45 years ago the woodstock generation made history at a concert 60 miles down the road from here. today we're on main street in woodstock, new york, as part of our "your business" main street usa series. how did this iconic event affect small business culture in town? we'll find out 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.

hi there, everyone, i'm jj ramberg and welcome to "your business." today we begin our ninth season of bringing you the stories, information and advice to help you run a successful small business. this weekend all marks the 45th anniversary of the iconic woodstock music festival, an event that defined the '60s and its counterculture movement. the woodstock brand of peace loving happiness has stood the test of time. a brand that attracted many small business people, their customers and tourists to this small new york town's main street where flower power is still alive and well. ♪

>> if you go anywhere in america and say the word woodstock anywhere, somebody will relate to it. >> that's ricochet, the owner of this very small business here on the main street in woodstock, new york. >> woodstock is an idea, a vision, a dream of something different. it's not a physical structure. it's a cosmic idea. >> with a population of only 6,000 people, it may be a tiny town but woodstock's got a huge personality. a personality that many still associate with the woodstock music festival of 1969. >> it was about peace and music and love, the end of the vietnam war. >> michael lang should know. he was one of the organizers of that original festival. ♪ he's still a music festival producer and he still lives in woodstock.

>> do you feel like the spirit of the festival still remans here in town today? >> yeah, to a degree, the spirit came from the town. >> woodstock has been a music and arts community since way before the 1969 festival. >> music recording engineer pete kagan wasn't even born then but he says it was more than just the legacy of woodstock that brought him here. >> one of the cool things about woodstock, it's an artist community. so there's tons of professional artists here who make their home here. >> woodstock has been a haven for artists, musicians and writers for generations. it started more than 100 years ago with the bird cliff art colony which still operates here today. it's also a haven for the spiritual seekers who make their way to nearby retreats, like the this tibetan monastery. ♪ that was for you, jj. >> pete kagan owns the fly max recording studio. ♪ blah blah blah

>> which he runs here in the former ball room of this once glamorous hotel. he says the town's bohemian spirit dating from the roaring '20s through the psychedelic '60s is great for business. >> it's got a real mystique, bob dylan, jimi hendrix, janis joplin. it's a gathering place. >> and he's not alone. >> bring your branches up and imagine there's a storm. >> patricia louffer, an independent yoga uninstructor left new york see six years ago. >> what made you move to woodstock. >> i wanted a more peaceful, tranquil life. i changed my career, became a yoga teacher. >> patricia says she often uses spaces like this to meet her clients. not only does this arrangement keep her rent down, it increases traffic at the book shop. >> i love the calm this way.

>> this book store is owned and operated by husband and wife team jeff and audrey. like patricia, both quit their jobs and changed careers to come to woodstock. 14 years ago you decided to come to woodstock to buy a book store. which sounds crazy, 14 years ago. book stores are dying. >> it sounded crazy to our accountant and lawyer, too, but we did it anyway. >> why? >> well, we fell in love. >> we did, we fell in love. i think at some -- at some point you have to ask yourself what meaning do you want to give to the world? i think this store is it. >> audrey and jeff have run this metaphysical book store for over a decade. so far they've beat the odds. how have you been able to survive as a book store? >> i think we have been very supported by a community of people. >> we are here for them. we provide a sanctuary for them. we provide a place where they can feel safe. >> just down the street we found

another manhattan refugee, eric homeland. eric says he relocated his tibetan religious art and clothing store from greenwich village here to woodstock as part of his spiritual quest. >> i used to come up for teachings and began to fall in love with woodstock. >> his shop has been located here in this lush garden since 1976. >> great, thank you. enjoy. have a good day. >> peace, love and cupcakes. >> it's the only true play you could name peace, love and cupcakes is woodstock, new york. that's it. it's the perfect name. >> that's janice hargrove, own of peace, love and cupcakes. she's built a business as an award-winning baker. >> i'm not leaving before i try one. i see signs that says best cupcake in the world. >> i won $25,000 on the food network for the best cake in the country. >> amazing. >> like so many other woodstock entrepreneurs, it was the

creative community that brought her here. >> i lived in new jersey all my life. there wasn't a lot of thinking outside of the box. there weren't a lot of artists, musicians, no offense, new jersey. but it wasn't as creative as i am. so when i got here, it blew me away. >> what did you do in new york before this? >> i sang television jingles. i did that for about 12 years. i was fortunate to do a lot of well-known television jingles. >> like what? ♪ reach out reach out and touch someone ♪ >> i love it. that now sounds familiar. what other ones did you do? ♪ ge we bring good things to life ♪ >> these wood stock entrepreneurs seem to be not only surviving but doing quite well. even in the kind of industries that are failing on other main streets. it seems like you chose a very hard business. you're competing against big stores with lots of money that are open 24 hours a day. >> that's right.

the pharmacy industry right now is a race to the bottom. it's highly commoditized, the big boxes are giving away products, not even considering professional services. $4 generics at walmart. >> he's not only running this store in woodstock but he has three others on main streets in three neighboring small towns. >> we have a registered dietitian that give lectures every month. we do lectures that involve like how to prevent falls, how to be safer with your medications. >> how important is it for you, for your survival to be more than just a store? more than just a pharmacy? >> i think it's important for any business trying to survive in the crazy economy that we find ourselves in to be more than just a retail place where your customers are coming in to you. you need to go to them and relate to them in ways that you've never had to before. >> oh, and another thing neil's founded to keep his local

customers loyal, guilt. >> you have a sign outside that says support big families, not big business. >> that's right. >> pictures of your triplets. >> that's right. >> did that inspire people to shop here more? >> definitely. >> they would read the sign, come in and hook them in. >> christina is a painter. she sells her works to places around the country. she's a gallery owner. >> i slam a naked girl on to a block of wood and it will sell. it really does. it has been amazing and it's been fun. >> like many entrepreneurs on this main street, christina is making money but it's not the money that's drawn her here. >> a lot of people say why don't you go back to the city. i just tell them that they have to kind of be here to understand. you really have to come here to get it. there's a legend that if you sleep in the shadow of overlook mountain for more than three nights that you're destined to live here.

and i did. >> she, too, is a seeker. she's part of the vision and the dream that is woodstock. ♪ it was fascinating to see how the small business people of woodstock embraced and capitalize on that community's legendary brand. let's talk to this week's groovy board of directs. lawrence gilbert is an instructor at the wharton school at the university of pennsylvania and he's a music producer. bryan haiayan halian halligan in who taught us all the marketing lessons to be learned from the grateful dead who of course performed at the woodstock festival. so great to see both of you guys. lawrence, let's start here on the set. what was so interesting about this is, we went in to go to a main street on woodstock but we didn't go in thinking about the woodstock brand. we just wanted to see how small businesses were downing on main

street, then we came out of this realizing, just like with a company, the brand is so strong, right? the main street brand is so strong that it attracts people that like that brand. it's like apple computers would. >> remember that this was the counterculture at the time. small, short songs were en vogue, there would be 20-minute improvizations. if a poster would give you the information, easy to read, the posters were almost illegible in the psychedelic writing. the counterculture created a generation of people that thought that way. all of a sudden, yoga is mainstream. skateboarding used to be looked down at. now it's a sport. i think from a counterculture, it's really infiltrated into a whole generation of people who have a response when they hear the term woodstock. >> brian, we saw in the piece a couple who bought a book store.

a guy who started a pharmacy. now, in most parts of the world, that would be crazy. book stores aren't doing well, pharmacies are competing with big corporation with lots of money. but they found a spot where people would actually appreciate this. is there anything we could learn from that? >> i think there is. i think they're doing great. my takeaway was actually a little bit different than that. i feel like there's a giant opportunity for these folks. the book store, let's take the book store. they've got a great spot on main street in a market with 6,000 people. fantastic. they're doing great, fighting the odds. but they're in the back alley of the giant market with 6 billion people on the internet. if i had a book store in woodstock, it used to be one of the best book stores in woodstock. what you want is the best woodstock book store on the face of the planet. the internet provides a nice tune for them not just to sell

in woodstock to the 6,000 people walking down main street but the 6 billion people walking around the internet who might be interested in their products. >> that's where the brand comes in again, right? all these stores can capitalize on this woodstock brand. in some ways they are doing it haphazardly. this book store happens to be in wood stock, that's why it exists and it's doing okay. what can the stores be doing or people on other main streets if they've branded their main street well? >> i think they can try and focus on getting information to people. i think that's really what it's about and getting information instead of just selling them. the same focus of taking 80% of your energy online or blogs or whatever else to make sure you're getting information that's useful to that community and not trying to give them the hard sell. i think the way they could use the net could work. somehow you have to make sure that's going to gel with a reputation and expectations that are there. i think there's an opportunity

to go beyond wood stock the town, for sure. >> thank you very much for your advice. very helpful. the attendees at woodstock would have had as they said then, their minds blown if they could have foreseen the technological advances that have been made in the 45 years since the festival. let's see if your mind is blown by some of the apps and online tools being used to be successful in 2014. >> an app that we use all the time is batchgeo. this is great if you have logistics or scheduling involved in your company where you need to take a bunch of addresses and map them all in a batch process. you can literally take hundreds or thousands of addresses from a spreadsheet, copy them, paste them and immediately you see where all of those locations are on a map. an app that i absolutely cannot live without is asona, a project management tool.

it allows you to handle virtual contractors and manage your team's tasks virtually from your phone. another app i really like is my life organized. it's basically a nested tree structure for organizing projects. again, it syncs up to the cloud and it will sync up with your team as well. it will give you progress reports. it's changed our business. a website we use for productivity is team work project management. it allows my entire team to communicate internally without the owner micromanaging and also helps us communicate clearly with our clients. i love audio acrobat. have you ever heard of audioacrobat.com. it is excellent if you want to do a short interview and share it for free, sharing your expertise. also, people can call in and give testimonials a. audio acrobats.

i've used it for seven years and have hundreds of recordings. it's only 20 bucks a month. one person can be almost a bookkeeper themselves. >> one of my favorites website is a website called rapleaf.com. it takes your e-mail list of purchasers and append data about their age, their income, thin interests, what else they might have purchased so you can find other customers and focus your marketing efforts on the traffic most likely to convert. when we come back, we'll have answers to your small business questions about growing social media organically and whether or not a business school background is really as crucial as having a strong entrepreneurial spirit. and are you trying to get the big box stores to carry your product? we'll talk to a successful entrepreneur who will tell you how it's done. if i can impart one lesson to a

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. nothing matters but the product. if the product is good, everything else kind of falls into place. you know, you come out with great product, really distinct, really unique, distinguishable from everything else out there in the marketplace. and the buzz and success of it

is a natural consequence of that. it's not about marketing, execution, distribution and in my business reservation, services, no. it's about distinctive product. over the years, many small business owners have asked us what it takes to get major retailers interested in their products. today, our guest has some answers for you. robin wilson is an eco friendly interior designer and founder of robin wilson home. great to see you. >> great to see you. >> congratulations. your products are in bed, bath and beyond. >> yes, they are. >> that's quite a win. >> i tell people you have to build a platform with a niche. i grew up with allergies and asthma. it was a natural to say what do i need to do that's hypoallergenic in my home for my home, my baby. >> you couldn't come to them and

say i have a great new comforter cover. you needed something that was different that they don't have. >> they may have it but your product may be better. >> got it. >> when you create a niche, you first must be an expert, you must have a platform whether it's a media platform. for some people it's being an athlete or entertainer. for others it's a knowledge base that allows credibility in the market. >> for you it was a brand that you built over eight years. >> that's right. we started the company in 2000. by 2008 we licensed our brand to eco friendly kitchen cabinetry. by 2009 it was textiles. that's what we sell at bed, bath, beyond. the pillows, comforters, mattress pads. the things that when you're sleeping you don't want to be wheezing and sneezing. >> you have think about price point, too. at some point you may gonna a store and they want the price to be lower than what you want it to be. >> what you need to have is a partner. we have a licensing partner. you need a licensing partner

that understands the business, do what they call electronic distribution that understands how to get something from point "a" to point "b" on time so that they don't run out of stock. your job is to make sure that the product is quality, that it's durable and more importantly, that your partner can make sure that it's there when the consumer orders it. >> did you have a partner who brokered these deals for you then? or did you broker them yourselves? >> we did it together. when i say a partner, someone you'll go to the meetings with but at the back end if you don't want to be standing in the warehouse every day shipping things out, that licensing partner can really help you out a lot. >> how did you find them? >> they find you, often. that's the other thing. a lot of people want to call the licensing companies. they'll say i've got this great line of product ideas. the problem is, a million people are pitching. so you have to remember to get into a big bath -- excuse me, a big box retailer, you have first, you have to have a

platform. so someone says i know her, i know her brand. and that means you must create a pr strategy prior to. >> so you need to create something so that the licensing partner then comes to you. >> right. >> in your opinion so you together can go to the store. >> that's correct. why would someone invest all that money in doing samples or prototypes. also, why would the big box retailer invest in you if you and your ten friends know about this product. you have to have a marketing strategy, a media strategy and a platform that will allow you to get on the air. that will allow you to get in print so people can say i know about that brand. and they're credible. >> okay. then once you're going out to pitch the stores, you have to understand who they are. >> that's right. >> understand who their klein the is, who their customer is. put yourself in their shoes for a minute. >> the typical klein the is the decisionmaker in the home, often the woman, a 25 to 55-year-old demographic and that person is college educated or they're an

aspirational consumer. that means they want a quality product that they can afford that has a great name and a great history. >> and quality is your point. >> quality. >> when it comes down to it -- >> quality. >> you can sell, perhaps you have your licensing partner, you've sold to the store but if you don't have a quality product -- >> you won't last. >> right. >> exactly. the number one thing we all have to remember at the end of the day is the consumer dollar will come back to you over and over again if that product is good. >> robin, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. i know a lot of people would like to be in your shoes right now. appreciate the chance to pick your brain. >> thank you. while you might need sophisticated security measures to keep the more devious hackers at bay, sometimes the easiest things can be the most effective. here now are five simple fixes that will help keep your company's stuff safe. courtesy of ink.com. one, add a code or pattern lock to your phone. they're not impossible to crack but they should be your first line of defense.

two, use the built-in mobile and desktop security. both google and apple have ways you can remotely lock or wipe a phone. make sure you activate this option if case your information is ever compromised. three, use a password with capital letters and symbol. stay awa way from common words and repeated patterns. four, get your u.t. manager to block certain file attachments on the corporate network. even zip files are unnecessary in the age of drop box folders and your inbox is more likely to stay virus-free. and five, provide a computer. put very sensitive information on an internal server that can only be accessed from the building. you'll have more control on what information enters and leaves. it's time now to answer some of your business questions. lawrence and brian is back with us once again. the first one is about your social media marketing. >> how would you recommend to

get a great following on social media organically? >> it is the question maybe we get the most here. it's in the running at least. organically, i guess she doesn't want to pay for it. number one, lawrence, figure out which platform, facebook, twitter, instagram. >> you have to focus. there are so many important ones but you have to pick two or three and get on there, get cross linked, get the information on there and grow it from there. >> a lot of people ask how do i get a big following? i think you don't necessarily need a big following, right, you just need a loyal following. >> i think you're right. i think the best way to get a big following is actually ironically is creating content. people who have great blogs with original content and they share that content on facebook and twitter and linkedin, tend to do well. i look at twitter and the tweets i produce. when i produce an original

article and i create a great tweet around it that's memorable, that does very well. when i tweet somebody else's quote, that does very well. when i share some interesting content, that goes well. i think the thing that works very well in social media is don't be boring. most people are boring and nervous on social media. you've got to sort of get fiber in the diet and just let it go and be interesting and remarkable, be worthy of remark. and your good words will spread. >> but a question, what if you are not interesting? >> jj, everybody's interesting. what are you talking about? let's just say you're a monkey wrench manufacturer. it used to be as a monkey wrench manufacturer, it used to be that you want to be the best. you would win and you're the best. today with the internet, you want to be the best left-hand monkey wrench manufacturers and sell to left-handed plumbers around the world and have the world's best blog about left-handed plumbing. that's a fascinating topic to

left handed plumbers. >> let's move on to the next question, it's about dealing with numbers. >> i'm not a numbers person. it was never my strength. what resources are out there to help the person who is trying to build their business who doesn't really read the numbers and understand the numbers the way someone who may have gone to business school does? >> thank god she's asking this. i can't tell you how many times i've gone in a business and we ask what's your revenue? no idea. right? what are your expenses? no idea. it's not rocket science. so what would you say? where's a place she can go to start? >> the first place i think to start is online. realize, look up financial statements and find out what are the three that quarterly reports are from public companies and find those. start learning the language. look around. if you know lawyers, cpas, other people in your business world that can sit down with you for half an hour, i'm teaching this to 16-year-olds to s to 70-yea.

you can teach the basics in an hour. they're not going to be able to develop them right away but they can understand. instead of trying to swallow everything, start with understanding what the statements are and what their function is. and believe it or not, so many people don't think of this. go into your bank and make an appointment with someone at the bank and say, i'm doing this company or i'm interested in starting a company. i don't know much about finance, can you help me? the people in the bank are more than happy to help them. >> interesting. >> my favorite spot on the internet to read about this stuff is a site forentrepreneurs.com. it's a great site that unpacks the business. i wouldn't stress too much about not being a math person. i think there's plenty of successful businesses that have been started by folks who aren't math wizes. i think you'll be fine. i can imagine there's a lot of

anxiety about it. i think you'll be fine if you're not a math wiz, if you just get the basics down. >> that's the thing, you just need the basics but so many people are intimidated with just that. lawrence and brian, great to see you. >> it's been a pleasure. send us an e-mail to the address yourbusiness@msnbc.com. we look forward to hearing from you all. thanks so much for joining us today. but it doesn't end here. for more about this show, just head on over to our website, openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find today's segments plus web exclusive content with more information to help your business grow. follow us on twitter twitter, @misdlbsyourbiz and we're on facebook and instagram, too. next week, the owner of a

paddle board company gets sales numbers that could sink his business right at the start of peak season. >> it was a dear john letter. one of our premiere board manufacturers was informing us a container that probably should have shipped two or three weeks before that had burned up. >> he'll share life-saving advice on how he kept his business afloat. until then, i'm jj ramberg. remember, we make "your business," our business. if i can impart one lesson to a 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. we're starting tonight with what's turning out to be a global manhunt. in the british press, the man who was seen this week on video murdering american journalist jim foley. the isis militant who speaks to the camera throughout that video in what sounds like a distinct london accent, and then he ultimately kills mr. foley on tape, the same man then threatens to kill another american journalist, steven sotloff who's also being held in captivity by the same group. that man is now the subject of a murder inquiry and international