How starting a blog changed my life

How Starting a Blog
Changed My Life
Presented by Karen Swyszcz
WordCamp Hamilton 2019 – Sat June 1st
Karen Swyszcz of Makinthebacon || Twitter: @makinthebacon1

Who Am I?

Who I Was Before I Started Blogging
 Degree in Biochemistry from the
University of Waterloo
 Multiple jobs, careers, applied to
grad school twice
 Unemployed several times
 Confused, frustrated, lost
 Government job – initially thought it
was good, but fell back into the same
pattern of being confused, frustrated
and lost

Why I Started Blogging
 Initial idea was to use it as an extra
source of income to help pay for my
wedding
 Started a personal finance blog -
Makinthebacon in June 2012
 Felt there was a need for more
people to discuss the importance of
creating multiple streams of income,
saving for a rainy day

What Actually Ended Up Happening
 Didn’t make money right away
 Fun hobby
 Developed some new skills
 Creative outlet to help tolerate a job
that was very boring and repetitive

I Had a Creative Childhood
 Growing up I was very creative
 Wrote poems and stories
 Liked to doodle, draw, do lettering
 Was never encouraged to take these
things seriously
Photo: Estee Janssens

I Had a Creative Childhood
 Did well in English class
 OAC English teacher assumed I was
going to pursue a degree in writing
 Led to believe that pursuing a degree
in science, engineering, medicine,
etc. would provide better career
opportunities
 Enrolled in engineering, then ended
up with a science degree in
biochemistry
Karen Swyszcz of Makinthebacon || Twitter: @makinthebacon1 Photo: Estee Janssens

The Blog Brought Creativity Back
Into My Life

Blog Rekindled My Love For Writing
 So many years had passed where I
was not really doing anything
creative
 Blogging was a way for me to express
my thoughts and feelings
 As an introvert, I feel I am better at
expressing myself through the
written word

New Skills That I Had Acquired
 Continuously improving
communication skills
 Using social media to network and
market your blog/business
 Networking online
 How to develop an online presence
 Running a side business
 Creating and managing content

New Skills That I Had Acquired

But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses

I Made a LOT of
mistakes
Photo: Nathan Dumlao

What I Did Wrong Or Didn’t Do Right Away
 Was anonymous for several years
 Used ugly stock photos
 Wasn’t consistent with posting
 Didn’t share my content that much
 Thought I didn’t need any help, could figure
everything out on my own
Photo: Pawel Janiak

More Things I Did Wrong/Didn’t Do Right
Away
 Have some sort of focus
 Wasn’t that active on social media
right away
 Didn’t do a lot of in-person
networking
 First WordPress theme was really
ugly, the next couple of them were
not so bad
Photo: Pawel Janiak

I Didn’t Really Put In The Time and
Effort
 More focused on trying to build a career at my
full-time position
 Blog was never really a priority
Photo: Pawel Janiak

How The Blog Changed
My Life: The First Time

Taking a risk, changing careers and
starting over
 Getting to the point where I wanted
to quit my job everyday
 Felt like I had not gained any new
skills
 Efforts at the government agency
were not paying off
Photo: Walker Fenton

starting over
 This was when I made a couple of
decisions:
 To put more effort into building the
blog
 Leave the government agency
completely
Photo: Walker Fenton

starting over
 Thought I wanted to be a web
designer or a web developer
 Took workshops and part-time intro
to web development course
 Went to startup/tech-related
networking events
 Applied to startups
Photo: Chris Ried

starting over
 Offered a job as a business analyst at
a startup
 Took it because I was hungry for a
challenge, hungry for change
 Leaving a steady job with pension,
benefits, lots of vacation
 Took a huge pay cut, but eventually
made significantly more than my
government job
Photo: Alessandro Bianchi

Starting To Live The Startup Life
 At government – was one of the
youngest employees
 At the startup – one of the oldest
employees
 Had to learn on the fly
 Everyday was something new, often a
challenge
 Insane learning curve
Karen Swyszcz of Makinthebacon || Twitter: @makinthebacon1 Photo: Alessandro Bianchi

How The Blog Changed
My Life: The Second
Time

Starting Over – Yet Again
 Was let go beginning of 2017
 Based on skills learned from blogging,
decided to create a consulting
business
 Teaching/advising small business
owners on using blogging and social
media for their businesses

Again, not all sunshine and roses
 Met with a lot of doubt, especially
from family
 I was not one of those bloggers who
was making significant income
 Quickly learned how different AND
much more difficult it is to run a
business vs using your skills
Photo: Steve Johnson

Again, not all sunshine and roses
 Lots of naysayers who still don’t believe
that blogging and social media can help
your business
 Many writers are charging significantly
less for posts → devaluing the work
 With the growing popularity of video,
people think that blogging is dead (It’s
not)
Photo: Steve Johnson

New career, new opportunities
 Faculty of Continuing Education &
Professional Studies at Sheridan College
 Blogging workshops within the Greater
Toronto Area
 Keynote speaker, workshop facilitator and
panel moderator at a conference
 Co-author on two books publishing in 2020
 Lead author on a book project publishing in
2020/2021

New career, new opportunities

Create Content and
Share It

The Benefits of Creating Content
 People consume content, they crave content
 You never know who is reading, watching or
listening
 They may be waiting for the right time to
reach out to you
 It can start a conversation and lead to
connections and/or opportunities

Start that passion project

Find something your
passionate about

How Do You Do That?
 Questions to ask yourself:
What do you enjoy doing in your
spare time?
What did you enjoy doing when you
were growing up?
What have you always wanted to try?

How Do You Do That?
 Learn a new skill
 Take up a hobby
 Attend conferences, meetups
 Make new connections, go for coffee
dates –
 Shapr App, Bumble Bizz
 Tap into your network, use your
LinkedIn connections
 Ask questions
Photo: Rhondak

Discover Your Passion
 READ:
 Books
 Blogs
 WRITE
 Bullet Journaling
 LISTEN
 Podcasts
 Audiobooks
 WATCH
 TedTalks
 YouTube Videos

Recommendations
 READ:
 Books – The One Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan, Tools of Titans By
Tim Ferriss
 Blogs – ProBlogger, See Girl Work, Give Me Back My Five Bucks
 WRITE
 Bullet Journaling (Read: The Bullet Journal Method By Ryder Carroll)
 Productivity Planner
 LISTEN
 Podcasts – Be Wealthy and Smart with Linda P Jones, Masters of Scale with Reid
Hoffman
 Audiobooks
 WATCH
 TedTalks – Why Some Of Us Don’t Have One True Calling
 YouTube Videos

The Benefits of Being Creative
 Gives you time and space to think
 Help to de-stress and reduce anxiety
Photo: Tanialee Gonzalez

“Unused creativity is not benign. It
metastasizes. It turns into grief, rage,
judgment, sorrow, shame. We are
creative beings. We are by nature
creative.”
Professor Brené Brown
Source: The Benefits of Being More Creative By Samuel Lehane

Why Creativity is Necessary
 “Creativity is the single most important skill in the
world” – Paul Petrone, LinkedIn Learning, January 2019
 “CEOs say creativity is the #1 factor for future success” –
IBM
 “Creativity is or is related to 9 of the top 10 skills that
global executives say is essential for 2020 and beyond” –
World Economic Forum
Karen Swyszcz of Makinthebacon || Twitter: @makinthebacon1 Photo: Tanialee Gonzalez

Create Something and Share It
 Write something and share it online
 Create something, take a picture of it and share
it
 Reach a wider amount of people online
Photo: Tanialee Gonzalez

Don’t Be Afraid To Share
Your Creation With the
World

Where To Share
 Social Media – on your feeds and in
Facebook Groups
 Behance
 Medium or LinkedIn Publishing Platform
 Hit Record – online community where
people can collaborate on art and
media projects together
Karen Swyszcz of Makinthebacon || Twitter: @makinthebacon1 Photo: Tanialee Gonzalez

We Share Thoughts and
Ideas

We Are a Sharing Economy
 People will share things with their
community that they find to be
useful,informative, inspirational, etc.
OR
 People will share things that they may
think will be useful to other people
Photo: Elaine Casap

We Are a Sharing Economy
 Uber, Air B’n’B (sharing vehicles and
homes)
 Kickstarter, Indiegogo (Crowdfunding)
 Coworking spaces
 TaskRabbit (knowledge and talent-
sharing)
Photo: Elaine Casap

That Passion Project
Could Eventually Be A
Source of Income

Which Can Lead To
Multiple Sources of
Income

Online Content Can Help You Develop
Additional Income Streams
 Ads on site isn’t the only way
 Connecting with other people online
through your content -→ partnerships,
collaborations
Photo: Sharon McCutcheon

Online Content Can Help You Develop
Additional Income Streams
 Online :
 store
 Resources
 Webinars, courses
 Affiliate marketing
 Consulting services
 Workshops
 Paid speaking opportunities

It is possible to do something you love
and get paid for it
 It takes a significant amount of
persistence, time and effort
 But eventually it becomes worth it
 Don’t believe the overnight success
hype you see on social media

Key Takeaways
 Figure out what you’re passionate
about
 Ask questions, stay curious
 Start that passion project
 Share it
 You never know what opportunities or
people it could lead you to
Photo: Paula May

Questions?
Photo: Emily Morter

How starting a blog changed my life

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