Invest in yourself
First impressions are lasting impressions. Buy professional-looking clothes and be well-groomed. Buy business cards. Purchase a cell phone, personal digital assistant, laptop or organizer.

Advertise consistently, which gets your name out there. Don’t advertise for one month and then not advertise for six more months. You are wasting your money and are giving your competition six months’ lead in your marketplace.

Read trade magazines, trade newsletters, books, etc. We can all always learn at least one new thing a day.

Last but not least, you have to enjoy your business.. If what you are doing is not challenging, exciting or rewarding, then you may want to reconsider your present job. If you are not happy with what you are doing, it comes across in your attitude and presentation. Think about it.

Jim L. McIntosh is the operations manager at Blarney Stone Funding Inc. in Bayshore, N.Y. He has 22 years’ experience in retail commercial banking, 20 years’ experience with residential mortgages and 15 years’ experience in commercial mortgages. McIntosh is a licensed real estate agent and broker who does A-paper, Alt-A, prime and nonprime loans. Contact him at (631) 666-9300 or e-mail jmcintosh@blarneystonefunding.com.

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