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Dave Baldwin
  • 32, Male
  • Raleigh, NC
  • United States
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Freelance Writer and Editor

Profile Information

Will you commit to adding 1 positive item to the Network each month? (it can be a Question, an Answer, an INVITE or really anything positive)
I can't imagine why anyone would sign up on a network like this and contribute less than once a month.
About my Business:
I have authored 2.5 books.

The first book is titled Pied Piper Entrepreneurship: Getting Your Customer to Initiate the Sale. It's about the process of selling and building a business that I developed from 2007 to 2009. http://BuyDavesBook.com/

The second book is titled How to Sell an Information Product Without Writing It. This one is a quickie. I created this one in June of 2009 as an experiment to see if the book pre-selling idea was viable. I learned that it is. It is available on Lulu.

The third book, released in November 2009, is titled Get That Book Out of Your Head. As its name would suggest, this book talks about the process that I use with clients. http://GetThatBookOutOfYourHead.com/

I'm a business ghost writer and editor. I help small business owners and sales professionals create distinctive personal branding and credibility through authorship.

If you're struggling to market and sell your services, if you're doing a lot of cold calling, or if you are spending your time and energy staying busy, consider that your personal branding may be the place to look. The stronger your personal brand, the less you will have to market yourself.

Writing a book is a great way to brand yourself. People who read a book begin to see you in a different light. If a book is too large a project for you to take on right now, writing articles is another option.

My process is fairly straightforward. I start out by interviewing my clients about their vision for the future, and I direct them through a structured interview designed to help them decide if writing a book makes sense or not.

If the client and I both feel that we're a good fit, I work with them to map out the project top-down. If it's a book, we create a working title and a list of chapters. Once we are on the same page about this, we create a list of bullet points for each chapter to serve as a skeleton for the content. From here, the projects proceed different ways, depending on the needs and goals of the client. I use a similar approach for a series of articles.
About Me:
In mid-2007, I had what Michael Gerber (author of The E-Myth Revisited) describes as an "Entrepreneurial Seizure." I was working at a job that was somewhat like the movie Office Space, and my bosses called my cell phone 8 times during a 30-minute period (on my day off). There was a period of red-hot outrage, followed by a moment of peaceful stillness, somewhat like the eye of a hurricane. I knew in that moment that I was never going to be a slave again.

Several months later, I dubbed myself "The Introverted Entrepreneur." I then set off in search of a way to succeed in business without mucking through the icky waters of "selling."

I'm currently training with Landmark Education (a personal development training organization). My training with Landmark started in mid-2007, and marked the beginning of my entrepreneurial career. It also led to me developing a relationship with God and giving up drugs. Landmark's training is based on one key principle: your life is not determined by your past, but by the future you're living into.
http://www.LandmarkEducation.com/

I'm an investor and volunteer fund raiser with The Hunger Project, an international non-profit that's been around since 1977. We are committed to empowering men and women in developing countries to end their own hunger by building sustainable economies in an environmentally responsible way. Our strategy focuses on the empowerment of women, and our fund raising efforts focus on individual grassroots investors who are committed for the long term vision.
http://www.THP.org/

In Chinese astrology, I'm a Fire Snake.
My Ideal Customer is:
I only work with serious, committed clients. If you're sitting on the fence about whether writing a book is something you have time for or not, you probably shouldn't do it. A good client for me is someone who understands that personal branding is not optional, and who follows through on the things they start.

* A professional who wants to build a more credible brand name by authoring a book, but lacks the time to write it.

* A business owner who writes and creates quality content as part of a marketing strategy

* An entrepreneur who would like to create an information product as part of a marketing funnel

* A one-of-a-kind business looking for creative ways to market. Examples of such a business might include:
- a gourmet bakery that's also a photography studio
- a chiropractor who offers holistic health and wellness services
- a coffee shop/art gallery that hosts Meetup events
- a Realtor who's also a gardener and specializes in Feng Shui
- a jewelry store that also sells fine chocolates
- a Quickbooks specialist who offers full IT services for small businesses

Those are just a few.
My Ideal Referral Partner is:
* Another writer like myself
* A sales coach, career coach, or business coach
Who referred you to inSide919?
Pat Howlett
Website:
http://www.dave-baldwin.com
Blog Address:
http://www.dave-baldwin.com/blog
Linkedin Address:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/introvertedentrepreneur
Facebook Address:
http://www.facebook.com/dave.baldwin77
Your Twitter to Follow:
http://twitter.com/ghostwriterdave
919 Phone number (only add if you are okay with people calling you)
919-723-7916

Latest Activity

on Wednesday
on Wednesday
Dave Baldwin added an event
December 11, 2009 from 11am to 1pm
Are you an aspiring author who has had a book stuck in your head for years? Have you been talking about writing a book for a long time without managing to get it done? Do you procrastinate writing? Do you just have no time to write? If any of ...
on Wednesday
We all blog these days, and not all blogs are created equal. Why not? It's a cost-effective way to market a small business. Would you like to be part of a discussion community to share ideas and feedback, do's and don'ts? Come join this forum.
November 19

Dave Baldwin's Blog

Dave Baldwin

Chain vs. Local Debate, Part II

It seems that a fantastic discussion has arisen around the question: should we continue to buy things at Wal-Mart and Starbucks, or should we intentionally favor the locally-owned small businesses?

(Side note to Michelle: the experience you describe about Subway is, in fact, my experience when I go to Subway. Some of them don't even stock the same kinds of cheese. Most franchises aren't that bad, but you should have picked McDonald's!)

The original discussion:… Continue

Posted on November 9, 2009 at 3:17pm — 2 Comments

Dave Baldwin

Moving Out of the Chains and into the Community

I have been wanting to attend the InSider Coffee Breaks for the last several weeks, but haven't been able to make it due to time conflicts. One thing that I feel compelled to mention is the impact that we can all have on our economy by making an effort to patronize the locally-owned coffee shops instead of the major chains.

I'm not a purist or a saint about this (which I just had to mention in case someone sees me at a Starbucks and rats me out!) However, I do go to the locally owned coffee sho… Continue

Posted on November 4, 2009 at 10:51pm — 9 Comments

Dave Baldwin

Seeking Location for New Business Networking Group

Good morning everyone!

A handful of us are creating a new concept of business networking and starting a group. We've decided that the target group size will be about 25.

We're looking for a venue. We're aiming for the early part of November to start getting together.

In the spirit of the network, I'd like to find us a suitable location that is locally owned and would like to be part of what we're creating. We're all big on supporting local businesses and I'd like for this new group to do that… Continue

Posted on October 14, 2009 at 7:36am — 7 Comments

Dave Baldwin

Does anyone know how to get jury duty postponed in Wake County?

"A friend of mine" would like to know!

I'm assuming that there are standard acceptable arguments that are likely to be accepted by the courts when it comes to these things. I also know that saying the wrong thing is likely to guarantee that jury duty will NOT be postponed.

Also, I'd like to figure out if there's a way to get this handled in advance, rather than waiting until the summons date to appear and make a request in person. Waiting until the date of the summons would be of no use.

Any… Continue

Posted on October 1, 2009 at 3:11pm — 4 Comments

Dave Baldwin

My Six Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAG's)

Never, ever, EVER post duplicate content. It's just plain wrong. For a duplicate of this blog post, see my main blog: http://dave-baldwin.com/blog/?p=130

If you’ve ever read “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, you’re familiar with the idea of a “big, hairy, audacious goal,” or “BHAG” for short. So, I’ve devised six such goals for the next year.

(If you’re in the Landmark Team Management and Leadership Program, these are my Team 2 Games in the World. If you don’t know what I’m referring to, check o… Continue

Posted on September 27, 2009 at 11:35am — 1 Comment

Comment Wall (345 comments)

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At 1:43pm on November 25, 2009, Athena K. Delmontie said…
Hi Dave, long time no see. Yes, I was MIA for awhile (but very busy working my business). Have a nice Thanksgiving, Athena :)
At 12:34pm on November 2, 2009, Schelli Whitehouse said…
Hi Dave, I can't wait to hear about the clarity you received from working with our awesome equine coaches yesterday!

Hugs,
~Schelli
At 8:45am on October 3, 2009, Pat Howlett said…
Another Great Trustee Breakfast yesterday - Thanks!!
At 3:57pm on September 12, 2009, Ashley Berman Hale said…
Hey Dave -

I nearly never make it to inside919 (I guess I've got social networking overload) and I just noticed a message from you from November. Please feel free to email me any time directly at ashley.berman@gmail.com
At 2:04pm on September 12, 2009, Pat Howlett said…
Hey Dave, hope you can make it to the End of Summer "Social Hour" Trying to get a bunch of inSiders to meet each other offline. It's what I do :)
At 8:48pm on September 10, 2009, Lynanne Fowle said…
Great! I'll give you a call on Monday and we'll go from there!

Have a great weekend,
Lynanne
At 5:53pm on September 10, 2009, Lynanne Fowle said…
Hey, Dave.
We spoke about teaming up for editing services, and at the time I was pretty swamped. How are things looking these days? I have more time available and was hoping we could reconnect about pooling resources.

Thanks,
Lynanne Fowle
At 11:21pm on August 19, 2009, Martin Brossman said…
I know you are out of town for the big event but I want to thank you for your great contribution you made to book on using Social Media for Business. Hope you have a safe trip:

http://inside919.ning.com/events/launch-of-the-social-media-for
At 7:23pm on June 30, 2009, Susan Richards said…
Happy Birthday!! hope you are having a good one.
At 1:01pm on June 30, 2009, Pat Howlett said…
Happy Birthday Dave, wish I had known yesterday when we met - hope you were able to take the day off and do something you enjoy or just goof off. Great to know you!
 
 

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