find your awesome with the xfinity x1 voice remote. good morning, coming up, the sweet smell of success, a company capitalizing on the scents grows into a multi million dollar business. you may know her as buffy the vampire slayer, but now sara michelle geller is staking her claim in the food industry. and how ruk get the attention of social influencers and their followers and turn them into your customers. learn how to grow fast, work smart and go far. that's all coming up next on "your business." hi there, everyone.

i'm j.j. ramburg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your business grow. all of us are always trying to figure out the best way to pique the interest of our potential customers, so we think of how to use the right language and the right design. but how many of you have thought about how to use the right smell. if you spend more time in a hotel lobby or a store, you just may smell some of this invisible marketing magic that businesses are buzzing with about. it's so-called scent marketing. we recently visited one of the company that pioneered the movement to hear why the battle for your nose has become so fierce. >> have you ever walked into bloomingdale's and smelled coconut in the swimsuit department or powder in the baby section? what about amber and citrus in the lobby of a hotel inspect that's no accident. scents are being intentionally created and delivered by

companies in hopes of enhancing the customer experience. >> our sense of smell is the most powerful of our five senses in terms of emotion, how we connect with experiences and how we remember those experiences. >> ed burke is the vice president of customer strategy and communications at scent air. a leader in the scent marketing industry. scentair was one of the first companies to figure out that the use of strategically placed scent could positively impact brand perception and influence customer behavior. >> all kind of great things you have when you smell an amazing scent. marcel pruiss has been talking about it for literally more than a hundred years, it can transport us to a different time and place. >> and being able to trigger memories through the use of scent has had powerful results. a famous study was done in the 90s with the same pair of nike shoes placed in two separate rooms. it showed that people were 84% more likely to buy the shoes in the floral scented space versus the unscented one.

from sports stadiums and dentalal offices to fashion shows and gyms, scentair provides fragrances and delivery systems to thousands of clients. delivering more than 5 billion scent impressions a year. based in charlotte, north carolina, the company's roots date back to the early 90s. started by a former disney imagineeer who had been experimenting with scenting at the theme park's different attractions. >> the idea was to go scent the world, trying on to figure out who might want this product at the beginning was a challenge because this industry didn't exist. we invested in salespeople and it was really about going out and actually introducing the concept to customers, to talking about what a scent marketing program might look, feel like. this is our v-bubblew. we ask people to discover the power of scent. when the haas pill at that time industry going on board, it was a game changer. >> they believe in creating wonderful experiences for their guests. >> the company developed

signature scents for global blandz brands like westin and marriott. hotels use skrebts for spaces with the intent of altering the swroefr all mood of their visitors and strengthening brand loyalty, giving guests the opportunity to bring home a piece of the brand. >> it's any business that places a premium on their experience. it's really about driving financial objectives for the businesses that we serve. >> in retail, business owners use scenting to energize customers, influence spending and encourage repeat visits. sports teams use scents in stadiums, hoping to lure fans out of their homes and to the actual games. >> with flat screen tvs and hdtv, it's really easy to stay home and watch the game, right? so sporting teams are compelled to create a more engaging proposition for the fan experience. >> one of the most unique asks came early on from the children's museum of

indianapolis. they needed something special for their t-rex exhibit. >> you could experience dino dung and kids could go up and press the button. the idea was to draw kids in and get them to go one step further in the learning experience. >> scent marketing is all about making learning more enjoyable. for businesses, that can have a real effect on boosting profits. more than half of scent air's clients are small businesses. >> they're really not selling themselves as a brand. it is a small business selling an offering who is trying to create a wonderful atmosphere. and scent plays a very important role. >> scent air has a library of more than 2,400 scents to choose from. or if you want to spend a little more, you can create a custom scent. >> there's a whole process we go through with a customer where we'll understand everything about their brand and ultimately bring that to a finished scent. >> services start for as little

as $100, making scent marketing a low-cost strategy requiring not much effort with high impact results. for business owners who want to explore the marketing strategy, first think about who makes up the target market. gender, age and culture are just some of the opportunities. keep it simple. researchers show multiple notes can distract the customer. citrus and cinnamon invoke feelings on of happy. white thyme can be invigorating. if you want to add a layer of luxury, turn to leather or woodsy smells. and when it comes to how much scent you use, keep it subtle. fragrances that are too bold can back fire. scent air adds 600 to 800 new customers a month and ships more than 2,000 packages a day, a clear indication that scent marketing is become ago must-have tool for many. businesses are embracing the power of smell like never before.

sara michelle geller spent years on screen fighting vampires and dark lords, but now she's entered a whole new battlefield, the food industry. she launched food stores in 2015. we sat down with her in sant monica california. you know her best as buffy the vampire. but sara michelle geller has traded in her weapons for a spat la and the movie set for a test kitchen. >> i was definitely that person, the stereotype of how your entire life shifts once you have children. before that, i would start a job b, be on a movie or tv show and

on day one, it was what's my next job? now everything was about these people and how i could not only provide, but be present. >> slowing down to proor or advertise her growing family with actor husband freddie prince jr. led to a faded play date with former celebrity publicist philly blabo and their daughters. >> my husband was a chef. that was not my field, my area of the house. and we decided to have this play date. we knew starting from complete scratch was beyond our capabilities and went to the store to buy a mix. there were either these legacy brands filled with chemicals and stuff that i would never consider feeding my children or the other end were these very -- let's say maybe higher quality ingredients, but certainly lacking in test. we started to uncover the category and realized it was this $5 billion category that was just right for reinvention. >> galit was confident she was on to something big.

but how she felt about sara's part in it was another story. >> she was going to see it no matter what. it was convincing her that i was the person she wants to get excited about. >> we had a lot of heart to hearts and said, you know, if we really want to do this, you have to do it together and you have to be fully committed. >> they got natural food brand gu are you greg sliceon on board and the trio officially launch foodstirs in 2015. they started with a baking kit subscription service they sold online. then they moved to nationwide distribution of their organic baking mixes. in some ways, sara's celebrity status meant there was more to prove. >> i think it was like a novemberty circus act, oh, buffy bakes, but there was no intention of taking it seriously. >> an actor is rejected so many more times on a daily basis than any average human. as an actor, you go to audition after audition. but we know that it only takes

one yes. we got way more nos than we got whys, but i think that aspect of it was helpful in terms of just launch. and sometimes things have to be shaken up, too. you have to say just because the book has always been done this way, well, we're rule breakers. i always say i started on a network that was like a -- -- buffy the vampire slayer was a replacement on a network nobody knew anything about about. but we stuck with it and we made the network. >> for sara, it meant helping rewrite the play book, too. foot stirs uses social media and monthly subscription box he as a way to use fun ways people can make their mixes and retweet, post and get the word out. >> we give our consumers reason to go back and use it again. it's great to have a great product, but you want them to keep using it.

>> when we were a very, very young company and we started with our e-mails, we needed someone to do mail trends and code the e-mails and nobody was stepping up and i was like, okay, i'll do it. doug was like, do you know anything about it? and i was like, nope, not a bit. and called a friend who had a company and he came over and sat down with me and it was about a three-had hour lesson. so for the first four or five months win did all the of the e-mails. i coded the e-mails. i did the pictures. all of it. and you have to really be ready to get your hands dirty and do whatever it is, whether its was cleaning the office or testing products or figuring out recipes or coding e-mails. >> it might be a while until you see sayre are ra michelle geller back on the screen. the entrepreneurial life has her full attention, at least for now. this is my day job, my night job, my weekend job at the moment. you know, my goal probably is that when the business is really up and running and i don't need to be here every day, maybe i will go back in the front of the

cameras then. i would hope in five, ten, 15 years, when you think of baking, the work comes to mind. it's synonymous when you think of what you want to use or what you trust. >> sara michelle geller is one of many stars who have a large social media following. and for some companies, that means opportunities. when you see a tweet or an instagram post from one of your favorite celebrities showing off the good life with a new bag or a new beauty product or at a beautiful vacation spot, there's a chance that person has a really good reason to tell you about it. money. b nbc's jole in the kant looks at businesses cashing in on their legions of media followers. >> good girl. >> you might say samantha's instagram stardom can be traced back to when her dog, aspen, almost drown. >> i started going off in my kayak and she took off after me. so she started huffing and puffing. i thought she was going to drown. i went back to shore and stuffed

her into my kayak. >> it was this photo of aspen happily snuggled in this kayak that changed everything. >> i remember my husband say, wow, that's different. >> the kayaking pic won a photo contest and earned samantha new instagram followers. some 28,000 now who can't get enough of her golden retrievers. followers who want to know not only how she gets aspen into her kayak but what kind of kayak she's using. >> a lot of people are interested in what kind of gear i'm using in my pictures. >> that kayak, dog free, free from nulo, plus $500. >> exchange from one post a month and that watch from garmin also in exchange for a post a month. >> we were looking for an influencer with a female and who was in the outdoor category and someone who was also already using garmin products. >> matt is creative director at garmin international. he oversees a team of eight

scouring for people just like samantha who marketers call influencers. social media users with large following whose interests range from fashion and fitness to foe to go fee, parenting, and, of course, celebrity. >> before social media, we relied heavily on traditional mediums like print and broadcast. that forces you to talk at consumers and be the interrupter and now with social media, you really have an opportunity to be part of that consumer dialogue. >> major corporations like coca-cola are cashing in, too, luring mega stars like selena gomez who can make an estimated $550,000 per post, thanks to her 120 million plus followers. >> it's very effective. it keeps that authentic vibe that people like to get when they're on social media. >> some 40% of people say they purchased an item after seeing an influencer use it on social media, contributing to a $1 billion market this year alone, $5 billion by 2020 according to

one forecast. it's money anyways funneling down to people like natalie and rossi, aka miss hatton who quit her job at jpmorgan. >> this is a risk that i needed to take. >> natalie is now closing in on half a million followers who love her aerial photographs regardless of whether or not those kenneth coal shoes she was wearing were part of an advertising deal, deals she says can range from $6,000 to $50,000. >> interpreter: got asked, everyone wants to know. how much can you really make on an annual basis doing this? >> so i'm in the six figure range and, yeah, comfortable. >> but all these sponsored posts have raised some regular flags. >> selena gomez is the most followed person on instagram. how much exactly is she advertising to us? >> i think quite a bit and more than many people may know. >> bonnie patten is the executive director at truth in advertising. >> so it's the wild west right now. the vast majority of social

media influencers are not disclosing that these are ads. >> including celina's coca-cola posts. it only included the word ad after a complaint said it isolated ftc rules. >> can the ftc even enforce the rules? >> to date, the ftc has only brought four actions against companies that have violated these social media influencer rules. and that's four out of thousands that are occurring each and every day. >> leaving consumers to decide for themselves whether or not they're under the influence. jolene kent, new york. we just saw the power of social influencers. we wanted to get some best practices on working with them as a brand. mom influencer deva dell porto what laborious viral videos have amassed more than 100 million views. we recently attended to blog her conference in orlando and we sat

down with her to get her top tips on how to get the most out of influencers like her. >> i think a group would hire an influencer because our followers and fans really trust us. there's data that they trust influencers, 92% of consumers trust flurrers like a friend. so if you're recommend ago brand to them, they're going to really listen to you because they are like my friends. i have lots and lots of online friends. and you're talking about something specific. so for you, it's whitmaomen, ri? but for our influencers, it might be cool 18-year-old kids. >> exactly. as a brand, with you need to find the influence hadder that's the right fit for you. for me, if you want a product out for moms, come to me. if you want something for auto a cool 18-year-old, i'm not your girl. >> if i'm a brand and i want to hire an influencer, how do i think about this? do you think about the money spent on branding?

how do you decide what this money is being used for? >> i think for video, that's a great brands play. and you get exposure to lots and lots of people. it's a huge splash, you know. i've actually done projects that have ended up on good morning america and they were branded. but because it was a real message that was getting out there. and i think if you want customer acquisition, you probably want to go with click throughs, which would away blog post that someone can read and actually click right through and, you know, sign up for your camp or buy your product or download your widget or whatnot. >> and how do influencers charge for this? can you get by it on a cost for acquisition basis or do you just pay a flat fee and you get what you get? >> there's lots of different ways. for video, you would pay a flat fee. you can pay per click through. a lot of people pay that way. there's also affiliate programs where you just get a percentage back as the influencer. so there's lots of different

ways to have had it. >> when i'm a brand again and thinking about who to work with, one, i can work with you because you're a mom. but beyond that, a step deeper, how do i figure out which influencer is going to give me the most bang for my buck? >> one thing i would look at is not necessarily the size of the person's audience, but how engaged is there are audience with them? you can have someone with a million followers and two likes on a post, but you can have someone with a smaller audience and their audience is engaged. and, yeah, i would target who are you trying to reach? and really think about that and see is that who this influencer is reaching? for sure. >> how much control do you have as the brand when you're talking to the influencer -- >> none. >> about this is the message, right? or how much do you just have to say i'm putting it in your hands. >> so to be honest, i think if you hire a great -- you know, 98% of success in dres directing is casting. i think if you hire a great influencer who really understands their audience, i think you need to trust them

because they know my videos tend -- my sponsored videos tend to be shared thousands of times because i know what it's going to resinate with my audience. but i really listen to the brand and i actually like what is the message you're trying to get across? what do you want people to take away from this. >> i give you everything i can and let you run with it. >> i think that's the best way to go because the influencer really knows. >> that's why i'm hiring you. thank you so much. >> we represent sily talked about the importance of letting go of the reins and why you need to master the art of delegation. if you missed that segment, you can find it on our website. this week we wanted to continue in that vachb and talk about we as leaders can stay focused on the big picture. here are five ways you can find to keep your eye on the prize and not get bogged down by the little stuff. one, schedule time to think, and keep that appointment. give yourself the space to be

creative. it's easy to lose that when you're focused on the day-to-day. two, use technology to your advantage and automate everything you can. while the transition may feel overwhelming, it will free up time for you to concentrate on more important things. three, make sure your employees get ample training. you'll never be able to focus on the big picture if you're constantly called in to put out fires. empower your staff with whatever they need to make decisions without you, and then trust them to do their job well. four, pretend to bootstrap your business. even if things are going well, pretending to be a cash-strapped startup could help you achieve the laser-like focus on the next most efficient step. five, reconsider your network. if you feel like you've been operating your business as usual, you may want to consider shaking up the people surrounding you. actively seek out relationships with people who are different from you and who will challenge you to think in new ways.

>> when we come back, why you need to take the emotion out of your exit strategy and how having a gig on the side can help you run your company. so that's the idea. what do you think? hate to play devil's advocate but... i kind of feel like it's a game changer. i wouldn't go that far. are you there? he's probably on mute. yeah... gary won't like it. why? because he's gary. (phone ringing) what? keep going! yeah... (laughs) (voice on phone) it's not millennial enough. there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you! so we're doing it. yes! start saying yes to your company's best ideas. let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open.

my co-founder and i are currently working on an exit strategy. we're trying to take an analytical approach to it, and we could really use some help and guidance in that area to kind of take the emotional issue out of moving a business forward. >> when trying to understand the value of your business for an exit strategy, it's important to get a couple of different data points. so, number one is public markets. you can look at companies that do similar things even though they're much bigger companies. there's a multiple on revenue and there's underlying data. the second thing you can do is look at how much cash the business is throwing off. how much money will it generate over the next couple years? what's the growth rate of the business? those are all variables that give you predictability into what the true value of the business is. so for me i think it's really important to look at key

business which is revenue, growth and profitability. look at those things. there's comparable metrics out there of how to value something in any industry, whether it's hardware, software or services. and you can use that to get an analytical evaluation for your business. >> we now have the top two tips you need to know to help your growing business. venture cappalist patrick mcginnis is the founder, and natalia is with pipeline angels, a network of women investors. good to see both of you. >> great to see you. >> let's start with you, patrick. what thing you think our viewers need to know. >> lots of people talk about side hustles. about 30% of americans are doing a side hustle. did you know you could use your side hugsal to grow your actual business? when you're working on a business, you're heads-down all the time. it's important to look around, learn from others, invest your time or money in other people's

businesses or maybe start something that's maybe unrelated to what you're doing during the day on the side where you can do that without messing up your day job or risking your actual business. >> do you think most people who have side hustles are in the early stages of their company? when you say side hustle, you're talking about investing, you don't necessarily mean starting another thing on the side? >> absolutely. you can do either one. there was a friend of mine diego who has a travel company. great business. it was going fine, it was pretty mature. he had this idea for a smart suitca suitcase. he found a partner, launched the business called blue smart. now it's doing millions in sales and he works there now. >> it gives you perspective, sometimes a fire in your belly because you're excited about something new when maybe if you've been running your team for a long time you're getting a little bored with it. irt gets everything more excited. >> a great way to diversify and

get upside. most importantly, a great way to learn. >> natalia, what about you? >> i was going to say my top tip is leverage the doover. it comes from my side hustle. i loved your book and how you made the point that entrepreneurs can have a side hustle. i'm 110% entrepreneur. i launched the podcast called pitch make over. we interview entrepreneurs and i gave them a literal makeover for their pitch, what they should keep, what they should add, what they should delete. the reason my top tip is leverage the doover is because i go to so much pitch events and entrepreneurs get all this feedback, and they're not applying the feedback, not putting it into practice. what we do on the podcast, pitch makeover, as soon as i give them that makeover, as soon as i give the feedback, guess what? they get a do-over. they get to do their pitch again, implementing the feedback i give them. the reason it's so powerful is

because when someone -- so many people say an entrepreneur, the startup is their baby. as soon as you get feedback that's constructive criticism, it can get you deflated. and you're like, ah, it didn't work out. instead of thinking about it as something that is a disappointment, we're giving the entrepreneurs an opportunity to do over their pitch, make it stronger. >> basically, the gist is when you hear criticism, don't think it's over. i just pitched to patrick. he didn't like my company, time to throw in the towel, or i want this partnership. basically say, okay, i'm going to listen to what you say and use it the next time. >> right. >> thanks both of you. this week's yourbiz selfie comes from kevin robinson from petro clete chem metals, they provide aluminum, bronze and cast iron products to others in the area. send us your picture, pick up your cell phone, take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at

yourbusiness@msnbc.com or tweet it to @msnbcyourbiz. include your name, the name of your business, the location and anything fun or interesting about what you do. don't form get to use #yourbizselfie. thanks for joining us today. here is something i learned. earlier patrick was talking about if you have a side gig, it can help you with the company you're running day today. we all have time to do something outside of our business, and we need to do this just to get inspired and get our brain thinking a different way. go walk in the park. go take a half hour and go to a museum. go have lunch with somebody who has nothing to do with your business. just getting out of the day-to-day of your company, can give you all sorts of ideas that you don't have room to think about when you're sitting at your desk or talking to your managers all day. we would love to hear from you. if you have any questions or comments about today's show,

e-mail us at yourbusiness@msn yourbusiness@msnbc.com or click on our website, openforum.com/yourbusiness. don't forget to connect with us on all our digital and social media platforms, too. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg. and remember, we make your business our business. thank you so much. thank you! so we're a go? yes! we got a yes! what does that mean for purchasing? purchase. let's do this. got it. book the flights! hai! si! si! ya! ya! ya! what does that mean for us? we can get stuff. what's it mean for shipping? ship the goods. you're a go! you got the green light. that means go! oh, yeah. start saying yes to your company's best ideas.

we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye! let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open. morning glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. monday through friday you hear me on salem radio network, saturday morning here on msnbc. later this morning, what does sean spicer's departure from the white house mean? is the gop health care bill really dead? my take on president trump's first six months. my first guest today is, gasp, an elected democrat, not just any democrat, but house of representatives's tim ryan, representing the heart of the country's historic western reserve. the steel valley, those of us from