September 2004 Archives

Denver Business Journal: One man's trash could be Thought Equity's treasure

Puget Sound Business Journal: After the glory: The career challenges of ex-stars

Tampa Bay Business Journal: Mall data shows more spending, less traffic

Thanks to Drudge, this story Heinz Kerry helps Democrats raise $1M at Phoenix event had a delightful number of page views Thursday and Friday.

Atlanta Business Chronicles: Indentured workers in Atlanta: Feds say South Africans were lured here with promise of visas, then forced to labor

Nashville Business Journal: Segway sales beating expectations: State's first transporter dealership cashes in on balance of fun, function

New Mexico Business Weekly: Older career changers choosing more 'helping' fields

From the Washington Bureau -- Bush vs. Kerry: No Small Decision for Small Business

The Eyetrack III study released today has lots of interesting findings at quick summary of the results is here.

The study tracked eye movements of 46 persons as they scanned web pages from 20 major news organizations.

Summary of findings:

* the upper left of a web page draws the most eye time
* dominant headlines draw
* smaller type encourages reading the words; larger type encourages scanning
* readers spend more time on front pages with blurbs than with headlines alone, but don't click anymore than front pages with only headlines
* on homepages navigation on top is viewed more than if placed on left or right of page
* on story pages left navigation is viewed most, but right navigation also works almost ast well
* front pages with blurbblurbs underlined headlines discourages reading of blurbs underneath the headline
* if readers are not engaged by the first third of a blurb, they move on
* a headline has less than a second of a site visitor's attention
* shorter paragraphs viewed more than longer ones
* larger images hold eyes longer than smaller ones
* clean, clear faces attract more viewing
* more faces draw more viewers
* people click on photos even though it's not obvious it is a link
* on compact home pages, navigation is used more and advertising is viewed more, if placed effectively
* for ads, text ads read better than other types
* bigger ads viewed more
* ads in top and left positions viewed most.

The Christian Science Monitor from Sept. 8:

* Quick! Is Johnny signed up for daydreaming?. "(A) grass-roots revolt is brewing. Some educators and coaches are speaking out against overscheduling, even as more families sending their kids back to school this fall are finding the courage to turn down teams and tournaments, to limit activities to a few favorites so that they can rediscover time to be a family."

* Salary squeeze threatens middle America: By some measures, fewer people are managing to stay in the middle class. "(R)ecent Census data confirm that the median household income - a level where half of US households earn more and half less - has fallen by $1,500 between 2000 and 2003."

Wired -- Why Hybrids Are Hot: Have you seen gas prices? Purists can wait for hydrogen. The market can't. "Industry forecasts suggest that by 2008, 2 percent of new cars sold in the US will be hybrids."

Also from Consumer Reports: Down the road: Hybrid and diesel vehicles and Wired News: Hydrogen Fuel Closer to Fruition, which looks at technology developments that may lower the cost of producing hydrogen fuel.

NY Times: An Online Pioneer Resist the Lure of Cashing In. Interesting profile of Craig Newmark founder of craigslist.com. Since eBay bought a 25% stake in craigslist last month, the question is whether Newmark and his company will go public, sell for millions or try to build its quirky online community itself.

Wired News: Ads That Annoy Also Succeed. "Despite popular perception, pop-up ads are among the best performing of all online ads."

Business First of Columbus -- Debit nation:
As debit cards' use grows, banks try rewards, fees to make the most of their use

Dallas Business Journal --
Power lunch making a comeback: Restaurateurs say business execs return to doing deals over a meal

Denver Business Journal -- Complaints about debt collectors rise

Nashville Businiess Journal -- Putt-Putt looks to Nashville in franchise expansion effort

Puget Sound Business Journal -- Facing the music: Starbucks slows the tempo on CD plans

Useit.com: Mastery, Mystery, and Misery: The Ideologies of Web Design "Simple, unobtrusive designs that support users are successful because they abide by the Web's nature -- and they make people feel good."

C|Net: Spam volume keeps rising. "Spam has accounted for 38 percent of the 31 billion e-mails sent each day in North America in 2004, up from 24 percent in 2002, the market researcher said."