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
Added by Dave Baldwin on November 9, 2009 at 3:17pm —
2 Comments
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
Added by Dave Baldwin on November 4, 2009 at 10:51pm —
9 Comments
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
Added by Dave Baldwin on October 14, 2009 at 7:36am —
7 Comments
"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
Added by Dave Baldwin on October 1, 2009 at 3:11pm —
4 Comments
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
Added by Dave Baldwin on September 27, 2009 at 11:35am —
1 Comment
I've been challenged this past month. I belong to Wake Business Leaders, a business networking group in Cary that meets at Hope Community Church on Wednesday mornings. We've been looking for ways to go beyond the usual "networking monotony" for awhile now. One thing we've been doing recently is called "Partners in Marketing." We were each assigned to one member of the group and tasked with finding new ways to bring business to that person.
I got Dave Wheeler of Meridian Residential. I suppose I…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on September 9, 2009 at 11:30am —
No Comments
Basically, I'm putting together my 3rd book. I've got to crank out two books by February, and I'm behind schedule.
I'm thinking that the third book will be about how to increase sales by writing a book.
Any thoughts on this? Anything that would interest you in particular?
In case you hadn't guessed, I'll be advising people to ask for advice on InSide919 and Facebook about what to write a book about. We'll see if this actually works.
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on September 8, 2009 at 10:53pm —
No Comments
After having done Loral Langemeier's Cash Machine workshop twice, I've come to realize a gross incongruency in the business networking world around Raleigh.
Why is it that I'm surrounded by business owners all day long, and yet people rarely ever try to sell me anything? Do people just not believe in the value of what they have to offer?
(Granted, I'm as guilty of this as anyone else, having written a book on the subject of getting customers to approach you...which, by the way, you can buy at…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on September 3, 2009 at 9:30pm —
7 Comments
It's funny how, even earlier this year, I used to be extremely self-righteous about people being unabashed in their self-promotion activities. After an enlightening discussion with my esteemed colleague Michelle Courtney Gower this afternoon, I decided that if I can't beat them, I might as well join them.
This doesn't mean, of course, that I'll now be approaching random people at cafes (such as the guy who walked up to my table this afternoon and tried to recruit me into his network marketing c…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on August 26, 2009 at 10:30pm —
3 Comments
Has anyone else noticed that in the world of entrepreneurship, it's all about working with the people you want to work with, and making your friendships profitable?
I almost hesitated to put this blog post up, for fear that I would come across as a Scrooge. That's not where I'm going. Life isn't about making money. But I've noticed, on several occasions now, that it becomes frustrating when I can only spend a limited amount of time with somebody before it's "time to get back to work."
I think…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on May 27, 2009 at 3:20pm —
3 Comments
(This is a nod in Seth Godin's direction, in case you haven't heard of his book, "Small is the New 'Big'".)
Has anyone noticed a pattern, amid the mass proliferation of new technologies, platforms, strategies, and paradigms that have flooded the information stream following the advent of the post-information age and "web 2.0"? Personally, I've seen a return to the basics.
The most obvious example: "viral" marketing really boils down to word of mouth marketing. On the surface, it appears that t…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on May 9, 2009 at 10:12pm —
2 Comments
Now that I'm thoroughly through ranting about blog spam, I thought it would be beneficial to take a look at some of the unexplored potential that this blog platform has to offer. I would, of course, welcome anyone's thoughts on this, and I'll start off by mentioning a few ideas I have off the top of my head.
First, though, I want to mention that I've made it my personal policy not to post a new blog entry until I've commented on at least three other people's blog posts. I think if everyone did…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on May 5, 2009 at 8:12am —
13 Comments
Four people now have asked me the same question. "Why haven't you done a press release for your book?" My answer: press releases are for news, not for ads. This is a pet peeve of mine. Every time someone submits a thinly veiled solicitation disguised as news, it devalues the good press releases.
I already know what a lot of people would say in response to this comment - "well, everybody else is doing it!" This sort of peer pressure may be a golden asset to the tobacco companies, but it doesn't…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on April 17, 2009 at 4:54pm —
9 Comments
Is it just me, or does anyone else notice people posting blog entries that are basically just advertisements? I really wish people wouldn't do this.
Fortunately, there's still a lot of value content showing up in the blog stream, and I'd really like to keep it that way. The front page of InSide919, for me, has become somewhat like a "virtual town hall." It's an easy place to see what everybody's talking about. I like that I can see at a glance what activity has been taking place on the network…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on April 16, 2009 at 1:24pm —
14 Comments
I've decided to retire the phrase "ghost writer" in the past week. In my book, which I
just published on Lulu this week, I refer to myself as a ghost writer. While this accurately describes a portion of what I do, I've noticed that these words convey an inaccurate impression. People hear "ghost writer" and they tend to think "football star autobiography." So, I've decided to go with a broader keyword - "…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on April 11, 2009 at 6:55pm —
2 Comments
Anyone who's been following me on Facebook over the last few days knows that my book is now days away from going on sale. I'm working on the layout and cover, and it's close enough to taste it!
One of the things I want to point out, especially for anyone considering self-publishing: I was considering paying Lulu the $200 for professional layout design. I've decided, after having gone through the process myself, that I'm glad I didn't. This is the first edition of my book, and I already know tha…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on April 4, 2009 at 10:28am —
4 Comments
Have you ever noticed that humans are terrified of success?
I'm now 2/3 of the way through the final edit of my book. After reading most of it for the 3rd or 4th time, I'm starting to notice my burning desire to bury it and never publish it. I think this is normal. I've noticed that the closer I get to finishing something, particularly something that would contribute to my success, the more intensely I get the urge to quit.
I think that this is probably a typical thing that happens to most peo…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on April 3, 2009 at 9:11am —
3 Comments
Take a second and comment on this blog post - let me know what thoughts automatically pop into your head when you hear the word "sales." Thanks!
For me, I get the words: fear, excitement, money, women, passion, fire, dark, cheat, gold, lie, walk, sleep, steal, exchange, city, ancient, nature.
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on March 25, 2009 at 3:37pm —
17 Comments
I just had a great meeting with fellow Trustee Christina Thompson (Summerglen Music) and I'll be featuring her in an article with TriangleB2B soon. What I'm really excited about: opportunities for InSiders to collaborate on productive business activities are popping up all over the place.
Those of us in the Trustees' circle have a bit of an unfair advantage; we've all been in conversation about joint ventures and strategic partnerships for the better part of a year (some of us, even longer). I'…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on March 19, 2009 at 12:04pm —
No Comments
Do you use TweetDeck? If you're on Twitter, but you don't use TweetDeck, try it out. It's a great resource that allows you to get more leverage from the time you spend on Twitter. Caveat: it's a memory hog, so it might not be a good idea if you have a slow computer.
There's one particular feature on TweetDeck that most people seem to overlook: watching the Twitter stream for keywords. In addition to following users and seeing everything they post about, you can open a new column in TweetDeck th…
Continue
Added by Dave Baldwin on March 17, 2009 at 2:39pm —
2 Comments
