i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business" where we give you tips to help your business grow. when evelyn wrote to us a few months back. she had no idea her business would spark our next make over. what do you do when you sell a once in a lifetime product. we found an interesting business in need of serious help. we decided to assemble a rescue team to give them a much needed push in the right direction. when evelyn anderson and her husband bought just for fun playgrounds in asheville, north carolina, business was booming. >> the first three years that we were in business we worked summer and winter just straight through the year. we had four guys in the shop. we had two sales people. then we had a winter where we went four months without a phone call. >> the company was known for their high end custom designed playgrounds. by 2009, the recession eroded two-thirds of their business forcing them to let all their employees go. after two difficult years of scraping by, evelyn wrote to us at "your business" asking for help. >> i wondered how you get business when you don't have re

i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business" where we give tips and advice to help your business grow. if it's been a challenge, take a closer look at the emerging world of crowd funding. part social media, part funding. there are sites popping up to for entrepreneurs to get money for their venture. two we met ran fruitful campaigns on kickstarter. here are the secrets to their success. >> my original goal was to raise $3,000. we ended up raising $163,000. >> 5,264 people ended up pledging for the project. it came out to a total of $364,600. >> they call it crowd funding. for anyone who had trouble finding the money to see the new business or fund a product idea, it's at the leading edge of nontraditional funding for entrepreneurs. >> basically, these people are giving us maybe 100 bucks a piece. it really is more like a donation. >> there are tons of websites out there and they all work a little dichbtly. the basic premise is to get financial support by pooling money from a community of people who wan

i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice for your business to grow. it's been up and down for small business owners. there's positive news for the new year. business optimism rose 1.8 points, the highest level since february. it showed an increase in small business owner who is expect sales to increase and those expecting to hire. it was a political football in 2011 with president obama pushing his small business jobs plan and supporting small business saturday. his political opponents raised issues affecting small business owners in debates running up to primary season. what will 2012 bring for our entrepreneurial community. brian hamilton, the co-founder of a company that has software for small businesses, brian hecht and phil town. great to see all of you. >> thank you. >> bill, you have been here every year, i think, doing this with us at the end of the year. i want to start with you, also because we cited your survey. optimism up three years in a row. do you e

i'm j.j. ramberg. and welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. the holiday shopping season is well under way and it looks like small businesses have already gotten a boost this year. business owners are calling small business saturday a success. after millions of shoppers descended on local retailers around the country. this was the second year for the nationwide initiative that falls between black friday and cyber monday. president obama even showed his support by shopping at a washington, d.c. bookstore with his daughters. the white house, and the sba's karen mills have been encouraging shoppers to go local this year. we heard from some of you on our facebook page. here's what you had to say about small business saturday. carolyn was excited to tell us that baltimore city council president bernard c. "jack" young introduced a city council resolution, encouraging residents to shop small, spend big, with our small businesses. heidi said, we're supporting

i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to "your business." where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. it's been an up and down year for small business owners. but there's reportedly some positive news as we head into the new year. the national federation of independent businesses optimism index grows 1.8 points last month. the highest level since february. the survey also showed an increase in small business owners who expect sales to increase, and those who are making plans to hire. the need to help small businesses was a political football in 2011, with president obama pushing his small business jobs plan and supporting small business saturday. his political opponents in the gop have also raised issues affecting small business owners, in debates running up to primary season. so, what will 2012 bring for our entrepreneurial community? william dunkelberg is the chief economist for the nfib. brian hamilton is the co-founder and ceo of save work a company that developed software for financial professionals and small businesse

i'm j.j.am berks and welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice and how to help your business grow. today our show is dedicated to small business lessons we can learn from people in the music industry, including '60s ikons the grateful dead. the band may have called it quits when jerry garcia died, but they are alive and well to brian hall gan and david mereman scott. these authors found out these rock 'n' roll legends have a lot to teach us about marketing. ♪ i will get by ♪ i will survive >> brian hall gan and david mereman scott are deadheads. >> i probably saw maybe 25 or so grateful dead shows. >> i have been to, i'm not sure, but 100 plus anyway concerts. >> leave it to ah a bunch of marketing lends from the legendary band. hall garngs author of "inbound marketing" and scott, author of "the new rules of marketing marketing & pr" just couldn't deny the business genius of their favorite band >> i realized that the grateful dead's marketing was brilliant, the idea of allow

i'm j.j. ramberg, and welcome to "your business." where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. if finding money for your business has been a challenge, then maybe you need to take a closer look at the emerging world of crowd founding. part social media, part funding, there are new websites popping up every day that make it easy for entrepreneurs to pitch proud funding communities for money to support their venture. two entrepreneurs we met ran fruitful campaigns on the website kick-starter. here are the secrets to their success. >> my original goal was to raise $3,000. and we ended up raising $163,000. >> $5,264 people ended up pledging for the project. which came out to a total of $364,600. >> they call it crowd funding. and for anyone who has had trouble finding the money to seed a new business, or find a new product idea, it's at the leading edge of a new world of nontraditional funding options for entrepreneurs. >> basically, these people are, you know, giving us maybe like 100 bucks apiece. and it really is more

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j.j. says be sure to ask for your money back. >> if only a small fraction of them say, i want my idea back. through the small frogs would be for santa. >> the u.s. moas tall service is about to deliver more budget cuts it avoid bankruptcy. that will result in slower service. usps plans to close half of its 500 mail processing centers. that means starting this spring, first class mail delivery will take at least two days. >> something that needs to go fast, i'll fax it. >> need to go elsewhere. >> more than a dozen post offices in the bay area could close. they include five in san francisco. two in oakland, and one each in daily city, south san francisco, and san jose. >> scientists at nasa have found another one of those goldie locks planets. one that is not too hold, not too hot, just right to support life. they are calling the planet kepler22-b. it has a rocky surface with water. don't expect to visit. it is about 100 light years from earth. >>> a few places near 70 degrees today, but it

johnson is 7 behind j.j. number one, stanford's anthony brown. finishing at the other end.ht, the considereddal blowout the red hot 72-49 is the final. stanford off to a good start as are the cal bears. the sec championship and stanford fans have to pull against lsu because stanford hoping for an outside shot to get the national title. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back to find out why dennis was looking down. i love teaming with the best that's why i'm here, at st. jude children's research hospital. our research has changed the way the world treats brain tumors, leukemia and sickle cell. we help kids all across america. now, these kids have hope... and a sense of humor. where did you get this color? it's natural. give thanks for the healthy kids in your life and give to those who are not. go to st. jude.org or shop wherever you see our magnifying glass. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in the people and communities who call the bay area home. from funding that helped a local entrepreneur start a business... to providing grants to a nonprofit which offers j

johnson is 7 behind j.j. number one, stanford's anthony brown. finishing at the other end.the considereddal blowout the red hot 72-49 is the final. stanford off to a good start as are the cal bears. the sec championship and stanford fans have to pull against lsu because stanford hoping for an outside shot to get the national title. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back,,,,,,,, ,,,,

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i had a great time on the third one and became friend with j.j.did star track. we joked if there was going to be another "mission impossible" maybe benji could be an agent. i thought it was a joke and then i got the call and here we are. >> how was it shooting in dubai. you shot that one scene on the tallest building in the world. you're inside and tom cruise is outside. >> he did that. the thing about tom that i love, he is absolutely fearless. he wants people to get that feeling when they watch the film, oh, my god, that's tom cruise. i was never in the room when he was doing that. i was shopping. >> with your imaginary friend. >> it was very, very scary up there. 2 1/2 times the height of the empire state. >> i don't know how lloyds of london lets him. >> he doesn't tell them. oh, by the way, we did this. >> wow. your role in this, you expanded. you said you shot a couple of days on the first one and seven months on this one. >> this was a seven month shoot. it was awesome fun. we went from prague to vancouver. it was just, you know, a hoot. >>

with j.j.that transition -- i would be more nervous probably working in a place where -- a foreign country. was it intimidating? >> it was more nerve wracking because there, there's no unions, none of that, no sort of, like, my trailer has to be three stories and i have a park under it and land the helicopter on it. it's sort of like, we didn't even have trailers. >> jimmy: oh, you didn't? >> no, we had, like, a stool, without even a back. and if you fell asleep, you're screwed. just on the ground. >> jimmy: really? >> i was sit on the curb and eat my lunch. yeah, i mean, it was nothing like the way it is here. i got here and they're like, here's your trailer, your rose petals. i was like, wow! i love this industry! >> jimmy: and you did a lot of physical stuff. >> i did. >> jimmy: and you did a lot of physical stuff working with jackie chan and now as nikita, which is a character that's been around for a long time. >> yeah. >> jimmy: you do a lot of fighting yet i feel like i could beat you up

pop quiz for you, j.j. >> oh? >> which one was america's first ally?porter: you have a head start on me. france during the war of independence that was obviously, a long time ago. >> it was, indeed. the latest case now of french flayizing going on here in the u.s. because mitt romney speaks french. some democrats are drawing attention to that and trying to stir up some voters. we will hear more about that with a very cool piece from chip reid here in a few minutes. >> mercy. >> you speak french? >> the government has a plan to change the way you drive. on tuesday, the national transportation safety board called on all states to make texting, e-mailing, or talking on a cell phone illegal while driving. >> right now, 35 states and the district of columbia have banned texting while driving and nine states bar hand-held cell phones by drivers and 30 states ban all cell phone use for beginning drivers. noin is the ntsb chairman, mark rosenker. he doesn't speak french, as far as we know. bonjour. you do know about all things transportation. this is clearly a

i had a great time on the third one and became friend with j.j.y fearless. he wants people to get that feeling when they watch the field, oh, my god, that's tom cruise. i was never in the room when he was doing that. i was shopping. >> with your imaginary friend. >> it was very, very scary up there. 2 1/2 times the height of the empire state. >> i don't know how lloyds of london lets him. >> he doesn't tell them. oh, by the way, we did this. >> wow. your role in this, you expanded. you said you shot a couple of days on the first one and seven months on this one. >> this was a seven month shoot. it was awesome fun. we went from prague to vancouver. >> are you a computer guy? >> i can't remember my passwords. >> what is the appeal to the mass audiences over and over again? we keep coming back to see what happens to these guys? >> i think in a sense "mission impossible" is america's james bond. it came out of the time in the '60s when spies was cool and the series started. ethan hunt has become america's own james bond. he is a globe trotting, deadly