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Susan G Komen Race for the Cure!

Posted Jun 9 2010 by Mike in Drew Thoughts, Event Coverage, Uncategorized with 1 Comment

The forecast may have been for grey skies and soggy conditions, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of those participating in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure run in Seattle. Varvid’s Drew Graham was on hand, along with race sponsors Wellesse Premium Liquid Supplements, to take in the sights and sounds of family and friends doing their part to help support those who have battled with this disease. One of the highlights for us was the Survivor Parade which was the culmination of the event.  To watch hundreds of women (and a few men) who have fought or are currently fighting breast cancer, there to support one another… that was incredible.  Thanks to Lori McKnight, Leslie Ellis, Sharon Beerman, Meridith Mossman and Greg Andrews from Wellesse for allowing us to document this gathering.  We look forward to doing it again.

Together we’ll find the cure.

First Page Organic Rankings with Video Content

Posted May 20 2010 by drew in Drew Thoughts, Uncategorized, Video Delivery with 0 Comments

If you’re not optimizing your videos, you should start. “Blended search,” the practice in which search engines display videos, images, news stories, maps, and other types of items alongside their standard search results, is now the norm on major search engines. And optimizing video content to take advantage of blended search has by far become the easiest way to get a first-page organic ranking on Google. 

Not only are video results increasingly common in Google’s search results, but your videos stand a much better chance than your text pages of being shown on the first results page. On the keywords for which Google offers video results, a recent study by Forrester.com found an average of 16,000 videos vying to appear on results pages containing an average of 1.5 video results — giving each video about an 11,000-to-1 chance of making it onto the first page of results. By comparison, there was an average of 4.7 million text pages competing for a place on results pages with an average of just 9.4 text results — giving each text page about a 500,000-to-1 chance of appearing on the first page of results. Now that’s a lot of math, but here’s what it means: on the keywords for which Google offers video results, any given video in the index stands about a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of results than any given text page in the index. Those are some attractive odds. 

Here’s the kicker… so few interactive marketers focus on video optimization that most of the videos in Google’s index aren’t very well optimized — so if you optimize your videos well, your chances of success will increase even further. 

Sure, it’ll take time to reorganize and tag your videos, but it’s so worth it. If you need help or want to add an online video delivery system with your personal branding… well, we know a company that specializes in just that. 

*Most of this information and content was provided by Nate Elliott of Forrester.com 

Varvid Crew on the Road

Posted May 17 2010 by drew in Drew Thoughts, Uncategorized with 2 Comments

It’s been a couple weeks since our incredible journey to HTG 2010 Summit in Dallas and our video shoot in College Station/Bryan with the AgniTEK team.  After going over my notes and emails I’d like to share a couple of thoughts and observations from the ”newbie” POV:

Christy, Ken and and the Info Desk Crew

1. The organizational staff with HTG is completely top-shelf. Arlin, Scott, Ken and Christy are incredible human beings who are extremely generous with their time and talents and help those around them reach their true potential. (Note: Christy “fired” me with a smile 10 minutes upon my arrival in Dallas.  Ask her about it sometime.)

2. HTG Peers are embracing the “go-giver” attitude in ways I have never seen an organization members do.  EVER. This peer group is destined for greatness on many levels, both as a group and individually.

From Dallas to College Station with a lapfull of rubber.

3. Don’t try and save a couple bucks when renting a car to haul gear from Dallas to College Station. I mean no disrespect to my boss (the one who signs my checks) but a spare tire on your lap for long car ride leaves you smelling like the Michelin Man and unable to use your legs for 13 minutes and 43 seconds. While I love the Grand Marque, I’ll gladly pay the extra 20 or so for the van upgrade and pitch in on the gas.

Ribs & Brisket with Fried Okra & Slaw... yummy!

4. If you’re ever near Bryan or College Station in Texas, stop by the Martin’s Place for some yummy and very cost effective BBQ, but make sure you wear something you don’t mind smells like smoke for the next couple days. And don’t try to get through airport customs with a zip-lock bag full of ribs and sausage… that dog was on me like… well, a dog on meat.

5. Jamison West is the man. A real-life “go to guy”. Period.

6. ConnectWise, Quosal, Ulistic and JoomConnect are going to be some partners we’ll walk with during this journey.  We’re honored to have such guests along this early part of the path. We may stumble, but it’s good to know you are there.

Antonio and David, the heart and brains of AgniTEK.

7. Take time to get to know your clients,  I spent a lot of time with the crew at AgniTEK in Bryan. David and Antonio have built one of the smoothest operations I’ve ever witnessed. Friendly staff, knowledgeable team and-on top of that-their clients wouldn’t stop saying great things about them on and off camera.

It’s been a month or so since we all came together in the same room, working on common goals and I must say… this team is really starting to gel.  Aaron and I are working with clients, Mike is in his cave editing all the footage he shot, and Bryce keeps the wheels on by doing all the HR/PM stuff. I am really excited about the potential of this company.  Now to get the processes in place and really help our clients succeed.  We are ready to rock it. Are you?