hi, everyone, welcome to "your business." happy valentines day. they say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but surprising your partner with sexy pictures could be worth 1,000 more. so we're focusing on a company that focuses on boudoir photography. >> are you nervous? >> yeah. >> what are you nervous about? >> i like to call myself a

phototherapist. >> for the right woman open to the experience, there is something therapeutic that goes on here. the images are a souvenir. >> when jen started generations photography eight years ago, she had no idea that the boudoir photography business would turn into something more than just taking pictures. >> people think it's all about sex and taking off their clothes, but to ne is about exploring femininity. in 2008, jen discovered she had a knack for making women feel comfortable in their own skin. a friend suggested she tag along on a boudoir shoot, she found

her calling. she took glamorous pictures of women in a makeshift studio she set up in her own bedroom. >> there was a lot of naysayers saying it's not safe, not smart, stupid, why do you want people in your bed. and i just said it doesn't matter. i don't care what you think, this is what i want. >> her ka-do attitude translated into a very savvy grassroots marketing campaign. newly engaged women planning their wedding. >> tell me about the cool girl principal. >> pretty much how i started my business. i knew that i had to reach other people to talk about me. it is hard to go out and talk about yourself. so how do i build an army, almost, of enthusiasts to talk about me. so i went online on a wedding board that i knew, because i was on there when i was getting married. a message board. this is before facebook.

so i ran a contest, and it didn't really mattered who entered the contest, because i already knew the two cool girls were going to win. the girls that everybody looks up to, they want to be like, they won, and part of the idea of the contest was i will take pictures of you for free, but you have to post them, talk about me, and tell everyone about the wonderful experience you had. and they went on and did it, and it was like a snowball effect. >> business was peopling. just three years after starting generations, she had more clients than she could handle. she had outgrown her bedroom and rented a studio to do her pho s photos. >> i was working seven days a week, a million hours a day, and not making as much money as i wanted. so i raised my prices dramatically and dropped the amount of clients from 300 a

year to 50. i remember laying next to my husband one night and i said maybe my e-mail form is broken. and he filled it out, and it went blink, and i was like oh,man, it's working. she was determined to work it out. >> i had to just keep thinking this is what separates true entrepreneurs and people that struggled in the tough times. >> the price change and other time in her schedule allowed her to tackle one of the biggest troubles in her business. she didn't want to hire other photographers. if she wanted to grow revenue,

she had to pursue other ideas. she went beyond taking pictures to boudoir workshops. >> how is this helping your business right now, revenue wise, from taking pictures to the seminars and workshops. >> it's important for know do this. i can't teach other people how to do it if i'm not doing it. i enjoy it. i enjoy connecting with clients, and the other side of it, the other income, the passive income is important to me because it allows me to have work life balance. >> with her schedule in check, her singular focus for all things boudoir photography has paid off. >> i certainly never planned on

become an expert in the field. i was starting to cane recognition. when you think of american innovators like steve jobs and mark zuckerberg, you may think they were born with a gift that we don't have. that is not true according to a professor at the university of pennsylvania. in his book "originals" professor grant shares the secrets of trail blazers and explains how you can become one. here is willie geist. >> adam grant is teaching some of the youngest business ninds to be productive. the first step to a original idea, he says, is to poke a hole in the status quo.

>> it starts with looking at the world around you and seeing something that the rest of the world did not see. >> saying i'm going to take initiative and make a reality. >> in 2010, four of his professor did just that. they wondered why a pair of eyeglasses should cost hundreds of dollars. that question cave birth to warby parker. >> they said we would like you to invest in this company to which you said -- >> no, i'm not interested in investing. >> they are now worth over a billion dollars, so now my wife handles our investments. >> it was an inspiration for grant's book. >> i thought that all original people were daredevils, but most successful entrepreneurs, most

of the people don't like taking risks. they like playing it safe. another finding? that so-called experts don't always know best. we all know seinfeld as one of the most successful tv shows of all time, but executives and test audiences were ready to leave it for dead before it saw the light of day. >> the show is about nothing. but a lone nbc executive thought that they were worth a shot. >> he was working with all different kinds of formats of shows. he wasn't snuck a mind-set that it had to look a certain way. he experienced it, he lived it, and it made him laugh. he said at the end of the day, people watch a show that makes them laugh. >> so what does it mean for you and your original idea? first, take your ideas to

disagreeable people. >> those are the people that challenge your ideas and criticize you more. >> don't be afraid to procrastinate. >> productive procrastination is waiting for the right time to act, not rushing in seeing i have to make progress, or i have to get this done, but getting the full window time. >> noble prize winners are 22 times more likely to have b a performer, actor, magician, dancer, than anyone else. >> part of it is a reflection of having a strong sense of curiosity, and the same curiosity allowed them to explore other directions and artistic hobbies. and the real accurate to success is in your web browser. >> it was about how you got the browser. if you wanted chrome or fire

fox, you had to download your initiative. >> i don't like to brag, but i'm a chrome user and i have been since before i read this book. >> my work here is done. >> leveraging all of the different social media platforms to market your small business can get overwhelming, i know, but you will love these five new tolls courtesy of ink.com that promise to take you from novice to exneither no time. >> letting them know they have been featured is a great way to promote your content. two, pablo 2.0 is the upgraded version. you can create great images that mix photos from pinterest,

twitter, and facebook. blab lets four people talk on camera multily and letting other people interact. four, if you're a brand that has come to rely on instagram, check out latergram. you can manage multiple accounts and upload from computers instead of just from a mobile site. >> and five, crate is a tool that allows you create a graph that shows you what of that content performed best on social networks. the online lending space is very interesting. it's an industry that is evolving and becoming a real

alternative for loans. it is so good to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> it is fascinating to see how this has grown in even the last four years. >> i think technology has a lot to do with that. but it is also sort of where the banks want to participate in the small business lending market. by and large, consumer, commercial finance sdp. >> do most people come to you after they have been turned down by a bank? >> there is two types of customers we serve. the under banked, those that don't approach their bank, don't feel they will be successful, or they have been turned down. and we're there for them. the other segment is customer that's are supplementing bank financing. they can have a line of credit or a long-term loan in place,

but they need to do something opportunistic. let's talk about when someone might come to you, working capital? >> sure, it means short on cash. if you read the federal reserve's most recent study, the leading challenge that small businesses face is uneven cash flow. that means it's hard to predict cashflow, and the leading that those customers suspect a line of credit. the challenge for a line of credit is that it is a difficult product for a lot of lenders to offer. everyone pulls in that line of credit, and the ship has sailed. how quickly can this occur. i had a friend who had a business overseas where there was a natural disaster. he said i need a loan tomorrow. >> we have funded loans between the hours of 9:00 and 5:00.

it came in at 9:00 in the morning and it was done by 5:00. it's not typical, we're usually waiting on the business rather than vice versa. they need to provide information to allow us to put the capital in place by the customer. and this is really the major difference. bank financing is the cheapest, because they have the cheapest cost of capital, but online vendors are efficient and quick. >> so if i'm looking to expand my business, right? i need a loan to open my second restaurant, why would i come to you instead of a bank? >> i would say most often the bank, if that customer had a bank facility in place, chances are it might be a line of credit or something like that. the customer doesn't want to

exhaust that. we lend to customers based on the likelihood to repayment, rather than knowing we're first in line if something goes bad. and so, sure, refinancing is common. the most common things are working capital, refinancing higher cost debt, or expanding the difference. >> i need to go buy a brand new machine, i can go to you to help me get it. you said in general you could do it in a day, but how quick and how likely is it? what do i need in place? >> the great thing about a firm like ours and others is that there are not a lot of barriers to finding out where you stand. we start with applying some technology to ren door an initial decision rather than collecting paperwork, looking at that, and checking your credit score. question tell you it's just not

worth your time. or hey, this looks really good. let get more information from you. and the information we collect commends on what you're looking for. if you're looking for more than that, same thing, plus tax returns for the most recent year prior, and also the can escrow report. >> is it all online or am i talking to a person? >> we combine the two. we always rend aerodedicated manager for every transaction. we believe and studies show that small businesses value relationships. but our relationship helps manage a lot of hardships -- >> there are a lot of online d lenders now, right -- >> at the end of the day, it is

driven by a number of factors. the costs that require the lend tore have access to that capital. >> the point is that it is varied even within your own business. >> sam, thank you so much for stopping by. thank you for having me. flower, chocolate, wine shops go crazy shipping out gifts for valentine's day this time of year. as fun as it is, you miss out on their expression when they open it. let's see if our panel loves this idea. lisa is an entrepreneur, board advisor, and angel investor. and the founder of pure wow is also joining us. >> hi, i'm jason.

we have all been there before, a special occasion comes up and you want to send a personalized gift to a loved one. customers order aerogift from one of their vendors, we hand deliver the gift, show them the message, and capture the reaction. it is a special moment that you can also upload to your social media. we're partnering with companies to license our equipment andtoloand technology. we're currently in talks with a major retail tore deliver our service to over 1200 stores worldwide. we are raising money to bolster our steam, purchase more equipment, and to improve our i.t. infrastructure. all said with beautiful roses. all right, guys, i'm going to

give you this. if we can get two numbers from. one, what did you think of the product, and two, what did you think of the pitch from one tohy close to securing this big deal. >> absolutely. >> okay. let's hear it. >> so i thought you did a great job on the product i gave you an 8 because i think this is very yule 'nique and it's a great use right now of the technology that's available and it's using technology to bring people closer together so i think that's always very important. and i think a lot of retailers would actually really use the product. on the pitch, i thought you know, great job. if you could elaborate a little bit more about the business model, and how you make money. i know you only have 60 seconds. but that would be helpful to me because i'm left with so many more questions. >> all right. ryan. on the product i gave you a 7. i think at the core you're a commerce company. so i think those products that you're selling on your site need to be great regardless, on their own, besides just the app and

the emotional message that you're receiving. because i think the novelty might wear off after one or two times someone receives that reaction. i also think it's all about execution. if you can make that app and that messaging system really seamless and easy where people want to use it then someone can't come in that has more scale and infrastructure from day one, and try to replicate that easier than you. so i think it's really going to be about execution for you, as well on the user experience of that app. on the pitch i gave you an 8 because i love your passion. i love your eye contact. i think you feel really good about the product. and that sells. so kudos to you. >> and really in a pitch, right? that's the thing that piques your interest is the person themselves. so congratulations. good luck with everything. happy valentine's day. >> happy valentine's day. >> and to both of you. and if any of you out there have a product or a service and you want feedback from our elevator pitch panel or your chances of getting interested investors, please just send us an e-mail. the address is

yourbusiness@msnbc.com. in that e-mail include a short summary of what your company does, how much money you're trying to raise, and what you intend to do with that money. you never know, somebody out there watching the show may be interested in helping you. still to come, can direct mail marketing work for your small business? and, how should instincts come into play when making your next hire? our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed. our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself?

realize your buying power at open.com >> >> i sent out dynamic e-mails once a month and i get a really good response rate. however, lately it's declining. is it worth investing in direct mail? >> i think you really have two questions here. first it's really to stop an ask yourself, what's going on with your outbound e-mail that's causing a decline in the open rate or the engagement rate? and perhaps it's getting, you know, tired or stale content. or perhaps you're not segmenting your risk. the other part of the question is really about, is direct mail a great way to reach out to people? and i can say emphatically, it is absolutely an awesome way to reach out. in fact, if you can, you might start now with actually doing a

little bit of direct mail that doesn't look like direct mail, and by that i mean, actually handwriting some personal notes to some of your key accounts. all of us get tons of junk mail. very few of us actually get handwritten notes with a stamp put on it. and i can tell you, those things are opened first. >> we now have the top two tips you need to know to help your small business grow. nisa and ryan are back with us again. all right. nisa, i'm going to start with you, because you're an angel investor, as well as an entrepreneur and all these other things but you look at so many companies. >> right. >> so what's one thing you tell the companies? >> one thing i all tells entrepreneurs is to create a great advisory board, or informal board. and try and recruit people that don't have the skill sets that are on your management team, or have specific industry expertise. not necessarily somebody just with a big name who's not going to have any time for you. and once you have the board in place, really use them.

communicate with them frequently. they can really help you when you're down in the weeds to tell you where to focus, whether that's product, marketing, sales. and they can also help you with problems where you have no experience. so you're not getting tripped up in something. >> i think sometimes, for people who are just starting out, and who aren't well connected, right, they don't have a good network the term advisory board sounds scary because i don't know anyone and how am i going to get to them? i think if you think of it as get people around you who you can call. you don't have to have big, formal meetings. you don't have to give them anything but just get some people around -- >> exactly. mentors. >> and trust. >> trust. >> and trust. all right. ryan. >> so, when it comes to hiring, always go with your gut. deep down when you're sitting across the table from someone, when you're interviewing, you know pretty quickly whether you have chemistry. whether that's someone you're going to want to work with. i think that's really, real little important because eventually work doesn't become work if you really love the people that you're working with.

pick passionate people. forego talent and skills if these people are jaded or unenthusiastic about their craft. it is much better to work with someone that you have chemistry with and that you really want to spend time with. >> have you made mistakes in this regard? >> of course. >> is this how you learned this tip? >> in the early days when you're trying to figure out your culture, who you actually have chemistry with in such a close knit environment because i came from corporate america so this was the first really small business i worked on. you have to make mistakes in order to learn from them. at this point you know what you're looking for. you feel that chemistry pretty quickly. >> i found that early on hiring was one of the hardest things to learn. >> yeah. >> you shake your head. >> no, i think it's really important for any ceo to spend the most time on hiring because it's the most important decision you can make. and you can make mistakes. it really is costly if you do. >> totally agree. >> and i think also, we talk about this a lot here, is they should be interviewing you, as much as you're interviewing them. >> definitely. >> during this process. >> yep. >> and our ceo of my company for

awhile did something. he gave us some tips which is interview someone in three different places. >> hmm. >> so you're going to learn something different when you're sitting across the table, than when you're going to get a coffee, than when you are, you know, taking a walk around the block. >> right. >> so if it's an important hire make sure you interview them in a couple places. >> definitely. >> any other ideas from you guys? >> as the ceo of the company i think a lot of ceos neglect hr and neglect their people because they get caught up in the weeds. so i spend quite a bit of time on recruiting and with people that are existing in the company and making sure they're happy. i think it's really important. >> it is the most important thing. surround yourself by good people. >> and for your board. >> all right. thanks both of you. >> sure. >> this week's your biz selfie is from debbie shaffer own of mrs. g. tv and appliance in lawrence township, new jersey. looks like she got a selfie stick to take this picture of her and her staff maybe celebrating a birthday.

happy birthday. now why don't you grab your selfie stick and phone and take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. or tweet it, and do not forget to use #yourbizselfie. thanks so much for joining us today. one thing that i learned today comes from the piece that we did about bud your photography. jen was so busy taking pictures, but she always took time to go to conferences and meet people. and because of that, now she has speaking gigs and she has sponsors. i know it's hard for all of us to get out of our business because our to-do list is so long. you never know what's going to happen once you leave the four walls of your office. we'd love to hear what you thought of the show. if you have any questions or comments about today's show, e-mail us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. you can also click on your website openforum.com/yourbusiness. we posted all of the segments from today's show plus a lot more.

and don't forget to connect with us on all of our digital and social media platforms, too. next week, a partnership gone wrong. the owner of a souvenir sticker company was reeling when his partner suddenly decided he wanted out. we head to steamboat springs, colorado, to see how he handled the aftermath of his partner's departure, and how learning from the past is helping him make sure his next partnership sticks. till then i'm j.j. ramberg. and remember, we make your business, our business. our cosmetics line was a hit. the orders were rushing in. i could feel our deadlines racing towards us. we didn't need a loan. we needed short-term funding fast. building 18 homes in 4 ½ months? that was a leap. but i knew i could rely on american express to help me buy those building materials. amex helped me buy the inventory i needed.

our amex helped us fill the orders. just like that. another step on the journey. will you be ready when growth presents itself? realize your buying power at open.com this morning, on "politics nation," the death of justice scalia. a moment of change for the supreme court. and the start of a huge political fight in 2016. also, a bare knuckle brawl in the republican debate. perhaps the roughest debate yet. we'll go live to south carolina. and my interviews with both hillary clinton, and bernie sanders. good morning. i'm al sharpton, live from washington. we begin with that breaking news. the sudden death of supreme court justice