After reading the post: Writing a Personal Finance Blog Changed My Life by Tonya @ Budget and the Beach (who is an awesome writer and one of my favourite bloggers), I was inspired to write my own version of this topic. In case you didn’t know, I’ve actually been blogging for just over three years now. At first, I thought that because I didn’t blog or work on my blog as often as other bloggers, I didn’t learn as much. However, when I really thought about it, I learned a lot more than I realized.
Little did I know it would also slowly change my life.
FINANCE
This is the most obvious one. The main reason why I started a blog was to make money. Along the way I also learned about how to be more frugal, save more money, investing, be a minimalist and manage my money even better than before.
RUNNING a BUSINESS
I always felt I never had the entrepreneurial spirit. I never sold lemonade and really sucked at selling those chocolate covered almonds (this was back in the day when a nut allergy was almost non-existent) for school fundraisers. I never took any marketing courses in high school and majored in Science in university. Then , voila I started a blog. Almost a year later I became self-hosted and let the world know I was ready for advertising on my site. Some of the many things I learned were about how to make media kits, how to negotiate, different ways to collaborate and sponsored giveaways. An online business is probably the best kind of business for someone as introverted as myself.
PASSION
I had always enjoyed writing as a kid and thrived in English class. Blogging started out as a hobby and then developed into a passion. I really do enjoy blogging-whether it publishing a post or reading peoples’ comments. I read about other people discovering passions and having jobs they truly loved. It made me want the same thing.
COMMUNITY
I have yet to meet anyone offline. However, I will be attending the Canadian Personal Finance Conference in October this year in Toronto. That may be the big moment where I really put myself out there and make some connections. The online blogging community is truly wonderful. Almost everyone is willing to help you out and if they can’t help you out directly, they point you to people/resources that can help you.
TECHNOLOGY
Maintaining a blog made me more curious about the technology aspect of it, specifically coding. It led to taking a part-time course in the fundamentals of web development and several workshops with Ladies Learning Code. These courses then got me interested in the tech industry which led to considering enrolling into a coding boot camp and….
A CAREER CHANGE!!!!
I recently just started a job as an analyst with an advertising tech startup (will probably still learn about coding on the side though through online resources though)
It has been a great start so far and although it has been a huge change with more big changes ahead (leaving a safe and steady job to immediately jumping into a new industry, new job, new people, new location, new work environment-yes that’s A LOT OF NEW), I am even more convinced that I have made the right decision. It is the change and challenge I had been looking for all this time.
So yes, starting a blog changed my life too. 😀
So if you’re in need of a challenge or a change, start a blog. You never know where it could take you!
Wow! So many different ways to learn! Glad you have had such a life changing experience! Have you dove into list building much? There are so many important skill sets you can pick up from writing a blog! Keep it up and I am interested to hear how your first con goes!
You just gave me an idea for a future post! I have been listing certain skills on my resume that I developed from blogging.
I really wanted to start my own blog, but I think I’m not yet ready especially that English is not my first language. Right now, I enjoy reading blogs, especially a personal finance blog and beauty blogs. 🙂
I think you just go ahead and start one regardless. 🙂
This is so great! I too have found that there are a ton of benefits to blogging, but for me the issue has been following through. I’ve blogged on and off for a few years now, and each time as soon as new opportunities start to present themselves, I shy away and go on hiatus. Really trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again as I love writing as a creative outlet.
Little did I know that when I first started this blog, that it would potentially lead me down a completely different career path.
Best of luck to you in pursuing potential opportunities!
Blogging has sure given me some life perspective. Being alone with your thoughts writing every day helps bring many things into clarity, not just the financial.
Agreed 🙂
Blogging for me is my happy place and I can’t imagine living my life with out it. Due to my job I have had to stop for spells of time, but always, always come back to it. It is amazing of what doors can be opened to you while blogging. It’s also amazing what you learn about yourself.
It’s crazy how it becomes a part of you and your life. It was definitely a creative outlet/stress reliever for me. I’ve had to put it on hold from time to time as well, because of work, but I always manage to come back to it eventually.
Blogging is and still is an eye opening experience. It really does make you self-aware.
Glad to hear things are going so well for you! Thank you for sharing your ideas and also for your inspiration.