E-BUSINESS PRINT MAGAZINES

Free Subscriptions: Who says the best things in life aren't free? These publications belie that fact, as they are excellent and an easy read, something of note to us busy e-commerce executives, eh?

• "iMarketing News" at http://www.imarketingnews.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi (from the publishers of DMNews). Get a free subscription at http://www.imarketingnews.com/html/subscribe.html. I read every issue cover to cover! The editor, Ken Magill, keeps it always down-to-earth and practical, something missing in general in many other Internet-related publications, and businesses, for that matter. Each issue features a rotating special focus like e-Mail Marketing or other topic that gives it focus and depth. Ken, keep up the great work!

• "DMNews", long a standard of direct marketers, gives the latest in all direct marketing topics. Get a free subscription at http://www.dmnews.com/html/subscribe.html 

• "Catalog Age" (http://www.catalogagemag.com) For catalogers and e-catalogers, this is a must. Apply for a free subscription at http://www.intertec.com/forms/subforms/ctasub.htm 

• "Direct Magazine": Also a must for all direct marketers, Direct now includes lots of e-marketing and multi-channel tips and topics. Order a free subscription at http://www.intertec.com/forms/subforms/directsub.htm 

• "Target Marketing" at http://www.targetonline.com/tm_index.bsp offers ideas to sophisticated marketers. Subscribe at http://as400.halldata.com/cgi-bin/subscribe/tk 

• "Operations and Fulfillment" at http://www.industryclick.com/magazine.asp?magazineid=37&SiteID=2.  "Focuses exclusively on solutions to the operations problems faces by every catalog, e-merchant and direct response company: improving productivity, controlling costs, managing growth and expansion, and keeping up with technology." Subscribe online at http://www.intertec.com/forms/subforms/ofsub.htm.

• "Customer Support Management" at http://industryclick.com/magazine.asp?magazineid=52&SiteID=2 provides "provides practical solutions for customer support and service challenges through completely unbiased reporting on the latest customer support and service technology, workforce solutions and business strategies, on an enterprise- wide level and across all industries." Subscribe at http://www.intertec.com/forms/subforms/csmsub.htm 

• "Catalog Success"at http://www.catalogsuccess.com/cs_index.bsp: A necessary addition to all reading for anyone producing a print catalog with their online catalog. Subscribe at http://as400.halldata.com/cgi-bin/subscribe/cs 

• "E-Business Advisor", (http://www.advisor.com/wHome.nsf/pub/meb with some related content at www.advisor.com), focuses on "technology strategies for business innovators" and focuses on innovations, strategies and practices. Although it can be pretty technical, everything in it is written by other experts in the field. For intermediate to expert web folks only. I read this cover to cover as well. 
  • Subscribe at http://www.advisorstore.com/prinpub1.html (It is free to members of the International Webmasters' Association at  http://www.iwanet.org.)  Quoting the publishers: "e-BUSINESS ADVISOR Magazine gives you expert advice to plan, implement and manage the full range of e-business enterprise solutions. You learn: important trends, new research, strategic analysis, e-commerce ideas, marketing strategies, legal protection, rentable online solutions (ASP), enterprise application integration, supply chain (SCM) and customer relationship (CRM) strategies, team collaboration, wireless communications, portable & remote computing, sales/service/field force automation, web site management, web application development, key technologies (Java, XML, EDI, databases, networking, security), and more."

• "Business Security Advisor" (http://www.advisor.com/wHome.nsf/pub/mis ) , by the same publishers as e-Business Advisor, focuses on total business data and web security issues with the same detailed insider advice as in "e-Business Advisor". 
  • Subscribe at http://www.advisorstore.com/prinpub1.html. Again quoting the publishers: "Taking you far beyond overviews and theories, BUSINESS SECURITY ADVISOR Magazine shows you what really works to implement and manage critical enterprise, information, premises, personnel, mobile, wireless, database, application, Internet, travel and e-business security." 

• "Business 2.0" at www.business2.com. I actually prefer this to Fast Company, due to its usually heavier web-related content, but they're both superb. It's worth subscribing to the paper version for all the graphics that are included that illustrate difficult concepts. The best graphic I've ever seen to illustrate the "ideal e-tail mall" with the customer-system interaction was in their printed January 1999 edition.

• "Fast Company" at http://www.fastcompany.com/home.html. E-business and e-people issues with insightful articles on the changing face and pace of business as we enter the new millenium. (Author's note: Read about one of my earlier e-business building exploits in the last section of the following December 1999 article at  http://www.fastcompany.com/online/30/usmint.html#.)

• "The Industry Standard", http://www.thestandard.net/, an excellent news magazine of the digital community, it covers the internet economy, including news, quantitative analysis of industry metrics, recruiting, and new products and services. The graphs and trends are superb.

• FREE "E-tailing Guide" by E-Tailing Group (at www.e-tailing.com). Gives the best list of back-office and corporate strategy questions and issues I've seen that must be answered before designing a full, corporate e-commerce site and business. You have to order this free guide from their site at http://www.e-tailing.com/etgc000u.htm.

• "CUSTOMERS.COM" by Patricia Seybold. This is a good novice's book which I recommend cautiously. However, I especially recommend that you order the free Customers.Com handbook available on her site at http://www.customers.com, which is short enough that busy executives actually may have time to read it. (Watch out for the few significant over-simplifications, though, so quote carefully. For example, I am most major e-business senior managers highly disagree that you can run a major corporate web business with a couple of people, at least, you can't run it well. Typical full e-commerce sites have a minimum of 25 people, usually up to 50 to 80, depending on the size and scope of the business!) Buy iCustomers.com now from Amazon.com!

WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT BOOKS

• Every one of the Visual Quickstart Guides from Peachpit Press: This series is the best I've seen for getting right down to the nitty without too much gritty! Very clear and CONCISE explanations with screenshots help you work through functions and give you a "quick start" on getting up to speed on new web tools and applications. Particularly useful for the graphics design and visual web page layout tools. Good for beginners or those who just want to get to it fast.
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: FrontPage 98 for Windows (This book helped me on more than one night with this site!) Buy it now from Amazon.com!
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: HTML 4 for the World Wide Web
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Photoshop for Windows and MacIntosh Buy it now from Amazon.com!
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: QuarkXPress for Windows Buy it now from Amazon.com!
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: JavaScript for the World Wide Web
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Dreamweaver- learn how to use this tool that was selected best in a recent web magazine duel
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Illustrator for Macintosh and Windows
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Java
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web Buy it now from Amazon.com!
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Netscape
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Internet Explorer
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Microsoft Office 2000
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: PowerPoint Buy it now from Amazon.com!
  • Visual QuickStart Guide: Palm III & PalmPilot: for all of you who want to join the world of PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) Buy it now from Amazon.com!
• Laura Lemay's books on web design: Generally excellent, they give more depth than the Visual Quickstart Guides (though sometimes too much). Good for intermediate to experienced users.
  • "Graphics & Web Page Design", by Laura Lemay
  • "3D Graphics & VRML", by Laura Lemay
  • "Creating Commercial Web Pages", by Laura Lemay Buy it now from Amazon.com!
  • The "Sam's Teach Yourself...." Series, including: "Sam's Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML 4 in 21 days", "Sam's Teach Yourself Java", "Sam's Teach Yourself Java Platform", "Sam's Teach Yourself Perl"
  • "Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML 4 in a Week" by Laura Lemay, Arman Danesh; Paperback
  • "Microsoft Frontpage 98 (Laura Lemay's Web Workshop" by Denise Tyler, Laura Lemay (Editor); Paperback Buy it now from Amazon.com!
  • "Web Publishing with HTML 4 in a Week: Compete Starter Kit"-- Laura Lemay; Paperback Buy it now from Amazon.com!

GENERAL MANAGEMENT & PERSONAL GROWTH BOOKS

To become the best manager, consultant or employee, one must understand human nature... and oneself. Here are a number of excellent books for management and personal growth.

Personal Growth:

• What Type Am I? Discover Who You Really Are, by Renee Baron. This is an excellent self-test for the famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator™ (of Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.) that goes one step further by giving you tips for handling work situations, choosing occupations, dealing with relationships, and suggestions for life. Also handy for learning how to deal with types other than yourself, so an ENFJ like myself can understand better how an ISTP, for example, might react differently in different situations. Buy it now from Amazon.com!

• How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, Seven Steps to Genius Every Day, by Michael J. Gelb. This is one of those rare books that may cause radical life changes. The author has studied the man who many believe to be the greatest genius who ever lived, Leonardo da Vinci, and evaluated da Vinci's own methods for building own his own innate talents to foster true genius. Full of techniques and exercises to enhance your own genius and those around you. Buy it now from Amazon.com!

Books for Women in Business:

• Hardball for Women, by Dr. Pat Heim. Much more practical and business-oriented than "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus", this excellent book explores the differences in how men and women approach business and interpersonal relationships. Helps you work with men or women who have different styles. Knowing the rules gives you choices to either play or avoid the game as you decide. Buy it now from Amazon.com!

• Smashing the Glass Ceiling, by Dr. Pat Heim. An almost workbook-style sequel to her "Hardball for Women", this book gives practical examples of business situations and how to handle them by playing the hardball rules. Buy it now from Amazon.com!