revitalizing the economy. american express open is here to help. that is why we are proud to present "your business" on msnbc. hi there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. when most people think of market research they think of big companies with big budgets, but what if you are a small company with a small budget and you want to test something before launching? well, sharpen the pencil and get ready to take notes on how to master market research on the cheap. mariah finley founder of it is rus lane does not leave much to chance. every aspect of the one-year-old

business has been tested, from the website to the shipping boxes. >> we sent this tugboat to kids over six months old and it got rave reviews and the kids adored it. >> mariah has the experience and spent much of the career with ebay where she was tasked making sure that the products they put out of the door worked. >> i did a ton of market research and we researched what the ebay customers wanted from us, and we would do customer g segmentation, and focus groups and surveys on how they felt about the experience. >> when she decided to leave her job and start her own company, she brought this mindset with her, and the difference of working with a big company and the start-up is the budget. >> now, in the old role at ebay i had a market research budget measureded in the hundreds of thousands and obviously i would not spend money like this to figure out if it was a good business. >> so she did it on the cheap, and had more than a dozen business ideas percolating but the one she wanted the most is

the one she spent as a time. >> so much of my energy was what books are best the read and what food to serve them, and it truck me, i was having these problems and wondered if other moms were as well. >> the idea was simple, sign up for a subscription, and get a package of innovative baby items once a month, and she loved it, but would consumers? calling on the background, she put together a focus group, and usability and testing and surveys. >> my theory on the testing is fast and low cost as opposed to perfect, because you are trying to learn these big picture ayes and nays. >> and to test the concept, she did informal focus groups in the living room. no need to hire someone as long as you know how to do it right. >> i recruited friends and friends of friends and i served snacks and had a little social time and then i did a mini focus group at my house in this casual setting where i presented them an idea, and got them to react

to it, and showed them boxes and i got feedback on whether they thought it was a good idea. >> mariah has a few simple rules when doing a focus group. the first and most important is to make sure that the people are truthful. >> i would often say, you know, i'm considering starting this business and i am going to devote the next 5 or 10 years of my life to it, so i want to know honestly what you think, and that is enough to break that need to be nice. >> and the second rule, have people write things down before the focus group discussion. >> one, you get a written record of it, so that you can go back to read what they said, and the other benefit is that you get people's true first impression. >> this these groups, she was convinced that citrus lane was a viable idea and used the feedback of the conversations to fine tune the products to be sent out and how they would be packaged. >> it was more of a sample product, and try a shampoo or try a lotion.

>> but the testing didn't end there. they had the product mix down, but they needed to know how the customers would react to the new website. so they designed a basic version and road tested it with the usability study. >> and it is a great idea and i want to give it to my friend who is pregnant. >> usability is done one on one and you are basically trying to have someone talk out loud while they use your site and see what they are taking away from it and how they are reacting to it. >> the usability testing showed them the original website concept was too wordy and polished. parents were looking for a simple explanation of the service and photos of real babies and children. >> it was just too much for the busy mom to have time to do. so then we switch ed ed to a ven of the website where there are mostly pictures of the box. that did better. >> then came the surveys. mariah uses these to pfinance hr two fundamental questions. one, how likely is someone to purchase her service? and two, how likely are they to

recommend it to a friend? >> so when we send out the boxes every month, we ask them, how much did you like the box, and on a five-point scale, and then we say, would you recommend the service to a friend? and we watch both of the nu numbers, because we want them to both be high, because in general people's intent to recommend actually in some ways says more about how they feel about it. >> today, citrus lane is up and running and for mariah, that is no reason to stop the research, because on the contrary, it is a whole new audience to get feedback from using social media. >> what is different about this moment right now is that the tools exist between social media and the ways to do market research with the customers that you can really listen and build a brand and a company that is trying to actually listen to the moms or whoever your customer is and do a better job for them, and that is how you grow.

as we just saw, there are inexpensive and some really smart ways to do market research on the business on the cheap. let's turn to this week's board of directors. jay goelts is the founder of the goelts group an small business blogger for "the new york times." and also we are joined by the co-founder of jen y group. you have to get out to sit around with the team to say this website is great and the packaging is great, and we love these products and you become a focus group of three or five of ten or people who are involved in this and this happens to a lot of people where they don't go out to ask questions. >> yes, absolutely. when you do it on the web, you find out what you think is typically wrong. unlike a retailer to be standing in a store to talk to the customer, here you are not in front of the customer and it is harder to get a feel for the market. >> the focus groups were smart and that is good advice, two two

things, which is to get the truth out of them and make sure that people write down their first impressions. is there anything else when you are having a focus group that you need to think about? >> well, i think that there is always as much information as you can get out of any meeting that youn't wa, becau nt wwant,t want to overload people. you want the core values of the product, and she did a great job to know, i want to know about the package oing or the emotion response to the product, and while it is different, you want to get to the meat and potatoes of it. >> and a road map of this is what i need to know at the end. so there is a small fear of your fr friends and your friends' friends, and aren't you getting one opinion? >> well, you need the target aud yents and you can go broke saying that my sister-in-law and her friends are buying this stuff, but maybe there are not enough people like the sister-in-law and the friends, and you need to know the target

cu customer and not just the people you know, but she said smart to get the people over the need to be nice. and nobody wants to say, this is really stupid, because these days everybody wants to give a parade that this is a great idea and you will make a lot of money, and you need honest feedback and not the pats on the back. >> and it is important to not do analysis paralysis and keep doing the surveys and the focus groups to do everything under the sun to perfect the product and there is something about the steve jobs' philosophy, i will make the market and make it make sense over time and not every small business has a budget to win over the market, but it is worth if you have a solid product, maybe you don't want to dilute the product without seeing it firsthand by listening to everybody and their mother, also. >> and the other thing that is interesting is the survey question, did you like this product and would you recommend it to the friend and that is almost as important or more important and that speaks to the surveys. >> well, i ask in the

-- surveys about what new products will i add and the producks and the services, and that is a way to do it and talk tact products and the services in the wings. >> and the if i kree it and will you buy it is the fake, i have this and sign up now. >> well, you have to be careful about starting the business, because the math has to work, and everyone says, i will buy it and will you buy it at $39.95, and can you make money there, and how much to put the website together, because having the nephew do it after school is not goi going to cut it anymore. and if you think you want to do it like that, it is not, because you have to spend money to do it properly. and even if everybody says they love the product does not mean you can make money at it. >> and that is when a good idea is not necessarily a good business. so remember that piece and ask the customers and the questions

to find out if people like your idea. thank you, guys. twitter can be a really valuable tool for small business owners looking to en j.p. rate leads. here are five things on twitter that you can do to attract the customers to the company courtesy of biz.com. create your own business branded page and that way viewers can look at the page without logging into twitter. two, use featured tweets which lets you display selected messages at the top of the page so you can highlight special promotions or offers. three, leverage the power of hash tags which are used to organize tweets around specific topics. by including a hash tag in the tweet tweet, you will reach people searching for that topic. and make sure your twitter profile show s ns up in the key words with your business in it, and be brief and grab attention. five, install your own custom twitter page background with colors and logos and other

graphics related to the business. the better the page looks, the better and more customers you will attract. speaking of social media scott gerber is back to talk about more about the ways you can use it to help the business. you went in to talk to a boutique store and talk to us about it. >> well, i went tone the retail shop, a boutique firm that sold various clothing products from kids to adults and show the business owner that social media can be a good tool, but you need to understand the metrics and understand how to use it to be most effective for your business. >> i want to increase foot traffic, and i want to really boost my sales. there's so many social media sites that offer things that are online marketing related that i am not sure what is the best thing to do or the right thing to do. my biz inis at a critical stage where we have been open for two years, but if i can't increase

the traffic, then it is going to be really hard for me to continue to do things. >> one thing is online video to help you to build the brand and most importantly your personality so customers meet you and want to come in to meet you. and you need a technical device like a cam phone and pick a top thak is short and sweet to the point, and the third is what do you want out of the end of the video? do you want people to the retail location or visit a certain website and the last is once you upload it, where do you upload it to get the most traction. facebook, and twitter, but you own a retail location and you want people coming in the door and there is a great one called four square and you have claimed your business already and what do you do currently on four square? >> we have a 10% discount with the check-out and free gift with

$100 purchase. >> how is that work ining? >> nobody has used it. >> so you have a great discount with zero views and so it is not the wrong medium, but wrong offer. and discounts are one in a million and dime a dozen and don't move the needle and so we want something experiential, and you can build a social media strategy around. so how about offering a photo sho shoot, and use your stuff and use the photos to post it online. one of the biggest mistakes that small owners make is they believe if they put themselves out there, the people will come, but it is about going out there to meet the people. the different folks out there that would be great customers for the business or great evangelists of the media. sites like meet up.com where you can participate in great events. >> i am a member of several meet up groups and i have not had time to go to any of it. >> there is problem one. you have to build real

relationships so i encourage you not to attend and throw events, but be a part of the experience of building them, and part of the local community. you want the look at every single social media post you do and analyze the data and make sure you are growing whatever is working and mercilessly cutting whatever is not. you have the facebook analytics page up and if you look at the photos and the giveaways and the media are the things that are giving the highest response rates where if you are talking about what is going on that dayer omaking a statement, those opo posts are not working, and cut them out entirely. you want to know the frequency that works for you and if one a day works, then do that and if it does not work, cut it mercilessly, because you don't want to waste your time. you want to be selling and communicating with new clients and finding new leads. >> when we come back, are you missing out on saving money? we will tell you what federal

tax credits you may not be taking advantage of. >> i will be home soon. >> and does your doggie miss you when you are away? today's elevator pitchers have doggie bag that might calm your freaked out dog. ♪ i'm fixing to get a hot dog you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect.

maybe we hire an extra two people or maybe we hire an extra ten people. >> small businesses are eligible for $15 billion in tax credits which is a finding from the small business majority which says that most business owners are not aware of the credits and taking advantage of them. we are joined by the founder of the small business majority. great to see you. >> great to be here. >> these tax credits are part of the affordable care act and what exactly are they for? >> these tax credits are for all small businesses who qualify. basically any business with few fewer than 25 employees and with average wages of under $50,000 has an opportunity to apply for the credits if they are paying 50% of the employees health care.

>> and by your estimates how many people are not taking advantage of this that should be? >> as you pointed out the recent study with families usa show that there with 3.2 million businesses eligible if they offer health care and last year over 300,000 of them took the credit. some of the businesses are not offering health care. we estimate it is probably about only one-third to 40% of the businesses who are actually offering health care and are eligible have been able to take the credit. >> wow. wow. that is big. when you say have been able to take the credit, do you mean just because they didn't apply for i? j yeah. i mean the problem is that most businesses don't really know about the credit. the latest polling we did showed that 57% of small businesses had never heard of the credit. and so, what needs to happen is that there needs to be more outreach about the existence of the credit, more communication with the accountants about it, and for the first time this year, the credit is actually included in the software that the accounts use in calculating

small businesses' tax returns so that is a huge benefit. >> and john, this brings up a bigger question, which is, okay, i know i'm missing this credit and maybe i am missing other credits out there, and as a small business person, how can i educate myself on money i could be getting back? >> well, the first thing is to talk to your accountant, and obviously, when a credit is new, sometimes it is not all that well known. part of the problem with this has been that there is way more heat than light shown on the affordable care act, and while the law is not perfect and while it is not going to solve all problems immediately, there are significant benefits in the law, and instead of talking about the politics behind it, we need to be explaining to small business owners and the trusted advisers what is available. this is a perfect example of something being available, and essentially free money out there for small businesses to take. and not enough being known about it. >> so where you just did the study on it, and interesting study and goes on state by

state, where can people read more about this? >> well, on the website at www.small business majorities.org and a copy of the study up there, and what is great is that we looked at small businesses in all 50 states and broke it down by those who are eligible for the maximum credit and those eligible for some of the credit, and how much the credit was worth so that you can get a good sense of what the potential is out there by reading the report. >> i urge all small business owners to go to take a look at it to see if they are eligible for something that they are not taking advantage of and thank you so much for shedding light for us on this program. >> thank you, j.j. good to be on. dog owners hate to leave their beloved pets at home, so our next inventor came up with a verbose idea to tame the savage beast. >> we are the inventors of the talking dog bed.

we are stephanie and bob newman. >> lay down, and mommy will be home soon. >> it is a talking bed with a recording device embedded into it, so that when the dog steps into the bed, it triggers the playback of the message. >> so your dog hears your voice and helps with the anxiety problems that lead to behavior that are problems around the house. you can use it in the kennels, and can be used over and over. we are seeking a $10,000 inventory to be inventory and commercial for air time. 60% of all american households have pets so if we get 1% of that, that is $30 million. >> now, think of canada and beyond. >> we are at the talking bed.com. the talking bed.com, and the items cost approximately $10 to $12 and we will sell them for $49 and up depending on the size. >> you did an amazing job at not getting distract ed there.

what is that noise? what is happening here? >> ell with, we almost didn't, and i wanted to get the pitch? >> well, that is good and i wanted to stop to hear what the panel thinks. did they get everything in there that you want to hear? >> well, a clever idea, and there is a difference between a clever idea and viable business and i want to know where the numbers came to, and how many people do you get to with the tv ads. >> well, the sta tics are from the american pet products association, appa. >> well, that number makes sense, but the question is how many people do you contact with the tv ads that are you buying, because it does not matter how many people if you can't get to them? >> well, the social media markets and everything as well az-tv and hit the twitter and the facebook and all of the social media folks are working on that and we expect to hit a big market. >> scott, everything in there that you needed? >> well, there is a pet enthusiast market out there, but what i would say is that ta valuation is off to me.

this is something that seems like, prove it first. tell me why it is going to work and show me the numbers and show me that you are getting the valuation from some rhyme or reason other than you want to keep the equity interest. >> show me the traction. and you guys both like the idea, sounds like, but as a business would you take another meeting? i want to get the puppy something to eat while we are talking. here you are, sweetheart. >> that means that you think that the company is worth $2.5 million which is outrageous and you are asking somebody to take all of the risk for your idea and you get the upside and i want to know how you came to that? >> well, we are ne goschabare n that. >> and i would say that you are going to get 1% of a big market, because i have heard that before. >> and that is greated are advice on the market. >> and not only do you love it, but they need it. >> and we have people contacting

us all of the times. >> and how about kids on vacation. >> yes, next product. >> and thank you for the advice for an elevator pitch. >> thank you very much. it is time now to answer some of your business questions. jay and scott are with us once again. first is an e-mail from tony who writes, everywhere i turn, i hear and read that you need social media to maximize the business. i have linkedin and google and i cannot find a user manual on these sites. i know that the kids are born with this knowledge, but what can an old guy like me go to gain knowledge. >> well, there are sites that have a huge abundance of manuals and how-tos and all information that i have personally found useful. and there are others that will let you know about the latest tools but with mash fly, they spell it out and great tips on how to use it.

>> and does he need to learn all of them? i mean, maybe start with one? >> well, ask the old guy and i will tell you that maybe better off to have an intern from the local university or somebody who is doing it, because it is easy to delegate to somebody else who has a much better handle on it and quicker at it, because i have to believe that he can do better things that he can be doing and delegate it to somebody else. >> especially if he is not interested. but caution, few you are delegating, be a follower and make sure that your personality has not taken a turn that does not fit with what you believe that the company is representing. and the next question is about billing. >> how can small business compete when the corporations continue to extend the payment dates? now, it is typical for a 45, 60 and sometimes 90-day wait for the check. aside from having cash reserves is there anything that a small business can do? >> jay, this is a tough question. >> that is what credit lines at

banks are for and if you have receivables, and you have a relationship with the right bank and i say right bank, because many banks say they have a great relationship, but they don't, and you want to have a credit line to lend against your receivables and that is how small businesses finance their business to grow. >> and what about big companies to pay faster, and do they respond to that or not? >> i don't think so. back in the old days it was 2%, you know, 2% net ten, but not many companies are doing that any longer and part of the problem, takes time to put the invoice through and have a process and the whole thing, so i don't know that you can do a lot about that. >> and with the previous businesses i faced this exact issue as probably every other small business owner who deals with the larger corporations, but we reset the precedence of how we work with the corporation, and if you want to work was, we will put in an invoice immediately with 25 right up front and ultimately

never cash on demand when it comes to the corporations, but at least by the time the project was done, we were on track to receive the first payment within 30 days of the end date and then the final within 60 days and invoicing as a young company, you are paying terrible amounts off interest, but if you initially have to go get the ball rolling to get more clients it may be the only al teternati >> so companies will tell you to put the invoice in early and we know that it is 60 days and we will pass it through? >> yes, in order to get it working and up and running in a timely manner, we want certain amount down and start the system, and we understand it is not cash on delivery, but we will receive milestone pay, and that is the key. >> you need to nknow the proces works and who do i send the bill to and follow up, because people wait for 45 or 50 days and they call and say, we don't have that invoice and starting from zero and scott has good advice to find out how it works.

>> and jean marks from new york times says you need to dot your is and ts, because if you miss one thing, it is in a pile and days before you see that payment. that is fantastic advice. looking for the easy way to manage the small paper trail. check out the website of the week. shoe box.com will turn your pile of recements into digital reporting for accounting and bookkeeping. you can mail them in or scan them in by using the smartphone, and then the website formats the data to export to the accounting program or e-mail and you can access the site by using the free mobile app. to learn more about the show today click on the website openforum.com/business. you will find out more about today's content, and more web content about how to grow your

business. and follow us on twitter and become a fan of the show on facebook, we love your feedback. next time, an entrepreneur dreams of expanding the business, but the only way he could possibly grow is challenging state law with the backing of his customers. >> please contact the legisla r legislators because they are like, what can we do? we timely said, call them and e-mail them and tell your friends and family and please if you want to see this bill pass, we need your help. >> we will tell you how this owner of this brewery took on a 78-year-old law and won. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg and remember, we make your business our business. they have names like idle time books and smash records and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small.

on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight again. and we, the locals, found delight again. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of american express. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. the friday before memorial day weekend there's not supposed to be a lot of news going on, but this election season and this news cycle in particular have not been following the usual conventions. tonight we have to up with a rather serious story. one of the innovations, if you can call it that in terrorist bombings is the idea of a double bomb. an initial bomb big enough to cause damage, maybe to injury people, maybe to kill people, but the important part is that the first bomb has to be big en t