when my employees are happy, my customers are happy. vo: earn points for the things you're already buying. call 1-800-now-open to find out how the gold card can serve your business. president obama elevates the sba to a cabinet division. and we have a look at what is hot to help small businesses from the consumer electronic show. that and more coming up next on "your business."

hi, there, everybody. welcome to "your business," where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. president obama announced the immediate elevation of a chief to a cabinet level post. he wants to put six agencies under one department. >> as long as folks are looking for work and small businesses are looking for customers, i will do everything that i can with my current authority to help. >> and karen mills heads u the sba. congratulations are in order. >> it's an incredible honor to serve in the president's cabinet.

i think it's a reflection of the importance that the administration and the president has put on small business really from day one. >> can you tell me effectively what does this change? symbolically, it means something, but are there things you wouldn't be able to accomplish that you have been able to do it otherwise? >> well, what we want to do is take the next step and really make it easier for small businesses to navigate all across the federal government. right now we collaborate trif klee with many other agencies that do small business activities, but it should be as seamless and easy as possible for a small business. i am sure your viewers would agree that they want to open one door and be able to navigate to the answers that they need right now because they are busy and they don't have time to go to five different places. so that's what we're trying to

accomplish. >> there's no doubt people want to break through red tape and make things easier. but the news from the president got mixed reaction, and the idea of consolidating the six agencies got more of a mixed reaction, a few people saying if you put the agencies together, then the small business may get lost in the mix of things. >> well, you need to make sure you are up-to-date. we have a 20th century government structure and a 21st century set of problems and small business activities that we want to promote, and we need to be able to do that in a more coordinated way, so as we look forward, i don't want anybody to think small business will get second shot. small business is really elevated. i think that's the message that the president is trying to send.

>> so that merging will take congressional approval, but your elevation has already happened. you are now part of the cabinet. tell me a little bit about your goals for the 2012 sba. >> i encourage all of the small businesses out there to come to our website, sba.gov, and take a look at what we're doing, and manufacturing right now is really on a roll, and we have a lot of experience working on supply chains, because we run the supply chain for small business, and we are trying to look at other manufacturers and see if we can bring jobs back to the country. we're working with big business to see if they would bring back to the u.s. part of the supply chain.

>> you know, i would love to keep in touch with you about this, because we did a piece about that, insourcing, and somebody said it doesn't make sense to manufacture overseas and a lot of people are bringing it back, so i am interested to follow and see how you are helping small businesses. congratulations and thank you so much for coming on the show. >> thank you. businesses have to change with the times. it could be a tough lesson for intrapreneurs to learn, but the evolution of a company can insure its survival. one family-run jewelry store is alive and well, and that's thanks to the decision to scale down. ♪ >> i stocked in normal jewelry from the time i was 14 years

old, and i am so not interested in normal jewelry. >> i can get you almost anything you want. but you won't see it in our case. we are for the person that doesn't want the bracelet that somebody else has. >> they were founded in 1913 by her grandfather. >> it seemed to me there were enough jewelers out there that did platinum and gold and ruby and sapphire and diamonds, and i wanted something different. >> she gave it a try, and nobody had expected the business to last after her brother's death. >> he prepared the business to close after he died. he never guessed that i would run it. i wanted to stay in the business. i was given this wonderful gift, at a terrible loss, but i just

tried things. >> so what does she do? >> we changed everything. >> his daughter, liz, who works in the family business says the timing was right for her mother to introduce rings, bracelets and rings and necklaces that they could get from nowhere else. >> this is a great example of a business that has really evolv d evolved. >> she didn't want to follow what she calls the industry standard. >> i didn't feel like going into millions and millions and billions of dollars and being on that level. i didn't want to do it. >> what she did want to do is create a scaled down and yet more personal operation. >> we do a lot of custom work. we prepare. we restring pearls. we change peoples' jewelry so

it's wearable and sell them jewelry. i wanted to be more personally involved. >> and that she did. quickly. >> i wanted to hire people who knew what they were doing or i could train them to do what they were doing, and then they would just go and do it. >> and she knew how to form up her space to better suit her personality and welcome her clients. >> she has done everything from make the walls purple and the floor and the carpet purple to having her adorable little dog here, and she knows how to sort of create a total environment. >> something else you will notice is that it's on the second floor. while the decision to move up has detours foot traffic, customers seek out the business now. >> everybody wants to talk to b.j. when the store was larger and downtown, you could pop in and out quickly, you could do that,

but most people want to sit down and talk and see what is happening. >> the space is smaller than the former locations, but the employees says the setting is more inviting and customers spend more time looking. >> this is about relationships, not really about jewelry. >> it's a more web based look. >> customers that came here decades ago are still coming and the new customers, really, they are coming because -- some of them are coming because of the social networking and because of things they see on facebook, and things we used to do like post cards and letters are less frequent. >> word of mouth marketing has been helpful as well. >> it's individualized

attention, period. >> foreman cut her hours. she is only open four days a week. >> the big money, the worthwhile projects were custom work, and that was by apartment. and if it's a repair, a repair could be a custom job. >> she has no plans to grow further, even taking into account the success. she is scaled down for now and is liking it. >> i wanted to be small and nimble. you have to find your own niche. the big boys are so big and they have such deep pockets, how can you butt heads with them? who wants to even? we talked a lot about growth on this show, but sometimes contracting and reconfiguring is the better business plan. janua jan groover is a best-selling

author, and ron kurts is the editor of the "huffington post" small business. what struck me about this piece is it had to go from a scary moment from going to a typical jewelry store to following her vision, and she seems fine now, and that moment of somebody coming in here and will want something and i might not have it will be scary. >> i sense she found freedom in it. what has been realized is, all of this immense over head that we created where things were a little more smooth, people are starting to realize if you have less over head and simplify things, can you have more revenue coming into your pocket. that's what she is doing with the business model. and allowing a supply and demand to create her demand, so she made her time, a supply and demand issue, and so people wanted to seek her out more, and

using the viral marketing, she is creating supply and demand because people may know there are only one or two pieces like that, and their friend likes it, and they run and get it. >> and it looks like she is having fun. i love when a new generation puts their own spin on it. it has a great representation and history, and here she comes and modernized it. i think it's very important that you see both in the brick and mortar location and online. she's creating an experience, and it's about the experience and customer service. i think her daughter talked about the walls are purple. she is translating the brick and

mortar experience to the web. >> moving it upstairs, that's a gutsy move, because she is getting rid of the foot traffic. >> yeah, and a custom clothing store in new york, it's on the fourth floor, and people want to feel like they are being embraced and they are on the inside. why would you want to go to kay jewelers when you can go to a place like that? technology and enthusiasts from all over the world shift their attention to las vegas. it's the perfect place to shop for the gadgets that can offer your company a serious boost. our guest is here with star products to show us. hi, lance. >> how is it going? >> this is my favorite thing to

do with you ever year. >> well, this is an unusually named laptop. keep in mind, it's a 13-inch laptop and full size and power, and it's .67 inches thick. it's a touch screen, by the way. it's called a yoga, because i can do that. that's need. that's cool. i can flip it around. -- >> i was going to say why would you want to do that? okay. yeah. >> and then i can flip it down, and it's a tablet. the keyboard was disabled here, and they pattened the technology on the hinge to allow this to happen. >> let's move on to the next one. >> biggest problem you have, if you are like me and you are on

the show flow, and you run out of power, and -- >> you are searching for someplace with a plug. >> yeah, this is called the pocket cell, and you charge it up and it will charge any devices and you can plug into a phone. we had this phone plugged in for maybe ten minutes now and it's half charged -- >> 20 bucks? >> i have been charging things -- since ces, i have not charged this up again. and the world's thinnest tablet. 1.2 pounds. that's light. that's lighter than the ipad. it's .3 inches thick. you know what is important to understand. i said it's the thinnest and lightest, but i have to show you something, it has ports.

ports here and an sd card slot. and the ipad has no ports except for audio. this is an android tablet, and it will run the stock hold interface, and they have not told us if it's going to ship with android .40. >> finally? >> this is a windows phone. this is the nokia lumnia. this has a 3.7-inch screen. >> what is so great about this? >> look at the screen. it's gorgeous. it has an interface -- you know,

there are a lot of android phones out there, and if you look at the interface it's somewhat similar to the iphone. >> this looks totally different. >> yeah, it has hubs and tiles. your whole world is right here. i have to say what nokia has done, it's microsoft's big partner on phones and they are starting to deliver the really sexy hand sets -- >> it's a different interface i am looking at and do i like that better? >> they are powerful, and super to use phones. and you have to ask yourself, is this a better way of presenting my information. i think it is. >> well, lance, thank you so much. love having you bring all this stuff here and it's all fun. we will get you back here to show us meater stuff. >> pleasure. when we come back, we have

more digital do-it-yourself tips. and intrapreneurs are making a bundle by developing popular apps. ♪ shazi: seven years ago, i had this idea. to make baby food the way moms would. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips using membership rewards points to meet with farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. vo: get the card built for business spending. call 1-800-now-open to find out how the gold card can serve your business.

with sales of smart phones and ipads in the stratosphere, the market for apps have exploded. many of the company's developing them are true small businesses. working out of their home offices and even their parents' houses. ♪ >> you no longer need a studio of or or 300 people. >> you have a friend of a friend. >> these intrapreneurs are referring to the gold rush that is the app industry. programmers are downloading software development kits, designing apps and releasing them by the thousands, hoping to grab the attention of smart phone users. this is office heroes, a social

gaming app where people create office spaces and share them with friends. it's the creation of high school buddies turned business partners. after working onchung, will fong. they decided to go eight full time. they quit their jobs and set up shop in will's parents house. >> the inception of the idea to the actual time of the store was about 7 to 8 months. every day has been an experience. >> they diseyeded to use a premium business model. office here society free to download but special office items such as new tiles or football table have to be paid for with a virtual currency called a paper clip. apple handles the billing and charges 30% on sales. android market has the same policy. to their amazement, office heroes was featured on the front page of the app store shortly after it was released. the results were instant. it was downloaded more than 500,000 times in just a few weeks.

and investors looking to get connected with a hot new social gaming company came calling. >> it was like the moment we looked at each other and are we getting in over our heads now? should we take it off that? >> igor knows a thing or two about successful apps. he's the co-creator of doodle jump. one of the most popular apps of all time. it has become something of a pop culture phenomenon that has been mentioned on primetime tv. >> you will be seen after the man claiming to have a heart attack but appears to be well enough to play doodle on his iphone. >> i'm shaking bus i'm so nervous now. >> made an appearance on a lady gaga concert. a massive success for sure. but doodle jump started out modestly. >> early on we realized that there's some potential doodle and not necessarily to sell 7 million copies. to make a simple job that you can do any joy of anything, a decent live. >> after three months of

developing, igor submitted doodle jump to apple for approval and release app store shortly after. he charged 99 cents per download. >> looking at the download economy over the first couple of months what you have seen people competing for that top selling spot which is decided by the number of units sold. the lower the price you have the higher on the list you get. >> they built in unique elements at the time such as a global leaderboard are constantly creating different themes to keep people engaged. doodle jump was featured by apple and downloads increased rapidly. both games are highly successful but far from being finished products. >> image enif you guy had a website that had stat yuck for a we are. nop one would come back with it. this is the same thing with the apps and games but if you keep adding they will come back to it.

>> are you looking for ways to integrated an ipad at your work place? here are five apps that will help your small business run smoother and courtesy of entrepreneur magazine. number five service maps. the free app allows field service technicians to access everything on the go. four documents to go provides word, sell and power point editing your ipad. you can also move docs from online accounts of number three, use pen ultimate to write with a stylus instead of typing out you have your notes. it lets you secure, sync and share backup all of your small businesses' data needs. you can remotely shred files for added security. and number one, zigzag board is a white board in your hand. use the ipad to visually share your ideas in a meeting or presentation. time to answer some of your business questions. jen and rod are with us once

again. the first one is nina from erica. she writes -- in today's market we all go to the internet to find customer. with so much competition on the web what are some things you would recommend to grow mayon line customer base? >> it is a general question. i think a great one. >> it is. i find that the facebook ads are really effective, done write with the right wording, cost-effective. i like the facebook ads to create that online traffic, too, because it is an influencing from your friends. it is frunsing from your colleagues so people trust that more. >> you can really target others, very specific targeting. that as well as constantly giving out education, that will never go away. constantly educating consumeners the area of expertise, whatever your business is, giving information away, that constantly will drive them back to continue to get more information from you, that makes them want to sign up for your

newsletter so you can continue a relationship building process with them. >> i think you are right. facebook absolutely has been a game changer. i know, as a small business you can come in for not a love of money. the thing i tell companies, depends what industry the questioner was in. you want to go where your customers are going. if you are a jewelry company, you know, you may get more bang for your buck either advertising or targeting at jewelry logs, sort of your style of jewelry. juan to go with where the potential customers are reading or spend time on the web. once they get to your site you want to create the experience for them and replicate if you don't have a brick and mortar replication, replicate it online. >> that's something important. i think people undersometime trade publications and how powerful trade publications. >> one of the things i want on the front page of the "new york times," might be better off with a blog. >> right. okay. let's move on to next one. this is a question of margareting. >> what are some innovative ways to market to tech savvy folks?

>> i would say the same thing. go where they are reading. drill down to your industry and niche and find out what your customers -- you know them well or know the type and target those online publications that they are going after. you may get much more bang important your buck with a blog that has -- >> i was saying this in particular blogs are perfect. >> there's also now aggregators of who has social sfluns on the internet. so there is a site called cloud, a newer site. these sites will allow you to go and figure out who the influences of those are in that space and you connect through facebook, linkden and build a relationship with them. if they are talking to you if the influencers are communicating with twitter it is raising your eyeballs to the eyeballs to the brand because they are an influence. using the aggregation tools can really hone in on to those tech savvy people. >> also, this is a place for content comes in. >> i was going to say. >> give people something to talk

about. whatever you have to sell, give them something to talk about. >> more and more you see sites, you know, someone who is in the don't game, you see more and more businesses about of all kinds creating content that's not necessarily making a hard sell on the products. it is give something one a reason to check out your site and stick around and maybe buy a product. the other thing is experience for ceo. the further up your site goes. >> someone gave me an example. you have a bunch of new baby clothes. do you put out on twitter we have new baby clothes? five ways to get spades out of your baby closeds zm. >> lead in with education. someone feels like they are getting something. >> they will pass it on. >> you can't blast people with promotion. them tune it out. >> thank you. if any of you out there have a question for our experts all you have to do is go to our website. openforum.com/yourbusiness. hit the apps show link to submit a question for panel.

openforum.com/yourbusiness. if you would rather just send us an e-mail. address is -- >> they can out our website of the week. yammer.com is a social network that's private and secure. employees can collaborate in teams. see what other colleagues are working on and get feedback all in one place. a company e-mail address is all that's needed to use this site for free. yammer's mobile app allows your employees to continue the collaboration oefrts the go. to learn more about today as show collect on our website. it is open forum.com/your business. you will find all of today's segments plus web exclusive content to help your business grow. don't for get to become a fan of our show. next week, a harvard student inspired by mark zuckerberg sea

eighth a company that translates the look and field after high end paper invitation to the digital realm. >> there was a lot of sense that you could, you know, win little bit of creativity and a lot of work, you can create a company on the web that would really affect people's lives. >> find out how paperless post attracted use to the white house. sam: i'm sam chernin. owner of sammy's fish box. i opened the first sammy's back in 1966. my employees are like family. and, i want people that work for me to feel that they're sharing in my success. we purchase as much as we can on the american express open gold card. so we can accumulate as many points as possible. i pass on these points to my employees to go on trips with their families.