Blogger Stories: Yvonne DiVita

Yvonne DiVita is an icon in the business world of the blogosphere. However, she wouldn't even be blogging but for the love of a good man. Hers is Blogger Stories' first love story. The heart of Yvonne's story is - Times change. Life brings happiness if you keep your arms open to embrace it.

Blogger Story Teller: Yvonne DiVita, Lip-sticking

I was dragged into the blogosphere kicking and screaming. After self-publishing my provocatively titled book, Dickless Marketing: Smart Marketing to Women Online, I knew I needed a website to go along with it. And, I expected that I would need to have a newsletter, at some point.

The website was an exciting adventure - since I come from a background in search engine optimization. The newsletter - well, the thought of that was scary. I mean, how could I provide enough content for both a website and a newsletter? Still, I knew it had to be done, so, I began researching my options - i.e. which newsletter technology or tool to use.

While all this was going on, I met the most delightful, loving, warm and supportive man in the whole world. His name is Tom Collins. (I'm not making that up - it's really his name.) I met him at a networking meeting locally. We hit it off and started dating. He was newly separated so I was reluctant to attach any special meaning to our relationship, at first.

But Tom... he has no such qualms and before long, his loving attention convinced me he was serious - he wanted to be with me, only me, forever. And, since I felt the same way, we decided to move in together.

Be patient - the blog story comes soon.

Tom (a recovering lawyer, so he jokes to everyone he meets) was studying Informatics
at UB. His goal was to switch from 'lawyering' to being a lawyer who could bring other lawyers into the technology age. While studying at UB, Tom was required to build something called a blog. He wasn't all that thrilled about it - until he did it, for himself and a good friend of ours. Then, he was sold. He started talking blogs all day long.

He told me I needed a blog - not a newsletter, a blog. A day didn't go by that he didn't mention blogging and how it would be good for my book. Since I knew little to nothing about blogs, only what Tom told me, and since I was already overworked with marketing my book and starting a business, I turned a deaf ear to Tom's ramblings about blogs and blogging.

Until...I could take it no longer! The newsletter idea wasn't going anywhere. My reluctance to start something I wasn't sure I could keep up with, was preventing me from actually developing a newsletter. Besides, I was using Contribute to update my Smart Marketing to Women website , and I was thinking maybe I didn't need a newsletter after all. Maybe, I began to think...this 'blog' thing would be as good as a newsletter.

Still I admit that it sounded like a lot of work...updating on a regular basis, building a blogroll (what the heck was a blogroll?), having people comment on stuff I'd write - and a part of me decided that, okay, I'd let Tom build me a blog -- so I could show him how wrong he was. So I could say, "I told you it wouldn't work."

We built the blog. Together. Me and Tom. To his credit, he knew I needed to be involved in the creation of the blog. It was going to be MINE...relevant to my voice, writing on how to market successfully to women online. So, we worked shoulder to shoulder over a couple of days, off and on, and created a nice header (not the one that's there now...we had a simpler one at first), and categories, and I pretended to pay attention as Tom went over all the elements of a Typepad blog. He was clearly excited - I was, I hate to admit it, bored.

Well...I hate to say I told you so. Which is just as well because I will never get to say I told you so to Tom. Once I began writing in the blog, once I learned how EASY it was, and once it connected me to some really fantastic people (like Toby Bloomberg!) I was hooked! I was in love all over again! I couldn't wait to get up in the morning and write in my blog.

By golly, people were actually reading what I was writing! Not only that, but I was learning so much - about blogging, about networking online, and about my core interest - marketing to women online. I learned how to make Typelists and more categories, and how to add images and links, and turn this blog thing into something ALIVE! A real part of ME! WOW! It was mind-bloggling! So to speak.

And there you have it. I owe my success to a wonderful man who came into my life at just the right time and who was willing to support me, in more ways than one, as I worked my fingers to the bone writing about women's issues - trying to get noticed and taken seriously. All of which finally happened, when I started my blog.

Today, Tom and I work together. On different aspects of blogging [once you learn how to blog properly, you can never get bored with it, as I was in those very early days], and on helping creative people publish books. We have not yet tied the knot. Real life just keeps getting in the way.

What we'd really like to do is --- get married on the blog Tom helped me build. Yep, you heard right. We'd like to get married, using streaming video, on Lip-sticking. And set up a Flickr account for the wedding pics. Getting married live on the blog would let us invite all of our blog friends. It would be a huge Blog Party - a Worldwide Blog Party! The Wedding of Yvonne and Tom!

Now, wouldn't that just be so cool?

Technorati Tags: Blogger_Stories, Yvonne_DiVita, Lip-sticking, Business_Blog, Marketing_to_Women

Comments

[Bryan Person, Bryper.com]

Married live on a blog? I wonder if that's a first!

An uplifting story from Yvonne and yet another shining example of the power of blogging.

[Jack Yoest]

Yvonne, please make sure we are on the invitation good-guy list. Charmaine and I would be honored to "attend."

And remember Tom Peters(!) He might even show up. Or at least re-install you on the blogroll...
Jack