j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to help your small business grow. recently we received an e-mail from a woman entrepreneur in trouble. when she heard about our makeover series she sent aus plea for help. we called her up and after talking to her about her situation we knew our team of experts just might be able to bail her out and that's how we decided to give this inkeeper a "your business" makeover. the "your business" makeover team is on the road again. just passing through the historic mystic connecticuts. >> we must be getting close. we're passing foxwood resorts, a huge tourist destination. it looks like we've arrived. let's get to work. let's help this business. you must be erica. >> i am. >> i am the author of "the pumpkin plants." >> i heard you called msnbc and you need help. >> i do. >> 36-year-old erica hall runs >> >> 36-year-old erica hall runs the seven-room bed and breakfast for eight years until she bought it in 2011. >> guests often sit around here a

j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to help your small business grow. it is hard to keep up with technology. every time you turn around, there is a new social network or system that is designed to help you get more customers or be more efficient in the way you run your business. today's show is dedicated to everything digital. we went to the digital expo to get a handle on the latest trends that will help your business stay on track. >> i'm the operator for my pocket calculator. >> when it comes to technology, things are moving fast. recently, some of the world's biggest brands and the tech industry's most promising start upcompanies gathered and collaborated on how to keep up. >> the expectation of having instant access is allowing people to be a little bit more adapting to new technologies or forms of communication than ever before. >> according to kurt abramson, ceo of share this, a company that provides sharing info, the biggest change is how people shop. people go to

j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business." the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to help your small business grow. halloween is coming, which made us think about the question, are you doing anything, even inadvertently, to scare off your customers? we want to show you a few things you could be doing better. so i ask you, what does a carnival freak show performer have in common with a modern sales professional? maybe more than you think. who better than a seasoned carney to show us how to seal the deal? when the moon comes up and the fog rolls in and the crowd arrives, the freak show begins. [ laughter ] >> oh, yeah, good times. >> the entertainment that i do is something unlike what you would normally see in an everyday situation. i do a little bit of fire eating, fire breathing. i hammer a nail into the center of my face, drill myself in the face with a power drill. >> seth of boston, massachusetts, is an old school carnival performer with an old school carnival knack for separating people from their money. >> at t

j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to helping your small business grow. in today's tech save ae world, new e-commerce sites are popping up every single day. but how do you make yours stand out from the rest in today rod kurts introduces us to content is king to brand new heights. ♪ ♪ >> i was walking down the streets of paris, and stumbled upon this tiny boutique in paris. bought a pair of shoes, not surprising. >> when former model and goldman sachs analyst returned from her trip, all of her friends were dying to get their hands on a pair of their own. but when they called the boutique, they were told the only way to get them was it visit the store in person. >> it boggled me that in the 21st century we didn't have a platform to purchase from paris, these shoes. >> so she built this on-line shopping. olga new this one store wouldn't be enough to make it successful. to make her site stand out from other sites, they knew she needed to be a supp

j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to giving you tips and advice to helping your business grow. it was about one minute into the debit when small business was spoken by candidates. the amount was stricken in the amount of time obama and romney directed the issues that directly affect them. particularly in jobs and taxation. >> governor romney and i do share a deep interest in encouraging small business growth. at the same time that my tax plan has already lowered taxes for 98% of families, i also lowered taxes for small businesses 18 times. and what i want to do is continue the tax rates, the tax cuts that we put into place for small businesses and families. >> i talked to a guy who has a very small business. he is in the electronics business in st. louis. he has four employees. he said he and his son calculated how much they pay in taxes. federal income, federal payroll tax, state sales tax, property tax cab gas tax, over 50% of what they earned. and your plan is to take

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j.j. ramberg author of "its your business" and host of msnbcs "your business." it's great to have you here. thank you, good to be here. >> if there has been one hero of this presidential election, it has been the mythic small businessman. republicans dedicated their entire con vens with we built this. democrats touted how their policies would help small businesses. it was on display in wednesday night's presidential debate when the words small business were mentioned over 25 times. >> we are helping small businesses. >> champion small businesses. the number of small businesses, i know what it takes to get small business going. helping small business. >> encouraging small business growth lowered taxes for small bidses. through small businesses. 97% of small businesses. >> it's small businesses. a guy who has a small business. successful small businesses. >> those small businesses. >> all the praise for small businesses and their owners obscures the questions we should ask. what counts as a small business and what is their role in the u.s. economy? many of these s

j.j. ramberg is the author of "it's your business." good morning. >> good morning.es. make up about 50% of the private sector workforce here in the united states, but it feels like a tough economic climate right now. why is it a good time to start a small business? >> well, i really focus on businesses that are -- that you think of as small businesses, so the corner ice cream shop, or the laundromat. if you have a good idea, or internet startup. if you have a great idea, it's a great time to start a small business, and it's cheaper than ever now because of technology to go out there and test your idea. >> you've got 183 tips in your new book, and we're going to go through them all right now. >> one by one. >> you've selected three of them, three of for you favorites. arm people with specific ways to help you. >> this is great for anyone, not just those in business. make it easy for them. when you say that's a great idea, j.j. you'll go back to your desk and get busy and i should write to you and say, hey, willie, offer me an introduction to this person or come over

j.j. ramberg mark, the seventh anniversary of her weekend show on msnbc "your business" with the launch ofusiness -- 183 essential tips." >> there is reason for this and she's going to tell us why. >> -- "that will transform your small business." >> do not start with the question why it is 183. irv's got a special one for you. i'll give to you later. >> let's start with number one. i love the elevator pitch. >> yeah. this is one of the most important. number one, the chapter is about finding your funding. we talk about putting together an elevator pitch to investors. but frankly, this is important in anything you do, which is when you're talking about your company or an idea that you're pitching, you need to be able to explain this in 30 seconds basically and when you're talking to an investor, it is different than when you're talk fog a customer or a partner or the media. so you need to sit down and think about how am i going to present my company depending on who the audience is. >> what about when you're talking to yourself? you talk about the need to focus on the why, whether you're in

j.j. ramberg is the author of "it's your business", nice to have you hear. term small business a lot. the presidential candidates used the term 46 times in their first two debates. so you have to wonder, is this a good time to start a small business or is it not because of the economy? >> there's certainly a lot of attention being paid to them right now. i say yes. if you have a good idea, any time is a good time to start a small business. and it's relatively cheap compared to what it used to be to start something. >> in your book, you have a ton of tips. 183 of them, to be exact, in order to transfer your small business into a success. we're going to get to a couple of them. you're calling them little tricks of a trade. the first is an interesting one. be the first one at every event. >> this is beyond business. this is for everyone. if you're a little bit shy, your inclination is probably to show up late to something. but it's harder to break into a group of people than to be one of the first people there when all the early birds gather together. >> you me