today we're in the forefront of the makery economy. renting tools to entrepreneurs wanting to create the next big thing, and we go down to the floor of the advertising specialty convention to see some what c whacky ways you can promote your company. that and more on "your business." small businesses are revitalizing the economy and american express open is here to help. that's why we are proud to present "your business" on msnbc.

hey there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg, and welcome to your business. maker spaces, they come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have one thing in common, accessibility and tools to education and collaboration wherein venters and hobbyists and hackers can all come together to experiment and, of course above all, make things all under one roof. for entrepreneurs a maker space can level the playing field so that they can now make protow types just like bigger companies do, but at a price point similar to a monthly gym membership. we recently spent the day at maker house in seattle where we met a bunch of entrepreneurs to make things from portable

hydroponic gardens, custom bikes and guitars. >> never before in history has it been easier to create and scale a business as it is today. whether you're coding, whether you're looking at making a physical product, can you start something and scale at a pace that's never been seen before. >> you know that product idea you scribbled on a piece of paper and threw in a junk drawer because you didn't know how to make it? well then, listen up. there's a new breed of highly innovative entrepreneurs called makers who are at the leading edge of a growing do it yourself movement. they're taking their ideas from napkin sketch to product faster than ever using a place called a maker space. >> any time you put powerful tools in the hands of regular people, they suddenly will find uses for that technology that we've never thought of before. so our job as technologists is to make technology cheap, easy.

put it in the hands of regular people, dem mock kra advertise the technology and make it easier for them. >> woodworking, weld, laser cutting, 3-d printing. now anyone willing to pay a small membership fee can gain access to sophisticated tools like these that can quickly catapult an idea beyond a hobby taking people out of the isolation of their garages and into the collaborative atmosphere of a maker space. >> so we use this as a gym with tools. as a member, if you don't need wood or metal shop access, it's $89 a month. if you're looking to do woodworking or metal working then it's $189 per month. none of these contracts have a contract associated with it. we realize many people may have just one design. >> they opened makerhaus in seattle, washington, because

they were frustrated by the use of tools and access. those former employees at large fortune 500 companies, were searching for something they took for granted and realized were a barrier to entry for smaller groups and entrepreneurs that had great ideas. >> to be able to have access to something like this and be able to compete with companies without having the financial strain on your business is huge. >> new maker entrepreneurs actually making physical products at makerhaus include jeremy hansen and his own grown gardens. his own hydroponic gardens in restaurants and caleb seismore. another one is scott johnson's hand crafted walg wallingford guitar company. before joining the maker space it used to take 60 plus hours to

make just one guitar with his limited access to tools and a decent space to work. now with everything he needs under one roof, he has a lot more time to spend on building his startup guitar brand. >> what took him 60 hours now that he has access to a router, more professional tools has been reduced by 20 or so hours, which is a huge increase. >> i've actually gotten a lot done here. >> for johnson, access to the maker community has been a huge help solving design problems. >> sometimes someone just walks up and said, have you tried doing it this way? i said, i never thought about it before. that's awesome. it's partly the proximity, part of it is the type of person that tracks. >> the great thing about makerhaus is that they're not only tools that you can use but really it's a drive. what you're doing is joining a

club and that's the great thing about the space. >> kevin loves bouncing ideas off fellow makerhaus people. his invention has all the tools and equipment at his command so he's free to design worrying about how he's going to tackle each step. >> we can basically start with an idea in the morning and have a prototype at night. we'll use lathes, mills, the wood shop, we'll grow parts using the 3-d printers so we can custom design everything we need. >> i think this one is like a magnum p.i. ferrari. >> yeah. the 3-d maker is the ultimate maker success story. he and a couple of gear head friends got together at a hacker space together in brooklyn, new york, and cobbled together a 3-d printer. now the company is at the hub of the 3-d maker revolution.

>> our goal was to change the game and bring 3-d printing to people. >> now they're part of the standard at most maker spaces. pettis is the maker they want to be. >> you can become an entrepreneur and express your ideas physically. if they catch onto the world, you ha you've got it. >> getting new customers shouldn't be your only focus. retaining your current clients is just as important if not more important, so here now are five tactics for increasing brand loyalty from entrepreneur.com. one, feature your fans in your contests. putting them in the spotlight shows you appreciate them. two, take customer advice. create goals and offer incentives so your fans will participate. if you end up making a change based on the feedback, give them credit for coming up with the idea. three, give upgrades. if they're actively engaging

with your brand, they'll likely be great local cheerleaders to their family and friends so send them something they haven't tried from your product line, or if you have a premium service, give them the upgrade for free. four, be there when customers need you. your blog and social media may not be your primary channel for customer service, but make sure the people in charge of those mediums are capable of helping your client solve common problems. five, be more convenient than anyone else. find ways to make your customers' life easier so they'll always be coming back for more. back in 2008 we first told you about blake maikowski. he created tom's shoes. his idea was to give back. for every pair of tom's shoes sold a pair goes to a needy child. since then he has branched out taking that socially conscious entrepreneurial spirit to other endeavors.

nbc's jenna bush hager has reached out. >> blake gets shoes, he gets business, he gets big ideas. we first met blake a couple of years after he founded tom's, a company dedicated to giving back. for every pair of shoes sold, a child in need receives a pair. the company later expanded into eye wear, once again a model that blake termed one for one. while it's survived he did something that few ceos ever do. he took a break from the business. >> you had a sabbatical but you couldn't stay away? >> yes. i knew i couldn't come back and re-engage. i needed a new battle and challenge. >> so blake came to the south by southwest festival to reveal his new challenge, coffee. >> i had this aha moment. we can extract this coffee and

creating economic development. every time we'll bring the coffee out we'll invest in water systems in local areas. we'll invest in coffee and invest in water. >> for every bag sold tom will provide clean water to help someone in need allowing people to make one for one giving part of their daily life. >> people buy shoes if they need a new pair of shoes. people buy sunglasses if they need it -- people buy coffee -- >> every morning. >> let's start our day by improving someone else's. there's very few things in our life where we can be purposeful and have a sense of mindfulness every time we consume something. >> blake isn't trying to take on coffee giants like starbucks and duncan donuts but appealing to a more niche customer. it can be bout onlines and at the newly opened tom's coffee. >> we're looking at as part of

our giving philosophy at tom's, by creating community spaces when i giving back to the community. >> as tom's continuing to give and grow, it shows no signs of slowing down. >> is there an overall goal or end game? is there a point where you'll say i'm done. >> i don't think i ever stop. i love what i do. i love the impact that we're having. i think we can have a greater inpact in so many different industries we're not in yet. >> while the next big idea is brewing, blake wants people to drink up and give back. >> this is to starting your day by improving someone else's. >> i like it. what a nice way to start our day. thank you. >> thanks, jenna. we've got so much more coming to help your business. we'll share online tools to help your company and we'll have ideas on bootstrapping to increase generation. i head down to the floor of the advertising specialty institute show to see some inventive and unique items to promote your business.

>> announcer: brought to you by american express open. visit openforum.com for ideas to help you grow your business. t oa new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. if you're on a limited budget, i always give people the advice get the prototype made and make sure it can be mass produced. that's the most important place to put your money, there and also in the packaging and

marketing of it. you've got to be different. you've got to make it stand out and worry about the patent and protecting yourself later. you've got to spend the money to be first to market. let's catch up with what's hot in the world of entrepreneur ship with three things you need to know about business this week. the weather got better in march and so did small business confidence. the nfib's small business optimism index was up two points to 93.4. it showed an upward trend in future demands. another survey showing despite fears about the affordable care act, small business hiring remains steady. cbiz payroll services certified 3500 firms with 300 or fewer employees. 26 of those companies added employees in march, 20% cut jobs while about half were holding steady. and maria con temporary ra sweet was sworn in by vice president joe biden as the new head of the

small business service. she was born in mexico and immigrated to the u.s. when she was five. she formed the pro american bank which helped fund hispanic owned businesses. swag, whether you know it as souvenirs, free gifts or promotional products, no matter what you know it as, it can't be beat when it comes to getting the new business of clients. we headed over to the advertising specialty institute's whacky product show to get an up close look at the latest unique items for promos with a purpose. ♪ ♪ welcome to the asi show. down these rows you'll find all the t-shirts, the mugs, the pens, the hats that you can give out to your customers, but we are here today to find the most interesting, whackiest things that will help your company stand out. come on. >> you have one of the most original products i've seen yet today. >> cool. >> show me what it is.

>> this is the evolution of the touchscreen glove. these are awesome. you throw your hand in here, sync it with your phone. when your phone rings, you might have it in your wallet, in your jacket, in your purse, it rings, you press this button over here. you can actually take a phone call on your glove. i'm not kidding. it is wild. volume up, volume down. you have all the controls you need. you can hang up on your friend. i've got to go, see you later, bye. you're laughing. this is fantastic. >> it's so original and for the company whose logo is right there, everybody will be looking at it. >> you're right. it's great visibility, tech savvy, cool, funky. people who have their logo on here will have their brand associated with a funky idea. >> it's great. i love it. mark, you're selling jack daniels and steaks. >> no, we are selling t. shirts. our company screen prints t-shirts and we package them in a way that makes it more interesting for the end user. >> this is a t-shirt right here? >> this is a t-shirt. >> toif to stick it in water or anything? >> no water. you unwrap it.

it will have wrinkles. wash it a couple times. >> hamburgers. >> this is one crystal this is southern white castle if you're not from the south. it's a t-shirt. we made them look like a hamburger. they gave them out in 250 restaurants. >> this is funny. this is creative. i'm taking this, see ya. >> see ya later. thank you. >> personalized customized branded wrapping paper. a four-color process. anything that you want on here from a repeat logo all the way to a full color picture. >> are companies using this to give out to people to wrap presents with or are they using it to wrap their own presents? >> they're using it to wrap their own presents for corporate gifting programs, funding programs. >> that's great. it's not just wrapping paper, you have chocolate? show me this. >> we have die cut boxes. these right here can be imprinted bolth on the outside and inside. we produce the sleeves for the candy bar paper right there.

>> nobody is for getting that company name. >> personalized. >> so if you're looking for something to light up, this is the booth to come to clearly. >> we try to have a good time. >> what's your best seller here? >> the best seller that we have in the booth today would be the light up batons. you will find these at sporting ee zblents this is my favorite, i've got to say. >> you like the tamborine. >> it goes with your hat. >> what are these? >> these are light up ice cubes. if you put them in your drink you'll know what is yours. >> they don't help chill your drink but they're easy to find. >> do you have a glass that these go with? >> just so happens. we always have a martini glass close by. >> that is fantastic. cheers! >> and if you really want to get noticed, what do you think of this? there's always the t-shirt gun. whoa. there are countless online tools and apps that can help you

run your business more efficiently and profit bli so we went out and asked small business owners to share with us what tools they're using that may help your company. . . buffer is an amazing app that we've been using at chop dawg. it allows us to watch our social media. it allows us when we have the highest conversions and engagement. it allows us to preschedule so our social media is always active and running. >> there's ispan age that allows you to use key words. it allows you to understand what key words to attract the same customers that you're using. >> if you're just getting started with social media i highly recommend a cool free tool called social strategy tool.com. every business starts with a strategy. before you go out and tell your story, build it on line with

this easy drag and drop tool. it will be the simplest thing you do all week. >> really good app that we use as reporters. when we're trying to get m contact with somebody who's a little bit difficult and we can't used linked-in, we use rapportive. that helps us get g. mail. >> so much we do is with video. it takes a little effort to make it polished. a great app or website i use is called fivrr.com. you have to sort through it to find some gold, but for $5 you can find people that are doing really cool things, including stingers, graphics, stuff that will make your video and online marketing shine. a key aspect at pipelinedeals is a cool app called camtasia. you can report a screen task on your computer and then what we do is we send that to our customers when they have a

question. so we are no longer really typing customer service responses. we take a screencast and customers love watching the individual yoempt it's a medium they're used to seeing and they're used to acting on that information. it's time now to answer some of your business questions. let's get our board of directors in here to help us. carol roth is an on air contributor at cnbc. she's a former investor banker and entrepreneur and investor. john jantz is best known for creating the duct tape marketing system. his new upcoming book is called "duct tape selling, think like a marketer, sell like a superstar." >> great to see you. >> good to be back. >> this is about the state of your finances. >> everyone tells you you have to look at financials. how often should you review your financials? should it be monthly, quarterly, or every day? >> that's a good question. i'm glad she's starting with the basic that she needs to look at

her financials. too many people ignore them. carol, how often? >> i like to sit and watch the money come in every day but that's not realistic for everyone. i think there's a micro and a macro answer here. if you have a restaurant and retail company, you have transactions coming in every day, you have to make sure that you have the cash balances taken care of every day. from a broader standpoint, you want to be closing out your books for sure every month, but looking at trends. it's very difficult for a small business to find trends on a weekly, a daily or even a monthly basis. so i say at least quarterly, no less than two times a year and you want to look at trends not only by quarter to quarter but from a year-over-year basis to see what's growing, what changed in terms of your margins. that's going to give you a really good sense of where your business is at. >> john, how often do you think you should be projecting forward? >> well, you know, it's always dangerous asking financial questions of a marketing person but really my view on it is it's

only one piece of the overall picture. there are financial indicators that need to be part of how you measure your success for your year, for your vision for the business and all growth. you first need to understand which one of those indicators are showing that you're meeting your objectives, but i also take a view that you need to be looking at these not as just the owner but how can you use your financial information as a way to build a stronger culture, to share with everybody on the team what the picture of the business is, how profit is made, how expenses really erode at your ability to pay greater salaries and so i take a view that it's not simply just a bookkeeping or accounting function, i think it's really an overall marketing and maybe even cultural function that says you should really be looking at it on a -- certainly a monthly basis but then teaching it on a quarterly basis. >> absolutely. this is the way you can set goals and go back to your team

and say we did maybe or we didn't and if we didn't, why didn't we and now let's go back to the functions of our company and see where we need to be paying more attention. >> not only your team but if you have lenders or you have investors, they're going to be wanting to visit your financials and see how you meet your goals. >> let's move onto the next question. this is about the early days of your company. >> ideally what's the best way to boot strap your company to build valuation so you don't have to give away too much of the company early on? >> john, this is a good question for you because a lot of this has to do with marketing and selling. >> yeah. the way you build valuation is get profitable customers, right? so this is a very specific question that i don't have enough information on. my pat answer is i don't have cash to throw at stuff is to really start first off understand what it is that you do that's valuable and unique and then go out and start building relationships with potential strategic partners, other businesses that, you know, they don't always want a piece

of the action, there are other businesses that actually would like to partner with you because they think what you do is really unique and cool and they'd like to introduce you to their clients and build a whole team of those kind of people and that to me is one of the greatest ways to get a lot of exposure to somebody else's market who already has some trust even though, you know, you may be getting started in bootstrapping. >> that's a great idea. >> you have to know what creates value in your business. certainly paying customers help create value. sometimes you have the opportunity to sell first. it's a way to test out the products, see if there is a viable market before you invest a lot in it, and a lot of companies in the state are going the way of crowd funding and things like kick start. there's a company called opulus rift. they built up their customers and got their buy in and used that capital to go ahead and expand their product and facebook liked it so much they plunked down $2 billion for it. >> what's so interesting for that, you've proven your market,

right? you've shown that people are willing to pay for this, they're interested in tnchts carol, i was going to say, i'd further add, too, that's a great way to develop a product, period. >> yes. >> we do that all the time, really kind of collaborate with your couples too. a lot of times marketers or companies will build stuff and hope somebody wants it. much better approach is to have somebody want something that you're building while you're building it. >> the next question comes from the owner of a software company and it's about finding partners. >> i've entered into a partnership with a tele sales firm and a marketing agency combined with our crm to offer this as a package to our customer base. the question is what are the pros and cons of this approach and what might be the risks in doing this. >> he's asking it, it sounds like a few minutes too late. he's already entered into the partnership. >> i think the pros are pretty clear. i'm going to talk a little bit more about the risks. the risks are when you partner with somebody, you're taking them on as a liability.

if they fall down whether it's from a customer service standpoint or p.r. standpoint or whatnot, that reflects on your business. you have to be really clear up front about who's doing what and making sure you have the right partners. i know i said this probably three or four years ago on the program but you want to date somebody before you get married. go into these partnerships very slowly and try them out. also be very clear about roles and responsibility, who owns the i.p. and what happens if it goes south because when you're good friends it's very easy to come up with the divorce decree, so to speak, put that pre-nup in place first. very difficult to do it once you have a relationship that's fallen apart. >> john, is there any way to make it clear to your customers that we are three different companies so if something does go wrong it doesn't reflect on you? >> yeah. there's a challenge on that. what you're trying to present, if somebody is going to buy from you, they need to be confident that you have a unified approach and that you're all on the same

page and you can, in fact, deliver. the solution that he proposed or that kind of combination, there's one company they can buy that from. so what he's doing is piecing together something that i -- frankly i think it has a lot of great opportunities. obviously the risks carol talks about exist. that company i would suggest will be much more nimble in how they can respond and react and change and grow with customers. so the real positive of that is you can have a start-up company that can partner with other folks that have proven and down the road and it can be a great way to lift you up and get you into opportunities that on your own you couldn't even -- wouldn't even exist for you but certainly you want to make sure that first off you all have the same belief system and the same values and you all want to treat the customer the same way. that's the only way to have this u unified. >> be clear on who the point person is. this is where i see this breaking down. >> carol and john, thank you so

much for all of your insight. really appreciate it. we'd like to check out twitter to see what people are saying about small business. usa today small business columnist rhonda abrams tweets, some sound advice, a startup needs a good board of directors. hyken says using social media to become a resource for things other than what you sell shows the customer that you want to deliver value. >> and founder of swoop.com says respect your competitors, don't envy them. envy will bias you to be like them. respect will help you stay true to yourself. to learn more about today's she, all you have to do is click on our website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find these segments plus web content. you can follow us on twitter it's @msnbcyourbiz.

follow us on facebook and we're on instagram, too. next week, a show dedicated to using the tools 2691st century to compete in the marketplace. we'll show you how a bar in san diego is using data from a drinking game to gauge what customers really want. our small business viewers will share more of their favorite online business tools and deal flicks founder has more information. i'm j.j. ramberg. until then, remember, we make your business our business. >> announcer: brought to you by american express open. visit openforum.com for ideas to visit openforum.com for ideas to help you grow your business. new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone.

there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. there is a russian ship called the nikolai chiker cruising around off the eastern coast of florida right now as we speak. it is a russian flagged vessel, it was built in finland apparently. it's a tough little ship. an ocean going tug and for the last few days it seems it has been cruising around just off you the east coast of florida. and what it is doing there, it's not illegal, but what it is doing their is raising some eyebrows given the status of things between russia and the united states right now. and, what it is doing there, at least what it seems to be doing there, at least to me, it's kind of a surprising thing. and i think it has something to do with ronald reagan. one ofhe