every smalal b busess is looking fofor atat one thing th will getet i cususmemers talkin. we meet one compapa inustin at found it in t t formofof an 8-foot asasti mentntplplus easy waays get h word o about your b buseses on ththe cheap. it is a s spealal marketingg edition n congngp next on "your buness." it is n just any business,

it i is urur usiness. at's why ameririca express open proud to present"ur siness" on msnbc. hihi, there, everyone. i'j.j. amburg and welcome t t "your business." we give you t tip on h h to maa your b busesess grow. today r emphasiss o on maetetin when bluffff avocadoaached theieir business, theyeynn they would need something flashcyoo catch pelele attention,n, a they foodd it inn t the trtras >> a plastic ball, huh? >> meet slumpy, and 8-8-fo round

ball of f pltiti b bag that mam ititway through this t tow in auststin xaxas. >> it is crazy. is huge. >>tt fifinily makes atement. anan i like ththt. >> got a bag o o my own. >> slumpy t t brainchchd off the bag companyny calaldd blue avocado. >> the bee avavadado oup pack sysyem was created to lplp peopopleorort of take thatirst stst i i going ggre,, s atate have done e is created a six-p-e system. d d ea bag h its own functionality. >> this is the corner snene of thr marketingampaign to get cocoumumerto stop usinglastic anstart u usiheir baba. . >> slulump has-- he has b bught upon lo a and people feel sad r him.

you know,, when he's's rliling is s st t of a sadd stete o of fafair >> you t tkk about him likike hs person. is a big ball of bags. no, no, nono. he is so much re. >>ee capturur p peoe in a w w thatat'sinind uplifting and enlightening andt is the perfrft t enreretotoet people tatake the billioion-ckck plple >> the billion-back pdgdge is where they a people too curb theirlastic hahabi. >> hihi therere. have you been part of the campmpgngn w avoid blasting bags? itit gets theheonfrontation started and that, inn turn, seel babags >> this is allll autut king into alaly the nonoti t tha we keeep caring about,, t the impact of plasasti bags on thehe environm. >> we have seen a aft t the campaigns s th t t next week our sasalewill go up. w we nt to thank you today. now we are giving aay a f fee bag. ululd youii aeggie bag or a

throw bag? >> thihis pe of activity made e decision to rrrr the gr pack a -b-braer. >> theyaa to with a great ideaea. we thought giantlog of plastic bagsgs t to rollroroun city, we want too co io your store d set up the table andnd geteoeopl to take t the pledge o stop using grocery babag > h manyarar you w wliling t save? toto aweek? th is hureds a year. >>heheer it is othth street n e retailers ornn blue avocado'swebsite,t t is essential. > think people are realally huryryoconnect and that's w w wewe he a social median in t ti neworld of m maeting so powerful. >>age does most o otthe blgigi and ysys t most important ththinisis to b auththtitic,hich is why when you rereaderer pt, there's nhing formal aboutut them. . >> we have seseriss crusushe at

blue avocado, whether itit i a gogo-ole ccsh. >>heherrov that she has delolopeanmazing twtwk of new ffenends >> gnted, i have nenerr met them, ththeyrere a virtual, but it is really empowering d fun. beyond jst unun,t is where they find manyofof their cucusterers. >> our online mmmmuny really startedd p payng it forwardtoto otothepeople fororther peopple o keke the ededge >> since launching a year ago, theoome havee developed a relationonipip with wholeoooods anddrrgers throughout t the cotrtrand they have taken ,0,0 plastic b bag o off the mamaet, but they say th's just the very first stepep on t t ro 1 blion. >> i ihihinke are reallyrying toppppreate every single moment becauauseouou juston't know, but i i think we are real just getting started.

>> schlumy r realy got p pplple talking aboutavocado. hohow n you gethe ball rolling fofor your cocopapany we'lll talkto erikand jojon.n. g gre t to see yguys. ofourse, john,n,'m going to talk to yoyoecause you are the expert o on this. what did you think? well, i i ououghit was great.. the rereas that really worked, the stuntsanbabafire and people can get involvlvednn the. that reaeayy woork bececsese it was s so authentic andndery in tune with their brd.d. i love that they kept referencing that thehe s sel mo product. at tend of the daday, that's wh alall isis isout, butut t tught ththiseally worked. >> i wt in aitite skeptitill d dthe piecee beuse i don't believe in theigig stunts. this was not that e expsisi and it d defititely got people's's atntion. there e waa a ll to action.

y youave to gveve peoplele something they cananelelie n,n, right? if y y areakinghahat a cocommity product and j jzing it upandchcharng a prmimium, when ththeyuy blueavocado, they m m pay rr but they y ar getting the pledge and the n experience of the scsclumpy. ople may pay p preumum for that. >> think the green mararke i ia littlele ugugh, toto thpepele really into it,, they hahaveheaa alady. th made their own bag o of something, b buthehe market th are teter, whihichss really m m whatat w wou call the conscious consumer, theyey wto do this ststuf t the know it i i the rit thining do,, t they stillll ea and drive an suv. its s th awareness. when they s that coming ththem they say atat's what i'm trtruting to. >> i think the other thing that wawas poportt was how the mager from whole odod said thfact t tyy were doing this crcrted a marketingng stunt a a that got them onhe show. >> evevenf it doesn't do anything on the consumer side,

it eventually does cacae it gets y ynto thesee stores.s. you know what e el thought was inintesting, it is not ju the rolling bag or th pledge, b bu papart othe whoho campaign that then ntnt into the social media. there e we s soany facets of itt i i sa you shaking youour head n taing about paige yiyi it needs to be authentic. y yea well,you are ababsotetelyight. didinghe other t thi on it peopletotoday just crave connnneconon wh the products and the coompieiethey do b busess with. i i thk k e of the thingngshehe are doing isis taking this so f inanimate tthi, a g,g, and taking i i to lifefe. >> she was s sayg hehe >> rightht they arere allowing peoplele t connect at aerersol level that wa fun. will spend ouour ststollar to bebe warare enenteaining. i i ink that's what they are doing a little bit of. >> i think thehe twitter poostg and ththe ogog really helped to bring the energygy a and the rsonality of the managagemtt team to o ee forefront of tis brbrd d an it makeses people ge exexcid about using this onn daily basis.

>>hehetakeaway is w whayou said fore, if you are goioing to do sothing like this, it has t to berorom ur coreendnd what your company isis a ababou all right.t. thanks, youguys. nowow it is time to answer some of ur business questioions about rketing. ththfifirsone is frromhehe owne of a salonanan spaequipment company. >> howow do you know how much to spend onales and marketinginin smsmal businessss and e e send part of the question is,s, how do you know you u ar getting the r rig r ren on the dollarss t thaou spend? >> that is an interesting question b bauauseou can't alalys figure out what your turn on m maetetg is. ww you p put these nmbmber somethinintoto t. >> well, innterms offhehefifit question, which is how much t t enend on marketing, ok at your n n buet. how much m mon d d you have to spear outside of opereratnsns, first of all, but the s sond rtrt of the question is much rere important, how do you know if you are gtiti the right reretu? you have too look at the costst whatever your marketing vicic isis a ten figige e out, u u

know, , ww my leads is tss generating, hohow nyny s sas ist acacalallyeading to and does the contribubuonon ogross mrgin on your product justifyhhat vevestnt. >> thahas s ha to do. thth person is p problblyot putting out a tetevivisi commercial, , bu we'll s say yoo not to a specialebebsi or phone number, you dodon'knknow w many people are c comgg because of the coercial. >> i t tel people not toto run advevertininthat youu can't r acuntable. i i inink at can become aee problem. >> which is why the webis so brilliant. >> absolutely. there are a lot off things you can do. phone n nbebershat can be tracked, there are a t of ways to trckck. would like to go bacacknd address theefifirspart, partrt two, about the percentage. there are a lotf textbooks o out ththerththate are expososin o o childrenen to ththat willugugge marketingshould be 0%0% of -- that's t thearar tht,t, u u kn i think you can't do a numumbe like that. has to be, what does i it cos toet a lelend are you making a a prit on that w wenen you cle the dedeal >> that's s ee return investmen. agree.

i thinink atat makingng t use o promototioll codes and tracking devices is vital. >> that's the onlyay to do it if you are goioing tck it ee neextone is from caroline.e. she wwris,s, i s srtrted a home eaeani business and i pass out business cards, a flyer and didispy in a nk, but i'motot gegettg any ccal. cacan uuelp me w wi informationn on what else i i sulul be dog?g? >> thatat one oththeerft businesses where her custstoms, hopefully they are happy,,would prproblyly bethrilled toto sre what she dds. i i wod find some wayays to reay incentivizize ememr educate them ways they might pass s on, mamaybaacocoup for arree clclning or something t toheir friends.s. >> would you do smething like that? >> wouldbebeuse this is a word off utut bussins.s. this person isis coming io youo home and you woululdlike a fried tellllg g yo ttt. >> youou t thi more hahan, here gi t thito yourririen for a free cleaning. if y youetet a cleaning, thenou get a seice. >> t tt't's at i was thinking. shshereally has too figure out

atat h target market is and to hofufull generere some woword o mouthddrtising would be grgrea existing clienentseeed to get a discscntnt ianother person ys apackage. also, ririghnow, a a l lot of hoekekping servrvic, , whh could be consisided d commodidy bubunenessare focusing on wayss todifferentiate themselves f fro the competetitn,n, f example, usining llreen or natural eaeansroducts o oaving a website to buyuy a packakage of productsonline. that could be helelpf to geterer name o out there. >> tohe nextxt qststn about social neworking sites lik fafaceokok. >> what are e ee benefits and cn business reallll ve blog and iteaeall d doe't cost any moy.y. they say it isisfrfree butut is really f fre because there'sa lot of at miminiration involved. >> facebook k is eeee. i i ha a question aboutlogs beuse a lot of pplplesay youou

should blog, but then uueed toto wte something interesting sosoeople reead it. would love too h he your take on this. > ihink every business should have a blog, but that's n n becaususe opoplere waking up to a and read john's blblo it is because thousands of people are searching for answers to problems they have or i in eir commununit a a ogog content or frequently updated c coent s showing upup iththe earch engines. itit i absolutely theest way be found. sure, , the'e'an invesestmttof time. >> at t th p pnt, tthoh, it is not freeee bauau it is tining yoyo t tim or an employee's's t. >> it is not absolutely eee, but comomrered trying t to geta spot on tvtv or radio, that's huge advantage ththe.. it's the o oortunity offour time. it i is popoant to haveouou bl and to get mentioned inn other peoplplsslogs andave linkabable searchable content t optimimizewhere you a areoioing meme u in a google s srcrch. >> let's movee o to th next one.e. this is a question xrorom omomhe nener of the companany cucusi on

online products f for spas.s. >> we are involved in the aa dudust, not a high-tech industry,oo we struggleleall the time with the marketing mess eses. do we take ourur meagage to m e it look mrere li the innststry or should wee lean intoouour technology to standout from the graphic that is we aeeee within thehe s industry allll t time? >> t thiisis so interesting cause probably once he gets thee meeting he can selell ,, b how w do h he resent himselfoo get the meetiting >> theeyey tothth question w, should we look like everybobody else? that to ,, a absutely not. ththk your goalss a smalll business owner, the worldd believes thatt one spa cooananys lilikenonoer. u u ha to showhem why yo are dififfentnt. >> i gus, but should y y look like the innststry you are tatarging? nott keke another indudustho is dodog g whououre ddoi, but should his merialaaveaa-i types ofof - >> he has to understandhehe

catering and e vibe of his cuomomer but since he is providing a ecechnogy serrvi, , it is importrtanfofor m as w wl to s shothem why is brging tenonogical expertisise eyey don't havevenn aayay to mee him comfortable and n not overwhelm. >>haha you for the advice. 'l'lhave you back l lat for the e eletotor pitch. all thehese questions caca fom our viewers, so i you have a questionon for rrexperts, go t ouour website. click on ththe coonttt upnknk. also, you can view thiss segmen another p prtrtio of our show. u u wi also find w exusive ntntenand videoeos w wh more information n h hel you grow ur buness. all the e inrmrmion andhe advicece to h hp youunun your small business iss at yourbusiness.msnsn.c.com from the ditit worldtoto olddasashied word ofmouth, ere are plenty of w ws s toake people awawaiv aware o y you business and youou don't veve t break the bbk,k, either. re are exexpe tips giveven out rit t he frfr t theshsh.

>> t first questitionththat alwawa a askomebody , whoss yoururarargemarket? who are you trying to selel t t cacae you want to as specific about defining who that person, who that markekeisis gog to be. once you have defined that pepers, then you can starto do the ssrch on what types of tradehhow could be applicable totohat market. there are some that cause of the sizef f he showow,ouou migh have to be alilitt b more out loud.. you might have to spendnd a l le make up on ining there. then t the a arethers that a ar aller, more nicheriented whwherifif you have, say oyy101 to 200xhxhibors atshow, it is not difficulult g gethe tetentn of the attendees lking through. > y h he a a few seconds too convince s smeone whether thehe should continuecoconsering you or hit theacac button. rere the e explple ofofhehe bsbsite that tually google dedeveped. it hasasot of informamati he,, but it yy not doasas well onon t eighght-coco test which

sa in the first fewsecond, the u urhould know exactly what they y ee gtiti, why they ould be ierested and what to dodo nt.t. >> it n'n't sellili.. it is s atwo-wawayonversation with y yr customers. ho can you levevera that? an exaxamp would be what in your business orr i indtry is informative. think of it asan education tool, not a selliningtool. >> put it outube and thehe there'e'aa lot of d deadd silen because you have t tgeget it ou thther i always say,y, iids, ffamy, coworkers, e-mail t the link. it is syruply e-maililinththe link, but then sndnd it to bloggers or s sd it to t th induduryry tde publication to coverouour industry. sending it tooomebody locally in thegeography, theococ newspaper, the locaca websites, always good ways becausus a aboy whwho going toririte about it and talk aboutut it, if thhey tk it isremarkablele, funny or the other things wee talked aut,

th a a going to tlk about it and it is going to go vivil. i i tnk it ces from t the dnaa on your siness, and t tt is creating a participatatio cultue where not onlyemployees are particicipining what you u ee trying to accomplish, , buour customers s arasas well. u have the opportunity too become innlvlved and that helps to spread t wrded in so many different waysys. >> we have moreeays toet the word out about yoyobusiness. y y it we mails,utut will pele readadthem? 'l'l show you how catch ththr r atntion. andd tlevatoricicre neededselelp with sellingng her ptop pictures. i'm katrina mamaofoff, owner of vosges s ha chocolates. we combine chohocotete with exotic c ros,s, fwers and spices to createteasaste that tell cultltur s sries. but in today's onony, how do y youunun ausiness thth''s about indulgence, - yet mamaininin fiscal resesnsnsibity? - ( cacashegegter bell dings )

seininprospective clients carequire more than trufufeses with hunungaananaprika to s seaththe al. so to make e eve d dolr we spendndo o thmost for us, we use ourur aririn express op c chae card. it's the e rdrd tt understands whatat mbubuness needs. u useembership rewawas s pots visit clients and venenrsrs all over the worldld. and we rely y o op's conciergrge rvrve to get ouour ieient into the t t h hots and restaurarant which makes usus lkk pretty sweetet. when you'rere sliling exotic chococotetes, having a card you u ca count on isn't t a xury. it''s s necessity. announcer: totodahow you run your business is anything but tytypil.l. sose the card that isn''t your typical creredicaca. the amameranan eress open c crgrge rd. to see what an o onn charge card can dodo for your business,s, visit open.com/yououiziz c cal888-550-open. >>wiwithhe economy puttingg

pressure o on markrket e spre preyouourere i are lelearngng e-il newswsleerers e v vit tro tatain cuomers. eric is here foror constant contact and authohoofof t new bookononstt contact gdede to e-mail marketetin"" a a lile marketg g urself in thatat tle. tt it's great to haveveouuyuy here. yoyocecertnly see e-mails ttt go o o e eve day,andt't's importanant r r ople knowwhwhat mamakeaa good news lteter and what doesn't. the first thingis, howow do you get it ooped. my inbnbox is filledd w wi t to news leetts.s. >> that't' a a great question. the firsrstt thingng you need t think k ouout,ou're sendiding ta permrmsisi permission-based list. there's two things t therere gng to lookk at, the "from"iine an the "subject" line. thth'll ask themselves tw questions, do i knowow y you an i care.e. thsusubjt lineis asking the

quqution, do i care, andndhehe from line, do i i kn you? >> soouou' sesendgg this pele who are already y yrr custstoms?s? >> exactly. yoyou ntntto build a rmission-based list anand rtrturthat relationshship thugugh ongoing commununicioion. >> how do yoyoknknowf you have a good subject lie. w is it catchy? >> s s you're a a cpa. u could send out a monthly ne letter and your subject ne says "monthlhly newsletter." t whatff you c chge that subject line to"twtw t ts to get auaudid by the ir." that might be sosoththin i want to know about. >> that t mit t the important thing you o,o, with pickck that subjecect nene. d d then, you'veot people to op i i you have t to llllhing sothing intereststin >> we've got totoet away fmm

at urge to sell, ell, sel.l. we're gng to t tde offf their attention byby ecacang them sosomeing to know about. so whetherryoyou' a chef sharing greatrecipe, oror a a lanancaca sharing tips a aut pnnts erer won't eaeat. yoyou ntnt t stand t as a expert.. when they neeeed your seicices, u'u'rehe one you're g ging to turn to and re likely to forward your e e-ml off to other pepelele. >> that's when t thibebecos an acisition vehicle and not j jt a retentntn or loyaltyvehicle. >> exactct.. >> look, i might have a ton of grtt cononte, , i' an experer but if it doesn't t lo nice, someonons s gog to open it a think, a jule of wowos, i catt look at this.s. >> exacactl that's why w weavav about 4 ststanrdized templatates t tat e care of all that for you. basically, it't'a a ni layout of text andimage that helps put your ntntent in and yourur i im , so that your c camigig looksk

like aeaeautul maarkinin piece. >> and finally, proofread. >> it't's popoant to proofread and look a at it f fr a a grammamacacal standpoint. veve someonehahat sn't been invovoeded ithe content look a itefore you ndnd it ouou you u wa t toake sure all t t links work and makeure it's elelchecked. > ts s wagreat advice. thk you very much for comining .. appreciate it.t. >> you're welcome. a pleasure. theinternet is rapidly chchging the face of marketing, and it can bebetough to kpp up with the trends. our wewebs of the week c help you doousust that.. understandingmararkengngom is a blbloghahat provides a variety i it yourselfarketing and prpr tips. chk out the latest nenews on topics ofooal networkrkinanand search engines and it also s n iveaways and promotionon an linkso other h helul sites for

smsmalbusiness owners. we've ben talking abouout ww you u ca havee the grgreastst product t or servicece b but it doesn'n't tttterf nobody knows abououit. today's elevator pchch is looking f f fundidingo she can raisewwaress for herr fashionable line oflaptop cayiyi cases. >> hi. i'memily, ceo and creative director of soso. we protetectour mostst vavalulee tangible t too y youlaptop by crcreangng stylish ptop b bgsgsr women and menththatre lightweight andd cckckint frfrndndly itartedththe company wiwi my sisist henena, whoo went to tht fashion inststite e ofechnology anwe were t t first laptopop gs sddt momah d desn n ore. we comombi f fun withununion withouout sacrificing ste. and ouour bags a are availillela soir.com, apple.cocomnd at international reililer we'veeoone projecectsoror bmw,w

ao a andmtv. the mobile comomtiting accessors market iss a a multibillion do induststry and we'e' ekekin$10 million toto a aggssssivy markk ourr products and gr our brdsds wexpect sales of $150 million inin fe years,anroif 30%.%. so visit kasory.comomooshshop o invest. >> a alligig. i think k $1mimilln isnene of e biggeseste'e've gotten keke fo go ahead, , john. >> one miminu is a a tough pitc. i think yoyouovered a lot o o ground inn o o minute.. first off, i wouldld write youe check i hadd it, b you go excited aboututhe produdund i prroblylyould have leded to have seen a ttle more,, you knkn, why is this cpapany seservg of $10 millilion i think ththatnn a mmine, all you can do is s se us on the idea of gettingngxcited about it.. i think you di lot of grrtt things. mae that would beththe ly thg g would like to arar a little bit more, aouou why

u'u'reeserving of itit. >> ibsbsolely agree withth j.j. i think thth t the figure iis,ou know, kindnd owawayut ofthe ballpark, , prabablyf what you should be lookokingg for.. hopefully, what y youneed, i i think that t t p proct lookoks amamazgg a t ttt people would be really excitedoo get iolold wi t therowth of thi cocompy y and fundththe marketing, butifi yore going to raise $10 millioioour compmpanririt n now wod probably havetotoe worth atat lst $10 llion. so unlnles you havave the sales support ththatvaluatatn,n, that ululbe a tough figure to o raise. o or ee maybe willing to g gvee awayay lot of the c cpapany or sosomeining. >> well, thehe a areany companies with zeroro revenues that raise $ $1 lllln. >> absololuty.y. we were allll light in the '90s toto i hope you get ititndnd i hope this company i is uguge. thank you veve m mucfor pitching.. we really apappriaiate it. thk k yoso much more evything totoda if a af you ntv a oduct or s svice and ntnt o panel's fefeback, sends an

e-mailil aour business@msnbcbc.c.. include a shororsusummy of what your company does, how mumu money you're trying g to rrsese and d wh y y intend to d do wit atatmoney. you never knkno someone watchihingg g thshow might be inrested inelelng yoyou. geerarati buzz about yurur sisine doesn't have to c co you money. rere a five tips too help y rket your products fororreree coururte "successss magazine. mbmber one, listt yr business wisely. ta advantage of frfr a and ininstry-specific directorieieso reach your targettmarket. o,o,ook into a referral chchan. get to k kwother businesses whos services complimentoour own and explorore cross-promoti. number three, u use the prpres write e informrmatee p psss releleas and comment ononlogs that aree relalati t tyour bubusissss. try too genuinely c conct to people onnshared terests and link your own website. and number fi,, speakiki engagements. vovonteer to speakkttlocal

eveven o o engagegemes where yo ink your peperte would be lulued >> to learnn mee abobo today's showow, to yourbubunenesssnbc.com. you'u'llininweb exclusive content withthororenformation to help you grow y yoububuness. >> t thr things thattan be done, quickchanges, too make their job more effectitive kkthem what their dream job within the company is peoplele a w wilng to t tee on morere rpoponsility and filllnn some of thee g gs that yu u ha in yourr businesss r rht now. >also,eee iereresd in aring about what'soing on th your small business. click on the newsvine oo xt week, a dryry clclnener that rewarding hihis customerer wth hohosof getting them andheir clclhes backn the door. i is probably 220% of our customerss tt t ar receivinin this oerer. >> how spializediscounts ha helped one b busess fight

the effectcts of the recessssio until tm,m, i'mj.j. raramrg. remember, we makake ururusiness ouour sisine. i'm katrtrinmamarkf, owner ofofososgehaut chocolateses. we comomnene ccolate with exoxotiroros, flowers and spices to o crtete ttes that t tl l cuural stories. but in todod''s economy, how w doououun a business ththa's about indulgencece - yeyet ininin fiscscalesespoibility? cash register bell dings ) ) selling prospective clientnts can require more thahan ufuffl thth hgarian paprika toeaeathe deal. so to mamakeveve dollar wewe sndnd dthe most for us, wewesese o american express opop charge card. it's e e ca that understands wh my business needs. use membership wawardpoints to visit clients a andenendo all over t t w wor. and wewe ry y onpen's ncnciee service to get r r ients intoto t t topotels and d ststaunts.