Website 99designs recently polled 1,500 small business owners, start-ups, entrepreneurs and design decision-makers on graphic design and its importance to their business.

The results make for a decent read. We feel a post is warranted since we also saw recent stories in the WSJ that suggest many businesses are now hungry not for MBAs, but people who are saavy in design and product development. (Story at WSJ.com may be behind a paid content wall.)

The survey results that are easiest to digest involve colors and popularity.

Namely, the survey asked for which colors owners associate with success. Answer: Blue most associated with succes. Fifty-seven percent said blue is their idea of success; the second most cited color is green (35%) followed by white (32%), black (29%) and red (21%). Purple was the color males least often associate with success, while women were least likely to select orange.

Then, on which brands are seen as having best logo and best website, the results are predictable:

• Apple topped the lists for best logo and best website; also on the best logo were Nike, Coca-Cola and FedEx.
• Most disliked logos and websites: Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Pepsi, IBM and Google.
• Best websites: Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Nike.
• Worst websites: Wal-Mart, Yahoo, Facebook, MySpace and Microsoft.

MySpace, really?  Who looks at MySpace?
  

The biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs written by Walter Isaacson has been Amazon's biggest-selling book of 2011, the online retailer announced.

The accomplishment is impressive since the book did not start selling until late October.

Despite its hardcover success, the biography of Jobs ranks No. 3 on Amazon's Kindle bookstore.

The Kindle bestsellers so far are “Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins and, at No. 2, “The Litigators” by John Grisham.

Yes, we've become fixated on simple-to-read blog lists.

Today's list, via Dealnews.com, is a rundown of what they call the 10 deal-friendliest retail sites. TWo of the sites are from Seattle:  Amazon and Costco.

They are: 

1.       Amazon 

2.       Walmart

3.       Sears

4.       Best Buy

5.       Kohl's

6.       Target

7.       Home Depot

8.       Macy's

9.      Lowe's

10.   Costco

For the full story, go to the page at DealNews.

Nick Darveau-Garneau

Earlier this week we called Nick Darveau-Garneau, the CEO of San Francisco-based BigDeal.com.

This site is one of the increasingly popular penny-auction sites that invite consumers to hunt down good deals on electronics and household items. 

We're posting a portion of the interview with Nick, who explains how the BigDeal  auctions and bidding operate.

The pitch that caught the eye of Office Hours was the claim that real people are finding real deals on some items, such as getting a new Kindle for less than $10. 

Here's the basic way it works: A person becomes a member by spending a minimum amount to earn bidding dollars. For now, that minimum is $22.50.

The idea is to be the last person bidding, as the auction clock runs down. Each bid you make costs you 75 cents; each successful bid you make on an item pushes the item price up one cent. If the item clock is finally coming down to 30 seconds or less, each new bid, whoever makes it, pushes the clock back to 30 seconds. 

If you don't win, the amount of money you've bid can be applied to “discounted retail” price for that same item, offered by BigDeal. In other words, if you don't win it at auction, you can buy it at a discounted retail price. And BD has the item drop-shipped.

Darveau-Garneau said the auction-sale items offered come from wholesalers and discounters. 

And yes, the auction items “won” will cost the bidder whatever the item price is at the end of the auction, plus shipping.

What we like about it:

• Things are legit, in that the listings are all backed by BigDeal. Products are not bogus or knockoffs.
• There's a “Bid Buddy” option that lets bidders auto-bid, within time limits.
• It's generally a good way to buy an item you really want. If you don't get the item, you can apply the bid amount as a discount against the “competitive” purchase price.

What we don't like about it:

• It's hard to track or find a given item. Say you want a Canon G12 camera. Good luck finding BigDeal auctions for the G12 without major effort.
• Item prices for sale for those who don't win that item are nothing special. You can nearly always beat the BigDeal price by shopping on eBay, Amazon or Buy.com, just to use three instances.

See the rest of the post below. 

  

Seattle-based Amazon scored No. 1 in a recent online survey of shoppers asked to rate companies'  customer service.

The survey, provided by the Temkin Group, asked people to rate their shopping experiences with 143 different companies.

Using about 6,000 surveys from purchases made this past January, the Temkin ratings looked at a number of factors customers used in judging the experience of buying products online.

The result was a factor that Temkin called the “net goodness” rating  that came from three major components: Functional, Accessible and Emotional.  To get more information on the method Temkin used, go to the Temkin overview.

The survey mostly looked at retailers, banks, hotels and financial institutions.

Kohl's was ranked No. 2. Notably, another Seattle company, Costco, ranked No. 3 in the ratings. Others in the top five were Lowe's and Sam's Club.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/business-tech/#ixzz1Iajbmn15;

Chart credit: Temkin Corp.

Three Washington businesses  — Amazon, Coinstar and F5 Networks — have been added to Fortune mag’s list of 100 fastest growing companies.

All three have headquarters in the Seattle area. F5, which makes network management services and tools, has an engineering office in Liberty Lake.

Amazon moved to No. 30 from its previous rank of No. 52. Bellevue’s Coinstar ranked No. 61, followed by F5 Networks at No. 64.

Fortune’s full list is here.  The Sept. 6 issue also features a section on Washington, profiling the state as a center for world-class innovation and featuring its new export initiative, designed to complement President Obama’s National Export Initiative.

You can see the Washington special section at ChooseWashington.com.