IME's Photos

Today we launched the photo album portion of IME's website, http://www.hireime.com/ I will updated it often with photos of our team at events and my speaking appearances. I've teased some photos below, but click the link above to view all the photos so far.

Twyla

Can You Sell Yourself / Your Business?

Business owners need to know how to sell their products / services. If they can't sell a product / service then how can they convince others to buy or invest?

The ability to sell is directly related to how successful an entrepreneur really is. In business you need to know how to negotiate (from buying paper in bulk to obtaining clients), to deal with "no," to build industry confidence, and to communicate effectively with a wide range of people. Relying on sales people may be needed to streamline business but YOU also need to know how to sell!

Sell and work! Selling is what makes you successful but you also have to put the time in. An eight hour sales day isn't going to cut it. True entrepreneurs work long hours and don't mind doing so.

Want to know more about selling and putting in the time to make that dime? Contact me! I am available for speaking engagements.

Until tomorrow,

Twyla N. Garrett

Does Your Business Need A Mobile App?

            Technologically based companies have taken off significantly over the last few years. More and more businesses are adapting to the change by producing Internet sites as well as creating mobile applications in order to keep up with the shift towards technology. Although it may seem that businesses need to keep up with the curve and join the bandwagon of creating a personal application, this is not always necessary nor a guaranteed profit producer. There are few things to take into consideration before you decide to dedicate time and money towards this project.

            The first thing to consider is the goal of your business. Is your business trying to reach as many people as possible or are you looking to appeal to a specific niche? According to Pew Research only 35% of people own a smartphone. If your business’s goal is to appeal to everyone, there needs to be a way to reach to the other 65% of people. It is important to decide the audience you are trying to reach. If you feel that the customers your business is aiming toward own smartphones then an application may be something to consider.

            The second thing to consider is the necessity of having an application or mobile website. Do you have the budget to support it? If not, it is probably not a good idea to build one. If mobile advertising would work best for your business then it should be implemented. Not all businesses need to have an application or mobile site so do not feel like you have to have one as well.

            Third, do you have the time to manage an application or mobile site? These are not easily created nor can be managed sporadically. The main goal of applications or mobile sites is to bring people to the site as much as possible. Constantly keeping the layout and information up to date is essential. The more interesting the site is physically as well as informative, the more successful the business.

            The last thing to keep in mind are which types of phones your potential consumers are using. You may need to develop different applications for different phone platforms. When a company focuses on developing an application for every platform they may not be able to recognize where their customers are at or where their business fits in.

“Fighting the fiscal cliff.”

As a business owner, I have great concerns about the looming fiscal cliff. Last week I was invited to The White House to discuss this specific issue with other business owners and the President’s staff. The greatest concern for me is a real fear of a double-dip recession. It seems that who I did or didn’t vote for no longer matters. Why? Well, simply put, the gridlock in congress is preventing this country, and businesses like mine, from moving forward. A week marketplace, a conflicted nation, and a failure to formulate a basic pay-as-you-go system all are contributing to this culture of “fighting the cliff” vs. “fighting each other.” Let’s put aside our differences as to what approach is “right” and make finding common ground our priority as a nation.

To be more specific, I believe the only deal that will truly bring down our national debt must include both spending cuts AND revenue. It is just common sense! Business owners know this, people who run a household (on any budget) know this, so why can’t congress understand this? Furthermore, I’m frustrated because if we, as a nation, go over this “cliff,” consumer spending is predicted to drop, impacting businesses by $200 billion less in revenue for the incoming year! And, it just ins’t a drop in revenue that will result in layoffs. The loss in revenue will force small businesses, such as mine, that support the so-called big businesses to close!

Businesses small and large are guaranteed to suffer if this country goes off the “cliff.” As of December 13th, House Speaker John Boehner met with the President in what seemed to be a half-hearted attempt, between both parties, to find common ground on raising taxes and cutting entitlement spending on programs like Medicare and Social Security. After an hour, we weren’t any closer to moving towards a deal.

Business owners have to fight the cliff. Voices have to be prominently heard in order to hurry congress along and have them really invest in a deal that would restore both confidence in our political system followed by confidence in our marketplace.

Twyla Garrett
Business Owner