really? and these kids. and these guys. him. ah. oh hello- that lady. these houses! yes, yes and yes. and don't forget about them. uh huh. sure. still yes! you can get it too. welcome to the party. introducing gig-speed internet from xfinity. finally, gig for your neighborhood too. good morning. coming up on your business, their limo service was failing because hardly anyone gets married mid week. how they became a multimillion dollar company. and we celebrate our 12th season by catching up with businesses that made the leap to be household names. and a product that will help your kids get into the swim of things. let's grow fast and work smart next on yo"your business."

hi, be everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business." today marks the start of our 12th season of helping your business grow. first of all, i want to thank you all for watching us. it is very exciting to have been on this long. we will start with the story of one owner who had to entirely rebid his company in order to survive. maurice loves luxury vintage cars. ten years ago he fell in love with a particular one in a car show and persuaded his wife to buy it and start driving people around. but when it wasn't working they had to change their business model, and it worked. >> i've got big dreams. >> we're always looking for new opportunities. >> maureen and robin brewster

are c he eo and president of mosaic local transportation. they're also husband and wife. >> he's the visionary and the sales and marketing and public relations. and i have more the detail, organizational, logistics, project management skill set. >> together they started out with a wedding chauffeur service which they ran from their home in palo alto, california. >> we would take calls at the dinner table. our office was in hurry garage. >> if this sounds like your typical mom and pop kind of business, maurice, or mo as he's called, is quick to say not anymore. >> it start thad way. when you're clocking the revenue numbers we're clocking now. and i think we're a little bit beyond mom and pop stage. >> today their revenue has multiplied. they have more than 100 employees and serve clients in countries all over the world. how did they make the leap?

it started with marketing and his special fondness for luxury vehicles. >> you know, i like nice cars. i like fancy cars. >> that passion for flashy cars led him to one bright white late model import. >> we were at a car show. and he saw a car that he said i think i can make some money with that were. and i pretty much figured he just wanted to buy the vehicle. >> the gas mileage was maybe three or four miles a gallon. >> mo's marketing unsteupbginctd off. the cash rolled in. >> by the second year, revenue had tkoupbldoubled. he had to figure out way to continue to grow his business, and he didn't have it quite yet. >> well, the obvious one was we

cooperate get a bride to get married on a tuesday. why? that's a great day. the rolls-royces sat monday, tuesday, weapodnesday, thursday. either we had to buy a lot of them to go out on saturdays and sundays, which wasn't practical, or we had to change the business model. >> a hotel mentioned corporate rides. >> we thought we could do a good job. >> but the client said there's just one thing. >> you can't drive them in a rolls-royce. you have to drive them in a town car. the very next day i had a town car. >> revenue was climbing again. they dumped the bridal business. >> the volume of business that

the hotel could give us far exceeded what we were doing with brides and grooms on saturday and sunday. >> he was watching for corporate event shuttle services. the numbers he saw were large, very large. >> you have the super bowl, the world series, the espy awards, emmy awards. different things like that that a person that comes from an operational background might not go after that kind of business. >> they went after those juicy accounts using marketing skills and something else, their network of network of minority opened businesses. >> mo engages the network. we provide opportunities for minority owners to meet the corporate owners. >> the nmsdc is a national membership organization for introducing black, his pan you

can, native american, and asian-owned businesses to fortune 500 companies. >> we provide a bridge between corporate members. >> when i look back today at the corporations we do business with, i would say 90% of it has everything to do with the fact that we are certified minority owned business. >> certification is an invitation to the party. it's not a guarantee when you get there you will be asked to dance, okay? and there is not a guarantee that you are going to get a contract. there is no contract with the name on it. you will earn that contract through your own hard work. >> it opened up doors for us to be able to at least make a presentation about our capabilities in business. >> once they got the contract for these big events, how did

they think they could deliver? >> there is no one industry that can deliver all the needs of transportation companies that need to move their people. >> their secret, they got the competition to collaborate. >> so we have this frenemy relationship. >> they subtracted work to their competitors. by the way, that's how they also offered national and global service. they turn to their enemies with when they need to have friends. >> i love the fact that we grew 42% last year. the thing i enjoy the most is a little over 100 people rely on the decisions that my wife and i make in order for them to raise their children, to educate their children, buy their first home, buy their vehicles, recycle their dollars back into the communities. and that gives me the greatest joy. over the past 11 years, we have profiled thousands of

companies. today, as we start our 12th season, we wanted to take a look back at some of the ones we met when they were small who now have is become million million dollar businesses. we met pakistani immigrant in 2006. we were impressed then with with what he had grown. today his company is a household name. edible arrangements. he owned a flower shop but had a vision on of a fresh fruit bouquet. but 2001, they opened their first franchise. within five years, they had opened nearly 400. >> how do i know we're not growing too fast? i don't think in business there is such a thing as growing too fast unless it gets out of control. >> they are now a global brand with annual revenue at almost half a billion dollars. >> you were one of the early people on the show here.

and you ha and you had 400? >> and now we have 1300. >> when they first came on the show to do an elevator pitch, almost no one had heard of the company. they were pitching a new coconut product, vita coco. it grew substantially. they faced competition from bug time coca-cola. >> we were nervous when we heard that coca-cola had invested in zika. but we remained focused on what we do today. >> today this sell in 31 countries, accounting for 46% of the market, and attracting madonna and matthew mcconnaug y mcconnaughey. katrina marka started a chocolate renaissance when she

mixed and matched curry, cheese, and bacon with chocolate. it may seem commonplace now. but this was unusual when we pro filed the company in 2008. the company was suffering growing pains. >> i really like to grow. sit some weird addiction to constant improvement and growth and nurturing. >> katrina realized she had to hire more help. >> katrina is definitely stretched. she will have to hand over to others and trust them to do it well. >> her company has flourished. distribution from whole foods to starbucks. she's introduced a new line called wild ophelia.

profits go to help up and coming female entrepreneurs. i'm here with this week's elevator pitcher, daphne and her son adam. and you seem to be modeling the product that your mom will be pitching. >> they are called giggle cany r goggles. >> do you like them? >> yes. >> we have two great panelists for you. exactly perfect. both people in consumer products. the founder of so cozy, hair care for kids. and josh is with material. so you just stand there with those goggles. you, good luck. >> thank you so much. >> let's go. >> hi. assume daphne, founder of giggly

goggles. my son adam is the inspiration. they are painful and pull your hair in traditional goggles. our unique patented design allows an easy on and off. they hold and will stay in place. the mask protects against uv rays they are tail $25 at giggle goggles.com and selected stores across the country. we are expected to make $200,000 in our first year. we were on "today" show, real simple, "star" magazine and more. customers are raving about our product. we have been approached by several major retailers and we're asking for a $100,000 investment to put smiles on her faces with the giggly goggles. >> you know what, we have had so many models on the past 11

years. you were the best one we have had on yet, adam. nicely done. all right. these are for you two. i want two numbers. 1 through 10. what do you think of the product? second, what did you think of the pitch? did it pique your interest? i'm going to steal this and give it to one of my kids. a lot of our goggles end up in the trash and that's not where we want then. cozy, we will start with you. >> 10. i love the kid business. i can appreciate it. i know how much parents will love it. you gave the pitch an 8 because of awe couple things that i would want to know if i were investing in it. what is the competitive market? how do you plan to set your -- reach your goals? a couple you can tighten it up,

understanding this is a quick elevator pitch. your model is fantastic. >> you look at a lot of companies. >> i gave a 9 and 8. i was excellent. nice job. the product is well designed. i love the uv protection, no hair pull, even though i'm losing mine. it is really well designed. on the pitch, i agree with cozy, give a little more data on size of market, opportunity space, competitive hand scape. obviously it was a quick pitch. >> thank you both. >> congratulations to both of you. they are both in consumer products worlds. good luck with everything. have a fantastic rest of your summer swimming with these. >> thank you so much. >> if any of you would like to come on "your money" and pitch your business, accepted send us

minute video to yourbusines yourbusiness @msnbc.com. how much money you are trying to raise and what you intend 20d with that money. we look forward to seeing some of you here in the elevator. a blog can be a complete waste of your time, or it can be a great marketing vehicle. if you want it to help your company, you have to be strategic about it. here are five best blogging practices. one, learn how to write for the smartphone. more and more people are getting their information on their phones. so think about how your blog is going to look on a small screen. two, write strong headlines. they make it easier to find your post and are key in telling search engines what your content is about. three, make your content good. it sounds obvious, but not everyone does it. if you get people to your blog

and they quickly leave, that phaoepts you ha means you have a high bounce rate. four, break your posts into digestible bits. put the most important information at the top and use subheadlines throughout the post. and five, use compelling images. you can find free stock images on stock snap to engage your audience members. i'm sure you have all seen the stories that come up at the bottom of your screen after you read an article like six ways to have better skin, or you won't believe what this college kid did to get free tuition. they tell you to read about what they have to sell. the founder and ceo of taboola works to get those stories out. he is here to explain what works and what doesn't. so good to see you adam.

>> good to be here. >> i see these articles. i click on many of them. and i don't exactly -- everyone though i know it, i'm not reading them because i want to be sold to. i'm reading because somehow they caught me with their headline. say i have a flower business. how do i think about this content marketing? >> do you ever click on i a banner? >> never. >> on youtube you always go to the skip. >> always. >> we are moving from this traditional advertising to sort of story telling in the way of marketing. people want to relate. they want to read about you. they want to wrafpatch a video your product. if you have a flower shop, you can't buy ads on tkpwaog wigoog.

it is too expensive. but if someone wrote about it, even if it's a small blog. they say this is great flowers. i love them. check them out. or if someone mentions your name. you can promote it and slowly build trust with consumers. >> one, you can take a piece of content that's already out there and amplify it, right? somebody wrote a blog on you, then you work with the company toe get that at the bottom of someone's page. >> yeah. my wife has a flower business. and nobody knows the flower business today because she just started. someone went to "usa today" to read an article on on style section. you may like and there is a flower business blog about our business. how she is doing it, why she is doing it. and you can get curious and might become a client. >> the other thing you can do is

you wrote an article. if it's a flower business, you don't want to write buy flowers here. she might write an article, and you tell me if this is right, the seven best flowers to give as a thank you. >> right. >> so you are reeling people in with the content and selling them subtly. >> it can be something i have seen a lot that works really well is the founder's story. people want to see who is the person behind the brand. people don't like to click here, by that right now anymore. why did you leave your job to do this? why do i get up every day and are excited about it. u phone video. 60 seconds. it doesn't have to be professional. you can get going relatively quickly. >> you are enter taping people, not selling people. >> relationship. journey. versus now. >> okay. and now let's talk about

pricing. am i paying per sale. >> only if someone discovered your sale. content is king in that fashion or if queen. but the transition is from just thinking of building -- seeing you again and again over the next month or two months, and then eventually winning you forever. >> but the way you need to think about your return, then, is so i'm paying, let's say 50 cents, i'm making this upper click, someone comes over, read the article, click over somewhere to my site. i need to think, what am i trying to get them to do, buy something, trying to get them to sign up for something. so i have to really understand my metrics. >> and let's talk about that for a second. historically, what would we do? we would place buttons all over the page so people would maybe buy the product right now. these days, what do you do? the article is clean. but then at the bottom of it, you may say, sign up for a newsletter. so we can send you stuff about flowers. or follow us on facebook.

so we can build a community. so it's more about -- i'm not going to sell you anything right now. but you will get offers from me over time. >> what about links within the article. so let's go back to my flower example, which is seven flowers to get for a thank you. and one of them are tuel i hopes. would you have that tulip linked to your site? >> yes, then it's best to have an unbiased article that links to multiple companies, one of them being yours. so it doesn't look like this whole thing is you. it looks unbiased, objective, just trying to educate the consumer. so it works really well if you can compare credit cards, right? or it can be insurance options or flower shops. so it's best if it's not only about you. >> all right. great. this is fantastic advice for all of us. it's really good to know about. and i just love that anything online, you can just test it, put it out there, see if it works, and if not, stop it. thank you so much. appreciate you stopping by. when we come back, cozy and josh return to talk about why you should be net working and

the importance of having a positive mental attitude. 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. what is the perfect cadence for followup for clients?

those are the kind of clients that have not quite bought from you yet. what is too much? and what is too little on those touch points? >> so i would say if the person hasn't bought from you yet, they're not really a client. they are a prospect. and that means you don't have a relationship yet. so you need to focus on building up that relationship. depending on what you're selling, a good cadence could be something like every other week. and the building that relationship by providing them contents and other things of value to their business before you ask for the sale. so maybe you do that two or three times, and then you ask for the sale after you built up that trust and relationship. and if it doesn't work then, then keep on that cadence again, perhaps every other week, until you do close the sale. lather, rinse, repeat, and that should turn those prospects into customers for you. we now have the top two tips you need to know to help you

grow your business. cozy freeman and josh shaw are back with us. now is your chance to say the one thing that someone needs to know to grow their business. so this is company number three for you. >> yes. >> mission. >> yes. >> so what's something you have learned along the way? >> so i learned it very young. i'll give credit to my mom. but i definitely got a lot of reinforcement along the way. probably the best tip i can give is what i call pma. positive mental attitude. >> so true. >> and i think it is critical for any business owner, small, medium, large, entrepreneur, doesn't matter. you face obstacles and headwinds you never expect, and you've got to be able to take no and turn it into motivation for yes. >> so some of us are born that way and some of us aren't. what do you say for the people who aren't sort of naturally inclined to be positive? >> you've got to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. and then it's -- although you may not have been born with it, i think it's something you can learn. and focusing on the positives

will help you overcome the negatives. it's an important trait. >> got it. and focus on it, right? it is a thing you have to do, just like everything else. if it doesn't come naturally, you have to pay attention to it. >> it's like anything. it's not as much the cards you're dealt, it's how you deal with the cards you're dealt. >> absolutely. >> i think also if you surround yourself with people that are positive, that really helps you, as well. >> great point. >> i agree. okay. cozy. >> which kind of leads into my tip. i wanted to talk about net working today. i think networking has a bad rap, and a lot of people are very uncomfortable around it. i know how i always used to feel about it. i felt it was kind of phony, what can you do for me. and i think if you change that framework in your mind and think about how can i help people, and actually create real friendships, these friendships go a very long way. i mean, when i was first starting out, i couldn't find a contract manufacturer that would work with me to create my hair care products. and through net working, i was able to really find, you know,

through the recommendations of people contract manufacturers that would work with me. and it would never have happened otherwise. >> i think also maybe people -- are a little allergic to the term networking. but like the idea of going out and meeting people and talking about your business and seeing how we can help each other. all right. thank you both. i think these were great tips. i really appreciate them. >> thank you. >> thanks. we use avery. avery is an app that's really specific for photo shop editing. and because we do a lot of social media, we use that to really get the look and style of the pictures that we're using. we can add text, do all sorts of fun stuff like that so we are able to use that for a social media accounts. >> one app i use is called free type, and it's important for my business, because i do not have at all a photo shop background. i don't have a graphic arts background. that's not what i do. and retype is a really great app for me, because on the go when i'm in line getting coffee or whatever, i can do a social media post where i can take a

picture of a product and i can go ahead and insert, like, really robust graphics and texts and make it look really professional and polish and had post it on my social media and it looks like i've had someone, you know, really pull it together that's professional. and i'm not. i'm just a regular person doing it. >> one of the tools we use is light speed pos. it's a great web-based, cloud-based pos system. like right now i can look on my cell phone or mac and pull up our inventory or sales for the day, and it shows. it's a really good thing. otherwise i can tell during the day where our sales are. if we're slow during a couple hours or speeding up. it's a really great tool. let's hit the beach for this week's yourbizselfie. from bill and david in panama beach, florida, who own panama beach time.

now why don't you pick up your smartphone and send it to your business at msnbc.com or tweet it. include your name, the name of your business and the location and anything fun or interest about your company. please don't forget to use the hash tag, yourbizselfie. thank you so much for joining us today. as we start our 12th season, i have two groups of people i really want to thank. first of all is my team. most of whom, if you can believe it, have been with us since the very beginning, and they work so incredibly hard to put this show on every week and keep these stories interesting and find our guests. so i owe them a very big thank you. and second of all, i would love to thank all of your guests. running a business is incredibly fun, but it is also really, really hard, and we have challenged these guests to be honest about what they do. because it's the only way that i think that i and you as the audience can really get inspired and learn from what other business owners and business decision makers are doing. so we ask them the hard questions and get them to tell

us stuff that maybe they're not excited for the whole world to hear. but we need them to be honest. so thank you all very much. i look so forward to our next season. now, we would love to hear from you. if you have any questions or comments about today's show, e-mail us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. we read every e-mail we get. go to our website, openforum.com/business. we post all of our segments and a whole lot more. and don't forget to connect on our digital and social platforms, as well. we look forward to seeing you next time. until then, i'm jj ramburg. 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. . i have a message to all the white supremacists and the nazis who came into charlottesville today. our message is plain and simple. go home. you are not wanted in this great commonwealth. go home. and never come back. take your hatred and take your bigotry. there is no place