and don't forget about them. uh huh, sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. good morning, everyone. coming up on msnbc's "your business," these two college dropouts built their watch brand on social media and are now doing more than $80 million in revenue. want to do the same? how you can boost your business by using the power of instagram. will the creator of this cover for ipads and tablets get the chance to sell her product live on hsn? we'll see what the judges think. we've got your back so let's grow fast and work smart. that is all coming up next. ♪

>> hi there, everyone. a few years ago, the idea of using social media channels for key marketing and sales strategies was still very unfamiliar territory for many business owners. but today, the tides have changed. the use of social influencers to promote brands is skyrocketing. and businesses of all kinds are using instagram and facebook and others to sell products directly to consumers. that is how the watch company movement went from a start-up to doing $08 million in revenue in just a few years. i recently met up with the 20

something owners to hear how they got a jump start by adopting these strategies very early on. when jake and cramer started their watch company movement in 2013, they knew exactly what they didn't want. >> the watches that were at our praise point, we didn't resinate with the brands. the watches that we liked, we couldn't afford. >> they looked around at watch companies and mostly saw old school business models with old school marketing. it was an industry right for disruption. >> smartphones have been around, the utility of a watch that's changed. it's a fashion accessory. >> college dropouts who had been starting businesses consistently since a young age, jake and cramer were students of the internet. >> being a generation born on social media is a unique value, just seeing different trends in realtime. >> when they launched, their idea wab simple. nice design at an affordable price.

and the way to get there? don't work with retailers and don't spend a lot on getting the word out. >> what's the one thing you did early on to reach customers that completely worked? >> it was simply finding certain people to talk about the products. they post a picture of the watch and have some type of authentic message. it wasn't rocket science at the time and it wasn't called influential marketing. >> jake and cramer built their brand on instagram and sold their products only from their own website. from the beginning, they understood the power of the post. >> we were pushing our customer to send us pictures, post on inextra gram, tag us. sourcing that content was huge because it made all of our early adopters feel like they were kind of part of this brand from the very beginning. >> the mvmt brand offered more than just a nice watch. it was an invitation into the world of millennials which the founders and customers created together. >> we enjoy this lifestyle of

kind of getting outdoors or traveling the world. that's really what the brand represents. >> but that was then. while the company's following has continued to grow, both founders understand the world has changed from those early days. they're not sure if they could do that. now we get lucky if we can pay someone $10,000 to post. >> do you think influencer marketing works today as well as it did five years ago when you started? >> i don't think so. because there just wasn't -- there's saturation now. customers are used to seeing ads in the feed so they don't know if it's authentic or not. >> but that doesn't mean jax and cramer have turned their backs on the marketing that launched them. they simply see it differently now. once they saw a lot of value in big names. today, those posts are incredibly expensive and not

necessarily effective. >> we try now to go after more of these smaller accounts, more authentic, people who aren't posting ads as often, people who we can build a relationship with. >> if i'm an influencer, you invite me into this office. how do you get me to love your product? >> we love them to come in here and check out different products. if they're going to like the product and wear it on a regular basis, that's better for us than having a product they're going to wear once. >> not only that, mvmt is not a start-up any more. with $80 million in revenue and extensions into jewelry and accessories, they've had to shift gears in order to stay on top. the pair has started to embrace all that they turned their backs on in the beginning. early on, they avoided traditional advertising. now they're making tv ads. selling wholesale to traditional retailers was also out of the question. now they have exclusive accounts with stores like bloomingdales and nordstroms. >> as we've groan and become bigger, it's giving us more opportunities where being a bootstrap company four years ago

we couldn't afford to buy inventory for nordstrom and get paid 45 days later and do tv ads because it was expensive and we don't know if that money was going to give us a return on their investment. >> but they are clear that none of this could have happened if they didn't start small. >> you're able to have the data to track every brand that you spend rather than going too wide too quickly. >> do the two of you ever sit around and go oh, my god, we did it. >> we still kind of run the company as if it is still a start-up. >> no late-night high fives? >> unfortunately -- >> yes, you deserve it. one now. >> instagram played an enormous part in the successive movement. but what if you don't have a product business that is easily photographed? we met up with jasmine start at the traffic and conversion summit to find out how you can use this popular social medicine

network to get more customers. >> it's the fastest growing platform. if you wanted to hedge your betts, what should i be invested in, you're going to want to go with the one that grows the fastest and has the most engagement. that's instagram. >> i think it's easy to think about what to put on instagram if you have a design company or a travel company. it's clear what to put on there. >> yes. >> what if you sell widgets? how do you figure out what to put on this very visual media? the key is to showcase the widget, but have that be the smallest component of what you're sharing. the idea would be to sell the lifestyle or the aspiration that the widget provides. the idea would be to showcase what you do professionally from a personal capacity. so if i was a business coach, if i was a lawyer, if i was a life coach, i would hire a photographer or barter, trade my services to ensure that i got at minimum 30 photos that i could

share of the month. then i have to showcase what this does. me with my secretary, me with a cup of coffee. >> so to get the right mix on instagram, you want to have your feeling of your company through visuals and mix that in with something a little bit more literal. >> absolutely. i firmly believe that visuals and specifically the captions that we write are copies, our indirect business conversations. we're selling what it provides, not necessarily the widget that we're talking about. >> how does that ultimately translate to sales? >> that alone doesn't. instagram is about the long game and it's about building trust. trust is a digital currency on instagram. if people don't trust you, they won't buy from you. how do you get them to trust you? you have to showcase personal aspects of your professional business.

there are too many people who do what you do and what i do. a brand is a decision why somebody will choose one business over the other based on memories and expectations and experiences. so we are empowered to create experiences on instagram, experiences of you on vacation, but talking about how you've worked for 12 years to get to where you are today that's empowered you to take your family on vacation. it's no longer about this man, she's living the best life. it's more about i worked this hard, i will empower you to do the same thing or hire me as a division of the things that you want in your own life. >> so you figured out step one for you is figure out what you're going to be posting on instagram. >> no. >> back it up. >> let's back it up. i'm so sorry. step one is to figure out who you are selling to. it's so basic, but it's tantamount to your success. are you selling to men, women, 25, 35, 55? do they live in a big city, small town. what was their last youtube

search? do they live in the midwest or are they coastal? all of these kergsz come inconse into oh, the content we need to attract our dream customers. i'm not about metrics or getting millions of followers. although if you can, rock it out. but what makes you successful is your bottom line. number one, figure out who precisely you're selling to. number two, then figure out how to create content that will attract those people to your account. >> now let's get to number three. how do i get people to start seeing it sn, following me. >> first we'll focus on the low hanging fruits and that's going to be hashtags. but i don't want to encourage entrepreneurs to use hashtags that presupposes why people would be on instagram. i do not want to use hashtags like entrepreneur or business minded or business tips. i'm presupposeding that my dream customer is going to instagram

looking for business tips. that's not the psychology of how people engage on instagram. if i knew that i was targeting men in their young 30s to buy my protein supplement or perhaps invest in my business coaching, it need to see what do they do on the weekends? where do they ang out? what are their favorite drinks? what entiegss them? all of a sudden they're in this hashtag that they are regularly chewing the fat, hanging out on a saturday afternoon and they think, what is this photo? they click on the account and they say this was the thing i didn't know i needed and now i cannot live my life without it. thanks so much. good to see you. >> thank you. i am in st. petersburg, florida, at the campus of hsn, the original shopping tv company. now, this is a big deal because we're doing our elevator pitch here. our guest is going to have the chance to show their product to two executives from hsn.

one runs the american dreams program. the other is in charge of quality control. so if there's something wrong with the product, he's going to figure it out. if our pitcher gets the on-air sign from these executives, they'll have the chance to come back and sell their product live to hsn's 91 million households. this could be life changing. >> hey, lucy. it's j.j. >> hey, j.j. so good to meet you. >> i am. >> so excited to hear about this cool product. tell me the name of the company again. >> sleek vision design and the product is call sleek. >> i want to get you into the studio so you can choose from the two people from hsn who are going to give you, or not, the chance to pitch this on hsn. >> awesome. i'm super excited. >> if you get this, what does it mean for your company. >> this is sort of make or break. this is a product that will

benefit from being demonstrated on tv. so i think if it works for tv and i get through and sales are good, that this will be a good litmus test for that. >> how do you feel going into this? >> i'm a little nervous. >> you do not even seem a tiny bit of nervous to me. >> you're not in my belly. >> let's get you inside and see how you do. i think you're going to do great. go ahead. >> hey, guys. so good to see you. how is everything? >> i'm well. i'm dara. >> lucy. >> nice to meet you. so my name is lucy peligrino and my company can is slick lizard design. imagine a case for your ipad, tablet or e-reader that bridges the gap between fashion and protection. slate is a patented multi reversible neoprene sleeve that could be turned inside out 16 different ways giving you 16 different looks in one case all while keeping both sides of your

tablet protected rather than just one side. there are three sizes currently. the 9.7 inch size, a little bigger for the pro size tablets and a smaller mini version. let me show you how it works. basically, you just reach in and you turn it inside out. now you can go from a pattern to a solid color. there are three solid colors. so you can just reach in and turn it again and then again for your fourth color. and then you can keep changing it by turning a flap, the top flap in one direction, the bottom flap or both flaps. until you get to 16 combinations. it's like a magic trick. >> i was just -- i've got to interrupt you because your 60 seconds is up. i was about to say that. it feels like a magic trick. >> and then there's more. there's so many things in this. this is so neat. >> fantastic job. >> thank you. >> let's hear feedback from you guys. >> breathe now.

okay. i like it. it's really unique. and for our customer, our customer loves to customize. so i think this is really good for our customer. question for you. the name, slate, but yet i see chameleons. i feel like it's more like a chameleon type of a product. >> slate comes from tablet. that's why slate comes from and the s-l is slick lizard. so you can change the look of your case to match your outfit, what you're doing where you're going. >> you're bridging fashion and function. and it's highly demonstrable. so, you know, the customer at home, and the market can see all the different things she can do with it. >> absolutely. >> so, you know, i really think it's a brilliant idea. so glad you've got your patents that you've put together on it. >> thank you. >> i think it would be -- >> i'll tell you, it's never -- >> once you start, you can't stop. >> we're going to let them talk.

and this is what you were talking about, lucy, earlier is that this is something that needs to be shown. >> yeah, absolutely. absolutely. >> now that you have done your job -- >> i feel better. >> do you feel better? >> yeah, i feel a lot better. they're chatting. what's going to happen now is we are going to come over here, look at this sign over here where it says on-air. i'm going to stop them in just a second and we're going to see if you're going to get a chance to be on air. >> does that give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down? >> it's going to light or not. >> i'm done twisting this as many ways as i can. come over here, lucy. >> all right. >> will lucy get a chance to sell this on hsn to millions of customers? take a look. >> yay! >> awesome. >> you're going to be on hsn. >> sorry. coming in for a hug. >> hug first. >> yes. >> this is a great, great product. >> thank you. >> it seems speaks for itself. you don't even really -- you

just keep turning. go, girl. >> you just need me to be selling it. >> we might need to bring you back when she's on air just to demo it. that's perfect. >> so many layers and without a lot of bulk, either. >> exactly. >> that's the other great thing. >> i'm taking you and your product off. thanks, you guys. >> congratulations. >> see new a while. >> i'm excited. i'm so much less nervous than i was. >> well, yeah, because you just got the yes. of course you're less nervous now. no, it worked opini. you you did it. that is a magz. many of you with kids have probably heard of california baby skin care products. they're organic and they're free from harmful chemicals. it all started with a mother of two who turned her quest for finding a safer baby shampoo into a booming empire. natalie morales has her story. >> inside this high tech facility, california baby makes some of the world's safest skin

care products. the name, synonymous with kid safe and pure and the mastermind behind this global $835 million brand is jessica, a former stay-at-home mom who had a great idea. >> some people start their companies from inspiration. and i started my company with outrage. >> it was the early '90s. she left her job as a fashion buyer to be a full time mom, wanting to use safe products on her son. she decided to research the ingredients in his baby shampoo. and got the shock of her life. >> and i found a chemical dictionary at the library and started looking up the ingredients that were in this shampoo and found that a lot of them were listed as carcinogens with synthetic fragrances, harsh cleansing agents. and i really found that unacceptable. >> you were ahead of your time in that every -- this was like the early 90s. >> yes. >> before the organic baby cleansers and all of that even became a market. >> right.

>> did you see a need in the marketplace right away? >> i saw a need in my life of and i saw a need in the lives of my friends. >> with no background in chemistry, she cold called a.top scientist who helped her create an all-natural organic shampoo in her own kitchen. with that, california baby was born. >> the process to making that first batch of products, you did borrow about $2,000 from your mom. is that right? >> i did. i wanted complete autonomy. i didn't want anybody telling me what to do or how to run my business. >> how what does mom say? she said i knew you were going to do it, i knew you could. >> iglasoy started selling her shampoo at a chain of stores in los angeles. when that chain was bought by whole foods, she went national. now california baby has over 90 products from shampoos and washes to baby lotions and sprays sold everywhere from target to walmart. and they're all made here in this solar powered fda certified

organic factory near her home in l.a. >> why was that important for you? >> because i wanted to have control. and i also wanted to up the quality. >> and you have no science background. no mba or anything. >> nothing, nothing. no man or >> nothing. >> what's better than a science background and mba is mama bear instinct. that's what i had. that's what led me. that's what drove me. >> as ceo, iclisoy is involved in every step from manufacturing to marketing, to r&d, regularly testing her products for purity and safety. she even started her own nonprofit to push for stricter government regulation of skin care products. >> i didn't start this to start a business. i started it to make change. and it's a movement for me. that's why i love it. every day. >> you're one of the most successful female ceos in the country. how do you think being a woman helped you? >> first of all, i didn't try to

be a man. we have a lot of gifts i don't think we always tap into. i use my power of observation a lot. i use my communication skills a lot. a lot of what i do is about saying no. like, no, huh-uh, it's not good enough. >> that's probably a hard thing to learn. i have a hard time saying no. >> it is something you have to learn, you're right. it's not something that comes naturally. i realized that i needed to have a sense of entitlement. i'm entitled to be at this table. nobody gives it to you. you really have to take it. claim it. i think that's how women can help each other, sharing their experience. >> we have launched the second season of our podcast been there, built that. this week we are talking to qaa train. she first paired chocolate with bac bacon. she is honest about the highs

and the tough parts of growing the company. i hope you all get a chance to listen to it. if you do, please give us feedback. the podcast is new. we would love to hear what you think. go listen for free. been there. built that. apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. when we come back, a viewer grapples with whether to bring on investors and grow fast or stay the cower. is and why you should set time aside to investigate future opportunities. ♪ ♪ (baby crying) ♪ ♪ don't juggle your home life and work life without it. ♪ ♪ and don't forget who you're really working for without it. ♪ ♪ funding to help grow your business... ♪ ♪

another way we have your back. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. so for my business i have been completely self-funded. so is i'm trying to figure out what is the deciding factor in whether to bring in a group of investors to help me grow my business ten-fold, or do i just keep growing at a slower pace? >> so when you think about fund-raising, i got a good piece of advice from a friend of mine who is a venture capitalist, beth ferrera. she said it isn't about money. it is about power. when you raise money, you partner and you have in else accepts a box.

so you want to think about how that will change the way you fund your business. in terms of expertise and support. so what i would encourage you to do is talk to investors, figure out what they can bring to the table and sit is town and have a hard conversation about what they expect in terms of when they are going to get on out, sell their shares and what they are going to do as partners. if you can find somebody who shares your vision, definitely consider taking some money from them. >> we have the top two tips you need to know to help you grow your business. let's introduce our pam and get their advice is. a motivational speaker, best-selling author, invested the rule number one podcast and he crow wrote "invested" with his daughter. and a global mur research and consulting firm is and author on of "next is now." five steps for embracing change,

building a business that thrives into the future. which your company just got acquired. so congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> fantastic news. one tip. >> as a business owner, you've got to allocate time to actually worry. not about what the trends are coming. so much technology is come canning into businesses. they are busy with the operation, busy with fulfillment of customer needs. they are actually not paying attention to the next. one day your success seems to be completely irrelevant. it is very natural to worry about it as your business grows. but you have to budget time to actually look at what are the trends coming in, what's next in your industry, what's next around it and make sure you incorporate it into your business. >> how do you expect is you do that? >> set up time. >> do you read books? >> something very simple. part of what i'm doing. once a week i will stop and say what is the least relevant to my

business? i'm going to go and just expose something i didn't think about. the thought might come from biology, somebody in health care in affect. whatever it is, true to see where it's coming from. that's the first thing. second, try to identify blogs, podcasts or sources not in your mainstream and see what are they telling but the overall customer environment in which we are seeing. but the notion of not paying attention to the next is probably the biggest risk. not your operational worries about how do i fulfill the next shipment or request from customer. >> our book is a best seller. congratulations. another best seller under your hat. what tip do you have? >> the most important thing that i think about when we're building a business is to kind of copy the best investors in the world, warren buffett and charlie in my opinion. they are looking at specific things when they want to buy a business. why not build your business that

would match those things. those guys might buy it if it's big enough. or of course somebody else will. they are looking for an intrinsic is characteristic that protects it from competition. almost protects it from the need to change rapidly in a sense. it would be ideal. i remember buffett was talking about not investing with bill gates and in srft in chewing gum. it doesn't change very quickly. the thing you have to look for is to say what characteristic can i put into this company that nobody can copy, that they can't take away from me and just copy exactly. what happens with most entrepreneurs is they start to compete on price. okay. i'm going to do a house cleaning company. i'm going to have a lower price and i'm going to compete that way. it's a disaster. >> it is is not sustainable. >> it's horrible. >> thanks so much. good to see you both. this week's your biz selfie

is from reginald smith who owns supreme vinegar in bensalem, pennsylvania. he uses no sugar, no chemicals, no additives and comes in unique flavors like pineapple, maple and date. those sound good. do exactly what reginald did. pick up a smartphone and take a picture of you in your business and send it to msnbc.com. let us know your name, the name of your company, your location, is and use the #your biz self issy. thank you so much for joining us. here's something to remember this week. earlier this week washington issued a warning about russian cyber attacks against not only government and big business but small companies and private homes as well. this is not particularly new, but i bring it up because it should serve as a reminder to do a security audit at our companies. this is something we all should be doing anyway but sometimes it doesn't happen. 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. please go to msnbc.com/yourbusinesses. we put up everything from today's show, plus a whole lot more for you. and you can find even more on all of our digital and social media platforms as well. and then remember, listen for free to our original podcast been there built that on apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. we look forward to seeing you. until next time, i'm jj ramberg. and remember we make your business our business. ♪ ♪ (baby crying) ♪ ♪ don't juggle your home life and work life without it. ♪ ♪ and don't forget who you're really working for without it. ♪ ♪

funding to help grow your business... ♪ ♪ another way we have your back. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. ♪ morning glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. on today's show, but after the break, jake tapper joins me to talk about his terrific new novel, the hell fire club set in the era of mccarthyism. but first three members of today's press join me to look back at just the wildest week culminating a conversation of the president and fox and friends, the meeting in korea. tim alberta of politico, courtney kube