If you've ever thought about writing a book and wondered if the effort would be worthwhile, a new study suggests the answer is a strong "yes." Mike Schultz of RainToday.com interviewed 200 authors of business books to find out how they did it and how it impacted their ability to do business. RainToday offers articles, case studies, and research designed to help service business rainmakers and marketers work more effectively. The results: - 53% of authors reported a "strong" or "very strong" influence on their ability to charge higher fees - 76% indicated publishing a book had at least some influence on their ability to close deals - 83% reported at least some improvement on business with current clients as a result of publishing a book In short, consultants and agency execs seem to agree that publishing a book helps them to be seen as gurus whose services are in demand. Mike has published his findings in a report for those who are intereste...

Due to accident, illness or age, many Americans depend on their wheelchairs. To people who have lost the use of their legs -- or, in some cases such as the late Christopher Reeves, the use of most or all of the muscles below their neck -- a wheelchair is much more than a mode of transportation. It is their freedom to move, their legs, and the place where they spend a great deal of their waking hours. Particularly to those who need a true "rehab" wheelchair, their chair is a very personal item. It has to fit their height and weight, support them properly given their limited muscle control, and have a drive control mechanism appropriate for their specific disability: toe-controlled, finger-controlled, or, like Christopher Reeves, controlled by the puff and sip of their breath. During and immediately following Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of wheelchair-bound people were rescued; that's the good news. The bad news is that, in most cases, their chairs were left to the ravag...

Granted, this is a lazy way to post, but if you haven't checked them out, the Web Marketing News and E-Commerce News pages on WebMarketCentral are a great way to keep up with what's happening. Here are a few of the headlines you may have missed if you haven't visited those pages lately (or grabbed the RSS feeds from them): Amazon.com Reportedly Considering Ad Network Information Week 8 Feb 2006 Amazon.com is reportedly looking for beta testers for a possible contextual advertising network that would place third-party links to products on the online retailer's partner Web sites... Anti-spam initiative Computer Crime Research Center 8 Feb 2006 Maybe this is where it starts to change. Two of the world's largest e-mail providers, America Online Inc. and Yahoo Inc., have said that they will soon start giving companies the option to pay for guaranteed delivery of e-mails to the inboxes of their subscribers... E-Mail Marketing Best Practices E-Commerce Times...