photography. it's not just an art. it's a business. we meet one woman who makes a living out of making other women feel sexy. that's coming up next on "your business." american express open can help you take on a new job. or fill a big order. or expand your office. for those who constantly find new ways to grow on every step of the journey, american express open proudly presents "your business" on msnbc.

hi, everyone. i'm jj ramberg and welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. and happy valentine's day. they say a picture is worth a thousand words. but surprising your special someone with sexy pictures might be worth a thousand more. so this seemed like the perfect day to profile a company we've been watching grow for the past couple years, a company that fog kus -- focuses on boudoir photography. >> are you nervous? >> i'm nervous, yes. >> what are you nervous about? >> posing in lingerie. it's revealing. i'm not used to it. >> i often call meself a photograph therapist instead of

a photographer. there's a therapeutic aspect to what i do here. i'm not a therapist. i'm not guaranteeing that. but there is certainly for the right woman who's open to the experience, something therapeutic that goes on here. just the images are a souvenir of that experience. >> turn your head toward the window. beautiful. >> when jen rosenbaum started generations photography in new york eight years ago, she had no idea that her boutique boudoir photography business would turn into something so much more than taking pictures. >> people assume it's about sex, women taking off their clothes. for me it's about a woman discovering their unique femininity. >> she was a stay at home mom dabbling in wedding photography when she discovered she had a knack for making women feel comfortable in their own skin. when a friend suggested she tag

along an a boudoir set, she found her niche. >> why would you want people in your bed, what are you doing? i said it doesn't matter, i don't care what you think. this is what i want and nothing is going to stop me. >> her cairn-do attitude translated into a very savvy grass rouxes marketing campaign aimed at the influencers in her target market, newly engaged women planning their womens. planning their weddings. >> tell me about the cool girl principle. >> i knew i had to reach other people to talk about me. it's hard as a business owner to talk about yourself. nobody really wants to hear that. how do i build an army of enthusiasts to talk about me. i went online on a wedding board that i knew. >> a message board. >> yes.

this was before facebook. i ran a contest. it didn't really matter who entered the contest. i already knew the two cool girls were going to win. those are the two girls everybody looks up to. those girls won and part of the idea of the contest was i will take these pictures of you for free. you have to post them, talk about me and tell everyone what a wonderful experience they had. >> business was booming. just three years after starting generations, she had more clients than she could handle. she'd outgrown her bedroom and rented a studio. her schedule was gruelling and this was not the business she wanted to run. she decided the time had come to dramatically restructure and raise prices. >> i was working seven days a week, a million hours a day. i was not making as much money as i wanted. i raised my prices dramatically and raised the amou-- decreased

amount of clients i could tell. >> i said maybe my e-mail form is broken. he went and filed out the form and my e-mail goes, blink. >> it was a scary time. she was determined to stick it out in order to carve out a work-like balance that allowed her to spend more time with her kids. after a few months of nail biting, things started to pick up again. >> it was a pivotal moment for me. this is what separates the men from the boys or the women from the girls. this is what separates true entrepreneurs and people that struggle through the tough times. this is what is going to make your business better. >> the price change and extra time in her schedule allowed her to tackle one of the biggest issues with her business. she didn't want to hire other photographers so her ability to make money taking pictures was limited. if she really warranted to grow revenue, she had to pursue other ideas.

she expand her business beyond just taking pictures to teaching boudoir workshops, creating how-to guides that people could purchase on her website and eventually it also led to sponsorships in the photo industry. how is the split in your business revenue wise from taking pictures to all the other stuff you do, the seminars, workshops and sponsorships. >> it's half and half right now. i can't teach other people how to do it if i'm not actually doing it. that's number one. number two, i enjoy it. i enjoy connecting with clients and doing all that work. the other side of it and the other income, some of it is passive income, it allows me to have work/life balance and take a day off and play hooky with my kids. >> her singular focus on all things related to boudoir photography has paid off, macing her the go-to person on the subject. >> it certainly was not by design to become an expert in this field. i think because i specialized so early on i was really one of very few photographers doing

that. i was starting to gain recognition and notice from the photography industry not just for my photography but for my message and the fact that it was all that i was doing. >> when you think of american innovators like steve jobs and mark zuckerberg, you might assume they were born with a gift that the rest of us just don't have. not true says acclaimed professor adam grant at the wharton school of business. in his new book "originals" how nonconformists changed the world, professor grant shares the secrets of successful trail blazers and explains how you can become one. here's nbc's willie geist. >> i want to share a couple things i learned. >> reporter: 34-year-old adam grant is teaching some of the world's brightest young business minds to be productive by being creative. >> some of you had way too much fun with this. >> reporter: the first step to an original idea, he says, is to poke a hole in the status quo. and see what's behind it. >> originality starts with looking at the world around you

and seeing something that nobody else saw. it's basically about taking the lead and saying, i'm going to take initiative to not only have the idea but make it a reality. >> reporter: in 2010, four of professor grant students at wharton did just that. they wondered why a pair of eyeglasses should cost hundreds of dollars. that question and the answer the guys found gave birth to the popular eyewear company warby parker. >> we'd like you to invest in this company to which you said -- >> no, i'm not interested in investing. >> that hurts right now, doesn't it? >> they were just valued at over a billion dollars. now my wife handles all of our investments. >> reporter: 1.2 billion to be exact. the warby moment was an inspiration for grant's book. he set out to investigate what he had missed about his students and their idea. >> i thought that all original people were daredevils. what i learned, though, is that most successful entrepreneurs and in fact anybody who champions an original idea, most of those people hate taking risks.

they like to play it safe, hedge their bets. >> reporter: 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 the show ever saw the light of day. >> the show is about nothing. >> reporter: but a lone nbc executive named rick ludwin whose focus was not sitcoms thought jerry, elaine, george and cramer were worth a shot. >> he came from the varieties and specials department. he was working with all different kinds of formats of shows. he wasn't stuck in a mindset. when he watched the show, he experienced it, he lived it and it made him laugh. he said, okay, at the end of the day, people will watch a show that makes them laugh. >> reporter: what does all this mean for you and your original idea? professoren grat has a list of suggestions. first, take your ideas to disagreeable people.

>> those are the people who are going to challenge your ideas more, criticize you more and help you improve the idea. >> reporter: don't be afraid to procrastinate. >> productive procrastination is about waiting for the right time to act, not rushing into saying i've got to make progress or i have to get this done. but giving yourself the full window to allow creative ideas to incubate. >> reporter: make time for leisure hobbies. >> nobel prize winners are 20 more times likely to be a performer, actor, magician, dancer, than anyone else. why is that? >> it's having a strong sense of curiosity. that leads them to explore novel directions in science work and artistic hobbies. >> reporter: who knew the real secret to success is all in your web browser. >> fire fox and chrome users have better job performance than internet explorer and safari. if you wanted chrome or firefox

and take initiative. that's a window into the kind of initiative you take on your job. >> i don't like to brag but i am a chrome user and have been before i read this book. clearly i am original. >> then my work here is done. leveraging all the difference social media platforms to market your small business can get overwhelming. i know. but you will love these five new tools courtesy of ink.com that promise to take you from november to expert in no time. one, notifier, paste the url of your blog post into the search box and the site scans the post to find the twitter handles of the folks you have mentioned. two, pablo 2.0 is the upgraded version of buffer's social media image creation tool. you can create great images that makes photos and texts for instagram, twitter and facebook. three, blab is a platform where

four people can shout on camera simultaneously while letting other viewers watch and interact the entire time. it makes it easier for your small business to get in on the popularity of live content apps like periscope and snapchat. four, if your brand that has come to rely on instagram, check out later gram. you can imagine multiple accounts, schedule content beforehand and upload for computers instead of just from your mobile device. and five, crate is a curation tool that lets you build a digital library of topics, influencers and key words that pertain to your brand. the site creates a social graph that shows you what of that content performs best on social networks so you can repost it. the online interface is industry. it's an industry that's evolving and has become an alternative for traditional bank loans.

we have the co-founder and ceo of fun-dation. a nonbank lender to small businesses. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> it's fascinating to see how this has grown even over the last four years since you started. >> technology has a lot to do that but it's also where the banks want to participate in the small business lending market. by and large, whether it's consumer commercial finance are here to do what the banks can or won't do. >> do most people come to you first or after they've gone to a bank. >> i would say the underbanked which means customers that are either don't approach their bank to begin with or don't feel they'll be successful with a bank or have been turned down. we're there to provide that capital to a customer that can't qualify for bank financing and the other segment of population is customers where we're supplementing bank financing. they have a line of credit or a long-term loan in place. they need to do something

opportunistic with the business and we're there to provide additional capital. >> let's talk about when someone might come to you, working capital? >> sure, working capital really means short in cash. if you read the federal reserve's most recent study, it says the leading challenge that small businesses face is managing uneven cash flow. and so managing uneven cash flow means it's hard to predict that cash flow and, therefore, you need flexibility and, therefore, the leading product is a line of credit. the challenge with getting a line of credit, it's a difficult product for a lost lenders to offer. why? because when things get bad in the economy, everybody pulls on that line of credit and the ship has sailed at that point. >> how quickly can this get approved? for instance, i had a friend that a natural disaster took place overseas where his company is based. he said i need a loan tomorrow. relatively substantial. he had a good track record with his business. would someone like that come to you? >> sure. we've funded loans between the hours of 9:00 and 5:00. the transaction came in at 9:00

in the morning and it was funded by 5:00. that's not typical. we're usually waiting on the business rather than vice versa. that's really the fundamental difference between bank financing and online financing. bank financing is obviously the cheapest because they have the cheapest cost of capital. on the other end is online lenders who are efficient and quick because they use technology and they're willing to price for different types of risk. >> if i'm looking to expand my business, i need a loan to open up my second restaurant. why would i come to you instead of a bank? >> so what i would say is, 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 resource because they want to keep that in place. they say to themselves, okay, no other bank is going to offer me a loan beneath that first loan i have. but we would. why?

because we lend to customers based on the likelihood of repayment rather than knowing that we're first in line if something goes bad. >> got it. again, people are coming to you for all kinds of things they would go to banks for. refinancing. >> refinancing is very common. the most common reasons we see are working capital, refinancing higher cost debt or expanding the business which could include equipment from time to time. >> right. i need to go buy a brand new big machine, i go to you and get it. in general, you said you could do it in a day but how quick is it and how likely is it? what do i need to have in place so you approve it? >> the great thing about a firm like ours and others we compete with, there's not a lot of bar years to finding out where you stand. because we start with applying some technology to sort of render an initial decision rather than collecting a whole bunch of paperwork, looking at that, then sort of maybe checking your credit score. we do all that up front. we can tell you rather quickly, hey, it's not worth your time because you're unlikely to

qualify for us or, hey, this looks really good. the information we collect depends on how much we're looking for. if you're looking for less than $100,000, it's as little as a few months of bank statements. if you're looking for more than that, same thing, plus maybe a most recent tax return. as you go up in scale, we ask for more and more. >> is this all online or am i talking to a person? >> we combine the two. it's online as far as getting the application started. we render a dedicated relationship manager to every transacti transaction. we believe and studies show that small businesses value relationships. we try and give that to them. our relationship managers can manage a lot of relationships because of the effort that goes into any one particular transaction. >> the industry is definitely growing. how do the interest rates vary between them? >> price griffin by a number of factors. likelihood of repayment. if the customer stops paying at the likelihood of getting money

back as well as the costs it requires of a lender to have access to that capital. >> the point is it's quite varied even within your own businesses and across businesses. >> yes. >> sam, thanks so much for stopping by. >> thanks for having me. flower and chocolate and wine shops go crazy shipping out gifts for valentine's day this time of year. as far as it is to send something to someone you love, the one thing you miss out on is seeing their reaction when they open it. our elevator pitcher has found a solution to that. let's see if our panel loves his idea. nisa amoyles is here as well as another guest. >> my name is jason. i'm the founder of the company.

we've all been there before. a special occasion comes up and you want to send a personalized gift to a loved one but you're away from home and can't see the reaction when they receive their gift. we hand deliver the gift, show the message and capture the reaction. you then receive a private video of your special moment that you can upload to your social media. we're the only company in the u.s. to offer this type of service. in order to scale, we're partnering with companies to license our equipment and technology. we've already partnered with four companies and we're currently in talks with a major retailer to distribute our delivery service in over 1,200 stores worldwide. we're currently raising $250,000 for a 33% equity stake in our company in order to bolster our team, in order to purchase more equipment and also to improve our i.t. infrastructure. >> good job. all said with beautiful roses that you're holding. all right, guys, i'll give you

this. if we can get two numbers from you, one, what did you think of the product from one to ten and two, what did you think of the pitch from one to ten? congratulations so far. sounds like you are hopefully close to securing this big deal. >> absolutely. >> let's hear. >> i thought you did a great job. on the product i gave you an eight. i think this is unique and a great use right now of the technology that's available and it's using technology to bring people closer together. 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, 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. that would be helpful to me because i'm left with so many more questions. >> ryan? >> on the product i gave you a seven at at the core you're a commerce company. the products you're selling on your site need to be great regardless on their own besides

just the app and 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. so if you can really make that app and that messaging system really seam [ laughter and applauseless and someone can't come in that has more scale and infrastructure from day one. it will be execution as well on the user experience. on the pitch i gave you an eight. i loved your passion, eye contact. i think you feel really good about the product and that sells. kudos to you. >> in a pitch, that's the thing that piques your interest. good luck with everything. happy valentine's day. if any of you out there have a product or service and want feedback from our elevator pitch panel on your chances on getting interested investors, please send us an e-mail. the address is

yourbusiness@msnbc.com. 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 4that 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 send out dynamic e-mails once a month. i get a good response rate. 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 and ask yourself what's going on with your outbound e-mail that's causing a decline in the open rate or in the engagement rate. and perhaps it's getting, you know, kind of tired or stale content or perhaps you're not segmenting your list. 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 eaccounts. all of us get tons of junk mail. very few 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. i'll start with you. you look at so many companies. you're an entrepreneur. what's one thing you tell the companies? >> one thing i tell entrepreneurs is 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 necessary somebody just with a big game who's not going to have any time for you. 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, product, marketing, sales and help you with problems where you have no experience so you're not getting tripped up in something. >> sometimes for people who are just starting out and aren't well connected, the term advisory board sounds scary. how am i going to get to them? think of it as get people around you who you can call. you don't have 0 to have big formal meetings or give them anything. get people around you can call and ask questions. >> mentors. >> and trust. >> trust. all right. ryan? >> when it comes to hiring, always go with your gut. deep down when you're sitting across the table from someone, interviewing, you know quickly whether you have chemistry, whether that's someone you're going to want to work with. i think that's really, really important. because eventually work doesn't become work if you love the people you're working with.

pick passionate people. forgo talent and skills if these people are jaded or unenthusiastic about their craft. it's much better to work with someone you have chemistry with and want to spend time with. >> have you made mistakes in that regard? >> of course. >> is this how you learned this tip. >> in the early days when you're trying to figure out your culture and figure out who you have chemistry with, because i came from corporate america. of course, you have to make mistakes in order to learn from them. at this point, you know what you're looking for. you feel the chemistry quickly. >> i found that early on hiring was one of the hardest things to learn. you shake your head. >> yes. >> it's really important for any ceo to spend the most time on hiring. it's the most important decision you can make and you can make mistakes. it really is costly if you do. >> totally agree. >> we talk about this a lot here. they should be interviewing you as much as you're interviewing them. >> definitely. >> during this process. >> yes.

>> our ceo of my company for a while did something, he gave us tips which is interview someone in three different places. right? 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 taking a walk around the block. 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. 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. >> same for your board. >> thanks both of you. >> sure. this week's your business selfie is from debby schaeffer, owner of mrs. g tv and appliance. it looks like she got a selfie stick to take this picture of her and her staff maybe celebrating a birthday.

why don't you grab yourselfy stick and phone and take a self-y of you and your business and send it to us at "your business".msnbc.com. use #your biz selfie. thanks so much for joining us today. one thing i learned today, comes from the piece that we did about boudoir photography. jen rosenbaum was so busy taking pictures but she always took time to go to conferences and meet people. because of that she has speaking gigs and sponsors. i know it's hard for all of us to get out of our business because our to-do list is so long. but 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 questions or comments about today's show, e-mail us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. you can also click on openforum.com/yourbusiness. we've 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. until then, i'm jj ramberg. remember, we make "your business" our business. brought to you by american express open. visit openforum.com for ideas to help you grow "your business." 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 in the spring of 2010 on april 27th in 2010, a really bad thing happened. a sad thing happened during the morning rush hour on the subway, on a g train. it started in queens, it was at the start of the rush hour, 8:2450ur7b8s morning -- 8:08. the man that was driving, that g train, he died at the controls. and this is not like a train that has a whole crew. it's not like an airplane, where there is a co-pilot that can take over