Six months ago, self-described "media impresario" Taylor Carik bought Secrets of the City from the Bartel clan. Since then, I can't really say the talk/events/deals site has made much of a dent on my consciousness; the MnSpeak component looks like it's withered further.

But Carik has big redesign and marketing plans ... and now he has a business plan (below). Basically, for a $50,000 investment (in pieces or one chunk), he envisions a nearly $200,000-a-year operation spinning off more than $50,000 in annual profits and a 5 percent-plus return for farsighted investors.

Risk? Hoo boy. But in these days of 1 percent returns, Carik is betting someone will take a chance on a guy who's boosted the big guys (Gannett's Metromix), the upstarts (Rick Kupchella's BringMeTheNews), the undead (Zombie Pub Crawl) and himself (Mediation).

To pitch the plan, Carik will host a party next Monday, March 7, 6:30- 9 p.m. at the Loring Theater (formerly the Music Box), 1407 Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis.

As you drink, you can grill him about the details such as publisher's pay ($2,800 a month), 2012 traffic targets (120,000-160,000 unique visitors a month) and how one of Metro Magazine's "creative class" will make artistic and financial dreams come true.

Also, if you've ever been curious about these new-media business plans, there's some interesting reading here.