Hearst Corp., which has put the Seattle Post Intelligencer up for sale and said it will stop printing it in 60 days, is asking employees for ideas on how it could operate online-only publication.

The move is significant since Hearst, which owns the Chronicle, has lost much more money in San Francisco than it has in Seattle, and may be considering online options here.

P-I reporter Dan Richman said the paper’s staff got a memo from Editor and Publisher Roger Oglesby who said the company is seeking ideas from employees on “how to maintain and grow our online audience so we might have the competitive advantage in the market” and “ideas to help us drive the revenue side of the business.”

Hearst also is seeking “ideas for partnerships, part-time models, revenue sharing, freelancing and any other creative types of structures that might help us reach our goal of creating a profitable business model in the market.”