I believe you can be paid to do what you love: Taylor Marek

My name is Taylor Marek. I was born and raised in my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I am a Gen. Y Entrepreneur with a love for New Media and using Social Media to reach new heights. I share my thoughts on this vibrant new world at http://taylormarek.com.

Interview

Q: Welcome to Speakbindas. Tell us since when blogging has been a part of your life? Was there any motive or inspiration as a backbone of it?

Ans.: Blogging has been a part of my life since 2006. It all started when I was at a conference learning how to be an effective communicator. One of the speakers was talking on the power of blogging and how he was utilizing it to publish his thoughts and stories. He showed us the bigger picture of it and I immediately became interested. I went home and quickly started up a personal blog of my own. My motivation was to influence the world and share my thoughts.

Q: What is your blog all about? Which topics you cover there? Is that you alone running/maintaining the blog, or have a team?

Ans.: When I started out my blog, I figured I would document my daily life. I shared things I did, things I had an opinion on, and things I wanted to share with the world. It quickly modified to sharing information on managing personal finances, running a small business, and the latest tech news. Now it has modified to what I believe is the industry I want to stake the rest of my life on. I now cover everything New Media/Social Media from a Gen Y Entrepreneur viewpoint. I am the only one running the blog as I am focused on branding myself as an industry leader and one that can be trusted in this space.

Q.: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?

Ans.: It is very important to me. Interaction is the lifeblood of my blog, without it I would have withered and died a long time ago. I respond to every email, every comment, every facebook update, every tweet, and every other medium my readers comment on. That single practice has enabled me to create a web of connections, have a good relationship among my readers, and kick my blog to the next level.

Q: What are the present statistics for your blog, i.e. number of daily visitors, visitors geographical status etc.?

Ans.: Presently I have over one thousand visitors hitting my blog each month scattered throughout 76 countries worldwide. I also run a podcast on the same site where total downloads exceed 150k. Most of my visitors come from the United States and Canada, but it is not uncommon to see people from Ghana and New Zealand pop in every so often.

Q: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Does it help you to earn enough cash to quit a 9 to 5 day job?

Ans.: New Media is my passion. It is expressed most fully through my blog, podcast, and online videos. I have come to love this vibrant new world and wouldn’t exchange it for anything else in the world. I am also planning on making a full-time living on what I do online as I believe you can be paid to do what you love. At the current moment, it is providing me with enough of a weekly income to cover one-third of what I would make in a regular job. I am confident though that soon it will cover all of it then continue on to new heights. At the point it covers what I would normally get paid for a regular 9-5 job, I know I will have escaped the rat race as I can now set my own hours and be my own boss.

Q: Who are your favorite bloggers, whom you read frequently?

Ans.: I read alot of bloggers. Many hundreds of articles I have consumed and out of that I have been able to formulate a core group of bloggers I like to read on a regular basis. Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur-Journey.com is one of the first bloggers I stumbled upon and have remained a loyal reader ever since. Paul Colligan (http://paulcolligan.com) is another blogger/podcaster I’ve come to rely upon as well as Seth Godin, Robb Sutton, Nathan Hangen, Jason Keath, Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, and Tim Ferriss.

Q: From the secret bucket of your blogging experiences, what tips you would like to share with the fellow bloggers?

Ans.: One secret, though it is widely known yet highly unused, I would recommend is that you start following those you aspire to be like in the blogging world. Read their blog posts, leave thoughtful comments, become their friend. Through that relationship start doing guest posts for them. You will soon develop your own niche and quickly become an authority of it.

Q: Do you believe that blogging completes you? If yes, tell us how?

Ans.: Blogging completes my written self. Podcasting completes my verbal self. Online video completes my visual self. Each are distinct mediums, but I have found blogging an effective way to share what is on my mind while sharpening my writing skills. Words seem to flow more easily from my fingers than sitting in front of a mic or video camera and speaking my mind. It helps me to solidify my thoughts and wrap it up in a well-reasoned package. Plus it is a good habit to develop for the long term.

Q: What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

Ans.: One of the happiest moments in my life was reading my first comment. I flipped out and ran about the room jumping with joy. I knew people had been coming, but until that point I didn’t know if I was providing something of value to them. That comment confirmed my thoughts and let me know that someone cared about what I wrote. Another moment was when I was at the 2008 New Media Expo and a random person walked up to me and introduced himself as an avid fan of my blog. I was excited to place a face with a name and meet in person for the first time. There are many more I could mention, but I’ve had many high points in my life that would probably warrant me to write a book about them. The gloomiest day in my life was when my Grandfather died in December of 2007. My blog took a hard hit. That combined with a computer crash and a job situation forced me to take a three month break from my blog to focus on life.

Q: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?

Ans.: New Zealand, Philippines, and Germany. New Zealand because of the mountains and culture. I’ve always been interested in it and for the fact that one of my favorite movies was produced there. Philippines because I have a virtual assistant there who wants to give me a tour of her homeland, and Germany for the simple fact that half of my heritage is German and I’ve always wanted to visit the home country of my ancestors. If I were to take someone, it would either be a family member or a close friend of mine.

Q: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorite ones?

Ans.: Yes. Some of my favorites include Avatar, Eragon, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Dark Knight, I Am Legend, Chronicles of Narnia, Transformers, the Spiderman Trilogy, and Kung Fu Panda.

Q: How has blogging helped you other than money?

Ans.: It has given me a wealth of connections with very influential people that I would have been hard to come by in the traditional mediums. It has also sharpened my communication skills and shown me a bigger picture of what is possible with New Media.

Q: What would be the one thing you’d change about yourself?

Ans.: Nothing. I am content with what I am.

Q: What is your deepest fear?

Ans.: I have none. They have been covered early in life.

Q: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

Ans.: There would be too many people I would want to meet, but if I had to pick one it would be Jesus Christ. He was a master storyteller and knew how to gather a crowd. That and I am a devout follower and would die for the chance to talk to Him.

Q: Which is your favorite television show? Favorite songs?

Ans.: Legend of the Seeker. It has an interesting blend of my two favorite book/movie series and does a good job of portraying it. I tend to listen to movie soundtracks the most, they are inspiring to me when I write, relaxing when I feel stressed, and energizing if I am feeling low on energy.

Q: How much money do you have in your purse/wallet right now (including change)?

Ans.: $18.50. Specifically two quarters, three one-dollar bills, a five, and a ten.

Q: What is your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?

Ans.: I tend to enjoy any food that is set in front of me, but by far I’d have to take chili as a favorite. I used to have a picky taste when I was younger, but I grew out of it and have very few dislikes now.

Q: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

Ans.: I see it as making life more simple, but requiring those who know the “complicated” things to navigate around potential problems.

Q: What do you think of “blogging is the next BIG thing”?

Ans.: Blogging is the next big thing. It is shaking the world from the foundation up and I am glad to be a part of it. This is the way our generation and future generations will communicate with each other. It is the logical next step in the progression of technology and change as a whole.

Q: Any special message you would like to share with your blog readers as well with everyone else?

Ans.: Follow your passion. Do what you love to do and find out a way to get paid for it. Don’t let anyone try to shove you into a box, you only have one shot at life and it is to be taken seriously. You will be a much happier person if you are able to push through the struggles of life and remain positive. Life only gets better from here on out, so make the most of it!

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