I have led you astray. In the last issue I talked about audio books, and how you might find a market in the niches of audio books.

Ignore that advice.

I had a colleague try it. What we discovered was that, no matter what the niche, Amazon got there first. And often Barnes and Noble or one of the other biggies.

Think you can compete with Amazon? Well, you might be able to generate traffic to your site. But after people learned about a great audio book on your site, odds are that they would compare prices at Amazon. And guess who always wins.

In fact, forget about developing an audio book site entirely. I know the commissions are enticing. But what good are 20% to 30% commissions if you can't make the sale?

The only way that audio book sales might work is if you have a strong topic that lends itself to an affiliate link for some audio books, like a language site or mystery stories or romance novels. Then go after the affiliate sale, along with other monetization models on your site. Then you've got a ca-ching!

TOP FREEBIE
Work.com

There's a great new website that has page after page after page of business advice written by experts in their fields. It is called Work.com. MaryAnn Shank, President of BusinessPlanMaster, wrote two sections. See this one on retirement businesses. While you're there, check out the section on creating a great business plan -- Business Plan Master is a featured resource in this article.

Alternatives Federal Credit Union in Ithaca, New York, won a $60,000 grant from Empire State Development Corporation to subsidize small business loans for female and minority entrepreneurs. ESDC distributed the funds to eight institutions in the state after a competitive application process. The grant allows the bank to offer a dozen $25,000 loans at a fixed, 6-percent interest rate. The loans are available to women and minority borrowers who have a minimum of one year in business and need assistance for growth. Terms are up to three years.

The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas spends hundreds of millions of dollars on new construction. But the state Building and Procurement Commission reports that in 2006, just six percent of the Center’s taxpayer-funded budget was spent with companies owned by women and minorities. That angers the state lawmaker who set up the minority business program in 1995. The Cancer Center is under extreme pressure to hire more minorites, so if you're in the area, go for it.

Anyone pursuing venture capital HAS to read this series of articles in Forbes. The real movers and shakers are here, with real insights into the venture capital industry.

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"Wherever you see a successful business,
someone once made a courageous decision."
Peter Drucker, writer and speaker