YouTube rocks!

About a year ago I had a company call me & tell me they wanted to come & video me & put me up online. I was good for it & said, "Sure!" (hey, free advertising right?)

So, they came, shot a bunch of video's, and disappeared for a while....and then, something miraculous happened! They put them up on YouTube and my business took off even stronger than before!

Turns out those guy's had posted the videos all over the web, but particularly on YouTube they were gaining popularity. This happened just about the first of this year and as you know, gas prices (and diesel prices) shot like a rocket to the moon.....this usually means my phone starts to ring like crazy & business booms, but with the videos, it did it even more so!



You can see the rest of the vids they shot here:
http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/tutorialvideos.php

Seems I was the only one out there that'd put together some real, down-home, laymans terms video's to teach people how Biodiesel is made....and, well....it paid off.

So, lately I've been on a "Video" kick. I've been reading every review under the sun and have been researching it like crazy. As some of you know, I also picked up a new laptop (A MacBook Pro--and love it!) and have just recently ordered a really cool, kick butt video camera.

Link to Mac Books

Here's what my video camera that's coming looks like....

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Canon-HV30-Camcorder-Review-34401.htm#

Why? Well, because I was so impressed with how well those video's on YouTube did that I'm going to make more...and, well, my old Camcorder makes really lame YouTube videos (the quality sucks).

See? Really, really grainy!


But, that's not why I'm so psyched today...
In my research I ran across a guy on YouTube that has a marketing degree and is all about using Video to promote...well...himself! This is my kind of guy!

He goes by Nalts on YouTube and his videos are hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/user/nalts

This one is my favorite so far....the end is classic!


He has a blog all about what he does too.
http://www.willvideoforfood.com

The reason I like his vids so much (besides the fact that they're so hilariously funny) is that he's been successful using video to promote himself.
More on him here:
http://www.kevinnalts.com/

And the best part about it is that he's blatant about it (he doesn't hide the fact that he's trying to make dough on this thing, he's for real--my kind of guy).

But, now back to the topic at hand.

So I've always thought YouTube was cool & all, but until I ran across this Nalts guy I had no idea how cool it could be to follow someone that posts to YouTube all the time! He posts about a video a day on just about everything under the sun and seems to be doing really well (he's had over 35 million views..yep, that's a lot!)

The past few nights I've been spending lots of time (ask Valerie...as she rolls her eyes) watching this guy and reading up on how to make successful YouTube vids.

Interesting (and sometimes hilarious) stuff!

-Graydon
Recent YouTube Junkie!

Sweet Laughter

Amazingly Laurie was very awake tonight. I say amazingly because she didn't really get an afternoon nap. I didn't mind too much because she was in the best mood that she had been in the entire day, and this at 11 at night. I accidently discovered this way of making her laugh. I hadn't heard her laugh for a couple of months at least and never this much. Graydon was sitting next to me and this was first time that he had ever heard her laugh. Needless to say we were very excited.

Alpha Friends

In kindergarten Emily is learning about alpha friends. She surprised me when she started singing these songs at the dinner table. I think they are so cute.

The first is Sammy Seal.



Sammy Seal will sail the sea
When summer is the season.
Sammy Seal will sail the sea
And never need a reason.
Sammy Seal will sail the sea
In very sunny weather
Sammy Seal salutes a Sea Gull
As they sail together.

The other is Mimi Mouse



Mimi Mouse, Mimi Mouse
Minds her manners in the house
When she sips her milk she never makes a mess.
Mud pies never stain her dress

All Aboard!

Emily and Josh have a good behavior chart. They get stickers for certain good behaviors; eating their meals, sharing toys, calming down from a tantrum, etc. Friday night they reached their reward marker on the chart so we went on an outing.

This is the SS Shortline RailRoad Park. There are two trains that they can ride, many model trains to look at and a small park. It was a really fun afternoon. It was really good timing since the park is only open one day each month.

Below is a 1 minute video of part of the train ride. The smaller train ride was much longer than we thought it would be. It was very fun. One coupling did come undone during the ride which allowed me to take a couple of pictures. Sorry for the view I was in front of the kids and was not allowed to sit backward. I tried turning the camera around, hoping I would get a good shot.

Easy Cooking

Okay, anyone who knows me knows that I love Italian Food. Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant. Well...I subscribe to Kraft's Food and Family Magazine and they featured four easy restaurant-style recipes. I have tried two of the four and they tasted great and were so easy to make. I thought I would share them.

I love this alfredo recipe because it doesn't use cream. This is really good for Graydon's low milk tolerance. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.




Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken

Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 25 min Makes: 4 servings, 1-1/2 cups each

What You Need

1/2 lb. fettuccine, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1-1/4 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 tsp. flour
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
3 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper

Make It

COOK pasta as directed on package.

MEANWHILE, heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 5 to 7 min. or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet. Mix broth and flour in same skillet. Stir in Neufchatel cheese, 2 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese, the garlic powder and pepper; cook 2 min., stirring constantly with wire whisk until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in chicken.

DRAIN pasta; place in large serving bowl. Pour chicken mixture over pasta; toss to coat. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Special Extra
Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley just before serving.

Substitute
Prepare as directed, using whole wheat fettuccine.

Variation
Stir in 2 cups chopped cooked broccoli before serving.



Shrimp Pomodoro Pasta (I made this with chicken and it was great)

Prep Time: 10 min Total Time: 30 min Makes: 4 servings, 1-1/2 cups each

What You Need

1/2 cup KRAFT Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups penne pasta, uncooked
1 lb. cooked cleaned shrimp
1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
Make It

HEAT large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add dressing, onions and garlic; cook 2 min. Stir in tomatoes; cook 12 min., stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package.

ADD shrimp to sauce; cook 2 min. or until heated through. Remove from heat.

DRAIN pasta; toss with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with cheese.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Special Extra
A light 2-Tbsp. sprinkling of chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, basil or oregano, can further brighten the flavors of this tasty dish. Simply sprinkle onto pasta before serving.

Wall Street Journal article with my business featured as part of the story

My business, Utah Biodiesel Supply, was recently featured in an article by the Wall Street Journal.

Over my time involved with running this business I've been interviewed by several media outlets including KSL News Radio, KTVX Channel 4, KTALK Radio, NPR (yes, THAT NPR), CBC (same as NPR in Canada), The Salt Lake Tribune (twice, once even on the front page), The Standard Examiner (twice, also once on the front page), the Deseret News (we won't talk about that one), and several magazines and even some folks that run blogs, but out of all of them, the one I'm the proudest of is this recent article by the Wall Street Journal.

As some of you know, I have a business degree and while Biodiesel is great & all, I'm still a business major at heart & love all things that revolve around business. The Wall Street Journal is the tip of the ice-burg for a business to be featured in (if it's in a positive light anyway). It is one of the most respected business newspapers in the country and probably has a wider readership than just about any of them out there.

Let's put it this way. The Wall Street Journal makes The Salt Lake Tribune look like a drop of water in a Wall Street Journal ocean. Yep. It's that big & that prestigious.

I could be featured in USA Today and it wouldn't mean as much to me as being featured in The Wall Street Journal. It's that cool to me!

The article was about how to run a successful business online on the cheap and I was one of the featured businesses they talked about because of how I utilize PayPal for my online store.

Anyway, probably doesn't mean much except to maybe Collin & maybe David, but man, it was a huge feather in my cap. In the business world it's an honor just to have your name in the same sentence as The Wall Street Journal so it was a big deal.

So, if you want to see something that's a big deal to this guy in Utah, here's the link to the article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121803326363016929.html

Enjoy!
-Graydon