the supreme court hears arguments on the affordable health care act. is it helping or hurting small businesses? and mom and pop stores competing against the giants. and how google can help your brand. that and more coming up on "your business." small businesses are revitalizing the economy. an american express open is here to help. that is why we are proud to present "your business" on msnbc. hi there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to

"your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. think it is tough to be a small fry in an industry dominated by large corporations like the cable business? well, think of how much tougher to comply with volumes of federal regulations as well. for these entrepreneurs, it takes determination and shrewdness to stay plugged in. ♪ i'm a television man >> when people talk about mom and pop businesses, they are usually thinking of places like candy stores and restaurants, not cable tv systems. >> it is all glass cylindrical tube gives you a 245 inch picture tube. >> reporter: why? because everybody knows that the cable tv industry is dominated by giant corpses such as time warner, and our parent company comcast, and each with millions of subscribers. >> comcast is 20 million and so

that is big. >> reporter: what most of us don't know about cable tv is that there are well over 100 microcable companies across the country like buford media group in tyler, texas, and it is owned and operated by one man, david hooks. >> reporter: david, you have gone through every evolution of buford. >> like many en tre tre neurs he takes pride in his business. >> i can't own a big company, but i have the same entrepreneurial spirit and i own it and control it. >> while the revenues of the mom and pops like his are a fraction of the billions that everybody else has heard of, the connection between the subscribers and the staff is much more personal. >> we principally have served smaller systems. generally been in the kind of market for years and years and year years. it is the expertise, smaller

systems. >> customers depend on the service that we give them. >> greg is ben's area manager e. he knows that many of the system subscribers in towns like cooper, texas, and he oversees the work of service technicians. >> he shows up at their house, and they get to know him. and some of them even feed him, so, he is part of the community, yes. >> buford media which is known to the customers as alliance communications serves a tiny set of just over 7,000 subscribers. that is after adding together 38 separate systems spread across six different states. how does he manage? how does ben and others like him compete with the big guys who can offer better rates and more services? >> the smaller guy has more trouble because we don't have the customer base to negotiate the favorable rates as the larger companies. >> reporter: the answer may surprise you, because the behemoths don't worry him at all. in fact, the subscribers and the equipment are mostly leftovers which the bigger companies cast off in the first place.

>> a lot of the systems that we currently own, prior to our ownership at one point came from a cox or a time warner, you know, those kind of large companies. a small town of cooper, i mean, it is not profitable for them. >> reporter: and roughly four years ago time warner sold off the system in cooper with the tiny customer base of 200 subscriberers. >> they had more trouble getting the local broadcast systems out, because it is not fitting within their business plan and they have been spinning these off. >> reporter: two years later ben bought the cooper system for a song and so far he has put together leftover dsystems like his to put them together. >> i bought them inexpensively and said this is an opportunity to make money, which is internet and telephone and all of the other things. >> reporter: he has improved the systems by using refurbished

equipments which are cast offs from the big players. it works like this. >> the major operator needed more bandwidth and upgraded the plant, and that equipment is back into the market, and we buy it at a considerably lower price and it meets all of the needs. >> reporter: while ben is not concerned about being crushed by the competition, he is certainly concerned about being crushed by government regulations which tend to favor the big city systems and telecos that regulate companies like his. >> the government steps in to regulate the companies, but it is playing havoc on the smaller operators to pay for the programs. >> reporter: from the mandates and government subsidies ben says that the rules in washington tend to work better for the big guys than the little ones. >> the recent ruling of the fcc is to extend grant money and money to telephone companies to come in and overbuild me.

now, how am i going to compete with the government? >> reporter: as far back as 1992, ben and the other fellow small scale operators recognized the need for their industry to be heard. ben back then went to washington to make the case. >> i tirelessly went to washington. most of the folks are polite and courteous and then we found ourselves that all of the rules are being passed and coming down to us, and nobody is representing us. >> reporter: that was the start of a lobbying evident on behalf of small scale operators. today it is known as the american cable association. >> washington doesn't mean it. but they never take quite the time to fully understand, well, here is where the problem is and they are focused on the big company. >> reporter: while the little guys have big issues, through the lobbyists, they are starting to level the playing field. >> but we have a voice. we are highly respected now and it is not so much what you get, but it is what happens to you if you don't have the

representation. ♪ i have a cable tv whether it is a cable company or a hardware store standing up to the major corporations is a unique challenge for any small business owner. let's turn to this week's board of directors. matt polka is the president and ceo of the american cable association. alfred edmond is the editor at large of media.com. and we are joined by the president of the marks group, a technology an consulting firm. great to have you here. so, matt, you work with a lot of small cable companies, but surely, you don't have the deep pockets even combined of the big guys out there, and the time warners and the parent company comcast, so how even combined do you get a voice in washington? >> well, it is a process. it has come together since 1993, and i have been in the business since 1986 and i have known the

business intimately and we realized when congress reregulated the cable business that we small independents don't have a voice. we said that we have to come together as smaller companies to tell our story, and who better than us as small businesses to tell our stories where we live in small markets and rural area s. >> i wanted to turn to something else in the piece, because a lot of times you think that the big companies move in and no room for small business, but what is interesting about this piece is that these businesses were created because the big guys were not interested in them, and they were castoffs and the reason that the small company can exist is because they are getting it cheap. duds that happen with a lot of industries? >> yes, it happened with the cable industry in particular and one my accounting days it was called harin communications. >> one remembers. >> they were an independent cable company and you are so jealous of them as a business owner, because they have the infrastructure costs and they have the fixed cost and revenues coming in, but for years they were ignored by the bigger

companies, because they serve a smaller market and they can do it more effectively than a bigger company can. >> and in this case, a geographical niche, but there are other niches, too, that a big company may not be interested and this is a place for you as a small company to move in. >> well, this is a classic example of the long tail impact of the industry, and this idea that as the big companies serve large groups, there is always small tiny niches that remain unserved, and if you can reach them and serve them profitably, you can make good money. it is not just geography, and i was reading an article about a cable company that serves rurally-oriented people. he struggled for years and he was airing "hee haw" but he survived to build it to a programming that really reaches not only a niche that is geographically undesirable by larger companies, but culturally desirable by smaller companies and now able to be a profitable business. >> that is a fascinating piece, and you don't think of cable

companies as small, but there are a lot of them out there. matt, thank you for joining us. we appreciate having you on the show, and thank you, guys, of course. are you looking for expansion opportunities beyond u.s. borders? here are five hot export markets to consider courtesy of entrepreneur.com. number one, brazil. the company is one of the largest i.t. markets in the world, and also has the biggest population in south america. number two, india. india has a big appetite for u.s. goods and services, but high tariffs and multiple languages can be limiting factors. three, south africa. its stable banking systems and business-friendly environment makes it an attractive market. transportation consulting and franchises are doing well there. number four, turkey. turkey is both politically and financially stable. tourism-related products and services and consumer products are in demand.

and number five, vietnam. the company's economy grew an estimated 5.8% last year. there is room for growth in the wastewater treatment and the machinery industries. it is time now the answer some of your business questions. alfred and gene, are with us again, but before we get to the viewer questions, i want to ask you a question about something that has been in the news this week. something about the idea of a small business or employer in our case asking employers for the facebook pasword. i want your opinion on it? >> so i have three kids in high school on facebook all of the time. i don't follow what they are doing on facebook, because you follow any high school kid your brain will melt, so i try not to pay much attention it to, so i say, guys, whatever trash talking is going on facebook, employers will see it and college applicants -- >> and is it okay for you? you run a small business, but it

is okay for you to ask somebody who is applying for a job to ask for the facebook password. >> whether it is okay or not is irrelevant, but it is negotiable. if i am going for a job that pays $20,000 a year, heck no, but a job that is $20 million a years, i might have to be willing that it is worth it. >> and i want to take it not from the perspective of the applicant, but the small business owner. >> depending on the position, and what you are doing on facebook and twitter could have an appreciable impact on the company down the road depending on the position. >> and not just the company, but employees as well. i have teen people and i want to know everything about some guy before he comes to the company that will affect everybody in there, fand he is up to somebody and i can find that out on facebook, that is great to know. >> if i own a child care-related business and i'm hiring someone around children, it is not unreasonable. now, there should be some protections, but it is not unreasonable for me to say who i am bringing around my children on a daily business.

>> both you guys feel -- and i thought that somebody on the table would say it is not okay. >> i am not comfortable with it, because -- >> i thought it woib uld be an invasion of privacy. >> i'm a political junkie, but you know that in here social media is not private. no matter the settings that you set up and no matter what you do, it is not private. >> except that it is. so stuff that is public, of course, your prospective employer can see, but stuff behind the password is private and you as an employer are saying give me access to something private. >> a potential employer, and you can is a say no. >> yes, that is right, you can say no. >> but saying no is in essence saying don't hire me. >> that is not necessarily true. >> you asked, j.j., what is -- >> and you have to decide if the job is that important to you. >> as an employer, if someone refuses to give mow the password and depending on the job i might say, fair enough, i don't need it, but somebody at a higher level to impact my company and the people in my company, i

think that i have a right to know that. >> i think i have a right to ask. you don't have to answer, but depending upon the position, i have a right to ask. >> fair enough. >> i think that you are lying through your teeth. if somebody says no, you are saying no problem. >> it depends on the job. it does. >> then why ask for the jobs that you don't care? >> well, we will care to some extent, but maybe you are rights it does have an impact on the decision. >> yes, and there is no way to avoid the impact on the decision, but it is part of the give and take. >> we want to see what you are doing on facebook, j.j. that is it. >> i want to hire a hacker and get it overwith. >> well, i think it is interesting that both of you think it is fair game to ask. do not come looking for me. i have a product that is patented and yvery weak, doctor and clinicians love to sell you

products, but how do we get this other than a website? >> well, trued a ver ti ed a vd advertisement, the way that medicine is marketed, if you are trying to create demand from the patient, because they can't get the doctors the push it, i don't see how you get around advertising, so don't get around advertising. i can understand being cost effective about it, but i would spend a lot of time with other medical device marketers who are marketing products and what are the media companies they are using and the marketing company they are using and the marketing techniques to reach their patients to get them to demand the product. don't try to reinvent the wheel. >> i think you don't have any choice especially selling to the consumers as a well. it is a giant market. for anybody selling a product, you have to spend money to get there.

if you don't have the money to spend, you have to partner with people who do have the money or at the very least start out on a small scale to try to build word of mouth. >> thank you, guys, both for all of that advice which is helpful and surprising. now, if any of you have a question for the experts go the our website. the address is openforum.com/business. there hit the ask the show link to submit a question for the panel. again, the website is openforum.com/business. or you can e-mail us your questions and comments to msnbc.com. still ahead, we have the scoop on google plus. we will find out how it can help you to expand your brand. and the elevator pitcher hopes to get wealthy with an ipad app to help you manage your wealth.

you know, those farmers, those foragers, those fishermen.... for me, it's really about building this extraordinary community. american express is passionate about the same thing. they're one of those partners that i would really rely on whether it's finding new customers, or, a new location for my next restaurant. when we all come together, my restaurants, my partners, and the community amazing things happen. to me, that's the membership effect. in recent years social networking has completely changed the way that businesses are inincreasing the visibility to get new customers and at the same time strengthen interaction with existing customers. so even if you have a slew of facebook and twitter followers

this is a few reasons off why you google plus could expand your line. and we are joined by the director of media marketing and author of "four step diet to regain balance in your life from the tech addiction." >> google plus is something that anyoneb can engage with the audience for businesses of any size and a way to post photos and video, and engage with the customers. you can do a video chat through something called the hangout which we can get into in a little bit, but the idea is that it is a new way to leverage all of what google offers in one place through your google plus page. >> if i am already on facebook, why should i be on google plus as well? >> well, there are differentiating factors that are part of google plus that stand out. we talked about the idea of a hangout or video chat and you can bring in up to ten people and engage with those customers in real time.

it could be anywhere and have that relationship with them. you can do it internally for the business. we have seen some people work from home, and talk to the office through that kind of video chat through google plus. there are circles which people may have heard about through google plus, and that is the idea of separating out the customer. so say you have vip customers, and you know, you want to treat them with a little bit of sort of special, so you can offer them something that only they see through their google plus stream. those are a few of the ways that it stands out a little bit. >> got it. so i am segments people, and i don't have to send one message out to everybody. >> which people respect and like that, because they don't necessarily want to be lumped in with all of the customers. ft. you go the plus google.com, you can get started. and if you have a gmail or google account, you have a google plus account. you may want to add some photos or video and talk about your company a little bit of course, and start to, really, make it feel like a lived in space so that when people come to it, they feel comfortable and they

can get the message of the company and start to engage in a number of ways. >> is there any particular advice about how to make my page active and get people active on the page? >> yes, it comes back to at lot of things. there are things that you can do to make it stand out. first of all, post on a regular basis can drive traffic and tailoring through circles to figure out who the audience is and other things that stand out including things through ad word which are words that come up through the google search. so the plus-one button which is done through any search today, but if you went to the favorite shoe's company's page, and plus oned it and your friend was searching for the shoes one day, you would see that your friend plus oned it. so that idea of social engagement around a product recommended by someone that you trust is another way to drive people to your product and to your company. >> wow. so getting the plus one is really important. so if somebody plus ones my shoe company, then all of their friends see it.

>> and are you a cyclist at all? do you ride your bike? >> my husband is. >> i'm a cyclist and i know when i go to the bike store, it is extremely intimidating and the people can be not snobby, but they know the stuff. so zen bikes wanted to stand out to say, we love everybody who loves bikes and come into the store, and we want to engage with you through the google plus page and they have done a great job to carry the message through google plus. they are based in new york and have a lot of engagement from people who come into the store and say, i love your stuff and love the photos and get a sense of what the store is like. >> and the daniel, thank you so much for giving us an introduction, thank you. the this week the supreme court spent three days on the patient protection and affordable health care act. a decision is expected be i the end of june. since there is a lot at stake for small businesses today we turn to the guests to look at

what the high court may consider, and how the potential outcome could affect small business's bottom line. we are joined by jim hawthorne who is the co-chair of the statewide network of small businesses in oregon. brian hamilton joins me here, and he is co-founder and ceo of safeworks. good to have you both here. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> jim, i want to ask you because you are in favor of the law and how it would help your small business and those you work with. >> well, i can tell you that we have had nine full time employee, and 13 employees altogether, and the health care premiums from 2001-2009 doubled. we now spend $100,000 a year for employees and their families' health care. 20% payroll. the ed a vadvantages that we han in the last two years the premiums went down 3% and plus

we qualify for the small business health insurance tax credit which provided us $12,903 in credit to help pay for those, to help pay the premiums. >> and this is a story we hear over and over again from the small companies, and you know, little over half of the really small companies providing health care and they are saying, look, if i was providing health care it was expeppive and now i am getting a break, but you, brian, on the other hand have problems with law. >> jim's point is well taken, and well faken. if you are fewer than 25 employees, you are entitled to the tax breaks, but we have a rub and when you get to employee 29, and jump over the fence of employees, your cost increases a lot. >> talk to me about how your cost ipb creases a lot, because most of the firms over 50 employees or more are already providing health insurance. >> 93% do, but we are talking

about the 7%. rememb remember, those are the guys who are growing the companies and we rely on them for job creation, and when you get to 50 employees you pay $2,000 per employee if you don't provide it. >> then let me ask you, jim, do you find that any of the companies that you work with would not go from 49 to 50 because suddenly they have a big expense? >>. j j. j.j. i don't think so. our last employee was a afghanistan war vet, but because we have part-time employees could compromise or jeopardize the tax credits for next year. >> yes, brian, that is what you are saying not only the 50 level, but the 10 person level here. >> jim's point is well taken here, because if you have fewer

than 25 employees, you will get the tax credits and helps you. they are phased in over a couple of years and go away. there are positives, because we have exchanges and hopefully that will decrease the cost, but the jury is out, because we don't know, and so the one foul ball in all of it and when you read it and 2,000 pages of all of the docs is that 50-person provision i have a problem w. >> but the 50-person provision for the 7% of businesses who don't already provide insurance. >> yes, and that represents 90% of people who are employed, so it is a ton of people. >> and thank you for shedding light on this, and appreciate that, as we said a lot of opinions about this, and appreciate your both sharing yours. financial planning for college or retirement can be a daunting task. today's elevator pitcher has come up with an app that he says can help you to achieve the dreams with the touch of a screen.

>> hi, i'm francisco pratt and the ceo of life lock. we realized that people need help managing their finances and getting on the path of financial well-beingment people go through changes such as graduating from college or getting married or having a child. at life wealth, we want to help the savvy generation to manage the finances for the important events in their life. we have spoken to 300 investors and realized that managing the finances is difficult and there are a lot of complicated concepts and not a lot of device. with life wealth, you can define the goals and understand the financial situation today and the future and then how to achieve the goals. we launched the app which you can download for free on our site. we are looking to $750,000 to launch the site, and look for a rate of return of 10% for the

investors. >> okay. how did the pitch go? did he miss anything or get it all? >> no doubt a need for this. everybody needs the ability to get the information they need for tfinances for the future. what is the revenue model for the app? i know you give the app away for free, but where does the revenue come from? >> basically, we get some referral fees from the partners that we help people to get to. >> got it, but that is an important thing to get in here so people know where the money is coming from. >> yes. and first of all, the idea is great and i have three kids going to college and i wish i had something like this 100 years ago. the biggest question is that there are a lot of application out there online to help you with the financial planning and so what makes this so special and what is so great about this application or service that would, you know, cause me to go to use it? >> something like that. i am going the let you actually finish talking to them afterwards, but it is good

advice when you are pitching something to get them enthusiastic. so would you take another meeting? >> yes. >> absolutely. he can help you manage your finances and as long as it is easy to use, i am always interested in investing in something like that. >> well, fantastic, an frd francisco good luck with that. thank you for the advice. for more on the show click on the website. it is openforum.com/business. it has exclusive content to help your business grow. you can follow us on twitter and it is @msnbc bishgsz. small business owners are doing their best to keep the expenses down. >> this part of the business is so uncontrollable, so you have to look at things that maybe you didn't look at last year, and say, is it possible to gain a

percentage here or half a percentage there? >> we will tell you how these en tre prene entrepreneurs are trying to ease their pain at the pump. i'm j.j. ramberg and until then, we make your business our business. they have names like idle time books and smash records and on small business saturday they remind a nation of the benefits of shopping small. on just one day, 100 million of us joined a movement... and main street found its might again. and main street found its fight agai and we, the locals, foundd idelight again.. that's the power of all of us. that's the power of all of us. that's the membership effect of american express.