Hello Shoreline East Members, Guests and Visitors,

“If you are not engaged in the process of becoming the person you want to be, you are automatically engaged in the process in becoming the person you don’t want to be.”  This quote by Dale Carnegie opened our BNI meeting on Tuesday.  Our Education Coordinator, Larry Dvorski, presented a clear map to success in BNI.  One to ones, power teams, clearly explaining your service or product to others, clearly stating your best referral sources and bringing in others as members of BNI to create beneficial power teams.  These are just a few of those mentioned by Larry.  If success in BNI is your goal, failure to follow these proven steps is likely to lead you to a contrary outcome.  Success for every member in the Chapter is our goal.  With each member following the basic tenets to success in BNI, the group will be exponentially benefited.

Speaker Presentation

Our speaker today was Joe Sarfaty of Celebration Development.  At a young age, Joe has experienced a great deal in the building industry.  The combination of his attention to detail, engaging personality and the relentless pursuit of quality subcontractors has been a recipe for success for both Joe and Celebration.

MSP Training
A requirement of membership in BNI is MSP training.  MSP training will take place in North Haven on May 22nd from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.  If you have not attended MSP training yet, it is critical that you attend this meeting.  If any existing members would like to brush up on the basics and tools of BNI, attending the MSP for a second time would be helpful.  There is new information to be shared in the present MSP classes.  To sign up, please contact Jackie St. Peter.  Her email address is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The roadmap to success in BNI has been laid out.  We need the determination to follow it.

I want to give a special thanks to Lurrae Lupone who worked hard preparing for today’s meeting.  Lurrae, you did a great job!  It was a very refreshing change.

Guests & Vistors

John Ross substituted for Bob Handelman of Bob Handelman Images this morning.

Jim John with Send out Cards substituted for Mary Stager today.  It was nice to have both of you with us.

MSP Training is required for all presenters! Upcoming sessions are found here:
 RSVP at http://bnict.com/events.html

To download The Dance Card Planner, login to this website on the home page and click on Fast Track To Success.

This week’s 10-minute presentation was by Guy Esposito of Repellapest.  His presentation was compelling and frightening (bed bugs) at the same time.  It is clear that Guy possesses the two business traits we discussed over the last two weeks.  He has the “consider it done” attitude and passion for what he does.  He has a following of very satisfied customers, which are a testament to the quality of his work.



At this week's meeting, Jim Pease of Puro Clean was our featured speaker. 

Puro Clean is much more than a water and mold remediation company.  We also learned that Jim, with his masters degree in environmental engineering, is much more qualified than most in his industry.  His enthusiasm for his work is evident.

Love your business but hate running it?

This week we heard from Mary Stager founder of re-thinc, LLC.  With more than 25 years experience, Mary showed today her passion for helping small businesses with 0 - 10 employees how to work smarter... not harder!  

The challenge?  Business people today can be great at their skill, trade or expertise yet they often lack the training on how to run a business as owning one and running one are 2 very different things!  Symptoms of this dilemma show up as:

Owner working excessive hours * Work not getting done or to owner’s satisfaction * Time management challenges * Marketing Maze – trying to figure it all out * Good skills; lack knowledge or passion for running a business * Unhappy customers and/or employees

Quickly identifying the issues that drain a business' time, money and resources is where it all begins. With a simple plan in place, Mary helps business owners remove barriers in the operation so that the business runs more smoothly and more profitably.  "It's all about TEAM.  Establishing a stronger TEAM foundation with customers and/or employees allows a business owner to have their business work FOR them!"  

"Your business must have a clearly defined structure

so that your sales flow smoothly and efficiently.  

Any snag in this process drains your time, money and profits!"

The bottom line?  The business owner is able to get clear on their goals to begin accomplishing them!

By implementing a plan of action that resolves issues at the root level, your business can begin working harder for you!

Great job, Mary, and thank you for helping us re-thinc how successfully business gets done!

House and yard need work? Body and soul? SEBN came through.

This Letter to the Editor of the Madison Patch (from Lurrae Lupone) outlines the many services provided by Shoreline East Members for restoration of damage from Hurricane Irene.

http://madison-ct.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-after-irene-sebn-to-the-rescue

Thanks to designer Paul Halagan, Printer Dan Litwin and Feng Shui specialist Lurra Lupone, Shoreline East now has business cards for its valued members.

Brandishing the familiar logo of the Shoreline East Business Network, the two-sided card allows members to address their information as desired to any and all recipients.

Trusted Members Serving the Greater Connecticut Shoreline
Whether connecting with a prospective member, a prosective client or a referral for a fellow member, these unique, attractive calling cards  bring to bear the many powerful and helpful resources of Shoreline East.

Dan Litwin, owner of Young's Printing in Middletown, produced thousands of these cards at no cost to members.

The cards also provide a central contact email address, ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) from which both clients and prospects' messages will be routed to SEBN members with specialties most appropriate for each inquiry.