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Thank you, Arden and Nancy. Glad you're seeing the value and it's members like you that allow us to keep doing what we do to build the platform that makes all this possible. We're deeply grateful.

I watched a great documentary the other day, at NW FilmForum, called "Art & Copy." It's basically about the advertising industry, and features interviews with the legendary ad men who created such hits as Apple's "Think Different" and Nike's "Just Do It" campaigns. The big take home message of the film confirms what you're saying: emotional persuasion is much more effective than armies of facts. Web video is an immensely powerful tool, but the real power is in the stories.

I'd like to echo what Naomi said: this has been an excellent, vigorous discussion, the best and most voluminous this community has ever had, frankly.

I'd like to remind everyone that personal attacks are a violation of the code of conduct you signed when you became a member of this community.

Biznik members meet each other in person frequently, and I think that's why we've only ever had to moderate 3 conversations in the entire 4-year history of Biznik: we're all a lot more likely to treat people with respect if you might meet the person face-to-face. That doesn't work for Congress, apparently, but it does work here. Let's keep it that way.

This issue has sparked so much debate that we've decided to take it live. If you're an entrepreneur who has something to say or just want to learn more about how this issue affects you and your business, join Seattle University and Biznik on Sept. 21 for a special event: Health Reform, Entrepreneurship and Your Business.

Len, I gotta hand it to you for staying engaged in this contentious thread. You've done an extraordinary job of staying connected with the issue without getting sidetracked with the emotions. If Biznik had an award for "most engaged article author" you would be receiving it this year. Maybe we should create one..

Everyone who is participating in this thread should watch this video: Universal Health Care Message to Americans From Canadian Doctors & Health Care Experts.

Can you send me information about which browser version and platform you're on Richard, and we'll take a look.

Hi Elaine, Head to http://biznik.com/seattle/categories (substituting the name of the city you'd like to search in) and you'll see a list of all the categories represented in that city.

There's currently no way to see ALL members, but you can adjust the distance radius from 5 - 500 miles from the location you have selected.

Would you like to be able to search for all members on Biznik by category?

Hi Tim, I fixed the issue with bold happening on your post - apparently there's a bug that causes that to occur when you use a pound symbol (#) in front of numbers. I deleted that and it's working fine now.

Re: Samir - I must say, the phrase "medical tourism" has a certain appeal. I mean, traveling to India to see a doctor has an upside, especially if I can schedule my need for medical attention to the long gray, wet winter months in Seattle.

Looks like we're not the only ones who feel strongly that healthcare reform is an entrepreneurial issue. There's an editorial in the Wall Street Journal today written by former Washington governor Gary Locke, in which he asks the question: How many aspiring entrepreneurs are stuck in dead-end jobs because of health concerns?

My friend Bryce Mohan wrote this brilliant list of reasons why health care reform is a bad idea. I quote (original here):

1. Americans cannot possibly tolerate a socialist program like Universal Health Care.That's why we don't have any other collective taxpayer funded institutions like a police force, a public library system, national parks, or armed forces.

2. Government run health care is a disaster, that's why virtually all of our politicians themselves have government run health care. To be sure to familiarize themselves with the systems 'problems'.

3. Government run health care will mean rationing. Not like now, where your insurance company is more than happy to pay for any procedure you or your Dr. feels might be helpful.

4. The government plan is clearly bad because it's just collectivism in disguise. It's predicated upon groups of people paying into a pool which covers medical expenses for everyone. This would be a disaster compared to our current system where groups of people pay into a pool which covers medical expenses for everyone.

5. America is a Christian nation. It states plainly in the bible that we should not trouble ourselves with helping the needy, nor show concern for the health & well being of others.

6. The reform plan has a section on counseling for hospice. Any reasonable person knows that counseling always leads directly to the formation of death squads to rid us of the elderly.

7. We can't allow a government run alternative, to do so would only provide more competition in the market place. Not only does this have the negative effect of driving down prices and increasing efficiency, but it goes directly against wishes of the founding fathers, who envisioned a competitive marketplace which drives down prices and increases efficiencies.

8. Why fix it now? We can always wait for someone else to fix it when it gets 'really bad' later. This worked perfectly for that little regulation problem in the financial industry.

9. We cannot possibly afford health care for everyone. Sure we are one of the richest nations in the world...and yes we have a few spare trillion lying around to destroy a country that has never attacked us as well as rescue a bunch of rich bankers and CEO's but I mean c'mon...that's money allocated to wrecking things. Fixing things we can't afford.

10. Palin says so, and you can't argue with an intellectual giant the likes of Sarah.

More than any other issue I can think of (taxes, minimum wage, etc) health care is an entrepreneurship issue. I suspect that there are thousands of would-be entrepreneurs who are remaining in their day jobs for one simple reason: they and their families can't afford to lose their insurance.

I'm a big proponent of MEANINGFUL health care reform, that is, creating a system that covers EVERYONE, such as most first-world countries as Canada, Australia and the UK have done decades ago.

I also grew up in Canada, and know first-hand that the quality of care is extraordinary. It's laughable the lies being told about how Canadians have to travel to the US to get care because they can't find it at home.

Here's an example of how the OPPOSITE was true in my parents case: my dad is from the US; my mom is from Canada. When they got ready to retire, they moved back to Canada. Why? In part because of the healthcare system.

I'm hoping that your event will rise above the endorsement from John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods who doesn't exactly sound like someone who supports making a difference with comments like these in the Wall Street Journal in which he argues against health care reform:

"Healthcare is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges". He also went on to say that "unfortunately, many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese."

If only it were as simple as blaming the victim. Note to John Mackey: Working for good starts with not pissing off your best customers.

Passion can get you into as much trouble as it can help you succeed. It's an essential ingredient, like fuel for an engine, but it's highly combustible fuel, to be handled with care.

We know from SBA numbers that only 1/3rd of entrepreneurs' businesses will last 10 years. Carefully planning combined with building a solid network of people to call on when you need help can increase the odds that yours will be one of them.

Note: the $25 figure you're quoting me originates with outstanding research conducted by Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurial studies and New York Times columnist, whom we interviewed for Shine.

Yeah I'm with you on that Josh. If I read one more article about how Twitter can grow your business, I think I'm going to be ill. I'm grateful when I read more nuanced perspectives such as this one, because it means the author has actually taken the time to think about what it MEANS, not what it IS.

Bill, this is a brilliant example of the type of article we're proud to publish here at Biznik: It's written from your own unique perspective, draws heavily from your own experience, and is focused on entrepreneurship - specifically as it applies to growing a small business. Bravo. I'm glad to have you flying on Team Biznik.

For those of you interested in meeting Gary Vaynerchuk (who is an amazing speaker) and hearing him present from his new book, Biznik is hosting a special event with Gary on October 20 here in Seattle. We'll be posting details to the Biznik event calendar very soon.

ps everyone who attends this event will get a copy of his latest book, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion.

Great article, Judy. Biznik decided to experiment with an Amazon affiliate about a month ago, by adding "further reading" book titles on each of the articles (like this one) on Biznik.

It's perhaps too soon to draw absolute conclusions from what we've observed, but not too soon to report how it's going. And I completely agree with your choice of words, adding my own emphasis: "you get a LITTLE extra money." How little is little?

Biznik certainly is no internet powerhouse, but we do have a not-insignificant 94,000 unique visitors per month. Guess how much money we've made via our affiliate program so far this month? $7.07.

We've got a click through rate of 0.7 percent, which means only 0.7 percent those who read an article click on the affiliate link.

Based on numbers like these, it seems that at best you can hope to buy yourself a cup of coffee with your earnings, but I would argue that the annoyance to users far outweighs the benefit.

Yeah this is a rich topic, for sure, Chris. I'd love to see you write another article further exploring the issue.