I appreciate the award, but it really belongs to the wonderful people that work for TLH Enterprises. I Appreciate all that they do.
Mike Harwood, 2007 ColorTyme Franchisee of the Year

Mike Harwood and team with the ColorTyme Eagle Award. See a complete photo gallery of all award winners here

Mike Harwood, TLH enterprises, was named 2007 ColorTyme Franchisee of the Year Tuesday. Harwood is ColorTyme's largest franchisee and the only franchisee to receive a Top 10 Award for three consecutive years.

After accepting the Eagle Award from ColorTyme president Bob Bloom, Harwood credited his team for the honor. "I appreciate the award, but it really belongs to the wonderful people that work for TLH Enterprises. I Appreciate all that they do."

In 2006, Mike and Morganna Harwood were honored with the first and only Circle of Excellence ever awarded by ColorTyme (see story). The Harwood's initiated ColorTyme's relationship with Kids Across America. Mike Harwood, a private pilot, spent 16 weeks at his own expense flying relief supplies to victims of 2004's tsunami in Indonesia. Bob Bloom said in 2006, "It is a measure of the TLH organization that they were able to continue to show excellence while their leader was overseas for a third of the year."

Cort Hill and Jim Conyers, Franchisee partners from Elkton, Maryland were awarded New Franchisee of the Year for 2007 Tuesday. Hill and Conyers opened their first store in November 2006 and plan a second location this year. Listen to RTO Online's podcast interview with Cort Hill and Jim Conyers - 2007 ColorTyme New Franchisee of the year.

Earlier Tuesday, keynote speaker and hypnotist Anthony Galie gave a presentation on training the subconscious mind for success. As part of his presentation he hypnotized eight convention attendees.

The convention wrapped Tuesday evening with a Casino night. See a photo gallery of the hypnosis presentation and 382 other convention photos here.

RTO Online conducted three new podcast interviews Tuesday.

- Jim Moore, ColorTyme franchisee and original developer of the company's RimTyme operation.
- Jim Deering, ColorTyme Director of Franchise Development.
- Scott Savell, Regional manager, RimTyme.

Excerpts:

Play - Podcast interview with Jim Moore, ColorTyme franchisee and original developer of the company's RimTyme operation.
"When I opened the first RimTyme, I had seven traditional rent to own stores. I realized custom rim rental was my future after I had my first $15,000 day. It reminds me of  the rent to own industry in the early 80s. If you do it right, it will explode. It takes a real commitment to rent rims. Outside of a few basic processes, the custom rim business is a completely different animal. Most rim customers have never rented anything. The sales strategy is completely different. It may take 3 or 4 hours and 2 to 3 visits by the consumer to make the sale. And you won't make the sale unless you first know the wheel culture."

Play - Podcast interview with Jim Deering, ColorTyme Director of Franchise Development.
"I started with ColorTyme in November, 2007. This is my first convention and I couldn't ask for a more talented group. I've been brought in to develop systems to manage the franchise offering to new and existing franchisees. Franchising has been regulated since 1979. There are a number of disclosure requirement changes coming in 2008 that will affect all franchise companies. A franchise is a partnership between franchisee and franchisor. It requires working together. Attitude is the most important factor is a successful franchisee. We can teach the right person RTO."

Play - Podcast interview with Scott Savell, Regional manager, RimTyme.
"ColorTyme will open 10 free-standing company owned RimTyme stores in the next year. It helps to pave the way and show franchisees a record of success. I've been renting wheels and tires for 12 years and history has proven that kiosks don't work. You need to be all-in. Look at it from a customer's perspective - A guy doesn't buy a car then say 'I think I'll take it to a furniture store to customize'. There has been an incredible amount of positive feedback from franchisees at the convention. Learning something new is never easy, but they're exited about the concept."

Other podcasts from the 2008 ColorTyme National Convention:

- David Deignan, Franchisee, former Aaron's Marketing VP with 25 years in RTO dating back to Curtis Mathis.
- Gary and Jutta Hughes, ColorTyme Franchisee, owners of the Waipahu, Hawaii ColorTyme.
- Ben Stanley, the newest ColorTyme franchisee in the system.
- Amy Woods, Director of marketing, ColorTyme.
- Tom Jackson, new ColorTyme Franchisee in Largo, Florida.
- Cort Hill and Jim Conyers, ColorTyme Franchisee partners from Elkton, Maryland.