SmallBusinessNewz

American Express Open, the small business division of the financial services company, has launched a campaign for small businesses called "Start Booming" that features real business owners in ads.

"While there are certainly people who continue to find the current economy challenging, there are entrepreneurs who are not only thriving but also building a roadmap for future growth," said Julie Fajgenbaum, vice president at American Express Open.

"Businesses featured in the 'Start Booming' campaign demonstrate an array of innovative business practices that include getting the most out of every dollar spent, knowing how to find new customers, growing their networks, building great places to work, giving back to their communities, getting noticed and doing more business."

The multi-faceted campaign will include print, online and TV advertisements and will roll out in three phases. Subsequent advertising will begin to appear later in the summer and will showcase specific small business owners and demonstrate what they are doing to be successful and inspire others to "Boom".

Featured as part of the campaign are Open's new  business tools developed to help entrepreneurs "Boom." Recently, Open has launched four new offerings:

*AcceptPay - A web-based tool that allows small business owners to accept online payments and electronically invoice customers - all in one place;

*FX International Payments- A service that allows businesses to make overseas payments in more than 100 currencies;

*SearchManager - An online tool that allows business owners to manage paid search campaigns across search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing - via a centralized dashboard.