nurse

I recently found myself in the company of a complainer and to my horror found that I was letting myself get sucked into it. Do you ever find yourself getting sucked in by people who like to complain but don’t really want to solve their problem? Well don’t.

Instead of joining the complaining party, use your precious time to solve your own problems or to enjoy your life as intended. Even 10 minutes given to a complainer (family, friend or colleague) is bound to sap your energy. Those are 10 precious minutes you could’ve been doing something for you and your legal nurse consulting business. Minutes you’ll never get back. Rather than waste them in a negative manner, do something fun for yourself. Take a relaxing mineral-salt bath, drink a glass of wine or go ahead – do both! You can also put those minutes into your CLNC^® business by working on a report or calling an attorney on your prospect list.

The next time you find yourself snared by a complainer, detach and interrupt the complaining. Before you give 10 precious minutes away to someone else’s soap opera, ask yourself if you’ll really be making a difference by listening or joining in. Or would those 10 minutes be better spent on you or something more positive?

For the next 30 days be a conscious observer of complainers in your life and conscientious of your own commitment to detach from them. When you do, your life and your legal nurse consulting business will soar.

Success Is Inside!

Every year we adopt a new business theme at Vickie Milazzo Institute. Some previous examples are “Let It Go” and “Move Like a Maverick.” All year long we have a lot of fun with the theme, but more important, we use the theme to challenge how we think and how we do business. The staff especially enjoys reminding me of the theme to persuade me of their position on issues. I think “Let it Go” was my staff’s all-time favorite and quickly became the catch-phrase any time something was a little bit off or I found a mistake or error. I was definitely ready to let that theme go!

This year’s theme is “Ditch Unnecessary Complexities.” Complexity in and of itself is not negative. In fact, because what we do at the Institute is complex, copycats cannot replicate the quality of what we offer to Certified Legal Nurse Consultants and CLNC^® students.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant when you write a report and analysis for a medical-malpractice case, you expect your report to have a level of complexity that cannot be replicated by a nurse who has not been trained as a CLNC^® consultant.

But in both your business and mine, this is a good year to eliminate unnecessary complexities that creep into our CLNC^® businesses and are accepted without question or thought.

At a recent Vickie Milazzo Institute staff brainstorm, I asked the staff to help identify unnecessary complexities with the focus on being more efficient, cutting costs and eliminating a process or procedure that is no longer needed. Together they identified 48 of them for 2010. Of course we triaged the most important ones to tackle first, but many required very little effort.

You can do this for your CLNC^® business by raising your consciousness and asking yourself the following questions:

1. “Am I doing something that I no longer need to be doing?”
2. “Why exactly are we doing it this way? Is it simply because that’s the way we’ve always done it?”
3. “Am I doing something that gives me little or no payoff?”
4. “Can I simplify this process?”
5. “Does technology exist to automate or simplify this process?”
6. “Is there not just an easier way, but a better and faster way to accomplish this goal?”

In 2010, let’s commit to focus on the core purpose of our CLNC^® businesses – i.e. servicing our clients and producing the best quality product by freeing ourselves from unnecessary complexities. The time we save can be used to improve other processes or, just to improve our lives outside of our legal nurse consulting businesses. Once you’ve completed this process for your CLNC^® business, consider trying it in your home – just don’t let your family in on “let it go!”

Success Is Inside!

As I embarked on my new career as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, I received a case from an attorney and I wanted to do the best job ever. So I reviewed the records over and over until I knew those records like the back of my hand.

I met with my attorney-client to discuss my opinions on the case and as I was sitting in her office going over the events and the records that supported each opinion, I felt as though I was speaking in slow motion and so below her level of knowledge. All of a sudden she stood up behind her desk and yelled out, “What?” I stopped in my tracks and sat there with what I am sure was a blank stare. I didn’t know what I did wrong or what I had said to offend her. She continued, “What did you just say?” I repeated what I had said about what had happened to this patient in a moment of critical care. She again said, “What? Where did you find that information? Show me where it says that.” With trembling hands, I showed her and she ran out of the room. I sat there holding my breath. I was sure I had said something horribly wrong. Maybe I insulted her and didn’t realize it.

After some time, she returned to the room with two gentlemen. I thought to myself, okay, these must be the bouncers and I am being thrown out. The two men sat down next to me. I had the records in my lap and dropped them. I am sure I wasn’t even breathing. Was I blue yet?

The older male attorney started to explain to me that I had found the missing link. I had found the smoking gun. I had found… whatever other metaphors I can come up with. I had found information that was invaluable in the case. No one had found what I had found, not even the MD experts. Oh, and by the way, I could breathe again.

I had found the key to winning the case and we did ultimately succeed in winning. I felt so good.

I now consult with two other attorneys in that firm and also consult for two of their other offices. But on that day, I felt like I could conquer the world. This experience gave me the confidence I needed to keep going. And here I am ten years later still going strong.

Nikki J. Chuml, RNC, FMC, PRN, CLNC

Like most women, I’m a sucker for a gift with purchase (GWP) at a makeup counter. I never met a GWP offer I could refuse, so I try to steer clear of the mall when I know they’re being offered. Tom’s been shopping with me so many times that if I forget to ask for my GWP, he’ll often pipe in before we close the transaction with “is there a gift with that?”

I have a great sales rep, Lisa, who I’ve known for a long time. Once, she tried to sell me a new product which I refused. To my surprise, when I got home that very product was in my bag! That’s right, the actual product, not the small sample of it. She’d even tucked in a note telling me she was sure I would love it. I had no choice but to experience it and now I’m a believer. That free gift turned out not to be free at all because I love this product so much I’ll probably be buying it for the rest of my life or its life.

This same marketing strategy works for your legal nurse consulting business too. You should be educating your attorney-clients about every one of the 32 CLNC^® services you offer. If they’re stuck on using the same 3-5 CLNC^® services, gift them, and I don’t just mean a small sample. Go ahead and do that whole set of requests for production, (not just 5 examples of what you are able to do). Remember not to bill them for it, but remember the small note that reminds them that this time it’s a gift. And this is a gift that should bring you a huge return. If you do it well, the attorney will be hooked and expecting it (for your regular fee of course) on the next case and every case thereafter.

I am certain that if Lisa had never given me the product, I would never have tried it. She is smart enough to know that sometimes even a sample is not good enough. I had to fully experience the product to fully appreciate it. One of those tiny two-use samples wouldn’t have converted me like having the full-blown experience.

If you believe strongly in what you have to offer, you’ll find a way to get a CLNC^® GWP into the hands of your attorney-clients. Create and deliver your CLNC^® GWP today. Warning – if your attorney-clients like it too much, you may not have time for your own shopping anymore.

Success Is Inside!

The other day Tom and I went to purchase a new mattress. We thought it was time for a change and that a rainy afternoon was a good time to start looking. We’d already done our homework so we knew what we wanted. The first store we went into, the sole salesperson reluctantly left his seat at the counter only after we struggled in from the rain, shook off and folded our umbrellas. It was still two hours before closing according to the sign on the door, so I wondered if he figured we weren’t serious shoppers, although who else would be out in a hard rain? He answered our questions, let us roam about the store unattended and didn’t really try to sell us anything.

We left and drove about three blocks to the next store. Even before we had the umbrellas wrapped up a young salesperson named Tiffany walked up and introduced herself. She asked what we were looking for and patiently heard us out. After helping us with the mattress set, she inquired about other products we might be interested in as well as any concerns we might have. She complimented us on our choice, told us why it was different from similar sets and spent a lot of time with us without exerting any pressure tactics.

She was so good that before we left the store, we’d not only laid on almost every mattress they had, we’d also tried out all their recliners and added one of those to our growing list. I had to draw the line when I heard her telling Tom that they made a matching cup and snack holder for the recliner. When we made our final purchase she checked the store’s inventory and told us that while the recliner could be delivered the next day it would be a week before she could arrange delivery of the mattress set. She offered to send over the floor model along with a complimentary set of sheets to let us sleep on it as a test until ours could be delivered. We walked out of the store the proud new owners of not only a mattress but also a new recliner, a reading lamp and some other accessories, a not inconsiderable sale for a rainy afternoon.

On our scheduled delivery date, Tiffany arrived at our house just after the delivery truck. She supervised the load-in and helped set up everything. After the delivery crew left Tiffany stayed to orient us to everything and to go over our invoice to show us what had been delivered and what was still outstanding. The next day she called to see how we’d slept and if we had any questions or needed any adjustments. She also updated us on the delivery date for our mattress.

I was struck not just by how good her service was, but by how far she went above what I would have considered normal or even great customer service. How often do you walk into a store and have to struggle to capture the attention of a salesperson or even pry them off their cell phone to work with you? Here was a woman who not only took charge of the sale from the minute we walked in the store, but did everything she could to make our experience a memorable one.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, do you do the same for your attorney-clients and prospects?

• Do you offer a seamless experience from the time you meet them, up to and after you deliver your work product?
• Do you offer additional CLNC^® services that will benefit the case?
• Do you assess whether you can provide something more (such as articles on the topic) to the attorney right away, and before you deliver your final work product?
• Have you followed up to see if the attorney-client has all the information that she needs and to answer any questions she has after reading your legal nurse consulting work product?

Next time you find yourself working with an attorney-client or -prospect, ask yourself whether or not you’re delivering “Tiffany-quality” service.

Earlier this month, the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR) published an article based on advice from the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) and American College of Radiology (ACR) which contradicted the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (PSTF) and stated that annual mammograms should indeed begin at age 40 and even earlier if you’re at risk. Unlike the PSTF’s earlier recommendations, the SBI/ACR based its recommendations on several different trials and studies.

It’s good to see that medical professionals are recommending what women have known for years and what is just good, common sense – if you are 40+, go get yourself a mammogram and get one annually.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share whether you agree or not.

This isn’t an official Tech Tip; it’s more of a ramble so I apologize in advance. Those of you who want a Tech Tip can learn about TwitterPeek, probably the most useless handheld device ever. Read this story about TwitterPeek, a device that is designed for Twitter and only Twitter (and maybe email). If you can figure out a reason to carry another device for your legal nurse consulting business let me know. The rest of you please keep reading.

I recently had a minor procedure (it was nothing serious so rest assured the Tuesday Tech Tips will, like an old Timex^® watch, keep on tipping) with a MAC for sedation. For those legal nurse consultants who haven’t been in an OR since they stopped sharpening scalpels on a leather strop, MAC stands for Monitored Anesthesia Care.

With a MAC you’re put, not entirely under, but into a deep and somewhat restless sleep. MACs are used to keep a patient (me) immobile and also used as a supplement to the local anesthesia. I felt no real physical sensations but I did have a modicum of consciousness. Throughout the procedure, I remember drifting in and out of sleep. I also remember, from a distance, various portions of the conversations between the surgeon and the nurses. It was like having a narrated dream. In all honesty, it was probably the most boring conversation I’ve ever eavesdropped on. It was all business (at least the parts I remember).

And that, my CLNC^® amigos, is my point. I don’t know how many of you have been in the OR when they’re cutting people open, strewing blood, organs, limbs and other body parts about, but for those of you who have, you need to remember that sedated patients often do remember things. All sorts of things. My surgical team was as professional as could be. But what about you and yours? Do you make jokes, cut up (not literally), act out or make possible “statements against interest” while in the OR? What about you part-time CLNC^® consultants who are still providing some in-hospital care? Are you careful about what you say in front of a patient or family member? Do you argue with the doctors about the patient’s care within earshot of an “interested party?” Nurse supervisors: have you ever reprimanded someone in front of the patient’s family or just outside the door of a patient’s room?

A defensive strategy for any legal nurse consultant or other nurse who is still spending time inside a hospital (other than as a patient) is to watch what you say no matter where you are. This means in front of the patient (sedated or not), their family, in elevators, hallways and the cafeteria, but also be careful what you say to other staff members. I’m not talking about the HIPAA hippo, I’m talking about playing tic tac toe with Betadine on the patient or making jokes about their appearance, body parts or their procedure and about things that have gone wrong, are going wrong or have been done wrong. Statements against interest can come back to bite not only you but also your facility when someone remembers hearing you say “I thought ‘no pen’ meant to use a pencil on his chart. I never guessed it had to do with his meds.”

I was in good hands, but if something had gone wrong, there’s a good chance I would have remembered it. One “oops” from the doc or one bad joke at my expense and my somewhat cloudy attention would have been clearly focused. Be careful what you say and where you say it. When in doubt don’t say nuthin’ to nobody.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant preparing a case report, you know to always ask, not only the patient what they remember during the surgery, but also what the family members and visitors heard the nurses and docs discussing around the time of the incident. There’s always a lot to be learned from the idle conversations that take place on a unit.

Until next Tuesday, keep on techin’,

Tom

I just got back from four wonderfully luxurious days sitting on a beach in Mexico with nothing more on my mind than my stack of novels. You’d think that for a woman who grew up in New Orleans, in a home that didn’t have air conditioning, I’d only like warm weather places like beaches or jungles. Surprisingly it’s exactly the opposite! Many of my favorite travels have taken me to colder climates.

I’ve been snow-shoeing in the high Rockies, explored Iceland, the Antarctic, the Arctic (600 miles from the North Pole), trekked the Everest and Annapurna sides of Nepal and stood among prayer flags on a 13,000-foot high mountain pass looking across Bhutan’s Haa Valley and the Himalayas into Tibet. Standing in rushing water up to my waist while fly-fishing in a Canadian river in a cold drenching rain, I remarked to

Vickie at Chelela Pass in Bhutan

If you plan to go somewhere or start something big, whether it’s a vacation or a legal nurse consulting business, you need to be sure that you’ve completed all the necessary preparations. You need to dress yourself and your CLNC^® business appropriately if you want to enjoy success. Just like you can dress badly for an outdoor event, you can also dress your legal nurse consulting business badly with poorly designed marketing materials, an unprofessional-looking website and unclear communications with attorney-prospects.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, you need to always dress yourself and your business for success. Today, as you begin your day, I’d like to know what clothing you’re planning to wear for your legal nurse consulting business.

Success Is Inside (but the fun’s outside!)

Tom, my twin brother Vince and I were walking through the mall the other day with no particular destination on our minds. It was just one of those evenings when you just troll the mall because it’s there. Since we didn’t have a goal or focus I found myself taking in the shops from a different perspective. Normally, I’m what Tom refers to as a F&F shopper – fire and forget. I’m a laser-like focused shopper, entering the mall at a fast pace, making my purchases and coming back out just as fast, paying no attention to the in-between.

To give you a little dish, Tom and Vince can spend more time in a store than I do and still come out empty-handed. I’m always perplexed that they can spend so much time in a store (even a sporting goods store) without buying anything. I need to keep those two apart or leave them at home.

Being with Tom and Vince that evening at the mall (and nope, they didn’t buy a thing) gave me time to think about our legal nurse consulting businesses.

I walked past windows and display after display of the same lines of clothing. Mind-numbing displays of solids, stripes, plaids and every color under the sun – virtually the same from store to store. I realized that no matter where you are in the developed world, the shopping is disturbingly similar. Global brands have limited our choices from what was once a world of many selections to a world of few. Walk through Macy’s, Sak’s, Neiman’s, Nordy’s, Target or even my favorite, Walmart and they are scarily the same.

So I started to wonder what really makes one store more successful than another since it’s not really the product. Tom and Vince were still debating the merits of one brand of athletic supporter over another, so I chose a couple of stores at random and walked in. I learned more than a few things from this, both about myself and what I think Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can apply to their legal nurse consulting businesses. First of all, I noticed the few stores that had inventive window displays designed to catch my eye, did just that. Next, the stores that presented themselves in the best possible light seemed to be the most inviting.

But, the busy stores were the ones that raised my curiosity the most. If a lot of people were looking at their products, then surely I must look too. An empty store, no matter how clean and attractively laid out, tells me it’s empty for a reason. Something is clearly lacking – it might be value, quality, price or service but I’ll never know because I didn’t go in (sorry Valentino). Of the stores I did go in, the one thing that made the difference between the ones that were successful or not, was the service.

I’m not a fan of the hide and seek game that some salespeople play. If I have to hunt all over for a salesperson just to ask if they have a particular blouse in a size 2 (just kidding), I’m going to lose interest fast. Even more disturbing to me is when I do find a salesperson (or two) and they’re either talking on their cell phones or chatting it up with each other and can’t be interrupted to service a customer. That’s a quick way to lose a sale, sister.

Okay, so let’s look at the lessons for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants. First of all, present yourself in the best possible manner. Dress neatly and professionally. No one likes sloppy looking salespeople. If you can’t be bothered to dress appropriately for work, how do you think attorneys can trust you to help them? Attorneys and other professionals are drawn to successful-looking people. Although some of the rules from the old “Dress for Success” book don’t apply, the basic one does – dress like you’re part of your market.

Second, how are you displaying your products? Is your line sloppily presented or do your marketing materials practically snap with crispness? Start with your cover letter, is it on good quality bond paper? Do you use a letterhead that matches your other materials? Is your message congruent throughout? I see business cards that look like they’ve been hand-printed and sales brochures that look like they’ve been pasted together from ransom notes. You have seconds to get your attorney-prospect’s attention and catch their eye. Think of the way you sort your own mail and make sure your materials represent the professional you are. Too cute, too poorly done and too cheaply done send the same message. One your attorney-prospect won’t be receptive to.

Third, are you on your feet marketing or are you passively waiting for your market to find you? In the stores that I enjoyed shopping the most, the sales clerks didn’t wait for me to walk up to them, they were all over me from the minute I walked in. Not in a clinging manner, but in a professional “how may I help you find something” manner. There’s a certain salesperson in the shoe department of one of my favorite stores who always makes a point of acknowledging me no matter how busy he is. He checks to see if I need something in particular and lets me in on any upcoming sales – all while juggling other customers and an armful of shoe boxes.

He makes me think of one of the CLNC^® Mentors who exhibits at legal conferences. She positions herself in front of her booth and walks up to the attorneys as they come by, offering descriptions of her CLNC^® services. She’s got a super high success rate. I can contrast her to another legal nurse consultant (not a CLNC^® consultant) who she often sees at many of the same conferences. That woman sits inside her booth (a total no-no) and waits for attorneys to approach her. She has commented that she’s surprised she doesn’t do as well as the CLNC^® Mentor at attracting new business.

The salespeople who earn my business are often the ones that offer the business – not the ones that earn their commission simply by ringing me up. If I know something is likely to be available in that product line at another store with better service, guess where I’ll go to buy it. Even if I end up having to order the item, I’d rather do it where I experience good service and have the commission go to someone who’s earned it, than someone who hasn’t. Attorneys are the same way. They’re crazy busy and don’t have time to go looking for you. You need to get out there and, as one Certified Legal Nurse Consultant once said, if they don’t know why they need my CLNC^® services, I just explain it to them until they do!

Fourth, the best salespeople are the ones who not only help you find the perfect item, but also help you accessorize it or supplement it. You can always find the perfect jacket, but blouses, earrings or a purse that compliment it and extend its range are great. Make yourself indispensible. You’re not there to sell the attorney-client just one service. Certified Legal Nurse Consultants know how to deliver over thirty different CLNC^® services to attorneys. Don’t be the store with just one pair of shoes on the shelf. If they’re not the shoes the attorney-client is looking for (or they don’t fit) they’ll go elsewhere.

Remember, ultimately you may be offering the same services as the next legal nurse consultant so you need to distinguish yourself in the eyes of your market and make sure that you offer them what they want and what they need. The best performing Certified Legal Nurse Consultants deliver quality service when they say they will.

Next time you’re in the mall, zero in on what attracts you to a particular store or salesperson. Ask yourself what makes you loyal to a particular line of products or store. Then apply these insights to your own legal nurse consulting business. I know I bring home something different every time I go to the mall and I don’t mean purchases – I’m talking about new ideas I discover for improving my own business.

Success Is Inside!

Nurses often say, “You must have known quite a few attorneys when you started,” suggesting that the adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” is the guaranteed path to launching a successful business as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant.

Actually, I didn’t know any attorneys when I got started! I didn’t live in their neighborhoods or get invited to their parties. When I decided to become a legal nurse consultant I didn’t even think I knew anyone who knew an attorney. That false-ism, “It’s not what you know it’s who you know,” is a leftover from the 1980s, when “networking” was the buzzword among out-of-work professionals vying for consulting or other business. They gathered at events to eat, drink, pass out business cards and ask for referrals. Sometimes it resulted in new business and sometimes it was just an excuse to drink.

While referral and word-of-mouth promotion are still the strongest and the most cost-effective ways of building an attorney-client base, networking only works for you when you are selective. Unless you’re selective, networking events become nothing more than a waste of your time, i.e. networking is NOT working.

As Dale Barnes, a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, shared, “The worst advice I followed had to do with a networking group. I think networking groups are wonderful and can be effective, but it has to be the right one. I had a friend who belonged to a group and received a lot of business because of this group, so I joined too. I found that there were manicurists, massage therapists, hairdressers, network marketing people, construction company owners, electricians, etc. in this group. There were no attorneys and no one seemed to know any attorneys. I stuck with it for a year. I was able to find some good resources for my own personal use, but it never helped grow my CLNC^® business and was a waste of time and money. I later joined a high-powered business networking group for attorneys, CPAs, bankers, upper management and administrative people. My CLNC^® business did grow due to this connection. I wish I had not wasted that first year. It pays to really check out the makeup of a group and its main focus prior to joining.”

That one year Dale spent in the wrong networking group is an example of where networking was not working – at least as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant. She wisely sought out and found the appropriate group to network with.

Networking is often overrated. I’ve seen people spend countless hours in meaningless conversation with people they really don’t want to spend time with while trying to build a business. The best way to find attorneys through networking is to spend time with potential attorney-prospects or people closely related to them. Your prospects are attorneys, so if you want to hang somewhere, hang out at the courthouse. Target your networking to where it will make the most impact.

Be cautious also with established networking groups, such as associations, and with how much power you give them over your success. Sometimes when you’re within a network, and your ideas don’t align with that network, people can try to persuade you to their side and it can often be the “dark side.” I often wonder what people expect when they join a closed-minded organization. Do they expect members to share business (Sure, I’ve been working with Bob Smith but you can cut me out)? Or even worse, the network will try to eliminate you or blackball you in your industry because of your ideas or stance.

Your own ideas, your own career plan, your own business model have to be strong enough to stand alone, without network support. That’s the entrepreneurial secret that has helped to build this country and that I’ve used to build my business.

After pioneering the industry of legal nurse consulting, I took a grand departure from what others believed our industry needed. I believed we needed a standardized certification program. They disagreed. So what did I do? I ticked some people off by creating what became the first and most widely recognized certification for legal nurse consultants and the largest association for legal nurse consultants – the National Alliance for Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC^®).

In short, the less approval is important to you, the freer you are to succeed. Don’t let association groupthink dictate what is acceptable or appropriate for your future. Taking a grand departure from conventional wisdom can take you places no other has dared to go before. Something else to remember is that when someone’s status quo is threatened they’ll react with fear and do what they can to discourage you and put down your ideas. This especially includes new group members who want their own piece of the pie.

Networks are often an incestuous “go along” type of situation and when it comes to career building, striving to “go along to get along” is not necessarily a formula for success. Did Madonna “go along” to skyrocket her career? Does Donald Trump “go along” with anybody? Is Richard Branson “going along” as he promotes one crazy, successful venture after another?

As I started to achieve success, I began to realize that my position would be stronger if I didn’t rely on an outside network to advance my company but instead built a strong company of free thinkers. I believe in inviting my staff to disagree with me and they are quite vocal and quite comfortable (sometimes too comfortable) doing so. My ideas often get shot down. We are a stronger company for that.

You have to be willing to take a stand. Audaciously successful people often stand contrary to what the world believes is right and proper, and they don’t care if their ideas upset people. Of course your goal is not to upset people but to express your ideas and opinions, uncensored, in your truest voice.

Neutrality is a death sentence. You’ll never please everybody, so don’t kill your nursing career – and your earning potential – by trying. As we say in Texas, “There’s nothing in the middle of the road except yellow stripes and dead armadillos.” You don’t want to be either.

Dramatic success comes from taking a stance, even if it’s contrary to the experts or to the self-proclaimed experts. It’s your nursing career and to make the most of it, you need to be willing to stir things up, stand out and maybe tick off a few people. Let other nurses “go along” and have their middle-of-the-road successes. But, don’t let one of those “other” nurses be you.

Success Is Inside!