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- BUSINESS, Page 69Business NotesNEWSPAPERSThe Word on The Street
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- New York City is a tough town for newspaper competition,
- but an upstart called Street News has a lot going for it. The
- monthly newspaper features writers such as pop stars Patti
- LaBelle and Gloria Estefan, and ads from Ben & Jerry's Ice
- Cream. Most important, the non-profit Street News has a highly
- motivated, 50-member sales staff: homeless people who work
- strictly on commission. To apply for the job, "you don't even
- need clean clothes," says SN editor Hutchinson Persons, a rock
- musician and founder of a coalition to help the homeless.
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- For each 75 cents issue sold, the salesperson keeps 55
- cents, including a nickel that goes into a mandatory savings
- plan that can be used only to obtain an apartment. Some vendors
- earn more than $200 a week. After selling 500 papers, the
- salespeople win a bonus: a winter coat.
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