I just got a warning from a colleague that I need to ensure that our weblog needs to be HIPAA complaint because I've ended up having a lot of ER nurses join our community and share stories about life in the emergency room. What the heck? What's HIPAA and why do I need to worry about it?

Dave, I feel like I've been pretty successful in my local market, but I really want to push my business to the next level, earn more and generate more profit. Rather than rely on word of mouth locally in my community here in Montana, I want to have clients throughout the United States and perhaps overseas. How would you recommend I proceed to grow into the future?

My Dad the lawyer just told me that to protect myself as the host of a discussion forum and popular weblog, I really need to ensure that I have a DMCA Notice on my site. What's that and how should I proceed.

My question is about in-house affiliate programs. How do you do it? What is the best, most stable software? I found AllAffilatePro software. I don't know anything about it. Do you need to bring in an ad server? Love to hear your POV on this.

I have experience with Commission Junction at a former job. I'd like to see if we can improve our ROI by bring it in-house. I most likely can hire a full time manager in this position. I work for a start-up in San Diego. We do financial loans and will hopefully be up on running soon.

I have a small ebook I'm trying to sell by using some Google AdWords adverts (and other links), but for the life of me, I can't seem to get any of the people who come to the information page for the book to convert into buyers. Are there best practices with these targeted pages?

This is a weird question, but I seem to recall that Paypal used to have a feature where I could "beam" money to someone else with a cellphone, but when I go to the site today, I can't find anything about it. Is there any way to do this?

After a meeting with my IT group a question was raised that received a split vote. Could you steer us in the right direction? The question: Should a web based company make customers register before making a purchase? If so, why?

I'm really appreciating your series of articles on the LinkedIn system, and am now ready to start inviting some of my colleagues now that I have my profile set up and such. Can you tell me how to do that, and perhaps also share some best practices for inviting others to join?

I'm still on the LinkedIn learning curve, but I do have a profile now and have invited a few of my friends and colleagues to link up with me. All of a sudden I now have a "request to forward" an introduction from someone I don't know to one of my friends. What do I do?

Alright, Dave, I see you quoted all the time in the mainstream media, from MSNBC to CNN.com, the Christian Science Monitor to wire stories for the Associated Press, the BBC, and more. I know you're an expert and all, but surely you aren't pals with every reporter in the world. How the heck do you get such great press coverage?

Partially thanks to your tutorial on getting started with linkedin I've become somewhat of a convert. What bugs me, though, is that people who aren't part of my extended network can't see my profile. Surely there's some slick way to do this?

Is there any reason aside from speculation that a person would buy stock in an established company that doesn't pay dividends?

I mean, if its a growth company, then you expect all the profits to go into growing the business and not recieve dividends yet, but its the companys out of the "growth" stage and still doesn't pay dividends, thens there no logical reason to buy the stock...

"A stocks value is entirely the value of future dividends, or the liquidation value of the company."

As a corollary, long after a company has made its IPO and has no plans for a secondary, why does a company care what its stock price is?

Dave, My question is this: If you arbitrarily raise your profit margin will you increase costs? I say yes in terms of the loss in market share for your product based on the what the market will pay for the item or service. Another individual says no. What do you think?

I'm a zealot about certain technologies and more than once I've had people accuse me of being an evangelist. I'm not entirely sure what they mean, however, and am wondering if you can help me out? I mean, are there people who are paid to pimp products or services? That'd be cooool...

I've been researching blog marketing, affiliate programs, and online sales, and it was both surprising and not surprising to read that you met many affiliate marketers who earn upwards of $10,000 per month using the affiliate marketing model. For someone who is interested in breaking into some of that potential income, do you have any advice as to where to begin?

I've found so many offers for potential affiliates out there, in many fields. There are so many programs regarding "money-making" that it's hard to weed through all of them to find the gems. Are there any programs or marketers which you would suggest I align myself with, who are providing excellent services and products right now?

I have a big problem which frequently loops me. I am in the field of IT support, and when a customer comes to me and is short tempered, I really don't know how to convince them that their request is not my part of job and someone else should attend to it.

This happens to me at least 4 - 6 times a week. Can you please tell me how I can answer nicely about the job, and give me some suggestions about handling customers over the mail, phone and face to face in tough times?

Dave, I've been working on a small app for the Mac community, and am anxious that if I write something really cool that Apple will just steal it. I have heard from lots of developers who complain that they've finally become popular, just to have the next version of Mac OS X include that exact feature or capability. I just have to wonder how many times Apple can screw over developers before they decide to go do something else entirely?

Can you please explain me the difference between a 'copyright' and 'patent' with regard to software? And also please let me know the procedure to obtain a copyright and patent in India for software. Can we also patent/copyright a unique business model? I am curious to know if eBay and Amazon have patents for their websites and also their business models. Thanks a lot for your help.

I am the project leader of TurboCASH Accounting, an Open Source solution for small business. I am based in Cape Town, South Africa. We compete against Intuit and Sage (Peachtree). In some markets we beat them. I am looking to raise money from the VC firms in SF.

I have been in business for 18 years, but in particular in the OS business for 2 years. I saw your web site and wanted to enquire if you could help me get to the right people at the best firms?

This may seem like a basic question, Dave, but I've been reading lots of weblogs and I'm pretty motivated to get started with one of my own. But I don't want a diary and don't think anyone else cares about what movies I like or what restaurants I frequent, I want to write about topics of relevance to my customers so I can grow my business. Finally, I like classes much more than just reading Web sites. Suggestions?

This is a terrible story, I'm sorry to say, but my husband and I recently had a fire in our small business and are now stuck having to rebuild the store right when we were hoping to actually sell as much as possible for the Holiday season. Fortunately our inventory survived, and we're thinking about building a Web site too. What do you recommend?

I am planning to launch a web company, which would be an e-commerce company, something like amazon.com or eBay but radically different from both. Suppose I develop the enter website and launch it and run all on my own for a few days and then seek venture capital what percentage of ownership do you think VCs will take in my company? It would be very kind of you if you can also give me a brief information about how much percentage a particular funding company has taken in a particular start up, if that information is publicly available.

Dave, I'm about to hire a few people to help me with my new Web site project (can't tell you about it yet, but I will in a few months!) and need some legal paperwork. Non-disclosures, ownership of intellectual property, engagement letters, and so on. I don't want to pay a lawyer for these standard documents, however. Any suggestions?

I've been reading all this excited buzz about something called Google Base, supposedly a new category killer from Google that'll let them compete with eBay, Craigslist, and everyone else. But I don't see anything at all from Google itself. What's the scoop?

I am in the process of reading your book Growing Your Business with Google and was wondering what is an acceptable amount of time for a response to a customer's email request. I know it varies widely within the e-business world but what is acceptable?

Dave, I've been reading a lot of buzz back and forth about the sale of contractor-built companies like Weblogs Inc., and am wondering what you think about how far down the corporate ladder the benefit of a change in ownership should travel. I'm of the opinion that full-time salaried employees should see a percentage of the sale based on their percentage of ownership, but that's as far as I go.

I'm just getting started on a research project on alternative forms of pay per performance advertising such as pay per click or pay per call. I'm trying to identify companies or business models that have successfully built (or are trying to build) on pay per click/call/acquisition, etc. and would like to ask for your advice and opinion on this business segment.

I need some help: I've joined LinkedIn and now want to find other people in Colorado who can help me find work. I've a background in computer networking and am a civilian employee of the Air Force, but I'm pretty new to LinkedIn. Do you have some advice for me?

Dave, I'm a book author and am baffled. I frequently get asked by journalists for my thoughts on specific matters, but while I respond within a week or so with long essays on what I think is the subject of the interview, very, very rarely am I quoted. What's up with that?

I don't know whether you remember me but I emailed you regarding your website and you gave me permission to reference your work. It is coming along well. I was wondering if you had any statistics on relative success comparing people who created business plans with those who hadn't created plans for their business. I'm just trying to find out how much it helps. By the way I am currently writing my business plan and your site has helped me immensely!

This is weird. I was searching on Google for used textbooks and was quite surprised to see the following at the end of the Google page: "In response to a complaint we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint for these removed results."

What does it mean? What is the DMCA anyway?

Dave, I'm stuck. I have an online business and I'm using a search engine optimization consultant, a design person, a webmaster, and more, but my business seems to be trapped at a certain level and I can't grow beyond it. What suggestions and ideas do you have?

I had thought that Sarbanes-Oxley only applied to publicly traded corporations, but your previous writing and personal communication seems to imply that it also applies to closely-held ones. Is that right? Can you point me to a URL or other easy to find reference that explains just what SOx requires of small companies?

Hi Dave, I am looking to get started with my own business, and was wondering what steps would be best for getting our name copyrighted with the U.S. Copyright Office. What advice do you have?

I work as an independent contractor and was recently reminded that many of the questions I'm asked are illegal to ask for standard employees and I'm wondering if it's legal for a prospective employer to ask me these questions if I'm working as an independent contractor. What exactly are the questions a prospective company is allowed to ask an independent contractor? Are there any limits or are they only supposed to ask those same questions as if you were applying for employment?

Dave, I'm involved with a software startup that's ready to raise some money so they can grow more quickly. I don't know anything about venture capital, so I thought I'd ask you. How do we find a relatively small amount of VC money ($250K)? The company in question makes software for investors. Can you give me advice on how to proceed?

Dave, I keep getting messages about companies that have "filed their 8-K" but the email doesn't explain what an 8-K is, it just assumes I know. But I don't. What's an 8-K and what does it have to do with me as an investor?

I just had someone tell me I'm a "micromanager", but I have no idea what this really means. Yeah, I have a high attention to detail and I like to have things done right the first time, but why is this a negative?

Dave, I've just started attending professional networking events and don't really know how best to present myself and my company to the people who attend. Are there some tips or tricks you can share regarding how to talk about myself and how to make a good impression? I have the usual interests in partnering with others, gaining new customers and clients, etc.

Dave, can I ask a real basic question? What is ERP and why would a company of any size want it?

Dave, I received the following message. Should I bother following up with this firm?

Dave, I think I understand the value of networking as well as the next businessman, but for the life of me, I don't really see what sites like LinkedIn, Ryze and Ecademy can do for me. What's the point of these sites other than just as some sort of digital popularity contest?

Dave, I'm not sure where to turn so I'm going to ask you: how much do I have to worry about what people who are part of my far-flung "virtual" corporation do when they're not working directly for me? I can't share too many details because the situation is touchy, as you might expect, but basically I have someone working for me as a writer, contributing material for my blog, and I have been hearing that he's writing some pretty far out, offensive material on other sites. Do I need to worry about it?

Dave, this is a simple question, but profound: how come almost every new tool that Google releases stays in "beta" forever?

Dave, I am the guy in our little town that everyone calls when their computer won't work. I don't know anything about the hardware end of it except I can usually tell when a piece of hardware isn't functioning. It is usually always a matter of not tended to updates or spyware & virus problems.

Here's the question: Sometimes I spend hours or even days getting these machines back to good working condition and the people want to pay me for the service. I don't have any what you would call qualifications for the kind of service I'm performing except a love of computers since my first Timex 2k machine (do you remember that one) and mostly common sense. I don't feel I have a right to charge with this kind of background. Do you have an idea what program I could take that would give me some kind of certification in this area of computers? Or am I alright charging a reasonable fee for services rendered as I am now? Thanx for your kind input.

Dave, I'm interested in proposing a partnership arrangement with a Japanese firm but don't really know how to go about it. What kind of things should I make sure are included in my letter? Is a letter the best way to contact the firm? Etc., etc. I feel a bit like I'm up a creek without a paddle. Can you help me out?

Dave, I've been reading all this controversy about the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and how it costs companies tons of money to come into compliance, and how it gives too much control to the government, etc etc. At the same time, not a day goes by without some company delaying or restating financial reports. As an investor, this is driving me bonkers! Can you tell me a bit about Sarbanes-Oxley so I can get a handle on it? Thanks.

I got the following email message this evening, but something about it seems wrong: "Hello, I am interested in buying your domain xxxx.com If you are interested in selling it, please reply how much would you want for it? We can make the domain transfer operations safely, over escrow.com. I can pay for the cost of domain transfer operations. Thank you in advance for your time. Techweb System Co. LTD." Is it legit, or not?

Dave, as a hiring manager at a large almost Fortune 1000 company, I constantly find myself looking at resumes and trying to weigh the relative value of degrees from different colleges. Does someone with a computer science degree from MIT or an MBA from Stanford but less relevant experience beat someone with a similar degree from Unknown U., and multiple years of directly applicable work? What do you think?

Dear Dave; I am starting a new one of a kind company ... at least I think I'm one of a kind ... how do I find out who else out there might have beat me to the punch? And how do I build a web page to advertise my hopefully one of kind new business?