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Tag: ‘Drew Graham’

Drew Graham on Communication Management Tool Constant Contact

Posted Mar 2 2011 by in Small Business, Testamonial, Web/Tech with 0 Comments

Drew Graham, Director of Development at Varvid.com, explains the advantages of using Constant Contact. Constant Contact is an online e-mail marketing service that offers e-mail marketing, event marketing surveys, and full social media integration. Constant Contact analytics let you know who’s actually opening and reading your emails, as well as which links they click on. Drew finds that Constant Contact is very useful for spreading the word on events such as the on-going webinars that Varvid holds and he highly recommends getting the free trial and taking Constant Contact for a spin.

4 Life Lessons the IT Industry has Taught Me

Posted Nov 15 2010 by in Drew Thoughts, Family, Uncategorized with 6 Comments

As the newest member of team Varvid, I have had the pleasure of meeting all kinds of folks in the MSP/VAR industry over the last 8 months. From one-on-one meetings to panel discussions to multi-day conferences,  these folks have taught me dozens of lessons.  I’d like to share with you four I have learned thus far that stand out:

4.  Whether or not folks on the other side are going to like the answer, tell the truth. This is not to say I’ve cried wolf my entire life, just reiterating what we all know can be a tough conversation, especially if it’s not a positive answer, response or dialogue.  Remember that productivity comes from both sides of the isle. Be it clients, customers, family members, co-workers or law enforcement, be honest. Like my father once said, “Son, the truth is not only the right thing to share, it’s the easiest to remember.”  Took me years to realize how right on the money that statement is.

3.  When it comes to a conversation, listen twice as much as you talk. We all know (or are) people who struggle with this. There’s the no eye contact gazer… the one-upper … the interrupter… the sentence finisher… the argument maker… and the list goes on and on.  When it comes to listening, I’ll be honest… it’s difficult for me. I am a talker and love to share stories, thoughts or insight with anybody who wants to engage with me.  But in an effort to listen, I have found the connections I am making in this industry are more real and more meaningful than those I have made in the past. Not because I’m hearing you, but because I’m listening to you.

2. It’s OK to ask for help.  I still have a hard time with this part of my business life because I don’t want to come across as a poser or fraud. My biggest fear is that somebody is going to call me out. In this industry especially, if you pretend you do know and you don’t, you will be eaten alive.  When that happens, there goes your credibility and any business you may have hoped you’d earn. Recently I have put my ego on the back burner and started to ask people to slow down or explain it again.  Do some folks get a little bent out of shape?  Sure they do, but more often than not they understand and want to help me.  It’s in our nature to help, so don’t be afraid to ask for it. Like our school teachers always said, the only dumb question is the question not asked.

1. To fully appreciate all in life, creating priorities is a must. While work is not life, it plays an integral role in who we are, allows us to be creative, productive and utilize our education and experience to better those we come in contact with. I speak for the majority of us when I say what we do is not brain surgery. Lives are not in the balance every time we go to work. As a people pleaser, learning to check out at 5:00 (most days) and not bringing home my work has proven to be a difficult task. But doing so has done wonders for my marriage and my relationship with my son.  These are the most important thing in my life and to remember my work helps me provide a roof and food for those people, it does not replace them.

Again, these are only 4 lessons of the dozens I have learned since I started with this organization nearly a year ago.  The education continues with each new person I have the privilege of meeting.

Varvid Makes Internet Delivered Video Affordable for Anyone with New VENUE Packages!

Posted Oct 8 2010 by in Varvid Team, VENUE Packages, Video Delivery with 0 Comments

Ok, so maybe we were exaggerating when we said Varvid unleashed an army of robots. But, we weren’t speaking with hyperbole when claiming we’ve found a way to make internet delivered video affordable for everyone. We’ve aptly named our online video solution the VENUE packages, as they provide any member of the Varvid family an innovative means of building their own personal “venue” to express themselves to the online community. Here is a video where our very own Drew Graham explains Varvid’s new VENUE Packages:

Our press release is as follows:

New Online Video Solutions Introduced

Varvid Releases Internet Delivered Video Production and Hosting Packages that Save Companies Money and Increase Online Search Results.  Packages start at $299/month & include 12 videos a year!

BELLINGHAM, WA – 10/8/10 – Varvid, an Internet Delivered Video (IDV) marketing company, announces an innovative new way for businesses to increase their web presence using the power of online video.

Video Editing Network and User Education (VENUE) packages benefit clients by eliminating travel and onsite production costs by having clients capture high definition (HD) video and audio and then upload it to Varvid for editing, post-production and delivery. Solutions start at only $299 a month and include 12 edited videos a year.

“Every single organization has a story to tell,” says Aaron Booker, founder of Varvid. “YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after Google and reaching this rapidly growing audience of potential clients is critical. With our VENUE packages, Internet Delivered Video is a very cost effective way to communicate with new and existing clients as well as presenting a fantastic return on investment.”

Each VENUE package comes with a new Cisco HD Flip camera, a professional digital audio recorder and Varvid’s unique ‘how-to’ training videos that provide guidelines for shooting the best video possible. These high quality tools allow clients to leverage Varvid’s professional video editing, post-production experience and online hosting services. Varvid provides ongoing support by educating clients on how to capture great video testimonials, product announcements, video press releases, demonstration videos, and more.

“Many people want to watch a short video, not read a PDF or download a white paper,” states Booker. “That’s just the reality today and successful businesses understand that.”

The process is simple. Clients shoot the raw footage, then upload it to Varvid’s website so Varvid’s experienced editing crew can efficiently create a professional and polished piece, ready for distribution.

VENUE packages include 12 videos edited and distributed each year, a comprehensive suite of viewer metrics reporting, custom intro and close graphics, client branded embeddable player, professionally shot on-site videos by Varvid’s crew and regularly scheduled live training/Q&A sessions. For specifics on each package, please visit: http://www.varvid.com/venue


Gawker Founder Says Video is Future of Online Media- Varvid Responds with Army of Robots

Posted Oct 5 2010 by in Current Affairs, Internet Delivered Video, Varvid Team, Video Delivery with 1 Comment

Last Monday at the IAB Mixx conference in New York, the founder of Gawker Media, Nick Denton, took the stage with Peter Kafka of AllThingsD to talk about what the future holds in store for the blogging network. During their presentation they both lauded the power of video and were extremely confident that video and images will soon become the standard means of communication in the blogging world.

Denton was quoted as saying, “people don’t really want to read text, they want videos, they want images, bigger, more lavish.” He explained how text can become tedious when communicating large ideas, and people would rather receive their information from a medium more resembling magazines or television.

Denton used the example of Gizmodo’s notorious leak of the iPhone 4, which skyrocketed their traffic to four times the readers that week. “There is a huge kind of hunger for that image, for the video we produced,” Denton explained. “The core of that story was the image of the phone.” He used this instance as an argument for text being more useful when providing context and explanation for visual media, rather than acting as the primary medium itself.

Denton described Gawker’s current blog design as ludicrous, which is why their eight media properties are currently undergoing a full redesign to allow better delivery of images and video-based media.

One roadblock the Gawker staff came upon was the steep price involved with video production, which forced them to search through their video archive rather than obtaining new, up to date footage they could embed on their site.

Here at Varvid we’ve always understood the power of internet delivered video and know it’s the most effective way for a business to get noticed in the noisy online world of social media mayhem. But, like the Gawker staff, we are aware of the fact that quality video can come with an overwhelming price which leads most business owners feeling like there will be little return on their online video investment.

“There is a lot of power behind the visual presentation of information,” says Drew Graham, Varvid’s  Business Development Director. “When the viewer can hear emotion and see the body language of a presenter for themselves, it creates an advantage by connecting the two.”  Graham goes on to explain how businesses of all sizes, with proper guidance and support, can create content that engages and motivates.  “All organizations-from the service industry, to manufacturing, to retail-have a story to tell. With the options available in today’s technologically advanced marketplace, there’s no reason why internet delivered video shouldn’t be a more cost effective marketing opportunity and offer a fantastic return on investment. That’s why the Varvid team is excited we’ve found a way to make internet delivered video an affordable option for everyone.”

Armed with this knowledge, Varvid has built an army of robotic super scientists and charged them with finding a way to make internet delivered video affordable to anyone and everyone with the guts to implement the ultimate social media tool into their marketing arsenal. What clever & diabolical schemes have they drafted?  Do you have the courage to meet our challenge?  You’ll find out soon enough. Stay tuned, there’s more information coming later this week!



Susan G Komen Race for the Cure!

Posted Jun 9 2010 by 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 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 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?

Scott Scrogin at the HTG Summit in Dallas 2010

Posted Apr 29 2010 by in Conferences, HTG Peer Groups with 0 Comments

Scott Scrogin, HTG President, chats with Varvid’s Drew Graham about the success of HTG 2010 Summit in Dallas. Scott shares that the sucess HTG IT MSPs have experienced will be made available to a limited number of IT MSP vendors as well. Begining in June, these peer groups will be structure much like the original HTG peer groups, including multilpe levels of accountibility. The hope is vendors can build lasting and solid relationship together and with other HTG members.

Christy Sacco at HTG Summit in Dallas 2010

Posted Apr 29 2010 by in Conferences, HTG Peer Groups with 0 Comments


Christy Sacco, Director of Operations HTG Peer groups, chats with Drew Graham from Varvid at HTG 2010 Summit in Dallas. She details her roles with this IT organization and the overall success of this years event. With a  great response from vendors and attendance from members at 95%, HTG staffers are thrilled. The focus remains on quality and accountability for both members and vendors.

Mike Nobers from Zenith Infotech at HTG Dallas 2010

Posted Apr 28 2010 by in Conferences, HTG Peer Groups, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Mike Nobers from Zenith Infotech chats with Varvid’s Drew Graham at the HTG 2010 Summit in Dallas. As an IT managed services and back up and disaster recovery provider, working with the HTG organization continues to impress Mike. Why? Because they work not as competitors, but together. New releases in the future for Zenith Infotech include cloud computing and view telepresence.

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