Price increase
After careful market research and a review of operating costs, Net Secretary's rates will be rising from 1 January 2006 (for new clients). For existing clients, the new rates will apply from 1 February 2006. You can check out the new prices here.

Our prices have remained static for a period of 18 months so this is the first price review for us. Net Secretary provides a range of value-added features and they are listed below:

• Free file uploading - for all your digital files;
• Early payment discounts - Net Secretary has introduced an early payment discount of 5% for clients who elect to pay for their job(s) upfront;
• No GST - Net Secretary is not required to be registered for GST, therefore no GST is charged to the client, meaning invoices will be at least 10% cheaper than our competitors;
• Credit card payments - Net Secretary can receive your credit card payments through Paypal (*conditions apply);
• Referral program - you earn a massive 20% discount off your next invoice if you refer a client to Net Secretary and they become a regular paying client.

New Service!
Do you know that Net Secretary can check your phone messages and action any tasks whilst you are away on holidays? Net Secretary can also receive your mail (local clients) and keep an eye on your emails for you. Rates are very reasonable - please contact me for further details.

Brainbench's advanced assessment products and services make it easy for you to predict employee success by identifying the best match to the essential aspects of the job. Brainbench offers various assessment products for both employment testing and pre-employment testing, including personality assessments, aptitude tests, and skills tests. Brainbench assessments can be delivered as either proctored or online testing.

Brainbench assessment products predict employee success:

• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
• Personality
• Past Work Behaviors
• Interview Guides
• Certifications
• Consulting Services

Setting Goals the SMART way!
If you've been to business school or read books on goalsetting you might be familiar with the acronym SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable or Attributable, Realistic, and Timed. Let me explain briefly what each letter of the SMART Goal formula entails.
S = Specific
Your goals mustn't be vague they must be as specific as they can be. For example, a goal to "Be more successful in 2006" is too vague as it doesn't define what success is. For one person success might be to pass their exams, for another it might be to retire from their job, and yet for another person it might be to earn over $75,000.
M = Measurable
As well as being specific your goals should be measurable. If your goal is related to money you might set a goal to "Earn over $100,000" or maybe to "Increase your monthly income by 25%". If your goal was sports related you might say "To knock three seconds off my personal best time" or "To win three major tournaments".
A = Actionable or Attributable
There's no point in setting goals that are not actionable or attributable, i.e. you have no direct control over the outcome. For example it would be silly to set a goal for your favorite sporting team to win the league if you cannot directly influence that outcome. If you are the team coach, the owner of the team or even one of the players this could be a goal that is actionable, but if you are just a fan there is nothing you can do that will have any impact on the outcome and so it is not actionable or attributable. Likewise, you couldn't set a goal to "Win the lottery" as it is not a goal that you can directly influence. Yes, you can buy a ticket, or even several tickets, but you cannot influence the numbers that will be drawn out and so it is not actionable.
R = Realistic
When setting goals you need to be realistic. Setting a goal such as "To be the world's best-selling singer" is not a realistic goal if you've never made a record, don't have a recording contract and sound like a cat being strangled. Even if that was your ultimate goal it's best to break it down and take several smaller steps. For example, you might start off with a goal of taking singing lessons, forming a band, writing a song, recording a song, or maybe getting a recording deal, but having a goal to be bigger than Madonna is not a great first step.
T = Timed
A well thought out goal must include a timescale and must not be open ended. For example "To get promotion" is too vague. It would be far better to have a goal that said "To get promoted by 1st July 2006".

Using this clever acronym means you can easily remember all of the attributes necessary to set SMART goals for yourself or other people. As soon as you start to use this method of goal setting you will see an amazing transformation. Gone will be the vague goals that you set and then forgot about. In their place will be highly targeted goals that give you razor-sharp focus that will let you hit your goals like a heat seeking missile.

(Source: Paul Smithson, CEO, www.Xsitepro.com)

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

Ralph Waldo Emerson