, whether my new life would be a paler version of the one I'd led before. This is reinvention worry # 1:...it's too easy to concentrate on what you're giving up, and hard to......
• Lesson#3, Image Advertising and Personal Name Recognition Do Not Make the Phone Ring! Why don’t you ask some of the most successful business owners or professionals you know, in your office or neighborhood, at the golf club, anywhere what their response rate is to their advertising dollar?...
• The Broken Parachute Man / Robert B. Bolin Genre: ThrillerMain characters: Clyde YoungTime and place: contemporary (2006-2008), mostly US (plus UK, Spain and France)Summary: Clyde Young, an average employee of a pharmaceutical company, is on his way to a very important presentation for his future. The plane is hijacked and the terrorists put him in a parachute and......
• Tax Prep Time: Should You Do It Yourself or Hire a Professional? At this time of year, I hear people asking the same question over and over again. Everyone wonders if they should do their own taxes or if they should hire a professional tax preparer. Both methods of tax preparation have their benefits. However, no one wants to waste the money......

While going through some of my reference material the other day, I came across some notes I took on mastermind groups and thought they would be a great share for this blog. Mastermind groups are as old as time and have been used by highly successful people throughout history. In more recent times, the concept of a mastermind has been popularized by Napoleon Hill in his book “Think and Grow Rich,” as well as, many others. Participating in a mastermind group remains a key success factor for those achieving success.

Seven months ago, Brad Szollose, leadership coach and author of the upcoming book “Liquid Leadership,” shared five great tips on mastermind groups in a public forum. Here is what he had to say:

1. It is very important that the people you pick have very different skill sets. If any 2 people in a group have the same skills, it becomes like two people paddling a canoe on the same side…you just go in circles.
   It is best to choose people that have different yet overlapping skills that are needed from the other. I just formed a group - one of the guys is a longtime corporate coach who specializes in turning authors into bestsellers while providing research. Since I am working on a leadership book he is a natural fit. Our overlap is humor and consulting…so we can help each other in that area, but our real need is what the other lacks.
2. No business should be conducted on the day of a mastermind meeting that could interrupt each person’s contribution. Years ago I started a mastermind team and one of the key individuals had not only scheduled a private coaching session close to our 4th meeting, he was late. We broke up shortly after that. And this leads me to my next point…
3. Each contributor must receive an equal amount of support and contribution from the team. This is kind of self explanatory. Let’s say if I coach Lisa on her business and how to market herself, I expect her to use her knowledge and expertise to give me feedback on my book, as well as, open up her rolodex of publishers. “Quid Pro Quo.”
4. Be strict with each other. If you assign homework, each person must have their homework done.  Hold each other accountable and support of each other’s goals.
5. Choose a balanced, small, professional group from eclectic backgrounds.  In order to get the most from a mastermind team, I suggest small groups so that time is plentiful. Keep it between 3 and 5 people.
   Eclectic backgrounds and balance are key to getting the most leverage from your team. Be very careful about creating an all male team or an all female team. Men have a tendency to be competitive and black and white in decisions; whereas, women are far more collaborative and supportive of the bigger picture, especially in corporate relationships. Brilliant ideas come from everywhere and the more diversified the group, the better.

What has been your experience been with a mastermind group? Are you thinking of starting or joining one?  Please comment!

Glenn Andrew

• The Value of Twitter When I first looked into Twitter, I wondered how would I use an application that would only allow me to use 140 characters. I could see how I would have used it years ago in my younger youth to stay in touch with friends and to find out where the......
• Problem Solver Or Solution Provider Let me ask you this question. Do you consider yourself a... Problem Solver or a Solution Provider? I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, "If you are not a part of the solution, then you are a part of the problem". Most people that I’ve talked to tell me that being......
• Effective Networking Your network is one of your most valuable resources.  And yet it is overlooked by most people.  Networking skills are essential in today's business environment. For me, the value of a network can be summed up in the following quote: It's not who you know, but who knows you! Here......
• Social Media Friend Strategy Growing your friend network on social media is pretty easy.  If you are interested in growing yours, here is one method you may want to try: Join a number of groups that interest you that have 100+ members.  Have some fun with this.  You will find likeminded people who have......
• Starfish Story A number of years ago, I heard the following story and it really resonated with me.  I was reminded of it recently and wanted to share it with all of you.  It expresses my sentiment and approach to coaching people like you and me to achieve success in their personal and business......

• San Clemente Golf Course, San Clemente, CA San Clemente Golf Course is located in: San Clemente, CA Phone: (949)361-8380 Website: http://www.sanclementegc.com/ Course History: This is a beautiful course that was designed by William Bell, it quickly rose to prominence in the area. Considering the quality of the course, the rates are incredibly low, thanks in part to......
• Weekend Reading: August 17, 2008 A Story About American Economy This week a friend of mine sends a story that funny, yet revealing about the fading American economy.  The story was entitled: Why you cannot find a descent job in America? And here's the story: Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm......
• Sandpiper Golf Course, Santa Barbara, CA Sandpiper Golf Course is located in Santa Barbara, CA Phone: (805) 968-1541 Website: http://www.sandpipergolf.com Course History: This beautiful course was designed by William Bell and first opened to the public in 1972. It quickly became one of the most popular courses in Santa Barbara and has been a top rated......
• Personal Finance Interview with Budget Pulse's Craig I’m doing two part interviews with bloggers on two of my personal sites. I’m excited to have Craig from Budget Pulse answer a few of my questions on this new project. The first part is here on Green Panda Treehouse. The second part is on Vega Baja Productions. If you’re......
• Use Your Skills and Contacts to Find a Great Job Jobs are difficult to come by, right?  So they say, but one of the good things about living in the day and age that we do is that technology has made it easier to connect with others.  And that goes for those who are looking for employment.  With many jobs......

Your network is one of your most valuable resources.  And yet it is overlooked by most people.  Networking skills are essential in today’s business environment. For me, the value of a network can be summed up in the following quote:

It’s not who you know, but who knows you!

Here are ten tips that can help you become a more effective networker:

1. Make networking an on-going activity – Look upon yourself as a full time networker, as someone who is always growing and expanding their network. Make it easy for people to find you, remember you, and connect with you.  Do this and networking becomes effortless and more natural for you.
2. Always add value – Become known as someone who always brings value to the conversation.  When you add value or provide useful content freely, people will naturally look upon you as a valuable resource.  Remember, it’s not who you know, but who knows you.
3. Crosslink – Refer people in your network to other people in your network.  Always be on the lookout for opportunities to connect people together. They will thank you for your efforts and will want to return the favor. This is a great strategy for strengthening your network.
4. Use an elevator speech – An elevator speech is a short saying that you use when people ask what you do or what business you are in.  It gets it’s name from when you get into an elevator at a conference or event and people ask you those questions.  Your response has to be short, concise and roll off your tongue, because you only have perhaps 15 to 30 seconds to share it.  This is something you don’t want to be “off-the-cuff.”  Take time to develop yours.
5. Be “on purpose” with your networking – Intention is the laser-like focus that guides you through the maze of life, including your networking efforts. You are the one who decides what what your intention is.  Why are you networking? What do you want to achieve with your networking? Who will benefit the most from your networking?  And so on.
6. Ask powerful questions – A skill that all networkers should master is asking powerful questions.  Concentrate on asking open-ended questions, such as those beginning with who, what, when, where, how, and why. These questions can yield you a lot of information.  Use questions that begin with a verb only to obtain detail and clarification; only three answers available here: yes, no and maybe.
7. Use a contact management system – Your contacts should be easily available to you, whether you use a rolodex, Outlook, or some contact management software.  Organize them in a manner that is meaningful to you with categories.  Be sure to include information on how you know them, whether it was through a mutual friend, a networking event or similar function.  Add details that you can come back to such as the name of their spouse, ages of their children, or special interests they may have.
8. Follow-up – A well-known business truism is “The fortune is in the follow-up.”  Many people miss out on the opportunity to follow-up and this where up to 40% of potential business is actually lost.  I look at is as a responsibility and that phrase has become a mantra of mine.
9. Respond to your network correspondences – Have you ever sent an email and the recipient never responded?  Did they get the message or did it get lost in their junk mail folder?  Your response can be a simple three-step process that takes less than 10 seconds: (1) click “reply”, (2) type “thanks”, (3) click “send.”  That way the sender will know you received the message.  It’s a simple courtesy that builds trust.
10. Be memorable – Some people are more memorable than others and you can become one of them quite easily.  For example, chose something about your name that you could share that will stand out.  For example,  “My name is John Smith.  It’s a common name, but I’m not.” or “My name is Glenn Andrew. I’m the guy with two first names.” Be creative and have fun with it.

One of the measures of your professional wealth is the size and quality of your network.  Follow these tips and you will become a more effective networker.  To your success!

What are some of your favorite networking tips?  I welcome your comments!

Glenn Andrew

• Problem Solver Or Solution Provider Let me ask you this question. Do you consider yourself a... Problem Solver or a Solution Provider? I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, "If you are not a part of the solution, then you are a part of the problem". Most people that I’ve talked to tell me that being......
• Crafting An Elevator Speech What is an Elevator Speech? Has this ever happened to you?  You get onto an elevator and someone on it asks you what you do. You have maybe fifteen seconds to tell them before the next floor comes up. You may have told them your title or job description and......
• Going Natural 3.0 Video If any part of your business is online, you need to watch this video: http://www.stompernet.net/goingnatural3/ My friends at StomperNet have put together the third in their "Going Natural" Series.  As with the first two series, this video series is insightful and extremely useful for your business online and is a must......
• CASH Success Formula - Part 1 of 4 In this series of four blogs, we will be discussing a simple formula for success.  It's called the CASH formula and if you follow it precisely, success will come to you.  It is based upon natural laws and as you know, natural laws work. The ‘C’ stands for Continuing education.......
• CentralDesktop.com CentralDesktop.com has a set of tools built for business teams and work groups. It was recently voted by Business Week for "Best of the Web" for collaboration. It helps businesses to organize and share information more efficiently, to communicate with others, and to collaborate on projects. CentralDesktop.com is fully configurable......

• Start Your Own Home Based Business   Hi everbody, thanks for visiting and all your comments, keep 'em coming! If you've decided that, like me, you want to start your own home based business but are still unsure of which way to do it then I suggest you start thinking about what you enjoy doing. What......
• Get Laid Off: Start a Business? - Guest Post The following article contains condensed excerpts from $100K to Nothing – Layoff: My journey from a six figure income to the unemployment line in the worst economy of our time by Dan Holt. You can find out more about the book at www.100ktonothing.com. I was laid off earlier this year,...
• Why Renting is Right for Us Right Now From the moment the complex manager opened the door, I've been in love with our little apartment....
• How to Get Started With Niche Blogging Are you already participating in the creation of a blog? If you are not out there blogging already, then you are definitely missing out on a truly booming market, not to mention what is essentially one of the latest and greatest fads on the internet. Today it seems as if......
• Children in the Home Business Environment Operating a home business is seldom easy and interruptions come in all shapes, sizes and forms. Between the family, friends and neighbors who call or come by, and the telemarketers who insist on ringing your number off the hook, getting through the workday can be a real challenge...

Goal setting is one of the most important activities you will ever do in your personal and business life.  It is an activity that all successful people engage in and this is why so much has been written and spoken about it.  In this article, I share a few thoughts I’ve learned on this important topic.

The value of setting goals can be summed up in the immortal words of baseball great Yogi Berra,

If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.

These words ring so true. Having a clear objective of where you want to be or what you want to achieve is key to your success in getting there.  Goal setting helps you keep focus and on track with your objectives.

Tips on Writing Goals

The first step to manifesting your goals is to write them down.  I suggest actually writing them down instead of typing them out to begin with.  The creative process is an organic one and putting pen to paper helps you internalize and visualize.  Write them down and then begin refining them.  Here are a few tips to help you with that process:

• Create goals that are a stretch for you, yet achievable.  The bigger they are, the greater the possibilities in your personal and business life.  By increasing the scope of your dreams and aspirations, you will be able to accomplish much more than you currently realize you can and the rewards will be that much greater.
• Make your goals measureable and specific. Establish a time for completion or a threshold to be crossed.  Prioritize your goals and list them in an order that makes sense for you.  And remember that it’s common for some sub goals to be interrelated and that some sub goals build upon others.  But there should be one overall, guiding goal in mind.
• Make them powerful and dynamic.  If you want your life to have an impact, then your goals must be so aligned.  Use action verbs to help define them accordingly.
• State your goals as if they are already completed and write them in the present tense.  Here we use the law of attraction to begin the process of manifesting what we want in our life.
• Under your personal goals, commit to changing something about yourself.  Imagine who you will become as you achieve your goals and actively chose to be that new and different person.  If you are perceptive, you will notice that life leaves clues for you.  And if you act upon those clues, you will find yourself gradually transforming into what you want to become. But be patient, yet enthusiastic.

Reinforcing Activities

Engage in some form of daily activity that will help you visualize and reinforce your goals fulfilled.  If you are enthusiastic about your goals, then it is easy to take action.  Here are a few examples of activities you might engage in:

• Create a dream board collage.  Gather pictures from different magazines that represent the life of your dreams, such as your dream vacation, your dream car, your dream house, your dream business, and so on.  Paste these pictures on a poster board around 11 by 17 inches or so.  You will need a lot of pictures to fill this board so dive into the process.  When you have finished, put this in a place that you will see it many times each day.  And have fun with the process.  Dare to dream the life you’ve always wanted!
• Create a 2-3 minute video for a lasting multimedia experience.  You can start by creating a PowerPoint presentation with positive affirmations and pictures.  These affirmations should be phrased as if you’ve already achieved each goal, such as “I am financially independent,” “I enjoy perfect health and well-being,” or “I vacation whenever I want to.”  Like the dream board collage just mentioned, the pictures for your video should also represent your dream life.  Be sure to include music that gets you excited and pumped up; for example, choose a favorite song.  Then play your video daily on your computer or DVD player to help get you into the right frame of mind.  If you don’t possess the skills to put it together, then hire a wedding photographer or videographer to create one for you.  This is an extremely powerful technique for attracting the type of life your goals will help you achieve.
•  Form a mastermind group or a support group.  A fresh perspective can stimulate new ideas on how to reach your goals.  Ask people that you know and trust to join your group.  If you are crafting business goals, ask people who are in business with you or are business acquaintances.  If you need help finding the right people for your group, use the social and professional networks online to find other likeminded people so you can develop a relationship with them and eventually build your group.  I suggest connecting together by the phone or online.  You can easily find free conference services by searching for “free conference service” online.
• Keep track of your goals journey by using a journal or a diary.  Include the successes you are having, as well as, the obstacles you encounter.  Ask yourself, “Am I doing all I can do to achieve my goals?”, “What is holding me back?”, and “What can I do to move forward consistently and effectively?”  Then start brainstorming and let the ideas flow forth.  Imagine a river of ideas that are at your disposal and all you have to do is to jump in and partake.
• Reward yourself as you achieve incremental steps towards your goals.  Take yourself out to dinner or go out to a movie.  Chose something that helps motivate you to take consistent, effective action.  And when you achieve your each major goal, give yourself a big reward.  Plan in advance what that big reward will be and it will help motivate you to taking action while you are on the journey.

In Summary

Remember, goal setting is a two-step process.  The first step is to know what your goals are; define them, make sure they are specific and measurable, and write them down on paper.  The second step is to take consistent, effective action toward achieving them.  If you follow these two simple steps to accomplish the goals you have set for yourself, then you will reap the rewards from your actions.  To your continuing success!

What goal setting tips do you find work for you?  Please comment!

Glenn Andrew

• Effective Writing For Social Content Sites There are many social content sites that you can use to build links to your site, including Hubpages, Squidoo, and Ezinearticles.  The key to creating successful articles that get ranked well is in effective writing. In this article we will discuss some of the skills that professional writers use in......
• Prosper.com Prosper.com is an online community for the lending and borrowing of money.  It truely has become the online marketplace for people-to-people lending. By bidding on borrower's loans, lenders get greater returns by offering great rates. Prosper, America's first people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially......
• Success Through Helping Others There are natural laws that are at play as we journey on the road to success and one of those natural laws is the law of causation.  Simply put, the law of causation states that what goes around, comes around.  When we go out and help others succeed, we in......
• The Value of a Business Network Remember the last time when you had a task to complete, but you didn't know where to start?  You probably did one of three things.  You told your assistant to complete the task for you.   You did research on the Internet using the search engines to find a niche site......
• Top 10 Benefits of Having a Coach In this post we take a look at the 10 key benefits of having a personal, private and professional coach. Help Clarify Values and Important Goals Many people don't have the slightest idea about what they want to do with their lives. Many times they select their values from a......

• Saving Money On Your Country Garden Landscaping Projects When it comes to creating a garden landscape, the planning process can really require you to think long and hard about what you really want to do, and part of this has to do with figuring out the budget that will accompany your plans. If you do not put thought......
• The Last Sunday This it it folks.  The last Sunday that college basketball will be played for the 2008-09 season.  Today the last two teams will win their games to advance to the Final Four.  I cared up until a few nights ago when Kansas blew a 13 point lead and for all......
• Al Gore on board for $20M stem cell venture Al Gore (via last.fm) Former Vice President Al Gore Endorses Trans-Pacific Collaboration to Promote Use of Patient Cells for Drug Discovery and Development and Cell-Based Therapies iZumi Bio, Inc., and Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), today announced a collaboration to promote the basic research,......
• Do You Pay Your Kids an Allowance? Several parents have written to me over the last couple weeks asking for my recommendation on how much to pay their kids in weekly allowance. My response probably surprises them initially, until I have a chance to explain. Zero. I do not pay my kids an allowance. My kids are......
• Get into Bed with Jill Mansell (Author Interview) Keira: How did the ideas for An Offer You Can't Refuse and Miranda's Big Mistake come to you? Jill: With Offer, I was very keen to write about a sparky bookshop manageress who loves books, and my readers seem to have appreciated this - mainly because they're readers too!......

Growing your friend network on social media is pretty easy.  If you are interested in growing yours, here is one method you may want to try:

1. Join a number of groups that interest you that have 100+ members.  Have some fun with this.  You will find likeminded people who have similar interests and people who may relate well to you.
2. Start building your friends network by clicking on the list of friends for that group and start adding them as a friend.  Be sure to include a short personalized message such as “Hi [Their First Name], we are both members of the [Name of the Group] group and I was wondering if you wanted to be friends here on [The Social Network Name].  I look forward to networking with you here.  [Your Name]“.
3. Continue to add many name requests each day.  You can start with 25-30 requests a day.  Continue making requests until you reach 300-400 friends.  At that point you will be receiving several friend requests each day.  I accept most requests, but accept those that you feel comfortable with.  Before you know it, your network will grow on it’s own. 

If you want to grow your network faster, join more groups. If you want to slow it down, remove yourself from several groups. It’s that simple.  With many networks you usually connect with friends of your newly found friends.  Use your imagination and be creative in connecting with new friends.  The possibilities are endless.

Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Glenn Andrew

• Hellotxt.com HelloTxt enables you to update your status across all of your social networks and microblogs with a single click. You can update your accounts on Twitter Jaiku Pownce Facebook Myspace Bebo Other supported networks include Linkedin, Hi5 and Plaxo.  Supported microblogging sites include Frazr, Beemood, Meemi, Fanfou, GoZub, Feecle, Numpa,......
• Success Through Helping Others There are natural laws that are at play as we journey on the road to success and one of those natural laws is the law of causation.  Simply put, the law of causation states that what goes around, comes around.  When we go out and help others succeed, we in......
• The Power of Facebook Groups I had a stunning realization today.  It stunned me because it completely bypassed my attempts to keep abreast of the changing social media scene.  And when properly applied, this can be extremely powerful tool on your marketing toolbelt. I was doing a search with my Internet Explorer 7 browser (I......
• Maintaining an Online Presence For Free Many people believe that you need to have a website in order to have an online presence.  I'm here to tell you that is no longer the case with the abundance of Web 2.0 sites. The Web 2.0 Internet  Web 2.0 sites are websites where the users generate the content......
• What Happens When Family Takes Precedence A couple of weeks ago my mother who had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past 14 years left this life to move on to the next. I flew home to Florida the following day to help my father with the preparations. He had been her full time family......

• Find New Friends: Be Reliable To Improve Odds American’s hold a romantic perspective when it comes to the lone wolf. Whether it is a cowboy and his horse, a super hero fighting the forces of evil, or just a good person trying to do their best in tough times, there is a certain part of our psych that......
• Going to a Concert My wife was kind enough to buy me a ticket to a concert next week to a big heavy metal band. We have new friends who are a huge fans of this band. Not only are they fans, but they worked a college radio station and DJ'd the equivalent of......
• Meet New Friends: Moving Away Can Often Lead To Loss Of Friends One of the more difficult challenges in life is having to move away from old friends because of a job transfer or another change of circumstances. And while some folks are lucky and can quickly meet new friends and form new friendships, for others it is a huge challenge to......
• Meeting New Friends: Man Wonders What To Do After Smash Up With Nice Girlfriend Sir Matchalot, I was in a great relationship for more than ten years with a astonishing girl. She was extraordinarily hot looking, intelligent, and had a great job, many friends and a loving family. Unfortunately, we met when we were both very young and in our early twenties, and after......
• Advertising on Facebook If you are not already making use of Facebook as a method of marketing your business or niche, then you are absolutely missing out on a great opportunity to reach out to hundreds of millions of active users. Today, Facebook has become one of the most popular online social networking......

A number of years ago, I heard the following story and it really resonated with me.  I was reminded of it recently and wanted to share it with all of you.  It expresses my sentiment and approach to coaching people like you and me to achieve success in their personal and business lives.  It’s called the Starfish Story.  Enjoy!

A man went for a walk along the beach one morning after a storm. As far as the eye could see, the sand was littered with starfish that had washed up on the shore and were dying in the sun. In the distance, the man saw a young boy walking down the beach, picking up starfish after starfish, tossing them back into the surf one at a time.

When he was close enough to be heard above the waves, the man asked, “Child, why are you doing this? There must be thousands of starfish out here…what possible difference can you make?” The boy reached down, picked up a starfish and threw it as far as he could back into the sea. “Sure made a lot of difference to that one.” And he reached down to pick up another.

Feel free to share it with your friends and loved ones!

Glenn Andrew

• CentralDesktop.com CentralDesktop.com has a set of tools built for business teams and work groups. It was recently voted by Business Week for "Best of the Web" for collaboration. It helps businesses to organize and share information more efficiently, to communicate with others, and to collaborate on projects. CentralDesktop.com is fully configurable......
• Effective Writing For Social Content Sites There are many social content sites that you can use to build links to your site, including Hubpages, Squidoo, and Ezinearticles.  The key to creating successful articles that get ranked well is in effective writing. In this article we will discuss some of the skills that professional writers use in......
• Success Through Helping Others There are natural laws that are at play as we journey on the road to success and one of those natural laws is the law of causation.  Simply put, the law of causation states that what goes around, comes around.  When we go out and help others succeed, we in......
• Goal Setting Goal setting is one of the most important activities you will ever do in your personal and business life.  It is an activity that all successful people engage in and this is why so much has been written and spoken about it.  In this article, I share a few thoughts......
• Stompernet Live Five Stompernet Live Five has just concluded and I am glad to report that it was a smashing success.  Stompernet has become the premier Internet marketing training company and offers up a smorgasbord of topical information.  Friday's event was devoted completely to talks on social media and social marketing. Don Crowther,......

• A Thousand Mile Journey: The History of Hiking [caption id="attachment_260" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="A thousand mile journey."][/caption]Have you ever relished the primeval nature of hiking, returning to the elements in the woods, the plains, and along rivers, and wondered how many people like you have done the same throughout history? As it turns out, hiking is one of the......
• Chartering a Boat Overnight in the San Francisco Bay If you are looking for something fun and enjoyable that your entire family can participate in on the San Francisco bay, consider overnight chartering. There are a lot of different harbors and marinas that will allow you to take a boat out so that you can spend the night on......
• How to find rotated die errors Last night my third and final eBay auction for my Washington $1 coin errors ended. The last coin was a rotated die error, meaning that the reverse design was struck rotated from where it should have been. I received this question through the eBay interface from an interested collector: Hi,......
• You can Become Millionaire With Internet Home Business. Useful Points to Consider Believe That You Can Become A Millionaire With Your Internet Home Business You Too Can Become The Next Internet Millionaire! The web is a great opportunities. Imagine millions of customer. Its a huge cybermarket! It's a trillion millions dollars market waiting for you! Let's face it everyone wants to succeed......
• Retirement Savings: 401k Matched, Roth IRA Maxed, Now What? Financial planners occasionally squabble over whether or not to invest in a 401(k) or a Roth IRA.  Most agree that passing up matching funds in a 401(k) plan makes little sense, so it's probably best to start there. After taking advantage of those matching funds by investing through the company......

Having a clear mission and purpose (M&P) is vital for your success!

Most people think that a M&P is applicable only to your company. However, there are a few that have learned that you can have a M&P for your team, your contacts with clients, even your phone calls, virtually every action that you take. This is about getting clear on the desired outcome for each activity we engage in.

There is one Critical Rule that should always be followed:

It is imperative that mission and purpose be set in the other person’s world; our world must become secondary.

A M&P may be written in any format as long as it includes:

• the means by which the job is done,
• the beneficiary of the job being done, and
• the overall good effect that is produced when the job is done well.

It is suggested that it be written by first stating the good effect, followed by the beneficiary and then the means. For example:

State the expected results when the job is done well (good effect). Begin this statement with the word “To”, followed by an action verb. (To do something) Examples are:

• To “facilitate”
• To “prevent”
• To “ensure”
• To “help to discover”

Say what the expected results will be:

• To “facilitate the quality completion of web projects …”
• To “prevent the loss of targeted traffic …”
• To “ensure the successful completion of the project …”
• To “help to discover new sources of traffic and inbound links … “

State who will benefit from the job being done (beneficiary). Examples are:

• “… by ensuring that the team …”
• “… for the benefit of the client …”
• “… for the benefit of the ultimate user …” 

STEP 3

State how the expected results are to be achieved (the means). Examples are:

• “… by having a highly qualified and competent outsource team.”
• “… by a general surveillance and inspection of people or vehicles.”
• “… by the effective use of decision-making practices and efficient use of time, capital, and people.”

EXAMPLE  

To facilitate the creation of effective M&P statements for glennandrew.com readers and clients by presenting an outline for direction in the drafting of such statements.

SUMMARY

In summary, the three steps in crafting an effective M&P statement are:

1. State the expected results when the job is done well (good effect).
2. State who will benefit from the job being done (beneficiary).
3. State how the expected results are to be achieved (the means).

Be creative and innovative in how you use M&P statements. Look at ways that you could use them to get clear on the outcomes of specific activities. And always write them in the world of the other person and not yours.

What are some ways not mentioned here that you could use M&P statements?

Glenn Andrew

• CASH Success Formula - Part 1 of 4 In this series of four blogs, we will be discussing a simple formula for success.  It's called the CASH formula and if you follow it precisely, success will come to you.  It is based upon natural laws and as you know, natural laws work. The ‘C’ stands for Continuing education.......
• Capturing Your Ideas and Harvesting Them Ideas come to us every day of our lives, both good ones and not so good ones.  There are more than enough ideas that go around to make everyone on this planet successful many times over. But for most people, those ideas silently slip by.  We do not give those ideas......
• Easycropper.com Simple and Quick Image Cropping for the Web EasyCropper is free website for cropping images without having to open a large software program. EasyCropper allows you to upload an image, zoom the image in and out, position a crop box around desired image. Your newly cropped image is instantly ready......
• LinkedIn.com LinkedIn is a social networking site that focuses on the professional side of networking.  You post the equivalent of your resume or curriculum vitae, and you are able to link up with other professionals in your industry and in other industries.  Among the site's many features include sending & receiving......
• Effective Networking Your network is one of your most valuable resources.  And yet it is overlooked by most people.  Networking skills are essential in today's business environment. For me, the value of a network can be summed up in the following quote: It's not who you know, but who knows you! Here......

• Juno, some spoilers, maybe Juno was recommended to me by a friend. I was told I'd like it, but I had my doubts. First, the subject of adoption, birth mothers, birth fathers, birth family, and desire for a child are close to my heart. I have two bio children and two children adopted from......
• Breaking the Sugar Addiction - Step 3 If you've just arrived, or you'd like a review, check out my posts about sugar addiction and the solution to sugar addiction. I'm following the 7 steps outlined in Potatoes, Not Prozac. I feel it's time for me to officially start the next step in breaking the sugar addiction, and......
• Can't wait to get to heaven (book) I know several people who are Fannie Flagg fans, but this is the first book I've read of hers. Two different people loaned it to me at two different times, and I finally got around to really getting into it vs. just looking through it. The second time it......
• RateLadder.com Website Analytics for Feb 07 Top 10 Visitor Sources # Unique % of Traffic forums.prosper.com 726 21.69% (direct) 689 20.59% google search 504 15.06% Lazy Man and Money 271 8.10% Eric's Credit Community 227 6.78% pfblogs.org 148 4.72% my.yahoo.com 113 3.38% google direct 53 1.58% Blogging Away Debt 49 1.46% 2 Million Blog 41......
• Links - Looks can be Deceiving Edition I'm still away on my vacation. We've had a little lot of trouble trying to get on the free military cargo flights that we were told were "typically very, very easy, but nothing is guaranteed." It seems like there's some value to a guarantee. While we were on vacation, we......

There are many social content sites that you can use to build links to your site, including Hubpages, Squidoo, and Ezinearticles.  The key to creating successful articles that get ranked well is in effective writing.

In this article we will discuss some of the skills that professional writers use in writing an article.  You will learn tips on how to target your writing, to structure an outline, and to write your piece effectively. Let’s begin.

DEFINE YOUR AIM — TARGET YOUR WRITING

It is essential to have a clear idea of who your reader is. There are three questions that you should ask yourself before you even begin to put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard:

1.) What do I want to convey?
2.) Why would the reader WANT to read it?
3.) What will the reader GET out of it?

You need to clearly define what you want to convey first. Then you can address the two questions that your readers will have: “Why do I want to read it?” and “What will I get out of it?” Once you answer these three questions clearly, you will have successfully defined the aim of your article.

MAKE AN OUTLINE

Once you have defined the aim of the article, you are ready to make your outline. Here is where you organize the information for the article into a coherent structure. If you start writing without an outline, you run the risk of producing a disorganized mess that confuses your reader and fails to make the desired connection.

Begin by typing out the key points that you want to convey. Remember your AIM and just type those points down and any notes you may wish to include.  Group the information into the related-areas. You needn’t overwhelm your reader in this article; you can always write another one.

Next outline the introduction and summary. Here you want to introduce people to the points you want to make and then summarize those points.  Remember the three basics for effective presentations: Tell them what you are going to say, say it, and tell them what you said.

WRITE YOUR PIECE

Once you have prepared your outline, it is time to start writing!

The easiest way of doing this is just to let the words and ideas flow. Move quickly through the piece without editing or reviewing it. This will help to keep your creativity flowing without it being crippled by self-criticism.

Only when you have finished a section should you review it. At this stage you may decide to reorganize it, edit it, change it around, and add or delete information. As you review it you should check that what you have written meets the aim you set and gives the reader the information they want.

To help maintain a flow for the reader, start the first sentence off with one thought and end the sentence with another thought.  The second sentence begins with the previous thought and ends with a new thought.  And so on…

STYLE

The style of the article should be completely focused on the reader’s needs. Language used should be pitched at the appropriate level for the reader. Remember that most people read at a sixth grade level so keep this in mind.

Make your article an easy read by being clear and succinct. People generally prefer information presented in short sentences with little or no jargon. You may be tempted to write using long words and complex sentences to impress your readers, but resist the temptation. It is likely that material written will not be read at all.

If you need to use technical language, be sure to define the terms.  Consider including a glossary of terms for longer articles.

Remember that you have responsibility for the clarity, effectiveness, and focus of your communication. Beyond this, style will emerge on its own with practice.

SUMMARY

It is essential to know who your audience is and what they want from your writing. With this information, you can target your writing and then decide what to include or exclude.

Making an outline gives structure to your piece. An effective way to do this is to freely jot down the key points, and then reorganize it into a coherent format. An introduction and summary helps readers to structure the information in their minds.

When you write, try to let words and ideas flow. Only edit and review a section once you have completed the first draft. As you review it, ensure that the material meets the aim you set for the piece.

The style of the piece should be focused on the reader’s needs. Avoid trying to impress people with your knowledge.

Remember that the responsibility for effective communication lies with you!

Do you have any thoughts on article writing that you would like to share? Please offer your comments!

Glenn Andrew

• Top 10 Benefits of Having a Coach In this post we take a look at the 10 key benefits of having a personal, private and professional coach. Help Clarify Values and Important Goals Many people don't have the slightest idea about what they want to do with their lives. Many times they select their values from a......
• LinkedIn.com LinkedIn is a social networking site that focuses on the professional side of networking.  You post the equivalent of your resume or curriculum vitae, and you are able to link up with other professionals in your industry and in other industries.  Among the site's many features include sending & receiving......
• What Happens When Family Takes Precedence A couple of weeks ago my mother who had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past 14 years left this life to move on to the next. I flew home to Florida the following day to help my father with the preparations. He had been her full time family......
• Success Through Helping Others There are natural laws that are at play as we journey on the road to success and one of those natural laws is the law of causation.  Simply put, the law of causation states that what goes around, comes around.  When we go out and help others succeed, we in......
• Social Media Friend Strategy Growing your friend network on social media is pretty easy.  If you are interested in growing yours, here is one method you may want to try: Join a number of groups that interest you that have 100+ members.  Have some fun with this.  You will find likeminded people who have......

• The BlackBerry Diaries: Adventures in Modern Motherhood "Toddlers and technology - not so different! "  As award-winning author Kathy Buckworth wisely points out, owning a smartphone is a little like adding another child to your family.  The device is constantly buzzing, poking, and distracting its owner from whatever it is she's trying to accomplish.  It bears an uncanny resemblance......
• Get Into Bed With Jacquie D'Alessandro (Author Interview) Today readers at Review Romance Novel have are truly gifted with a great opportunity. I recently got in contact with Jacquie D'Alessandro and she was kind enough to grant me an interview. I got to ask her a bunch of questions and the following transcript is in her own......
• Get into Bed with Jill Mansell (Author Interview) Keira: How did the ideas for An Offer You Can't Refuse and Miranda's Big Mistake come to you? Jill: With Offer, I was very keen to write about a sparky bookshop manageress who loves books, and my readers seem to have appreciated this - mainly because they're readers too!......

Well, Google has made it’s entry into the browser wars with “Google Chrome”.  It’s created quite a buzz; people have been downloading it out faster than a blink of the eye.  The web has evolved from offering up mainly text pages to rich and interactive apps and the browsers haven’t kept up, at least in Google’s eyes. Google says that Chrome promises a faster, safer and easier browsing experience.

Here are a few of the key features:

• Open source
• Streamlined and simple interface - everything is in one box.
• Application shortcuts - web applications can be used without opening the browser.
• Crash control - each tab runs independently in the browser; if one tab crash, the whole browser won’t.
• Dynamic tabs - individual tabs can be dragged out into new windows.
• Importing settings - retrieves bookmarks and passwords from your existing browser
• Incognito mode - private browsing available (no web history tracking),
• Instant bookmarks - click the star icon at the left edge of the address bar and you’re done.
• New tab page - displays thumbnail images of your most visited sites.
• Safe browsing - you are warned in advance of suspected phishing, malware or otherwise unsafe sites.
• Simpler downloads - no download manager, status monitored at the bottom of your current window

Currently Chrome is available in beta only for Windows (Vista & XP SP2), but versions for Mac and Linux are in the works.

The installation was easy and straightforward. When the browser opens, the New Tab page opens with thumbnail images of my most visited sites and a list of recent bookmarks.  I kind of missed my default home page, but that was easily restored; click on the wrench icon at the top, select Options, open the Basics tab, and change the home page back to my original default. Sweet!

Aside from getting acquainted with the icons, it was easy navigate the browser. The text links and icons that we’ve grown so accustomed over the years are now in a pull down menu adjacent to the address bar.  The browser footprint is much smaller than other browsers, leaving more real estate for viewing web pages.

All in all, the browsing experience is very good.  It’ll take more time with the browser to fully get used to it, but I think Google has a winner.  Once it comes out of beta, Google Chrome will give the other browsers a run for their money. And being open source, we can look forward to many interesting innovations to come.

Here’s a link where you can download it and try it out yourself: Download Google Chrome

I’m very interested in hearing what you think of Chrome. Anyone care to comment?

Glenn Andrew

• The Power of Facebook Groups I had a stunning realization today.  It stunned me because it completely bypassed my attempts to keep abreast of the changing social media scene.  And when properly applied, this can be extremely powerful tool on your marketing toolbelt. I was doing a search with my Internet Explorer 7 browser (I......
• Decisions - How We Manifest Things in Life I'll begin this post with a bold statement...      The life you are living is based upon the decisions you've made in the past! Now before you start shouting at me and begin telling about your special circumstances that exempt you from this statement, may I suggest you hold your......
• Mastermind Groups While going through some of my reference material the other day, I came across some notes I took on mastermind groups and thought they would be a great share for this blog. Mastermind groups are as old as time and have been used by highly successful people throughout history. In......
• Effective Networking Your network is one of your most valuable resources.  And yet it is overlooked by most people.  Networking skills are essential in today's business environment. For me, the value of a network can be summed up in the following quote: It's not who you know, but who knows you! Here......
• Starfish Story A number of years ago, I heard the following story and it really resonated with me.  I was reminded of it recently and wanted to share it with all of you.  It expresses my sentiment and approach to coaching people like you and me to achieve success in their personal and business......

• Weakon 153: How Credit Card Companies Make Money Swipe it, charge it, blink it, whatever you're doing, that business card sized piece of plastic is the centerfold of much of our lives.  Some people have sworn off all credit cards and so you'll think this class isn't for you, you're wrong.  If you even use a debit card......
• Remembering the Child of the 80s Trapped between the "Baby Boomers" and "Generation Y" is a special generation ... a generation we call "Children of the Eighties." If you can identify with most of the 15 points below, chances are you are definitely one of them ......
• Apple Vs Google in the New Mobile World I thoroughly enjoy being a handset reviewer. I'm always one of the few to have the privilege to try out new handsets. And just to say how much I really love being in this role - I only write a review after I feel that I've tested the handset enough......
• Declaring Your Own Independence Regardless of where you live, though, this can be your own personal independence day. I chat with people every week who dream of getting out from under "the Man", and running their own profitable businesses. Most of the time, it's just......
• Can you fit through the eye of a needle? This is a guest article from Bob who blogs at ChristianPF.com which serves as a resource for Christians to get practical tips, biblical revelation, and wisdom about how to handle our personal finances. If you like this article, make sure you subscribe to his blog. Ah, you know the......

LinkedIn is a social networking site that focuses on the professional side of networking.  You post the equivalent of your resume or curriculum vitae, and you are able to link up with other professionals in your industry and in other industries.  Among the site’s many features include sending & receiving messages, RSS feeds, introductions, invitations, Q&A, job posts, recommendations, connections, and groups.

Customize Your Profile
Your profile is available to people that you connect to.  You have complete control in what is display in your public profile.  Each of the modules are customizable; you can add, edit or move them.  You can even find out who’s viewed your profile.

Network Statistics
You can see statistics about our network, including how many users you can reach through your connections.  Your network grows everytime you add a connection.  For example, if you have 100 connections of trusted friends and colleagues, you may have 20,000+ connections two degrees away (friends of friends), and perhaps 1,000,000+ connections three degrees away (friends of friends of friends.)  With the power of the network, you have some great people resources just a few introductions away.

Search Functionality
LinkedIn has a great search tool. You can search by name, company, education, interests, groups and associations, honors and award, as well as, keywords.  I particularly like the keyword feature in finding people with a specific area of expertise.

Post Questions
A great resource available is that you can post questions to the network and access the power of the group.  You can get responses experts within your industry and without.  Talk about out of the box thinking. You can build your credibility within the network by adding your comments to posted questions; just be sure that you add value in your post.

Post Job Openings
You can post job openings to the site to find qualified candidates to interview. Vice versa, if you are looking for a position, you can find companies seeking a person with your particular qualifications.  I’ve heard stories of people who got a job based upon their LinkedIn profile.

Joint ventures
Perhaps the most compelling way to use LinkedIn is to find joint venture partners. Finding great employees can help build and grow a business, but to explode a business, joint venture partnerships need to be in place. This is the ultimate in leverage.

In Summary…
LinkedIn is no ordinary social network.  If fact, it more accurately can be defined as a professional network with much of the functionality we’ve come to know in social networks.  For professionals, it definitely is a place where you need to be.

You can learn more about LinkedIn by visiting http://www.linkedin.com.

What are your thoughts on LinkedIn?

Glenn Andrew

• Wisemapping.com WiseMapping.com is a web mind mapping tool that leverages the power of Mind Maps using new technologies like vectorial languages (SVG and VML) and the power of the whole Web 2.0 concept. No pluggin is required. Mind maps are diagrams used to represent ideas, words, tasks, or any other item......
• The Power of Facebook Groups I had a stunning realization today.  It stunned me because it completely bypassed my attempts to keep abreast of the changing social media scene.  And when properly applied, this can be extremely powerful tool on your marketing toolbelt. I was doing a search with my Internet Explorer 7 browser (I......
• Social Media Friend Strategy Growing your friend network on social media is pretty easy.  If you are interested in growing yours, here is one method you may want to try: Join a number of groups that interest you that have 100+ members.  Have some fun with this.  You will find likeminded people who have......
• Effective Networking Your network is one of your most valuable resources.  And yet it is overlooked by most people.  Networking skills are essential in today's business environment. For me, the value of a network can be summed up in the following quote: It's not who you know, but who knows you! Here......
• A Cool Time Management Tool On a recent teleconference call, Don Crowther shared a time management tool that he learned and uses.  Here is how I use it: Get your hands on a countdown timer, like the kind you can find in the kitchen section of your local department store.  Make sure it's one that counts down......

• The Twitter Effect: Watching #IranElection The thing is, the point of all the Twitter-frenzy isn’t how many people are on Twitter, or how many people read it – but rather, of the people that do, the messages that are able to get out. ... That’s the power of technology. That’s the power of communication. It...
• What to Do After You Write a Guest Post Last time, I wrote about how to write a guest post to build traffic for your blog. Today, let's look at the strategies you should use after you have sent your guest post off to the host blogger....
• job jumper tip #2: be a discriminating networker If you read "how to land your dream job" articles, you'll always hear people touting the benefits of networking. I think too many people see the word "network" and think "I have to stay in touch with every single person I have ever known for the rest of my......
• If you run a business, The New Rules of Marketing & PR is for you David Meerman Scott's book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, has been around for more than a year and has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention. Not only does it outline how to use social media for marketing, it also describes how to use more traditional marketing instruments,......
• Pick Three Social Networks To Develop Your Brand Social networking overload is a real syndrome.  Have you experienced it?  There are a million and one different social networking communities on the web today, and every one of them wants to capture you.  Personally, I hope that the power of capitalism weeds out the bad social networking websites, because......