Brides across America have helped Making Memories fulfill the wishes of breast cancer patients through wedding gown donations and support of our Brides Against Breast Cancer Nationwide Tour of Gowns.

Nationwide Tour of Gowns

Find a dress for your special day and make a wish come true at the same time!
Making Memories brings more than 2000 donated gowns for sale in cities across the country. We offer gowns ranging from brand-new, designer dresses donated by manufacturers and bridal shops, to antique, vintage items! We also offer a selection of bridesmaid dresses, shoes, veils and slips.

Prices start at $49 and range to $599 for gowns originally valued at up to $5000. Making Memories accepts cash, checks, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express as payment for gowns.
All proceeds from wedding gown sales help make special wishes come true for breast cancer patients.
Wedding Gown Donations
Your gown can make dreams come true! The gift of your wedding gown helps Making Memories fulfill wishes for breast cancer patients, and makes a new bride’s special day even more meaningful
Making Memories accepts wedding gowns year-round for our Nationwide Tour of Gowns, as well as our Nationwide Quilt Contest.
We also accept complete sets of bridesmaid dresses, veils, slips, shoes, mothers’ dresses and flower girl gowns.
Send your gowns and other items to:
Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation
12707 SE Stephens Street
Portland, OR 97233
Make sure you include a return address inside the box with your dress or other items to ensure you receive a receipt. If possible, an additional $5 donation will help with the cost of preparing your dress for sale.

Your gift is 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE, including your shipping costs. Making Memories will send you a donation receipt for each item you send four to six weeks after we receive it. We do not, however, place a value on your donation. Most dresses originally cost much more than $599–however, what it cost you and what we sell it for are not as important as the value of your gown to the people for whom we fulfill wishes.
Please consult a tax professional to determine the ultimate value of your donation to Making Memories.

Photo Credit: Brides Against Breast Cancer 

If you are thinking about hiring a calligrapher to address your invitations or write names on your place cards then you should keep the following questions in mind:

1.) Does the calligrapher have any background or education in art or calligraphy?

2.) Is the calligrapher willing to sign a contract for the services they will be providing to you?
3.) Are you able to see samples of the calligrapher’s work?
4.) Are you thinking about having your well meaning artistic friend address your invitations for you in order to save money?
Stop! Don’t jeoparize a friendship in order to save money. Hire a professional!
5.) Does the calligrapher list prices for their services?
6.) How many clients does the calligrapher serve each month?
If they are overbooked then you will not receive the attention you deserve and require.
7.) Does the calligrapher write by hand or use a computer program?
if you are specifically in the market for hadnwritten calligraphy then beware of websites that have words and phrases such as “100′s of fonts to choose from”,”overnight turnaround time”,”cheap”, etc. Computerized calligraphy has it’s pitfalls too such as your invitations getting jammed in the printer.
8.) Is the calligrapher able to write in more than one font?
Good calligraphers shoulc be able to write in 2 or 3 different fonts such as Italic, Copperplate, or Gothic.
9.) Does the calligrapher listen to your needs and wishes?

Shop around until you find a calligrapher you can trust.

Photo Credit: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=404″>Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

This is one of the best values in Wedding Insurance available to today’s couple. The program is underwritten by Markel American Insurance Company.

Testimonials from brides speak for themselves:

“We decided to purchase wedding insurance because of the expenditure involved. Purchasing the policy online was easy. The company followed up by telephone in the next day or two, and shortly afterward with the policy by mail. It’s comforting to have protection in the event that something doesn’t go as planned.” Bill and Carol (Martinsville, NJ)

“I decided to purchase wedding insurance primarily because the location I was renting required it and secondly because after hearing all the disasters associated with weddings and the huge costs involved I felt it was a good idea to get insurance. I am very happy with WedSafe and hope that I will not, in fact, need their services!” Marina (Marina del Rey, Ca.)

WedSafe Testimony Excerpts from wedding consultants says even more:

• “As a wedding planner it’s my job to offer peace of mind to my brides while planning their wedding. But, being able to offer them peace of mind with whatever else may come up ON their wedding day is phenomenal. What a great program!”   – Gidget Coffman, Gidget Coffman Weddings, Rochester Hills, MI

• “I offer WedSafe wedding insurance as a necessary adjunct to my coordination services. For all the things we can anticipate, good planning gives my brides and their families peace of mind; WedSafe gives them peace of mind for all the things we can’t.” – Maggie, Carmel, CA

Check out a Bride’s Experience with WedSafe http://www.wedsafe.com/why-wedsafe/customer-testimonials.jsp

You can check out their website at www.wedsafe.com and contact a WedSafe representative at 1-877-723-3933 to receive a supply of brochures you can offer to your couples at their interview.

Photo Credit: Elwood W. McKay III/Free Digital Photos.net

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=908″>Image: Elwood W. McKay III / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

Know when to mail your invitations to get a RSVP.

Procrastinators that we are…sometimes it’s a real chore to get an RSVP response in the mail. How many times has an invitation, unknowingly, been mixed up in the daily mail only to be neglected until the last minute or forgotten altogether?

Surely we can empathize with event planners that struggle to get their guests to RSVP to an invitation.
We’d like to offer this suggestion to simplify a common problem. This strategy can help anyone who is planning an event to be assured that each guest will most likely return their RSVP in a timely manner.

Simply mail your invitations on a Wednesday! Why Wednesday you ask? If invitations are mailed on Wednesday they are more likely to arrive at their destination on Friday or Saturday, this is the objective. Receiving the invitation on the weekend, instead of a weekday, will give your guests more time to respond and return your RSVP promptly.

Weekends, typically, are less hectic and people have a little more leisure time than during a busy workweek. When friends or clients receive an invitation on a busy weekday it may likely get tossed into a pile of “get around to it” mail or lost altogether. However, when an invitation arrives on Friday or Saturday, you will most likely get a timely response. This is all due to the timing. Your friends and associates will have more time to plan for your event on their “weekend”. This timing strategy gives your guests a little more time to deal with their social calendar, coordinate dates, travel, babysitters and other incidental details. Planning ahead for your event becomes a coordinated effort that your guests will especially appreciate.

Author Diane Pollitt – Party Guide – Article found in MomsNetwork.com
PartyMerchant.com
mailto: celebrate@partymerchant.com
http://www.partymerchant.com – http://content.momsnetwork.com/artman/publish/printer_531.shtml

Imagine there is a bank which credits your account each morning with $86,400, carries over no balance from day to day, allows you to keep no cash balance, and every evening cancels whatever part of the amount you had failed to use during the day.

What would you do?

Well, everyone has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.

It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the records of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow.

You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today…

To realize the value of ONE YEAR
Ask a student who has failed his final exam.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE DAY
Ask a daily wage laborer who has ten kids to feed.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet or…

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE
Ask a person who has missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you share it with someone special…special enough to have your time…and remember time waits for no one!

Kathy Paauw, President of Paauwerfully Organized, specializes in helping busy executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs declutter their schedules, spaces and minds. She is a certified business/personal coach and professional organizer. Contact her at orgcoach@gte.net or visit her website at www.orgcoach.net and learn how you can Find ANYTHING in 5 Seconds – Guaranteed!
From Kathy Paauw

Photo Credit: renjith krishnan / freedigitalphotos.net

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=721″>Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

More Details at: www.selfbrand.com


Today, branding isn’t just for companies, Hollywood celebrities, or highly-paid athletes. People in all walks of life are starting to use personal or self branding to get ahead in the game of life. 
The single factor that often explains the difference between a professional who is competent and doing okay and one who earns a significant income and generates lots of business is self branding.

Self branding defined: Self branding is a strong personal identity based on a clear perception about what you stand for, what sets you apart from others, and the added value you bring to a job or situation. 
Your self brand is the sum total of other people’s feelings about your attributes and capabilities, how you perform, even their perceptions about what you are worth.

To brand or not to brand? Many people think that if they do a good job, their career will go fine. But no matter how secure your position seems to be, you are in competition with more people than you think. 
To some people, branding may seem manipulative or phony. “I’d just rather be myself,” they say, “to with the flow and see where my career takes me.” Or, the familiar line, “I’m not good at marketing myself.” 
If you don’t brand yourself, others will. The fact of the matter is you’re giving the power to other people to brand you if you don’t do it yourself. 
Let me give you an example. A new client came in who was fuming because of the way another executive introduced her at a conference. He branded her as the company’s direct mail maven. That may have been the way she started out at the firm, but not quite how she saw herself now. 
Self brands are created not born. Branding is mainly a process of analyzing a product in relationship to a market and figuring out how to maximize the brand’s potential. Branding is creating an asset out of something. It is a matter of satisfying a market need in a different way. And figuring out a plan of action – the marketing plan – to build awareness and trial of the brand. 
Launching a person on a drive to become a successful personal brand is essentially the same process. It is a conscious strategic process, a branding process, a process that Hollywood celebrities and high profile athletes have been using for some time.

The Self Brand mindset: Self branding means looking at yourself as a marketer would look at a product that he or she wants to make a winning brand. You don’t think of yourself as an employee even if you work for a boss. You think of yourself as working for yourself marketing the brand, You. 
The first thing a marketer does is analyze the market and the product to understand what the opportunities are, what the threats are. What are the current conditions? What are the assumptions about the future? What problems need to be solved? What needs aren’t being met? 
Act like the marketer of the product: You. In personal branding, after analyzing the market, you do a self audit. What are my strengths and weaknesses? How does my brand compare with the people I am competing with? 
You focus on key attributes and resources that differentiate you. Skills, abilities, even personality traits you have that are a solution to a market need. Then you adopt what Theodore Levitt called “the marketing imagination.” You build a personal brand identity that is different, relevant and adds value. 
Plan to dazzle: write out a marketing plan. I often work with clients to develop a formal marketing plan that lays out a personal brand strategy and action plan. It is often in the writing that new creative options come to light.

It is important to set personal brand goals with a specific time frame and plan of action for achieving the goals. So just like a marketer would, you write down personal marketing activities to achieve your goals. And, of course, you execute the marketing plan. You can’t get to where you want to go unless you plan it and then do it. 
The final step is measurement. You assess your effectiveness. How is my “portfolio” different now than it was last year? What new projects did I take on? How did I expand my network? What new learning did I acquire? If something isn’t working, you change trains. Branding is a dynamic process that offers the greatest rewards to the receptive individual. 
Thinking and acting like a brand can create and maintain demand for your most important product – you.

Copyright 2003 All rights reserved. 
About the Author
Catherine Kaputa, New York, NY USA
catherine@selfbrand.com
www.selfbrand.com
Catherine Kaputa is a personal branding strategist, seminar leader, speaker and coach who works with executives, entrepreneurs and others who are good at what they do, but want to use branding to be more effective and successful in their lives. Visit www.selfbrand.com or catherine@selfbrand.com

Photo Credit: kromkrathog/freedigitalphotos.net

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=3387″>Image: KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

by Wanda Laskot

There is a lot of talk about building loyalty and trust on the Internet. Various strategies and techniques have been discussed, different strategies orchestrated. Yet, it seems the majority of people miss the main ingredient of this trust-building process: being vulnerable.

The old advice “give before asking” applies here, as well. To earn someone’s trust, we need to trust first. Just as people are preconditioned to smile in response to someone else’s smile, we are naturally interested in people who display a genuine interest in us, and we find it easier those who trust us first.

A friend of mine will not share a picture of herself with visitors because she feels too unattractive. Another friend doesn’t even want to disclose that she *is* a woman because she feels that some people will not take a female-owned business seriously enough. One of my male friends, a Black American, shared with me that he will never show his photo on the web, because he knows that some people will refuse to buy from him only because of the color of his skin.

I even know a business owner who is so concerned about the possibility of being harassed that he doesn’t display his name, phone number or address on his website (funny thing is that the first thing you will see when you visit his domain is the annoying java script box asking you for your own name).

I agree that, sadly, some people refuse to do business with a woman only because she is a woman. And there are too many of those who will not buy from a person of color. Some buyers want to deal only with a large company, even if they know that you will solve their problem for less money. No matter how good you are, some people will reject you for a very superficial reason.

That’s fine. A blessing in disguise, really. Consider that *they* didn’t qualify to do business with you – not vice versa. After all, why would *you* want to do business with someone like that?

The Internet is a huge place, full of wonderful, progressive people with imagination. People who are able to make intelligent and rational decisions based on facts and on their own values. Look for these kind of contacts on the Internet. Build your website and your Internet presence with them in mind – not with the others. And once they come to you, don’t alienate them by hiding your face and by telling them half truths. Trust their intelligence and common sense.

The more truthful you are with your true prospects and customers, the more comfortable, safe, and non-threatening they feel with you. Don’t be afraid of being vulnerable. A few people might be turned off by some of your characteristics, some might even try to ridicule you. But those you would really like to do business with in the long run will recognize who you are, will identify with you, and will be inspired to trust you.

Share with visitors who you really are – show them your values, your photograph, even your shortcomings. People will respect you for this more than you might think and they will drawn to you. Ironically, it is one of the major trust building factors.

Wanda Loskot is professional business coach — sign up for her FREE teleclass “Seven Strategies For Lasting Internet Success”
www.internetsuccesscoach.com
Are you tired of prospecting, cold calling, handling objections?
=> Try “Referrals Unlimited” newsletter@loska.com

Photo Credit: graur razvan ionut/freedigitalphotos.net

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=987″>Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

 1. Banquet Hall/Church “Wedding Planner” or “Event Coordinator” will take care of everything. You don’t need an outside Planner.

Recommendation: When you are approached with this comment simply state that banquet hall planners or coordinators are responsible for coordinating everything within their Venue, not the details outside. As a professional wedding planner your job is to educate the client, so EDUCATE them as to the difference between the duties of the banquet hall planner and your duties/responsibilities.

Church Planners are responsible for coordinating the ceremony and lining up the wedding party. Indicate to the couple that you would work as either their liaison or their backup (in case of an emergency). In some churches the Officiants will line up the wedding party, but that will only be during the rehearsal. Educate the couple by letting them know that the day of your wedding the Officiant does not line up the wedding party and take care of any arising situations before or after the ceremony.

2. Comments from other Wedding Professionals: Planners do not know how to communicate.

Recommendation: As a Wedding Planner you should keep in mind that everything you do is in the open. You are constantly watched by family, guests, and your colleagues. You are the professional hired to keep communications open and have the understanding that you will work together with the other wedding professionals to ensure the wedding day runs smoothly. So if you need to brush up on your communication skills please do. I know that we may encounter some challenges with other wedding professionals in reference to how they communicate, but respectful communications must start somewhere.

3. Caterers/Venues complain that Planners want to take over and tell them what to do and how to do it.

Recommendation: As a Wedding Planner keep in mind of the “EXPERTISE” you were hired to do. If you are hired as a planner to ASSIST with planning and coordinating a wedding, you are assisting, giving advice, recommendations, and guidance. You get will be respected as a “true” professional if you work together with other wedding professionals as oppose to telling them what to do. (E.g. telling the caterer how to make the meal and when to serve it). There is a way how to communicate, so let’s COMMUNICATE. “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it”. You are not hired as the “professional expert” as a caterer, photographer, officiate, banquet hall manager, etc. If an emergency or delay arises and you need to inform the caterer to push back the serving time, let them know immediately what the delay or emergency is and they will decide how to make the change.

4. Wedding Planners are too expensive.

Recommendation:The view on the cost of a wedding planner has been compromised by TV Reality Shows. EDUCATE your clients, let them know that what your services include and the different types of services you offer. Do you offer just Full Service planning and coordination or do you offer partial planning/coordination, month of/day of coordination, or a la carte services. Don’t just explain your services but your credentials (professional & educational). Sometimes prospects are looking to haggle for a better price. If you have your set rates ensure you know what you will or will not offer prospects. Do you offer discounts? Make that known before they start haggling, and stay firm on the discount. There are planners that have different price structures, e.g. percentage , hourly, flat rate. Planners also have different rates based on expertise, years of experience, and educational background.

5. The Wedding Planner will take away all of my visions for our wedding.

Recommendation:The wedding is all about the couple, not the planner. Let the couple know that you are there to assist, guide, give expert advice, recommendations, and ensure their wedding day runs smoothly; you are not there to take over their visions and ideas. It is important to create this trust and understanding from the beginning. Don’t tell them what to do, you suggest what can be done or how something can be done differently.

6. My family and wedding party will assist with planning and day of coordination, so why do I need a planner?

Recommendation:Explain the duties and responsibilities the wedding party can assist with during the planning and/or coordination process. Educate the couple on how the assistance the family and wedding party gives is different from the professional assistance you are giving them. You are trained to know how to solve arising issues, negotiate or resolve contract issues, communicate with all of the wedding vendors and know what needs to be done.

7. Wedding Planners get commission from the vendors they recommend.

Recommendation:Commissions are a very sticky situation. Either you are working as a wedding planner being paid by the vendors or you are a wedding planner being paid by the couple. In my opinion, it is unethical to accept commission or “referral fee” from a vendor while being paid for services by the couple. Your interests should be the couple, and ensuring that the vendors carry out their services ethically and professionally. Ensure your client in the beginning that you refer vendors based on their quality of service, professionalism, and customer satisfaction, and not by accepting a referral fee.

8. Your wedding planner was suppose to bring enough staff to assist the decorator..

Recommendation: Keep all vendors and clients informed and ensure that the timeline stipulates who is responsible for what based on the contracted information. Before preparing the “day of” timeline” review the contracts and contact the vendors to ensure there is a mutual understanding of what is expected based on the contract. Once you have all the pertinent data, prepare a drafted timeline and send it out to all the vendors and the couple. Upon approval and updates, send a final timeline to everyone. (Suggestion, as you submit the timeline via email mention in the email that they should respond and confirm that they are in agreement and all is good to go).

9. All Wedding Planners can give me a Free wedding like on TV (or something comparable).

Recommendation:During the initial meeting some prospects may mention that they either wrote or would like to write to David Tutera from My Fair Wedding, to see if he could plan a dream wedding for them (free of course). The manner in which you respond to this may be crucial. First, do not lash out into a negative frenzy over the reality shows. Second, describe the services you offer and how it will assist them to have a beautiful and memorable dream wedding .

10. I don’t need a wedding planner because I constantly plan parties, so I can plan my own wedding. I also can get all the information I need from the internet.

Recommendation: A lot of prospects are looking for the Day of Planner to coordinate their wedding because they have everything taken care of and planned. These clients may feel that because they plan parties and/or have access to the internet with information on planning they don’t need a planner. If they are midway, and come to you for just the Day of talk with them to see how much they have accomplished and what exactly needs to be done. Sometimes people forget that the Day of coordination services involves so much more than just showing up the day of. Educate the client and make sure all of the information you need is covered and confirmed. You don’t want to show up the day of or start the week of, and find out that vendor contracts are incomplete, vendor communications are not clear, what the client expects is not what is indicated on the contracts, etc. Even though a client has planned many parties, does not mean they have covered all the essential questions and that is why we are the professionals.

Happy Planning…….

 Author: Jacqueline Vazquez

Owner, Planner, Designer of Lifetime Events by Jacqueline founded in 2007. Jacqueline, has over 10 years experience in the industry, and is a Member of two top Bridal Industry Associations, Association of Bridal Consultant and Weddings Beautiful Worldwide. In addition, Jacqueline has been appointed as Director of the Association of Bridal Consultants (ABC) NY Westchester/Lower Hudson Valley/Bronx County Networking Group. Jacqueline has been awarded the Accredited Bridal Consultant™ and Professional Bridal Consultant™ Desgination from ABC, and has completed the Professional Development Program with honors as a Distinguished Graduate Award.. In addition, Jacqueline is the first to attain the Certified Wedding Specialist™ and Certified Wedding Planner™ Certification by Weddings Beautiful Worldwide. Jacqueline was selected as Finalist of the 2011 Event Solutions Spotlight Award Female Rising Star. She is a Board Member of the Eastchester Tuckahoe Chamber of Commerce and Wish Upon A Wedding Organization. She stays in touch with Event Industry Professionals to understand the Industry as a whole and develop trustworthy business relationships.

Photo Credit: Photostock/freedigitalphotos.net

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2125″>Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

The percentage chart is based on 100% of the budget allotted for the wedding. This is just an estimate and a guideline to get an idea of what expenses go into planning a wedding. Money can be moved from one item to another to combine resources for a particular item, i.e. if a videographer is not needed one can apply that fee toward a more expensive photographer. There are also items not listed on the attached chart but may be necessary for a successful event.

A. Food 30% – This number should include the price per person including tax and service charge. It should also include any staffing requirements. This does not include any beverages.

B. Facilities 12% – This number should include both the ceremony and reception rental fees and any additional services they would charge for, i.e. sound system, aisle runner, changing room, arch, candelabras, etc.

C. Consultant 12% – This number should include your consultants fee. This percentage may vary depending on the services hired for the consultants experience. You may also hire a consultant for the day of only. The more experienced consultants may charge 15%-20%.

D. Photography 10% – This number should include all the services of the photographer. For example, their hour limit, if they are including an album, if you need to pay extra for the proofs, etc.

E. Florist 7% - This number should include set up and delivery as well as returning the rentals to the florist after the event.

F. Alcohol 6% – This number should include the bar fee which includes the beverages, the bartender, tax and service charge. What you pay for with regards to the bar is your decision, whether you want to pay for beer and wine, all alcohol or have a no host bar; however you will most likely still have to pay for the bartender.

G. Music 6% – This number should include music for the entire event: ceremony music, cocktail music, dinner music and dancing music by 4 different vendors.

H. Videography 5% – This number should include all the services of the Videographer including hours and additional copies of the videos/DVDs.

I. Dress 4% – This is an item that can or cannot be part of the attire budget. Some brides feel the dress should be a separate expense.

J. Cake 2% – This should include the cost of the cake, the delivery and set up as well as the cake cutting fee if the reception site requires one.

K. Transportation 2% – This should include the complete cost of all transportation for the wedding party as well as the guests.

L. Invitations 2% – This should include the cost of the invitations as well as the postage required to send out the invitations. If one sends out Save-the-Date cards, it should also be taken from this budget line item.

M. Misc. Expenses 2% – This budget item should include expenses for supplies like toasting glasses, guest book, cake servers, garter, place cards, menu cards, etc.

There are a number of additional expenses that can be attributed to a wedding. A bride and groom can choose to add the following services and additional expenses to the above basic budget.

A. Rings
B. Rehearsal Dinner
C. Hair and Makeup
D. Attendant Gifts
E. Accommodations
F. Bridal gown or bouquet preservation
G. Calligrapher
H. Officiant
I. Wedding related parties
J. Honeymoon
K. Favors
L. Tips for vendors
M. Decor – balloons, lights, printed matches, napkins, etc.
N. Rentals  i.e. chairs, chair covers, crystal, china, chargers, linens, tents, trees, etc.

Photo Credit: Jannnoon028/freedigitalphotos.net

<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2337″>Image: jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>