Living on the margin, in any capacity, is not healthy.
If you make $50,00 a year and you live to your means and spend $50,000, you have no room for error. In other words, when those inevitable breakdowns happen, you get stressed and have to scramble for the extra money.… Read more   

By Lester M. Salvatierra
Your word-of-mouth networking strategy may not be enough to help you reach your business goals.
There, I’ve said it.
… Read more   For you super-ambitious business people out there who aren’t seeing the results you’d anticipated after running around from chamber meeting to mixer to ribbon-cutting to your networking

By Lester  M. Salvatierra… Read more   
To work in the finance services industry, whether it be financial or estate planning or business financing, requires that individuals establish trust with their clients. A great deal of trust. The kind of trust that permits a person to disclose the nature of his or her

… Read more   
Some businesspeople seem to have all the luck. The right people just seem to put themselves in the path of these lucky folks, ready to introduce them to those who will give them all the business they could ever desire. Do you know any people like this? Then you should

By Lester M. Salvatierra… Read more   
A business college professor drilled into us that we should always “narrow our focus and stick to it.” Like many such business guidelines it made sense, but recently it really hit home.
I have friends in various businesses — health insurance, financial planning, mortgage lending, business

By Lester R. Salvatierra, BNI Area Director
… Read more   
Have you ever sat through a group meeting and thought to yourself, “I could really run this meeting more effectively,” or “If I were in charge, I wouldn’t do it that way…?”
We’ve probably all had thoughts like this because it’s easier to

By Lester R. Salvatierra, BNI Area Director

I’d like to offer some perspective on business networking between men and women on the eve of the publication of Dr. Ivan Misner’s new book, “Business Networking and Sex.” Well, it’s not really quite… Read more    the eve of the debut of his new book,

By Lester Salvatierra, BNI Area Director… Read more   
Be selfish with your business and grow faster than you ever thought possible.
Business selfishness is good, positive, and helps you build your client base quickly. Personal selfishness is not positive and many of us know the negative repercussions of living a lifestyle of

By Lester Salvatierra, BNI Area Director… Read more   
It’s going to take an investment of at least two to three years to build a good diversified contact database.
It takes time, but it’s worth it. To build your contacts, you’ll have to attend an average of five to seven networking events per

By Lester Salvatierra, BNI Area Director… Read more   

A bank rejection — for that matter, any rejection — is painful, but particularly if your company is under a time crunch to complete a new equipment purchase or finish a project.
Many businesses leave the financing stage as the final item on their