There will no doubt be a day when all research, news, and general reading for that matter will take place online. But we haven't gotten there yet. Fiction or romance novels will always be in print since it would be difficult to curl up in front of the fire on a cold rainy day with a laptop.

Research, however, may eventually be carried out entirely online. People buy self-help and how-to books written to solve their problems or change their lives every day from the local bookstore in their neighborhoods. By visiting your local bookstore you can identify hot niche markets in an afternoon.

You should visit your local bookstore and take note of the non-fiction stock on hand. Find out what is selling the most and make sure you identify the topic or category these hot sellers fall in. It would also be a good idea to visit the New York Times list of best selling non-fiction books online as well as the best selling books on Amazon.

Also make sure you visit the magazine racks. More and more niche opportunities are available everyday in the magazine section and this should be the place to start. Some of the best headlines come straight from the pages of magazines. You can't believe how great a resource just one copy of Cosmo can be for headlines, article topics, or content ideas.

Spending time in your local bookstore will help you realize that most people still live in the real world and seek knowledge in many different ways. While most online marketers may opt for RSS feeds and Google News updates many people still appreciate the feel of paper in their hands and ink on their fingers and marketers should look for topics from many resources everyday from many places.

Watch local news as well as the nightly national news broadcasts. Each will provide valuable ideas that you could use as your next online business. Local broadcasts are especially good since these topics hit home and create more passion from the general population.

National broadcasts will target a much more diverse group of people with a much larger opportunity to market to. You should also pay attention to news organizations such as Reuters or the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) who provide news from around the world in almost real time.

The point is there are many outlets and resources to capture ideas and find new topics for your online businesses. You just have to know where to look.