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. .,. ;. ' . 'YES~ERDAY ON WALL S;REET

.•• Dowj~~es'9.50~.96(:t]5?,91)"w.'""."""~.........,f~"~~~'_..",$""'~r"'~"·,,,,.~;J"1""A~1

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•• 10~Yi!arT-bond 3.550/0. ,

».»>"? x» >»»»>\~mW»i» »:' mi» >~i»>>»> >>>;» s» \\ »\>>>>>:>»?» »,,> s» >»s» ii» rl'l » »».»»»»i >\~)>> >-»>,>>>»> »n» »». i» ",,> ::,>»',:':»», >:>,,»m)}}})>»»»:»»s» »:» i»!' t»x» ,~~'''H~~~''iMi'''''~" ••j,~~>~~~~"'!I!i;;IIi~;tr.>i»mr;;;!!\if ••~:',%fil~~>IEntr~pr~n~til1tp~s'newapproach to online news

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i'j\ i.i tap' .'pcid' . r~fl11a~~ttti'for bottl~d, .~ ., '

wat~r,

v~hicie.t III not trying to c~vet.i ~.stories'that ..a~~purejOlU'naliSll1l.""It's a realLygood ideafrom a

business standpoint," said JaneMcDonl1e.llteX~Ctlti:v~director oftfu¢ OnlineNewsAssociation. McJDonnell said the trend toward .online.news and information

.1sites is "growing." ', ' . , .Baronplans to sell advertis-

iHypevlocalnews has'been iI, .hig nationailyas hisrietwork Ofthe news lately.:I;Woonline sites fFqI1chiset:,sgrows,providing ad-o~teF~ngIntenselyc()m~11.lOity~t0~ ditional revenue. The standard ,cused newsandinformation sold I-IometownTi1l1es.~olllfranchise,rec ent.ly.to l:>. igqie.:dla co.inpan.ies he sai.d,i.S.'.a twO'PerSOl.l.opera-AQI,. and MSNBC,one for $7mil- tion and can earn: the owner a1l00p. t,.. '.' . high five-figureor low six-figure. Still;thefree'sites, which try . income;' .to 'attract readetsend advertis- What's feasiblesayse,tS,,withitems ranging from po- SteveCarter,owner of the . .liceblotter bits to missing pet x oummmgnome.com franchise.alerts to event notiges,.,have,Jj'een, .'Carter launched t1'iatSitein2003,a hard' sell.Me'dia~nalystsh~lVe,," ..before HOUleto~'.nme$.cop.1wasporider~dwho mighteventj:lal- conceivedBy Baron, anditseryes!yta.PI'flB?t'Ssupposed(Q b~a.lu-, as the rri0de1.fi;anchise;Carter'ct'atiye.markE:t. .i. \' . had been laidoff from the fiber .:!Atlanta entrepreneur raul ..' optics ind'ustrYilnd:r;epsedthe

•Bilfon hasjo~e.d the, quest with de~ireoHocal resid(;!ntsf0p com-,'liIometownTilUes.<;~)ln:Baron, .• . "i'. ....•. " . '. ' rnunity information exchange-!5~,IFas,est,!bJished525$ites in is Cumn}ingHome.com. . . I newspapers is byofferingbusi- Baron,a,loqgtirp,ebusi- .rriarkets a~ross.'t~ec()Untrywith "We'.ietryi~gt() promote, ness~s not only st<;rfld;udpaid ad-. ness executive, discoveredtl}eh()peQfsellingfr~nchises.for! comm.uhicationsWithih~oUl- vertising?pportunities, bJ:ltthe ,GummingH;oFJ,1le.com,while-per-eiH.:h'ala curre~'ltprice of abo~tml.mities,l' Baron.says. "Zon- chance'to'Reu.their ()WIl "arW : sonally involved ina zoning de-$5;OOOa;piece;,.'". . . ..ing issues-school matters,Littledes,'.\knowninthe ibdustry as bate in cumnrmg, Se,eing;that:~aii'fl~e franchise model, he says, League scores- ..loccV.Andw~'.. , .a!ivertol'ials., '.10t ofpeople,\yere drifting to theiswhat wa\<es,his efi,'

C1>rtul1ique. alS:d.Offeraplatform for business: ,Barqn calls his cornpaIJy~:'ul- ~nternet,"an~~ecognizing the .

" ,.sofar;.th.....~CO.J;Il..·.p~ny.'has.s.o.ld ,,,.e ...s.tos.aYWhQt~ey:a.r,e.." .. .i '\ ti:Q;1..at.elY....~.b..usi.ne~sopl~o.rt~l.h..it.y.. P0SSI.·bilitles,~nfran..Gh~Sin.gt.he .tour fran~hlses, ,aU~nnorth Geor- .".•.pneway the company differ- that uses news,and,events in the .foncept,ht;Jormed hlS'cOIn:parYgia; th~mO$ts1;~(essful ofwhi~h . entiates itself from tradtional .. ·..comIl.1Unity to create a bVAl,irless,"'UsiogGarter'sUlo~l. .;,~~ ... ' .",. •.. '.-

Paul Baron believesafranchisemodel.will bring sucS~ss',.......;wr-~.;..;...,.,....-~-.;. •...~By DcwldMarklewlczdfl'larki~wlcz@aJc.com

Worries:'over theeriV:i'rotiineht~nd tberecession have taken atoll on the sale ofbottledwater this year ....The shift.in-themarket has hit, ':'~',?K,"-' ,:",,:" i'};'.;, ,,'-' ,~

hQme at.Atlania:~asedCooa-ColaCo,

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