xfinity x1 gives you exclusive access to the best of the billboard music awards just by using your voice. the billboard music awards. sunday, may 21st eight seven central only on abc. good morning. coming up on msnbc's, "your business," in downtown las vegas, two old businesses, a vinyl record shop and independent book shop prove people wrong. their businesses are booming. we find out why. when the only bookstore in town closed down, this woman became a community minded entrepreneur. plus, five things to do when starting a product.

hi, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping you and your growing business z. a decade ago, most agree digital was to blame for the death of record and independent bookstores. but, both industries are experiencing a renaissance. what is old may be new again, but with a twist. in downtown las vegas, we met the owners of 11th street records who were not willing to see the companies they care so much about to the digital world. they are tapping into people's love of not only what they have to sell, but the community that comes with it.

you can call it a comeback. ♪ >> vinyl has been crowned the new billion dollar business, whether it's the world of cover art, the sound of a song, or just getting lost in record store bins. vinyl offers collectors and enthusiasts an engaging, tactile and emotional experience. something that the digital landscape just can't compete with. >> i always say, when people boot up spotify or itunes, they don't go wow, but people walk in here every day and say that. >> ron is the owner of 11th street records. one of the most buzzed abtd spots in downtown lvr lv. long before the store became a reality in 20125, ron was emersed in the local music scene from a radio stint to a job at a professional audio company, he also converted his garage into a recording studio. but, he had an undeniable thirst

for something bigger. ron dreamed of having his own record shop. at the time, vinyl had not yet hit its second sweet spot. opening a record store was not a path most would take. >> i'd rather regret something i did than wish i did something. the smartest thing to do would have been sell stuff on ebay and buy a warehouse and keep your overhead to nothing. >> that wasn't the journey ron signed up for. while plans were put in motion, an unexpected proposition came his way. >> he asked me, what would dwrou if you could do anything? i said i'm working on opening a record store. he said great, would you want to do a studio? i'm like, no, that's a hard business z. >> but the synergy between a recording studio and record store, all in one location was

undeniable. and it didn't take long for ron to realize the huge potential. ron knew that he had to think differently to stay in the game long term. >> it's meant to engage local artists and audiences in the same place. >> big name bands are knocking on ron's door. recently, rock group, the killers dropped by the studio to record new music. ron created a web series called 11th street sessions where local bands perform live, in studio for adoring fans. >> this was drawings on cocktail napkins. with a lot of help, we were able to turn it into this. >> a place that celebrates the magic of vinyl and the art of recording, under one roof. on the other side of the street, the team behind the writers block bookstore also dared break into a business that many

labeled obsolete. founder scott and drew have reimagined what an independent literary shop could look and feel like. wrapped around the highly cure rated selection of books is merchandise that ranges from whimsical to the obscure and very random. >> we wanted to do something where it looked like you were walking into a workshop with inexplicable objects, implied narrative. that's the book station up front. there's birds in the rafters, i don't know why, but they are interesting. >> oh, and we can't forget the resident rabbit, baron. >> we get letters for baron. he's more popular than i am on facebook. >> they knew it would take more than an adorable rabbit to capture the attention of many. so, the pair decided to transform the back of their space into a writer's studio,

where words are personal expression and creativity intertwine. through workshops taught by volunteers, children of all ages are invited to come to story telling. >> kodex is modelled after the nonprofit i ran in new york. the goal is to make writing fun for them. writing is in everything they love. we had 5-8-year-olds writhing stories about spaceships. >> pilot is -- i can't read the last name. i got a bunch of letters from the alphabet. here is from -- i eat sushi. >> from the moment you step inside this literary wonderland, it's hard not to get sucked in by something. >> we learned that customers expected an aspect to it. >> this is our letter press. it's from 1890. that gets a lot of questions,

like, what is that? we tried to decorate it in ways that are compelling. if you are not a book person, there's something to see here. >> this is the king pigeon mailbox. you can leave a quarter with a question and get the answer. we get a lot of, what is the meaning of life. >> there's an artificial bird sanctuary and adoption program. >> the birds started as decoration then tagging the birds with names and writing unique biographies and letting people adopt them. it gets people more excited to participate if there's a process to it. >> from authors and directors in the making who finally have a place to let their creativity run wild to the die hard book lovers, it's clear that the writers block has shown the vegas community that this little book shop is giving back in big ways.

we know how hard it can be to get customers offline and into your store, then you have to get them to stay and buy something once inside. you have to get creative as we just saw with the bookstore owner and music store owner. the owner of an orlando comic bookstore went hybrid. see what he did as you watch this piece. >> are you ready for karaoke? >> it's friday karaoke night. as always it's a packed house. ♪ >> customers are belting out the latest hits, grabbing a beer and buying comics. buying comics? yep, buying comics. this is the brain child of erin who opened the company of comic

shop in 2006. >> i saw a record store going out of business here in this location. i wanted to put a comic bookstore here. >> they have long suffered from the stereotypes like "the big bang theory and did. >> to say i don't like comics is like saying, you know, i don't like books, i don't like music, i don't like music, i don't like tv. i realized there was a stumbling block where they were for children oreck centric older people. >> instead of selling limited editions in pristine conditions with hefty price tags, they stock new and up and coming series with affordable price points. >> i want to do, this is new, this is hip, this is modern. this is what comic book artists and writers are working on now and share the love of the comic book medium as entertainment,

not collectibles in week and week out. >> the goal? to make comic book reading approachable for a whole new set of consumers. at the beginning, it meant talking to anyone who would listen. even offering free comics to first timers. >> we were basically just nonstop, trying to get people in here. >> that soon evolved into holding regular social events. aaron felt confident, if he could get people to come in, he could connect them to a series they would love and become repeat customers. >> the comic book is you and the page. i want to do things that got people to get together and enjoy comic books together. twice a month, we have a party with a keg of free beer, a comic book artist or writer or something going on. with that, we decided why not have it every week, why not every day, where we can monotize having people hang out here. >> an idea was planted for an

official hangout spot. >> there was a space available in this strip mall, but it was an odd shape. i made a joke saying we could make it a speak easy and call it a geek easy. off the cuff, we were like yeah, we need to do that. we can have a bar and make it a geek theme bar. >> in 2013, the geek easy officially opened for business. it became headquarters for regular readers with a place to enjoy their favorite series. >> i have a social atmosphere where i can meet folks i didn't think would talk to me before. we have this common ground. it's like, oh, did you read the latest issue of batman. it goes from there. when are you going on stage. let's buy a round. it's amazing. i love it. >> weekly trivia and karaoke night bring in locals looking for a good time. >> it brings people into the

comic shop that maybe never would step foot in a comic shop. they have to walk through the comic shop to get to the geek easy. we introduced people in a way that is comfortable and inviting and kind of like, um, just chill. just, i'm coming in for my reasons of hanging out with my friend and having a beer. i see this comic that i heard about or this character that i heard about from something else, whether it's video game or movie. and i check it out. >> they keep coming back, often with friends in tow. >> when i talk about, you know, the geek easy, i tend to say, hey, it's a great place to come on friday, you should come with me. a lot of people are like, i'll give it a shot. they are like oh, my goodness, this place is so awesome. why did you never bring me here before. >> the type of events they host are as diverse as the crowds they attract.

anything with a fan base is welcome. >> we have a stage and whatnot, why not have the local bands play? then it got to open mike and comedy nights and plays. i'm open to basically anything that people want to do in here that has fans and the people are nice and friendly. and are at least interested in comics, even in a passive way. >> as a comic shop and the geek easy expand and diversify the customer base, aaron says the potential of where the business and industry could go is to infinity and beyond. >> i have always said there's a comic book for everyone, even marvel doing more for women, more diversity, more voices as creators. i don't think it's going to stop. i think it's growing, growing and growing. that's where i want to see growth, not expanding my empire, but expanding the people that are enjoying comics.

when noelle santos of the bronx in new york learned her local barnes & noble was shutting down, she decided to do something about it. she went into business opening her own bookstore, the lit bar. jenna bush hager has more. >> passion that kills stigmas and for once again, the bronx keeps creating it. we are worthy. i stand here today and ask you to open your hearts and help me show the world what many fail to see, the bronx is no longer burning, except with the desire to read. >> reporter: the bronx is a hub of culture, giving rise to hip hop to stars like jennifer lopez and where the new york yankees play ball. they do not have a general interest in sight. >> there's nowhere to go. it shouldn't be that hard to have access to literature.

>> reporter: she is determined to change it. barnes & noble, the last bookstore announced plans to close its doors. >> i love my borough. everything came together. my a-ha moment. >> reporter: the hr director didn't know the first thing about owning a bookstore, but she was ready try. >> i googled it, how to open a bookstore. >> reporter: the lit bar was born. after entering and winning second place in a start-up competition, things took off. in the age of online shopping, running brook and mortar store can be a challenge. she said it would provide a place for the community to gather in person. >> the lit bar looks like the bronx. i want people to also feel like they belong there. they get a chase of discoveries. >> reporter: she can trace her love of reading and discovery to her childhood. >> life in the bronx, there was

turmoil in my life. reading was my escape. everybody deserves access to books, no matter what your income is or where you are from. >> putting a bookstore in the bronx. >> reporter: noelle's friends and neighbors agree. >> she is bringing light to the fact that women see something, something important. >> i felt like if anybody could do it, it would be her. >> reporter: other people agreed, too. earlier this month, her go go campaign surpassed the goal of $100,000 in one month and caught the attention of celebrities like michael moore who tweeted, please help, i did. >> the response has been incredible, not just coming from my community, but all over america, coming from all over the world. >> reporter: the lit bar is just a pop-upright now. she plans to open a store by the end of this year, thanks to the donations of complete strangers. >> entrepreneurship and all things the bronx, read lit.

facebook is still one of the best ways to reach new customers, but growing a facebook audience takes time and strategy. we have five ways to increase engagement on your page. one, use bright, high-quality images. when you add eye-catching photos, people are more likely to share with friends. two, try a list format. as a big generalization, post with things like five tips for hiring will do better than a post that says advice when hiring. people like quick read that is get straight to the point. three, post regularly. page that is are more active get more views on facebook. putting new content on your page create as snowball event. that means more eyes on your account. four, try facebook live. engage with followers in a way that showcases your business and gets customers involved.

k five, use the insight feature. knowledge is power. check the data regularly so you can see what's working and what isn't. this section also provides demographic data about your audience so you can tweak your post to appeal to your specific market. marketers know the impact of a powerful name. the next guest says you don't have to spend a ton of money to hire a naming company when launching something new. there are easy tricks to follow. ross is the ceo of crowdspring for crowd source creative services. >> great to be here. thanks so much. >> these are things like logos, copy writing. i think i used it for the a t-shirt design once. it is a great company. i want to start by saying it is a fabulous idea. >> thanks so much for your compliments. >> let's take this back for a second and say, i don't want to hire someone. i don't have the money for it or something, i don't want to get

to the point where i hire someone, but i need a good name for a product i'm going to launch. number one, keep it short and memorable. >> that's really important because if you think about it, people have a very short attention span. so, under ten seconds most of the time. if you are competing with shelf space in a retail marketplace or online, you want to keep it as short as possible. if you are putting it in an e-mail, if your name is 25-30 characters long, it's going to be tough to say anything else. the shorter it is, the more memorable it is, the easier it is for your customer to walk away and remember and recommend to someone else. >> easy to pronounce, spell. if it's international, make sure you know what it means. >> a great example. ten years ago, there were a lot of cellar phones, they had model numbers and con va luted numbers. apple came out with the iphone.

easy to pronounce, easy to spell, easy to tell a friend about it. that became the standard. the industry shifted to shimpler naming. it was tough for people you mak memorable, you want people to be able to tell a friend, a colleague, to recommend your product. if you're a decision maker or business leader, that's important. focus on your product's purpose. that doesn't need to be sort of the direct purpose. it could also be about how it makes people feel. >> it can. it could be focusing on purpose and value. an example of the product's purpose. we were recently naming a product for a company in the legal space. so the name we came up with was quickly legal. we needed to communicate simply what the product did. it was a legal product to help businesses create legal agreements. and it did it quickly.

that was a more descriptive name. on the value side, you look to the value that you provide. it's not necessarily descriptive of the product. and here's an example. in naming of a home care agency that had a lot of interesting technology solutions we came up with the name respect. now, that's different from most of the industry which has homecare in the name, but for this particular product, it was important for us to communicate the value of respect. because when we the talk to elderly people, their kids, that's the word we kept hearing more and more, that there's a great degree of respect for their parents, for the elders. so we focussed on that. you can focus on either the purpose of the product or the value of the product to think about names. >> i'm just going to go name quickly the other points, consider your audience and make it unique. i want to take the next step. i went through this process in my company. you've brainstormed and now you

end up with a name, how do you manage that process? >> this is tough. when we named crowd spring, it took us probably 50 hours. keep the number of people naming to a small number. you need a decision maker, a leader who is going to own the naming. if you're naming by committee, several things happen. first of all, it's going to take too long. second, you're going to compromise. that's a problem. any time you get involved in a creative project that has to be a diecision maker that decides. crowd spring is a great way to get deal flow on names. go in there. it's not that expensive to get some ideas. i've always been surprised. i thought i exhausted every idea out there. you put it up on something like crowd spring and suddenly you see things that you never thought of. thank you again for coming on this. it's great advice. i hope to see you soon. >> thank you so much, j.j.

>> these successful entrepreneurs say they need to do these things in order to start their day on the right foot. red it founder alexis tries to never miss a sun rise, and yancey, co-founder of. venus williams works out and trains. a fashion designer sits in her purpose chair and journals. and grant starts his day with a moment of gratitude. giving thanks for the simple fact that he woke up that morning. how do you start your day? when we come back, need some money? we'll the tell you where you can find investors and why you must concentrate on your cash flow.

will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. how do you source investors? where do you go and meet with them either at networking events or do you just go through known contacts and getting referrals. >> the best place to source

investors, i think, if you don't know a bunch of people who want to give you money is twitter. once you're online, you can see what investors specialize. in you can see what they talk about and care about. you can talk to them directly. if they ask, hey, i'm going to florida, what's a great restaurant, and you know that, start that conversation. investors are people and they don't want to feel like just a checkbook. if they write books or articles, consume that media and talk to them about it. say you did a great job and i thought it was really helpful and i learned a lot from you and go from there and build that relationship online. >> we now have the top two tips you need to know to help you grow your business. let's sfwro entintroduce our pa.

the ceo of twin cedar and also the head of the business school startup business studio. >> tonya, we've watched your company grow in the last eight years. it's been amazing to watch it from this side. congratulations to you. one the tip since the last time we've seen you. >> my top the tip is to schedule buffer time. it can be so tempting as a business owner to be booked back to back from the minute you wake up through to the end of the evening. you need to proactively go in. i schedule it in 90-minute increments in. >> 90 minutes a day? >> it sounds not achievable, but it gives you time to think about the meetings you've had, to plan for something that you're about to do, and to really reflect on the business because otherwise you're relegating your best thinking time to late in the evening when you're already exhausted. >> in this buffer time, are you saying i'm not going to answer e-mails or take phone calls?

>> that is it. you think about mapping everything you're doing back to the priority of companies. i run a company that's tracking media disruptions. things are always changing. it gives you time to make sure you're seeing what's happening. it sounds indulgent, but it's been one of the most transformative things for my business. >> well, i think one of the things that people don't think about is looking into their finances. cash flow is king. i think more people need to understand cash in cash out. it's not about what you're actually selling, because you're not getting paid right away. and i think people really need to understand before they scale their businesses how much money do i really have in the bank. what's it really going to take me to get to the next level? and how is my cash looking? do i have a financially strong foundation? >> do you find that people -- i get it in the startup stage, but do you see people in the next stages have issues with the

this? >> definitely. as people are scaling they think i have a million dollar business, but that doesn't mean you have a million dollars in the bank currently. >> right. all right. yes. we saw during the recession so many great companies go under simply because -- not because they didn't have a great product, but they didn't have enough cash to keep them up. thank you so much. this week we have a festive your biz selfie. the it's the owner of parties that pop. she's a certified balloon artist. she does it for sports, weddings, it was sets and even presidential inaugural balls in d.c. if you want to be featured take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at

yo yourbusiness@msnbc.com a yourbusiness@msnbc.com. if you have any questions or comments about the show, e-mail us. we read every e-mail we get. you can also go to our website. we posted all the segments from today's show plus a lot more for you. and don't forget to connect with us on our digital and social media platforms. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, remember, we make your business our business. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order

or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. you cannot do this to us. and to our children. you're killing us. >> how do we wade through all this stuff to understand? this should have been brought to the american people in a way that can be understood by all, and this is a human right. >> good morning and welcome to politicsnation. some republicans are finding out that people don't like it when you pass a bill that could take away health care and coverage from up to