F E A T U R E
Peeking Through the Windows at the vanBlaricoms
by Terri L. Jones
that has sprung from the blog community itself. When a fellow blogger follows
your blog, you show up on their “blogroll,” which in turn serves as a nice little
plug for your blog. “That opens my blog up to a whole new reader who I might
not have had before,” she notes.
otty vanBlaricom didn’t begin blogging to attract advertisers or even readers
The greatest stroke of luck, however, came when the vanBlaricoms’ bathroom
T
necessarily. Last March, this 30-something newlywed started writing about
renovation was featured as a “Reader Redesign” on younghouselove.com,
everything from house projects to holiday traditions, simply to document her
a similar, Richmond-based blog but with a huge, established following. On
life. But that’s precisely why readers have become so attached to it.
November 6, when their bathroom appeared on this site, Totty’s readership
People follow blogs like Totty’s for the same reason that they watch
went from 30 hits per day to a staggering 1,500, and over the course of the
reality shows and occasionally peek inside their friends’ medicine cabinets. They
next three days, a total of 3,000 people had checked out her site.
like knowing what’s going on in other people’s lives.
Totty and her husband Dave, whom she affectionately refers to as “Mr. vB”
Click on an entry of bootsandtotty.com and you’ll feel immediately at home in
on the site, both have interior design backgrounds, so there are naturally a lot
Totty’s world. After a few reads, you’ll feel strangely connected to Totty, too. Part of
of posts about the renovation, redecorating and landscaping they’re perpetually
the lure is her comfortable, gabbing-with-your-girlfriend style.
doing on their 1923 Fan home. (Dave is currently a marketing director for a
“Boots is NOT a fan of this weather (snow). I couldn’t get him to go out this
national web site and built bootsandtotty.com.) And much of Totty’s running
AM for his morning tinkle.” “How can you say no to a $19 cable knit sweater?? I
monologue is a play by play—in words and photos—of just how she and Dave
couldn’t…it is now in my closet.” “I felt like we had walked onto a movie set—it
went from A to Z on projects like building a raised veggie bed or cleverly hiding
was absolutely gorgeous! And once the sun finally set you could see every star in
a cubbyhole behind a sheet-turned-curtain that precisely matched the wall’s
the sky. (Us city folk forget how dark it can get out in the country.)”
paint color (okay, this one didn’t include Dave but Totty’s “Mums”).
“I enjoy writing about things that just pop in my head naturally,” Totty explains,
“It’s a cool way to show people not to be scared of home renovation,” she
which naturally makes her blog reflect the energy and perceptiveness you get from
says. But the benefits go both ways. The blog also gives the couple a “visual
her in person.
history” of their home that they and future little vanBlaricoms can look back on.
This blogger’s easy-breezy style, combined with the irresistible slice-of-life content,
But don’t think bootsandtotty.com is just another home improvement blog.
has obviously resonated with readers. In its short 10-month life, bootsandtotty.com
There are also plenty of fun, photo-filled posts about friends, family and even
has gone from a homegrown readership of friends and family to an average of 80
food. The vanBlaricoms, accompanied by another 30-something couple, are
to 100 hits per day, from places as far flung as Australia.
conducting their own, unofficial burger rating contest or “Best Burger Upon
Totty, who is a manufacturer’s rep for ergonomic furniture, claims much of her
Richmond Prize” (BBURP). Check out the site for all the juicy details. And we
readership comes from simple word of mouth, whether the old-fashioned mouth-to-
can’t leave out Totty’s “Shoe of the Month Club,” where this shoe connoisseur
ear variety or social media. But the biggest surprise has been the “word of mouth”
shares her most fabulous—and often frugal—footwear finds. Despite the budget

FEBRUARY 2010
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Vmagazine for women
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myVmagazine.com
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