3 Ways to Get High Salary in Malaysia, Regardless of Your Background

Once, I had the opportunity to facilitate a financial management workshop for
WOMEN:Girls NGO
. One of the questions I asked the group who said they’d prefer to be employed (rather than be self-employed) is what they think they can do to earn a high salary in Malaysia.

And I don’t know if it’s just that particular group, or if this is the common view among the overall population, but they seemed to think that the way to earn a high salary is to basically:

Be good at the job

Be loyal to the company

Get rewarded with promotions in due time

At this point I was like, hmm how do I tell them nicely that the world doesn’t work like that.

Don’t wait for promotions that may never happen

I’m so sorry if I’m the one who has to break this to you, but it doesn’t usually work that way. It’s a bit naive to expect and depend on employers to reward you for good behaviour.

Your employer’s job is to leverage on your skills, get the most profit they can out of you. It’s in their best interest to pay the same amount or even less, not more. This is not an accusation, just a fact.

(But sometimes some employers do get carried away with greed and try to squeeze more than they should without caring about their employees, and that leads to a whole other topic about workers rights. We’re not going to go there today. I’ll assume the employers pay at least a living wage, and provide a safe work environment.)

So that brings us to today’s topic. If waiting for a promotion doesn’t work, what does? Let me share with you some ways you can do to earn a higher salary in Malaysia.

#1 – Negotiate a good salary from the beginning

I’ve read a lot of advice columns about salary and promotion negotiation, and I like the step-by-step method by Ramit Sethi the best. He even prepared a script that you can use during job offer negotiation!

Negotiating a high salary since the beginning is ideal because your salary will compound faster with every annual increment.

For example:

A job offering
RM2.5k
 starting pay with 5% annual increment will be
RM3k+
 at Year 5

A job offering
RM3k
 starting pay with 5% annual increment will be
RM3.6k+
 at Year 5

So do you see how important it is get a high starting pay?

What if you’re
already
 accepted a job with shitty pay? Well, there’s a video for that too.

–SPECIAL CONSIDERATION FOR WOMEN–

Negotiation is one of those things where we women have to tweak our approach a bit. You can’t take the above script word-for-word. That’s because ‘
when women bargain like men, they can be perceived as pushy
… Previous
research
 shows that women can be penalised for trying to negotiate, even by other women.’

So don’t bargain like a man. Use your femininity in your favour. If society penalises you for having an ambition or wanting more money (not a bad thing FYI), then during the negotiation, frame it as you wanting to serve the the community, for the better good.

Tell them you’re able to serve the company’s customers better in the new role, thus making the company more money. Tell them that you need the higher position so you can nurture the new hires better. It’s less ‘
I
 want to get ahead’, and more ‘
we
 get ahead
together
‘.

I want you to know that women are not bad at negotiating, not at all. In fact,

‘
women outperform men in representational negotiations
—that is, negotiating for someone else. As a woman, it is unacceptable .. to be greedy on my own, but it’s completely acceptable for me to negotiate for someone else, because that is a caretaking thing, a communal thing’.

So… negotiate. Negotiate your ass off. Tell
yourself
 that if you don’t negotiate, that long-standing internal issue which demoralises employees will never get fixed. Tell
yourself
 that getting that higher pay means
your
family can eat better and you can afford better care for your ageing parents.

#2 – Do some job-hopping

Ok let’s say you don’t want to negotiate. I didn’t. Personally I chose to job-hop around because 1) I didn’t discover Ramit Sethi until it was too late, and 2) I’m too paiseh to ask my employers for a raise.

Job-hopping is simple enough to do. I would regularly update my CV and send it to interesting-looking job openings posted on Jobstreet. My results were okay, but not bombastic. At the most, the salary difference was maybe RM500 higher, but still – you can do a lot with an extra RM500 per month right?

Does job-hopping work in Malaysia? Heck yeah it does, and not just for me. It ranges by industry, but according to
Micheal Page
, the jobs and recruitments agency, you can get 10-25% salary increase by changing jobs.

Image credit to Micheal Page

Experts say you should do this even if you’re happy where you are and not actively looking for a job. If you get a GREAT offer you weren’t sure you want to take, than that just means you have a good problem.

Combining an awesome job offer with negotiation (#1) is LETHAL.

Here’s how to write an awesome CV:

#3 – Consider working remotely

(Note: I’ve never tried applying for remote work directly, but I have had a client from a freelance job offering me a remote position. That’s how I got mine then.)

Before you say, look Suraya, that is for US market and for selected employees/companies. Where got Malaysian companies can offer that high a salary, especially if they’re not MNCs and GLCs? Where got companies offering high pay outside of big cities?

And you’re absolutely right. The job market for Malaysians, especially for new and fresh graduates, is horrible. I was earning RM3k per month when I entered the job market 10 years ago. 10 years ago! And now RM2.5k is considered a good amount for graduates??!
Malaysia is undeniably facing a youth unemployment and underemployment crisis
. I feel really bad for them.

So what can you do? Well you can browse through job listing offering low salaries and get depressed over it, or you can apply for better-paying international job openings that offer remote positions. Google ‘
remote working job listing
‘, A LOT of platforms are available.

Here I’m suggesting remote jobs because I know that not everyone have the luxury or the inclination to leave Malaysia for better-paying jobs overseas. Of course, if nothing holds you back in Malaysia, go ahead and apply for them too. Do what’s best for your future.

If you do take that job overseas, eventually contribute back to Malaysia in some way or form okay? #tanahtumpahnyadarahku

Last words

As you can see, it’s not impossible to earn a high salary in Malaysia without doing multiple jobs or side incomes (Related:
25 Ways to Earn Side Income in Malaysia
). You can negotiate a higher salary, do some job-hopping or apply for better-paying jobs from overseas (remotely or otherwise).

Those of you who used one of the methods above and now currently above-average salaries – I need your help. Can you comment with what you personally did which landed you your high-paying job? What industry are you in? Do share, I want the audience to read as many success stories as possible.


How to Earn Money in Malaysia: 3 Ways with Social Media Skills

How does one know how to earn money in Malaysia, preferably with minimal/no capital, and using an existing skillset? What’s that? No skill? But you know how to use social media, do you not?
That’s a skill.

I’m not kidding. Social media is a HIGH DEMAND skill. If you maintain an active online presence, YOU already have it. Companies with no/minimal online presence don’t know anything about social media culture and algorithm and are looking for people like you!

Just a little heads up before you get too excited – just because social media marketing sounds fun af (and it is),
doesn’t mean it’s not work
. Everyone can do one-off posting. Doing it
 consistently with a strategy
 in mind is the work part.

How to earn money in Malaysia with social media skills – 3 Main Ways

There are three main ways you should know in regards to how to earn money in Malaysia with your social media skills.

Note:

if you have excellent time management, you can actually do all three at the same time. That’s how you can earn more money in Malaysia with the same skill!
this is also an excellent way to earn money as a student!

Note:
You don’t have to be expert in ALL social media.
You can choose to
specialise your social media marketing services based on the social media you’re familiar with the most
 – which should be your
favourite
 social media platforms.

Right now, you probably know what makes a good post on your favourite social media platform. It’s almost intuitive. Your job now is to dissect the best practices and incorporate them in your execution, so you have higher chance of doing successful social media campaigns.

I’ll assume that you already have good social media skills. If not, buy a course or something – information is everywhere. Now let’s talk about monetising this skill.

#1 –
Get yourself hired as a social media manager

You can speak meme, but how do you speak business? Before you get yourself hired as a social media manager, let me just share about its responsibilities:

Responsibilities of a social media manager*

*Other work titles that may have the same responsibilities: Digital marketer; Copywriter, Online Content Writer, Content Lead, Editor, Graphic Designer, Virtual Assistants, Blogger (hi), Inbound Marketer.  If it’s not assigned to you, call yourself anything you want (ie Ninja Copywriter or Professional Storyteller, titles that some people do use)

The responsibilities include:

Managing social media calendar (familiarity with scheduling tools like Hootsuite will help)
Knows how to optimise results using social media analytics
Be ready to provide campaign idea consultation
Able to work with people who have the skillsets you need but personally lack – influencers (for reach), copywriters (for text), graphic designers (for images) and other talents as and when needed
Online community engagement and management

To start earning this way, simply look through
social media jobs in portals like JobStree
t.

#2 – You can manage your own platform and sell promotional services it to inquiring customers

Old name: influencer. New name: content creator.

This is considered the slow approach but if done well, the outcome will be more than worth it. You can manage your own platform – a personal page, a hobby page, doesn’t matter. Do your best to ‘create content’ regularly and build a following.

You do know if you ‘made it’? Simple – you have companies reaching out to you for potential collaborations or want to hire you. If your engagement with followers is good, you’re an even more valuable prospect to clients looking to access your specific target audience.

I can personally attest to this. I am a one-person marketing team for Ringgit Oh Ringgit and have clients reaching out to me, wanting to work with me.

Related:

The Exact Steps I Use to Earn Money from Blogging
[PERSONAL] How I Get Great Clients Who Pay & Treat Me Well

#3 – You can make money online in Malaysia by selling products or skills

If you don’t have your own platform and not planning to make one, other ideas to earn money fast in Malaysia with social media skills include:

Do dropshipping.
 This is a great course for Malaysians:
21 Days to Ecommerce Dropshipping course

Do affiliate/referral
 Help someone sell
their
 products and services and
a commission on sales
 (exp: RM10 per sale generated)
Sell your social media skills
. Kind of like #1 (get hired as social media manager), but on a freelance basis. More on this below:

How do you sell your social media services? Offer a package. You can package your social media skills like so:

What social media skills companies are looking for

According to my observation, companies like the idea of buying social media packages that offer the
widest
 coverage and reach. If possible, they want you to do marketing across ALL their social media platforms.

But you and I know that being good at ALL social media platforms is not realistic for one person (or even a small team). Here, it’s your job to explain to them that
it’s better to have great results in ONE or TWO social media platforms than get mediocre results on FIVE different platforms
.

In my experience, this is quite a fast way to make money. How to earn money fast in Malaysia? All you have to do is package up your services, set your rates and find clients who are willing to pay. (Obviously, here we assume you can do a good job and know how to figure out how to solve problems as they come).

How to package your social media skills

Instead of telling you how, I’d like to share
examples of packages offered by social media marketing service providers.

Example #1 –

Example #2 –

That should give you an idea of how social media marketing packages look like. For your own offering, mix and match as you please, using the above as examples. For more examples, Google ‘social media packages’ and their variations.

Related:

How to Charge Clients: 5 Methods Freelancers Can Use
The Exact Email Template You Can Use to Get Hired by Clients

Would you try to earn money in Malaysia this way?

If you’ve read this far, I’m guessing you’re serious about monetising your excellent social media skills, but perhaps feel a bit of anxiety. Especially if you haven’t ‘proven’ your abilities, or never tried learning how to earn money in Malaysia.

I say – feel the fear and do it anyway. You don’t have to be great when you start, but you do have to start to be great.

Anyone reading this currently doing social media management work? Add in your two cents to make this article even better 🙂 What other questions do you have about the topic? Let me know in the comments section!


How to Get Clients: A Guide for Malaysian Freelancers

After being self-employed for a couple of years, I know a thing or two about getting clients. Happy to share what I know with you!

Most freelancers get clients by looking and applying for jobs they’re interested in. You’ve done this, no? You keep tabs of places posting new job opportunities: when they post something you’re interested in, you apply.

BUT. Did you know clients can also find you? In this article, I’m focusing on this part – how to get clients to contact and hire you. In technical jargon, this is called ‘inbound marketing’.

Clients finding you is better than you finding clients
. You have to dedicate some time to set it up, but once you do, you will save so much time. Time that you can spend in more effective ways (like making more money).

Who is this guide for?

This guide is for those of you
selling skills.
 I’m a freelance writer, but this guide will also work for anyone who is self-employed (part-time or full-time). For example, you could be:

A freelance graphic designer
A freelance photographer or videographer
A freelance writer, editor, translator, proofreader
A freelance tailor or seamstress
An insurance agent
A babysitter/ pet-sitter/ house-sitter
A caterer/home baker
A freelance masseuse/ holistic treatment
A makeup instructor (or other beauty services)
An independent tour guide
A private tutor (academic, music, fitness, etc)
A home/electronics repair person
An independent sex worker (be safe, you)
And more

This is NOT an article to find out what services you should sell. That’s something you have to decide on your own.

This is also NOT an article for selling (physical) products. I don’t have experience in that area, but some tips in here may help. May.

How does a client find you?

To answer this question, you have to put yourself in their shoes. Let’s ask YOU this question – if you’re looking for something, where are the places you turn to?

Easy question to answer, isn’t it? In the order of ‘trustworthiness of information’, you (1) ask your contacts, (2) ask Google/search engines and (3) use specific apps/websites/platforms that have the reputation to list the services you look for.

So to get clients to find you, you have to let your services known (1) among your contacts, (2) in Google/search engines, and (3) in those apps/websites/platforms. Priority-wise, in this exact order.

Use a combination of them to maximise your reach to clients – for example, I’ve gotten clients who heard about me from their friends, who found me on Google.

Let’s get in deeper, one by one.

How to get clients #1 – Getting your contacts to promote your services

The actual phrasing for this is ‘word-of-mouth referral’, and it’s incredibly powerful. We trust recommendations that come directly from our contacts.

To get your friends to drop your name as a provider of X service, you have to build relationships with people. But it’s not easy – people can easily figure out ulterior motives.

This is why we are guarded towards overly-friendly insurance agents who approach you out of nowhere, and why most of the business cards we receive in networking events end up in the trash.

If you do throw out name cards, please make sure to recycle them. Kthnksbai

In the best-selling book,
Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drive Our Success
, author Adam Grant categorised people into three – givers, takers and matchers.

The givers are the most successful in the long run.
Takers may enjoy short-term success, while matchers (people who only help others if there’s something in it for them) have meh success.

Giving away help without expecting anything in return is the best way to get people to advertise on your behalf, without even asking them to do it.
 People support you because they like you and want you to be successful.

It’s important to note here that takers and matchers
cannot fake this
. They just can’t. It’s an inherent quality that sets the givers among us apart from the rest.

It takes a lot of consistency, a certain character to be able to sacrifice your time day after day to help people – whether they are your friends or strangers. There is no ‘return-on-investment’ calculation here, no guarantee that ‘if I help here, I’ll get x’.

Nonetheless, it’s very powerful – enough that I can personally vouch for this method’s effectiveness (I imitate what givers do in the hopes of becoming one). Here are some tips that worked for me:

Let friends/acquaintances know that I offer X service, but never give them the sales pitch unless they specifically request for it
Let my services known in my personal social media networks, but sparingly use my profiles as advertisement space
Try my best to share information that may benefit others. A natural passion in that area greatly, greatly helps – it doesn’t feel like work!
Answer questions from people, but never make ‘buy something from me’ as part of the solution

I know it sounds counter-intuitive because you’re not actively selling per se, but let me tell you – once people decide that yes, I want to buy from you BECAUSE of you, there is no better scenario for your business.

How to start using this way to get clients:

Tell everyone you know about your services (but don’t sell, unless they ask)
Consistently help people by sharing information related to the service/industry

How to get clients #2 – Listing your services in Google/search engines

The next-most effective way is through search engines, especially Google, because that’s what most of us use. It can be easy or hard, depending on the industry and your digital marketing skills.

The most obvious way is to have a website, but you can also list your services on high-quality platforms that may also appear in Google – for more info on this, see the next section.

If you have a website

If you have a website, it should, at the very least:

Have a ‘Hire me’ page – to tell potential clients that yes, your services are available for hire
Include your work portfolio (ie your photography work if you are a freelance photographer, your writing work if you are a freelance writer, etc)
Include testimonials from past clients and employers
Be easy to navigate – make sure those potential clients can easily contact you

To make your website rank higher, you should:

Have good content (Google’s algorithm takes into account the
quality
 of the website) – this is why a lot of websites have a blog section offering advice and tips in that niche
Know strategies to rank your website higher in search engines – ie Adwords advertisement, SEO (search engine optimisation). If your page appears on the first page of Google Search, you’re doing it right

Your website can be anything you want. For example:

If you are a
freelance writer
 who specialises in finance topics, you could write about your personal finance journey (lol me)
If you are a
wedding photographer
, you can have a gallery-type website with pictures of interesting weddings in Malaysia
If you are a
personal trainer
, you can log your fitness routines and post youtube videos of your workouts
If you are a
pet sitter
, some pictures + writeup on how you took care of different animals will help

A tip here is to show experience and expertise in your niche. That how clients can see you’re good at what you do.

If you don’t have a website

If you don’t have a website, you can make do with social media platforms like
 LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
 – it’s free, so there’s really no reason not to. They are kinda like search engines, but of course your potential clients are limited to users of those platforms. For example,

many Malaysians sell their services on Instagram and depend on hashtags for people to find them
I know some consultants who get their clients purely from LinkedIn
I’ve seen illustrators get work from Tumblr
I also had friends who organised (paid) dinner parties in their homes via Facebook events.

In the digital marketing world, this is called ‘lead generation strategies’. Using even ONE of the above platforms can work wonders for your business, because it means potential clients can actually find you when they are looking for your specific type of services.

After clients come in the door, then what? You hook them in, of course. You must make sure there are incentives to turn those potential clients into paying clients, once they land to your website/Facebook page/Instagram page/etc. Some common strategies:

Offering financial incentives – discounts, cashback, etc
Including proof of quality service via testimonials from past clients and happy customers (or if the space doesn’t permit, then links to those)
Ensuring good pictures and copywriting
Having a good reputation (ratings, support from fans) – this you have to build up

Important: everyone hates spammers in social media, so don’t spam.

How to start using this way to get clients:

Make a website, AND/OR make social media profiles. Tweak and optimise the heck out of it

How to get clients #3 – Listing your services in apps/websites/platforms

The third, and final way for clients to find you is to list your services in reputable apps/websites/platforms. Which ones?
So many to choose from
.

Here are some of the places you can list your services. The list is NOT exhaustive – please comment if you have more to add. Also, you don’t have to use ALL of them. Focus on one or two – better to have a few active platforms than a lot of non-active ones.

Mudah.my
Services page
Lowyat Services Noticeboard
Fiverr.com
/
Upwork.com
/
Freelancer.com
 – International freelancing platforms. You’ll compete with people from other countries, who sometimes accept ridiculously low prices. But focus on providing quality work and you should be able to command a fairer rate.
Bantu.my
/
Freelanc3r.com.my
 – Malaysia-based freelancing platforms
MyPrivateTutor
,
TutorKami
 – as the name states, mostly for private tutoring services
Meetup.com
/
Peatix.com
 – best for event-based services like workshops
Couchsurfing
/
Triip.me
 – great for independent tour guides
Carousell (
Android
/
iOS
)
Kaodim
/
Recommend.my
 – platforms for many types of service providers

Now, it’s important to remember that (1) you have to abide by the platform’s T&C and fees when you list your services there, and (2) you will face competition by other freelancers using the same platforms.

I think these platforms are great to get your first few clients and collect testimonials. But once you already have a reputation, I say focus on word-of-mouth referrals and lead generation because they work (and pay) better.

How to start using this way to get clients:

Open those accounts
Spend some time tweaking the sales pitch in your page. You can offer package deals, include customer testimonials, whatever it takes to make you more attractive to clients browsing in that platform.

Conclusion

Everyone needs professional services at some point in their lives. Your job as a service provider, aside from providing said services, is to get yourself and your services noticed.

Marketing yourself in the digital age is not hard, but it is cluttered. So you have to find ways to set yourself apart from the rest.
Ways #1 and #2 will set you apart from the rest.

I hope by you reading this, you will have a head start. All the best out there.
Feel free to list your services in the comments section
 – who knows, your next client may come from here as well.

Further reading:

The Exact Steps I Use to Earn Online in Malaysia
The Exact Steps I Use to Earn Money from Blogging
Incomes and Expenses of a Freelance Writer in Malaysia
11 things I learned about self-employment in Malaysia


How to Make Money in Malaysia: 23 Things I’ve Done, From Kid to Adult

It’s not hard to find how to make money in Malaysia. The internet (and possibly your circles) are full of ideas and suggestions. Heck, this website shared a lot of money-making options and tips too, like:

How to Make Money Online in Malaysia

How to Make Money from Vending Machine Business

3 Things Small Businesses Must Do

These are just some of the MANY articles under the
Earning Money category
, which I’m sure you’ll browse for ideas.

But, ideas are ideas. This article is to share
 what
one person
 (aka me) has done to make money, in their personal capacity
.

Here’s my attempt to do just that. Here’s everything I’ve ever done to make money in Malaysia (and beyond), from my childhood to now adulthood.

Section 1 – Childhood

Age: 5-12

I had a very priviledged childhood – my parents provided food, shelter, education, anything we ever needed. We also received allowances NOT tied to chores, and frequently received ‘just-because’ extra money and pocket money from relatives too.

My parents also introduced the concept of saving money in banks fairly early. I remember my mom took me to open a Yippee Maybank account, and when we had extra money (say after Raya), they’d always remind us to keep them in the bank so its safer.

Here are my ‘jobs’ at this age:

1.
Plucked my parents’ white hairs

Hahahha classic small kids job right? They offered 10 sen per hair, what’s the rate you got? Sometimes they paid up, sometimes they kept quiet hahaha MOM I REMEMBER.

2.
Fasted during Ramadan

During primary school age. I don’t know about you, but my siblings and I got RM1 per day per parent for every day we completed. If we complete the full term, we get RM50 per parent!

3.
Sold candies in school

I was 7 or 8 years old. My dad gave me this bag of tiny candies and I sold them to my classmates. They loved them – my baju kurung pocket filled up pretty quick! I made a few ringgits, which is a huge sum at that age!

Unfortunately, I ran out of stock and that’s the end of that entrepreneurship endeavour 🙂

Btw I have the utmost respect for kids who help their parents sell stuff, even at a young age, out of economic necessity.

Section 2 – Teenage/College-age

Age: 13-19

During teenage/college, I was a brat.

The reason why I said that is because, thinking back, I can’t believe how entitled I was:

I spent my money only on entertainment

I expected my parents to pay for my driving lisence and also provide a car

I also expected them to pay for my tiertiary education

I don’t know how I came to that conclusion, it was just kind of expected in our circles. Later on in life as I realised people worked and paid for their own lisence, first car and education, I felt ashamed.

I think my exposure to other kids in college who worked part-time jobs made me search for student-friendly work opportunities as well. I’m glad I mingled with them, and not with the spend-daddy’s-money types.

Here are my jobs at this age:

4.
Sold CD and DVD boxsets

This was during high school and college time. Remember when CD and DVD boxsets were a thing back in early 2000s? There were shops specialising in them, ranging from American tv shows to anime to Japanese dramas to everything else.

I loved them – I’d save up my Raya money and allowances to buy them. Later, I listed and sold off the ones I no longer want on Lowyat forum.

5.
Sold books, mangas and comics

Similar to #4, but with books, mangas and comics

6.
Sold gaming consoles

This was during college. My proudest moment was when I managed to buy a secondhand Wii for a great price, played the heck out of it, then sold it off for a higher price.

This was also when I had my first scam experience. I mailed a PSP to a scammer, but the promised money never arrived. That’s why, until now, I refuse to deliver anything UNTIL I get the money.

7.
Worked odd jobs

This was during college. I did a few things, all from part-time job platforms and sometimes referred from friends. Some of them:

working as a booth attendant for a herbal soap brand from Taiwan,

giving away free Salonpas samples at Guardian pharmacy in Pavilion KL

stood around as one of the ‘door girls’ during some company’s annual dinner

And more similar types odd jobs

Payment ranged from RM80-RM120+ per day – great for pocket money during college time.

8.
Sold sushi

Well, technically my collegemates and I did this to fund our club activities (I was in Japan Club). We made some homemade sushi, set up our booth and sold them to other students.

9.
Attended focus groups

I also made money by attending focus groups. They’re hard to get (you have to fit their requirements AND adjust your schedule to their sessions), but they pay very well. I’ve done a couple and received minimum RM200 after a few hours of answering questions.

Related:
Pros & Cons of 4 Part Time Jobs for College Students in Malaysia

10.
Worked as a telemarketer.

I did telemarketing before uni started. I was looking for short-term job to make money while waiting for college, and was hired to work at this outsourcing company in KL for 3 months. My job was to sell insurance policies over the phone. The more I sold, the more commissions I’d get.

It was hard in the beginning – I didn’t close any sales until a couple of weeks in. But as soon as I got the hang of it, I consistently sold at least one policy per day. I made around RM10k during the time – not bad for 3 months!

Related:
Telemarketer sales tactics you should know (by an ex-telemarketer)

Section 3 – Uni/Masters

Age: 20-24

After college, I got accepted into (the final year) of a uni in UK – I spent one year there. I received financial help for my parents, but felt too ashamed to ask for more to fund my own travelling in Europe, so I worked. Thanks to that, I managed to visit other parts of England, Scotland, Belgium and France.

After coming back to Malaysia, I continued on to Masters programme. By this point, I made up my mind to no longer take financial help from my parents, even though they offered. I funded my studies with PTPTN, savings and work.

Here are my jobs at this age:

11.
Worked as a waitress.

I worked as a waitress during uni. I’m glad I had this experience, because it taught me to be respectful to the service staff. I also learned how to pop open a champagne bottle and how to hold three dinner plates in one hand.

12.
 Did house sitting

I was in Australia, doing some HelpX (that
work-in-exchange-for-food-and-accommodation-thing
), and coincidentally my hosts had to leave for a couple of nights so would I kindly take care of the house while they’re away?

They were kind, and I really didn’t mind doing this for free, but they ended up paying me anyway.

Later on in life, I found out some people do this semi-professionally, as a way to travel around the world with minimal cost. Look up house-sitting and even pet-sitting websites to learn more.

13.
Worked two jobs WHILE studying

While taking my Masters, I worked as a student helper at an international school during the day, then as a student DJ at Putra.fm a couple of times a week.

Tough? Yeah. Made it? Hell yeah.

14.
Tried to start
catering service

I actually tried to add another source of income during Masters. I wrote one ad in Mudah.my, offering baked goods catering services but didn’t get any customers. Then I got that job at the international school so kind of abandoned the idea.

The funny thing is for weeks later I got a few inquiries from potential customers. But by that point I was already crazy busy so I had to tell them I was no longer offering the service.

But, you know, this just goes to show as long as you make the effort to put up ads describing your service (I just put up ONE!), customers may come.

15. Almost joined an
 MLM

A classmate of mine during Masters invited me to a ‘business talk’, and told me all about this educational product which would ‘practically sell itself’. I admit I was interested (because they dangled the income potential part real low), and intended to try it out.

I figured, you know, before I commit a few hundred RM to buy the products from my upline to re-sell them at a massive profit (that’s how MLMs work yo), let’s try and get some potential customers first. So I designed this simple poster and printed a few hundred copies.

I planned to spend a few evenings just inserting the flyers into peoples’ homes or distribute them near schools kot. In the end, I abandoned the idea partially due to laziness. My laziness saved me from MLMs hahahaha

Section 4 – Post-graduation

Age: 25- now

After I graduated from Masters, I went right ahead into job-hunting mode. By this point I already saved up a good amount of money so I could afford to be picky with job offers, I wasn’t desperate.

While looking for opportunities, I’d make it a point to (1) find out how much the job pays (although sometimes they never list them), and (2) only accept the job if they pay over a certain amount.

I admit this was only possible because (1) I already had savings, mostly from the telemarketing job, and (2) it’s okay to wait for the right-paying job to come along, because I could still depend on my family for financial support.

Here are my jobs at this age:

16.
Worked in the NGO industry

Before I because Suraya-the-personal-finance-blogger, I was Suraya-who-thought-she-could-change-the-world-by-working-in-NGOs.

In order, I worked at an intercultural students exchange organisation (technically I was still in uni here but hey), then at a sexuality rights organisation, then at an organisation which offered resettlement for refugees, then at a women’s human
rights organisation.

17.
Became a self-employed writer and communications consultant

I enjoyed my work in the NGO industry, but I wasn’t happy with how much (little) I was earning. So I actually in the process of job-hopping when I ‘accidentally’ became a self-employed writer and communications consultant (the fancier term to what I actually was – freelance writer).

I originally became self-employed to earn some money while still looking for a stable, full-time job, because that’s what I’m used to. But roughly 6 months in, the money earned exceeded what I used to earn so I never stopped.

It was tough in the beginning, super tough, but thank goodness it worked out as a career path omg.

18.
Created and monetised my blog

This is where RinggitOhRinggit (this website) came in 🙂 I love writing, and enjoy exploring multiple income streams that I could generate via blogging, including
brand sponsorship
 and
affiliate marketing
.

P/s – Do NOT think that blogging is free. Starting can be free, but eventually you’ll need to pay. You can read that in detail in the
My Personal Blog Costs RM1,646.36 per Month. Breakdown Inside
 article. Here’s the exact steps how I started to
earn money from blogging
.

19.
Worked in a cryptocurrency startup

Through mini projects I got as a writer and communications consultant, I got hired in a crypto startup. It was a remote position paying in USD, too.

It sounds good, but all I can say is it was fun until it wasn’t 🙂 This barely lasted a year-ish.

20.
Produced a theatre show

Some of my friends were from the theatre crowd and for fun, I became their producer – the person who sorts out the logistics and admin and ticketing and sales and all those good stuff.

I’m hella proud that I managed to turn a profit despite being a first-time theatre producer ^_^ Here’s a pic during the time!

21. Dabbled in vending machine business

The only reason why I could write the
How to Do Vending Machine Business in Malaysia (My Experience)
 article is because I did it myself.

22. Became a ‘KOL’

KOL = key opinion leader. There is an overlap with ‘influencer’, except KOL is generally thought of as more niche, a subject matter expert.

As a KOL in personal finance, I get hired to speak in panels, webinars, seminars, roadshows, workshops, trainings and more.

23. Wrote books

As of writing time, I have curated and written:

Money Stories from Malaysians: Vol 1 & Vol 2

Cerita Duit Orang Malaysia

Bergaji & Pokai

All books are available at bookstores nationwide! Find them at Popular Bookstores, MPH Bookstores, Times Bookstores, Borders Books and Kinokuniya KLCC and more

Take and send me pics when you get a copy – that would me super happy!

You can also learn how to publish books – learn how in the
How to Publish a Book in Malaysia: Step-by-Step and Costs
 article.

What next?

I hope the above gave you some ideas on how to make money in Malaysia 🙂 I’m aware it’s a lot of different things, but I’ve always been someone who liked to experiment and try things out.

Honestly I think I missed a few, especially the ones which I kinda sorta dabbled in but didn’t really put any effort into (at one point, I applied but didn’t proceed with a Work and Travel programme to the US).

Regardless, writing this article has been a fun journey back into memory lane. I’ve forgotten a few of the jobs until now!

It was also interesting to note what I used to do at different stages of my life. I’ve lost money for some of them, but gained heck of an experience.

What kinds of jobs have you done? Any of them similar to mine? How did you make money at different stages of your life? Share with me in the comments 🙂


How to Publish a Book in Malaysia: Step-by-Step and Costs

So you’d like to learn how to publish a book in Malaysia. To keep our expectations clear, I’ll start off the article with this statement:
most people don’t earn that much money from publishing book
s.

In fact, if your sole aim to write one is to make money from it, and you’re in a fairly tight financial situation, I’d recommend you to
make money from freelance writing
 instead. That will give you more immediate income.

But I still want to write a book..

If you’re adamant on making money by publishing a book, but you don’t have online or offline following yet, then your best bet is to pick and write about topics that
tend to sell well in Malaysia
, like religion, finance and self-help.

That being said, if you don’t care so much about profit, and just wanted to publish a book in Malaysia for personal or professional reasons – self-satisfaction, to establish yourself as a subject-matter expert, to leave behind a legacy, to call yourself an author, etc – then it’s a worthwhile endeavour to take.

In this article, I will cover the exact steps in learning how to publish a book in Malaysia- all the processes involved, from start to finish. I will NOT cover HOW to write a book – that one different story.

At the end of this article, you will also find a newly-added bonus section: my own experience after publishing 4 books in Malaysia. You should know I am writing this guide from expert advice as well as experience.

Step 0: Write the manuscript

For new, never-before-published writers, you will probably need to write that book first, or at least finish a few chapters. You probably won’t get anyone to agree to publish your book without something to show for it.

In short, ‘Hi I have a book idea in my head’ won’t work.

Sometimes, the publisher may be able to commit to publishing a book without the manuscript. However, this privilege is only reserved for selected people, such as authors who have written commercially-successful books and authority figures with a large following.

I’ll go ahead and assume you have not been published before, but would like to. Let’s go on to the first actual step in how to publish a book in Malaysia.

Step 1: Choosing between traditional publishing, Half/half publishing or self-publishing

So you:

wrote your first draft,
got it edited,
collected feedback from beta readers,
worked on it a bit more,
re-edited it,
and repeated this process again and again until you’re satisfied with your manuscript

Now you are ready to publish your book! You have three publishing options:

Option 1: Traditional publishing

Aside from the writing part, they will do
everything
 for you – edit, format, proofread, print, distribute, do marketing*, you name it. In return, they will take a 90%** cut.

**Note: All numbers are based on current book publishing trends in Malaysia. Specific publishers may use different figures or structures.

Yes, 90%. That means if your book sells for RM29.90, you’ll get RM2.90 or 10% from each book.

Examples of traditional publishing companies:
MPH
,
Gerakbudaya
,
Buku Fixi

Traditional publishing is great for:

Wide distribution
 – They tend to be big names, and have branches at many locations thus maximising reach for your books. Also, being ‘endorsed’ by these brands will greatly increase your credibility as an author
Least work
 – Your job is to write, and market the books afterwards. That’s it.
No upfront cost
 – All you need is brain power and writing tools

Traditional publishing is NOT great for:

Profit cut
 – You only get 10% of book sales
Customisation
 – The publisher usually get the final say on editing, design, book cover, and things like that
Some genre not accepted
 – To minimise the likelihood of low book sales (and therefore losses for the company), traditional publishers may not accept some types of content

Note: Always check the publisher’s page and check the submission requirements BEFORE you send off your manuscript. Make sure to give them the information they need, or chances are you won’t hear back from them.

Option 2: Half/Half publishing (also called Vanity publishing)

Companies categorised under Option 2 (Half/half / Vanity publishing) may also use the term ‘supported self-publishing’, ‘assisted self-publishing’ or ‘guided publishing’, which makes things a tad confusing.

Basically, choosing this option means you will be paying companies an
upfront
 fee to turn your manuscript into a book. Yes,
you
 need to pay
them
. By the end of the arrangement, you will have the final version of your book.

Examples of half/half or vanity publishing companies:
NotionPress
,
The Inspiration Hub
,
Snappars Publishing

Half/Half or vanity publishing is great for:

Outsourcing some work out
 – Depending on which package you select, they can help you sort out editing, formatting, cover design and printing (other services may be available).
Example of packages with transparent pricing (Singapore)
.
Book and Ebook distribution
 – Some of them can help you place your books at bookstores, as well as help you turn your book into an ebook and list them at ebook-selling networks

Half/Half publishing is NOT great for:

Consistent quality
 – They may do a good job, they may not. The only way to find out is to find their past customers and ask for an honest review.
Here are some things to note
.
People without capital
 – You will need to pay a hefty sum upfront. Check out Anna’s cost comparison post below

Option 3: Self-publishing in Malaysia

If you choose to do self-publishing in Malaysia, then basically you do
everything
 yourself.

You can either DIY all parts of the work yourself, or outsource people to take over specific tasks, like designing the book cover. Technically, you can create and publish a book with zero cost if you do everything yourself. You could even not pay printing costs if you choose to only sell digital copies, aka ebooks.

Self-publishing is great for:

Complete control
 – You get to choose what subjects to write about, how you want the final version to look like, who to hire (book printer, editor, etc) and more. You will also learn how to publish a book (or ebook, or both), from start to finish, during the process
Maximum profit
 – You get 100% of the profits from the book sales, minus the upfront cost and whatever expenses you incur while selling it.

Self-publishing is NOT great for:

Those without marketing skills
 – Unless you just want to keep a stack of books in your house, the selling part is all up to you
Those who just want to write and not deal with the business side of book publishing
 – it takes a fair amount of effort, organisational skills and discipline to do everything by yourself

There are plenty of online tools, guides and resources that can help you write, edit, proofread, design, format your book and more. You can also sell your work via free online selling platforms, including directly from your social media profiles.

However, you might want to invest some money to make your book look more professional and attractive to your target audience. Some to consider:

Book cover design
ISBN registration (
How to apply for ISBN in Malaysia
)
Professional editing and formatting
Illustrations
Marketing materials and tools
Website/landing page
And more

Notes on book printing:

As a rule of thumb, the more copies you print, the lower the cost-per-book
Custom (book size, shape and measurements, etc) might incur higher charges
Keep the colours minimal for reduced printing costs

Which publishing option to pick?

Which option(s) are the best? Up to you. If all you want to do is write, pick traditional publishing. If you want to test your business and marketing skills, try the other options.

You may also do a bit of mix and match. For example, you may go with traditional publishing for the physical book, but self-publishing for the ebook version. There are ebook distributor platforms in Malaysia where you can submit and list your ebooks for sale.

E-Sentral
, the largest of such platform takes a 50% cut from each ebook sold. You can also choose to list your ebooks in your own platforms (websites, etc), or platforms like
Smashwords
,
Amazon Publishing
 (35-70% cut, depending on pricing) and
Google Play
 (50% cut). Related:

Step-by-step guide to publish on E-Sentral
Step-by-step guide to publish on Amazon

Step 2: Reading the contract

If you go with the traditional publishing or half/half or vanity publishing route, you will probably need to sign a contract. How to publish a book in Malaysia if no paperwork is in place right?

Make sure to read and understand what you’re signing. Some may include clauses that p
rohibit you from selling on other platforms
. Some
limits your rights to your own work
, and others are
time-bound
. Get a lawyer friend to help you decipher the document if you must.

When you’re happy with what you’re getting into, go ahead and sign that contract 🙂

Step 3: Do the work, if any

Depending on what’s required of you, work with whoever you need to work with and do what you need to do to get your manuscript finalised into the final product, a book.

Some tasks include:

Rewriting chapters
Working with editors
Collaborate with book cover designer
Print out the books (and sorting out the logistics – where to keep the books, how to post to customers etc)
Writing blurbs, synopsis, excerpts and whatever else required
Taking nice pictures of yourself for promotional use
Looking for interview opportunities so you can get press coverage
Attending writing or book events for networking
Presenting or giving a talk at events
And more

From my own experience, at least 6 months is needed to write a book. It’s not uncommon for the process to take years.

Step 4: Market the book and collect royalty/sales

By this stage, your book is out! Congratulations!

From here onwards is the fun part 🙂 The company(ies) you enlist with might have payment schedules, and all you have to do is wait for the money to come in.

Obviously, with some marketing effort on your end to encourage demand for your book, you can ensure continuous sales and maybe even re-prints (for physical books).

If you choose to sell your books yourself without the help of a book distributor, then marketing and sales are more important than ever. Don’t forget to factor in expenses in your book prices, or you might be selling your books at cost price or even worse, make a loss!

What’s next after this step? Write another book and do it all over again!

Acknowledgements

I know nothing about how to publish a book in Malaysia if not for the kind contributions of our local writers and members of the
Malaysian Writers’ Society
. My sincerest thanks to
Gina Yap Lai Yoong
 and
Anna Tan
 (click the names to see their writing portfolio).

Published writers, I need your input here to make this article even better. Please comment tips you know about publishing a book in Malaysia. What worked for you, and what didn’t? What could’ve been better? Let us know!

Bonus section: My own experience publishing books in Malaysia

As of time of writing, I have published 4 books under my name. They are:

Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 1
 (self-published) (
read first chapter
)
Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 2
 (self-published)
Cerita Duit Orang Malaysia: Jilid 1
 (self-published)
Bergaji & Pokai: Membina Kehidupan Bebas Tekanan Melalui Pengurusan Kewangan Yang Realistic (traditional publishing with
Iman Publication
) – Will be out on 1 November 2022 🙂

Below, I’ll share with you my experience with both.

My first 3 books were self-published. I sold them through my platform ringgitohringgit.com, and made a nice profit.

However, here’s something many people didn’t realise –
even if you self-publish, you can approach bookstores and ask if they could put your books on their shelves.

I can confirm you can absolutely do this, because *I* did it. MPH Distributors carried my books in all major bookstores in Malaysia, including MPH, Popular, Kinokuniya and more.

Getting Bookstores to carry my self-published books

To do this, you need to (1) meet or email book distributors, and (2) convince them that the book will sell, if not they won’t do it. What I did was:

Shared proof that people were buying my books
Listed what marketing activities I plan to do to promote the books
Send them a few books for review

If they say yes, then they will send the paperwork and contract to sign, and get you to arrange to drop off/send the books to their warehouse. How it works is: the distributor buys your books (at a steep discount), and stocks them in bookstores they manage.

However, I do want you to think twice before proceeding with distributing this way, because this service is
not free
. There is also a distribution fee of x% of book price which you have to pay, regardless whether your books sold or not.

For example, let’s say the distribution fee is 5%, the book is sold at RM35 and you supplied 1000 books to the distributor. The distribution fee will be: 0.05 x 35 x 1000 =
RM1750
.

So if you want bookstores to carry your books, you better do your marketing and promotional activities or you’ll suffer a loss. That’s the last thing I want for you.

Getting a collaboration offer from a publishing house

For the longest time, I wanted to self-publish my fourth book myself, but the passion and motivation wore off so I cancelled it after about a year in (and pocketed ~RM5k in personal losses). It wasn’t an easy decision, but the right one.

Little did I know that the universe wanted me to be in the right headspace for an upcoming opportunity. Soon after, I got a collaboration offer from
Iman Publication
 – a publication house I personally admire for creating and curating great content primarily for the Malay audience.

They asked if I’d like to write a personal finance book in Malay and I’m like, in Malay? I’ve never done that, I’ve mostly written in English! Polishing my Malay writing skills? Targeting a whole new target audience? Interesting, yes I’m in!

As a
solopreneur
 and someone used to working alone,  working with a professional team was a joy. Not worrying about editing and designing book covers on my own was wonderful. And unlike self-publishing (and half-and-half publishing), I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket!

Bergaji & Pokai: Membina Kehidupan Bebas Tekanan Melalui Pengurusan Kewangan Yang Realistic
 will be out online from 1 November 2022 onwards, and later in bookstores. It would be swell if y’all could pick up a copy 🙂

Thanks for reading, and all the best in publishing your own books!


How to Sell Books in Malaysia: Eveything I Did to Increase Sales

In 2019, I launched my first ever book, Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 1. That did well (so much that I wrote a
case study on selling online
), so I worked on (1) a sequel and (2) the Malay translation.

After over a year of planning – including organising a writing competition to source for the short stories, hiring a Malay translator, getting the book designed and printed etc –  On 26 April 2020 finally I launched 2 new additions to the #MyMoneyStories book series:

Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 2.
The sequel of the Money Stories series. It contains 11 personal finance-themed short stories

Cerita Duit Orang Malaysia: Jilid 1.
The Malay translation of  Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 1, with two additional stories (total 13 stories).

>>Click
here
 to purchase all #MyMoneyStories books<<

Launching the books means *selling* the books. Because this is my second time doing it, and by now I have a bit of experience, I decided to make a how to sell books in Malaysia guide. I figured this guide would be useful for not just current and future book sellers, but also any online seller.

Before we start, a confession: SELF-PROMOTION IS STILL HELLA HARD FOR ME. I have a lot of mental block when it comes to promoting my own work (ESPECIALLY my own work). And that is NOT the trait of a good salesperson.

But… one does not grow in the comfort zone. So what if it’s hard, I get to challenge myself. And as one of my fav personalities, Marie Forleo said, “Do hard things” and “Everything is Figureoutable”.

How to Sell Books in Malaysia: What I Did to Increase Sales

#1 – Collaborating with writer-KOLs

In total, 12 new authors contributed short stories in both books, in addition to the initial 10 authors. Some of those writers are also KOLs (key opinion leaders) in their own right.

Here I have to say that their short stories were selected for #MyMoneyStories on their own merit – the stories were good. It’s just, their added reputation is definitely an added bonus.

In the new #MyMoneyStories, you can find stories from:

Azraei Mohamad
 aka
Financial Gory
,

Raja Ummi Nadrah from
Ummi Goes Where

Kong Ing Hong of
The Stockmonger

Sukhbir Cheema, co-founder of
Eksentrika

And more; I’m just listing the ones whose works I’m most familiar with

#2 – Doing a pre-order sale

As some of you may be aware, I held a special launch slash pre-order sales from dates 26 April – 8 May 2020, where the books cost a little bit cheaper than RRP (the sales ended already, just in case that wasn’t clear).

It should come to anyone’s surprise that doing sales tend to boost, well, sales.

#3 – Doing a combo deal

I also decided to do a 2-in-1 book deal, which helped to push two books at once instead of 1.

Note: Some of you asked why I didn’t bundle up Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 1 and Volume 2 together. The reason is simple: to make the book sales’ calculations really clear. Many of my co-writers opted for profit-sharing option, or getting paid 1 year’s worth of profits from book sales. You can read more about this
here
.

#4 – Promoting via my social media

Finally, we get into the marketing side of it. Of course, in addition to posting about the book launch in ringgitohringgit.com, I also promoted the books in the Ringgit Oh Ringgit social media channels, which at the time of writing has around 29 thousand or so combined followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

[OUT NOW] Money Stories from Malaysians: Vol 2 and Cerita Duit Orang Malaysia: Jilid 1 are now available for preorder! You said you loved the first volume. I hope you’ll love these too <3 . Go on, read something fun this MCO! Click link in bio to purchase – Special sales price until 8 May 2020 only 😄 . #personalfinancemalaysia #MYMoneyStories #ceritaduit #malaysiablogger #bloggermalaysia #ebookmalaysia #belionline #sayajualbuku #sayajualbukuonline #kewangan #bukukewangan

A post shared by
 Suraya Zainudin
 (@surayaror) on
Apr 26, 2020 at 8:07pm PDT

I also managed to plug the books in my new venture, the newly-launched
Ringgit Oh Ringgit YouTube channel
!

Side note about the channel. I’m so happy I finally got the guts to do it, after at least 2 years of *thinking* of doing it. I’m so glad I took the step!

One of my videos passed 1000 views???! Omg wow so exciting!!!

This really reminds me of my early days blogging. Every single pageview made me so happy. I missed this feeling. Now I get to experience it all over again with Youtube 🥰
pic.twitter.com/6IxP4FiebM

— Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)
May 11, 2020

#5 – Sharing testimonials to social media

I love this method the most, because it’s so genuine. Just me and a happy customer. For example, this interaction still makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside 🙂

#6 – Launching an affiliate system

Launching an affiliates system is hands-down one of my better ideas. I get to (1) encourage #MyMoneyStories book reviews and (2) let the RoR audience earn money from referrals at the same time??! What a perfect win-win situation!

And it’s working! I saw that a bunch of people successfully earned affiliate income already 🙂

For more information about the affiliate system, please read this article:
[INCOME OPPORTUNITY] Sell Money Stories Book Series and Earn RM1.78-RM17 per order

Here are some reviews and mentions I’ve gotten!

From Cindy, who reviewed on GoodReads!:

From
Bujang & Broke
:

#7 – Started on an email funnel

Email marketing is something that’s fairly new for me. Now that I’m paying for MailChimp’s monthly subscription plan ($30 per month okay, it’s not a small amount!), I plan to make full use of it.

How the email funnel works is:

A) I offer you a freebie, in exchange for joining my email subscriber list

Ze topbar is back
pic.twitter.com/QOsQbcQPlb

— Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror)
May 11, 2020

B) Every email subscriber will now get updates upon every new article released on Ringgitohringgit.com… plus a reminder to get the books if they haven’t.

It’s a very crude system. I don’t know if it’ll work, but a girl’s gotta try. By telling you this, sure I’m telling you my sales and funnel strategy, but I also feel at ease about it. Email marketing can be a bit manipulative sometimes and I don’t want to be manipulative.

How to Sell Books in Malaysia: What I Did NOT Do to Increase Sales

So I’ve shared how to sell books in Malaysia via methods #1-#7 listed above. Equally important, I feel, is sharing with you what strategies I decided NOT to do.

I’ve contemplated, and rejected these methods:

Telling you a portion of the sales will go to charity
. I’m still donating, but that’s from my own pocket. I’m not going to capitalise on charity. I’m not going to use it as a marketing angle.

Working with influencers aka blogger outreach.
 Mostly because I thought corresponding with lots of them wasn’t an effective use of my time/effort. Rather than contacting and convincing them, I’d rather do the
affiliate system method

Spend on Facebook Ads.
 I’ve decided on no ads, at least not yet

Hire a PR firm.
 Out of my budget. I could DIY it and write a press release and spam every reporter I know, hmm….

Organise live events
. Honestly speaking, my mental health is at its limit and I just can’t bear the thought of doing these. My anxiety levels are already crazy as it is

Outcome of book sales (so far)

However, even with all those effort, I have to admit that unfortunately, I didn’t manage to hit my (ambitious) sales target. I wanted to hit RM15k during the 2 weeks of pre-order sales. But I only managed to hit RM5k.

Obviously, I wasn’t happy about failing this personal goal. In my
 money journal
, I listed out the possible reasons why:

People have less money. It’s the freaking
recession

People have other things to worry about, rather than get excited about my books. Like their health and livelihood

People just weren’t in the mood to read. Heck, *I* had trouble focusing. I usually read 2 books an average per month but in April, I couldn’t even finish one.

Those should be the reasons. Although, at the back of my head, there is this monster that keeps going ‘maybe its because people don’t like you anymore, Suraya, that’s why they didn’t buy’.

I pushed that voice away. That is the toxic part of my psyche talking, the one that keeps telling me to give up. I *know* I have support, and amazing audience. The lack of sales is due to timing. Just pure timing.

If you’ve read this far and, Idk, felt sorry for me or something, I want to say:
don’t
. I’m happy I gave it my all. I did what I could. It wasn’t enough, but I did my freaking best, given the situation, my capabilities and mental health.

And that’s enough, I am satisfied. Onwards and upwards. This is just the start anyway. I still have ~11 months to go to hit – and break – my sales target. Bring it on.


How to Create Your Influencer Rate Card & Get Paid as an Influencer in Malaysia

So you have been
sharing your passion
 for a while, maybe made some money from
affiliate marketing
, and one day, you receive something that looks like this in your DM: Hi, we love your content and would love to explore possible collaborations! Can you send us your influencer rate card?

To which you reply back: of course! To which email shall I send it to?

This has happened to me quite a few times over the past few years, so much that I’ve streamlined my client onboarding processes. So I figure, let me just share what I do so you can use it as a guide (leave a comment if you use a better way, so all of us can learn :).

Before that, quick side note on what is an influencer rate card, and who it is for.

What is an influencer rate card? And can I use it if I’m not an influencer but still kinda famous in my circles?

When people hear the term ‘influencer’, what usually comes to mind is
lifestyle
 influencers – ie people who share beauty, travel, fashion and food-related content, usually on social media or blog.

However, influencers can talk about anything, not just those topics. The word literally just means someone who influences their audience. If that’s what you do in *your* niche, then you – for all intents and purposes – are an influencer.

How you feel about the word is up to you. You can use it proudly (
I respect people who do
), but if it doesn’t sit right somehow, you can also call yourself a KOL (key opinion leader), a content creator, a community builder, a speaker, whatever floats your boat.

Protip to influencers: don't call yourself an influencer. Orang tak suka. Altenatives: Content creator, [niche] enthusiast, video producer, blogger, YouTube broadcaster, reviewer, etc
— Suraya | suraya.eth (@surayaror)
February 20, 2019

With that clarified, let’s get into the core topic: how to create your rate card as an influencer, so you can send it over to the potential client and hopefully score a lucrative gig.

There are 2 main ways to do it: send a media kit, or email over your services and rates. Let’s go over both of them.

#1 – Send a Media kit

The first way to send your influencer rate card is by sending over a media kit, which is basically a (or a series of) pdf or jpg containing these key infos:

Image
About me
Key statistics
Services and Rates
Past collaborations/work
Contact details

You can DIY, or use the influencer rate card template from Canva. You can also search the term ‘media kit’ for more template options. It looks something like this:

You can use the free options, or you can subscribe to
Canva Premium
 to use the premium ones (with crown logo).

(Another advantage of using Canva Premium is you can use their invoice templates, social media templates, ebook templates, course templates and others too. Not bad for RM250 per year)

(To compare, I’m currently paying RM350~ per year for accounting platform alone. As a content creator slash speaker, I only send max 5 invoices out per month so this is a bit of an overkill, so I’m gonna jump to Canva Premium when my subscription ends. Save money and I get all the other add-ons in the price too, worth it).

The common question here is,
how much should you price your services
? The answer is in another article,
 5 Methods to Figure Out Your Rates
.

#2 – Send an email with your services and rates

The second way to send out your influencer rate card is via email.

Personally, I prefer sending an email because I can send more details. However, I do think if you’re visual-focused (instagram, Youtube), then Media Kit (#1) is the better approach. Leave a comment if you disagree.

Regardless, this is how my email template looks like. This is what I send to clients who are interested to engage in my services.

Hi X,
As promised, sending you my services, rates and statistics below. Three options are available: Social media package, Live event (webinar etc) and sponsored post. Based on what we discussed, the option you are looking for falls under [Option X]. Here are the breakdown of each package:
—
Option 1: Social media package (3 x mix and match: Instagram post; Instagram Story; Facebook post; Twitter thread*) *min 5 tweets in a thread
Suitable for: one-off campaign (for example, to promote an event or a limited-time offer)
This option is:
– Inclusive of copywriting rates
– Image provided by client
– Inclusive of keyword and hashtag research (where applicable)
– Inclusive of all administrative and logistical charges
– [Sponsored] tag and disclosure must be included; no native advertisement
Cost: RMxxxx per package, 50% advance deposit required
Option 2: Live event
Suitable for: one-off campaign (including speaking sessions)
This option is:
– Inclusive of content creation and marketing consultation
– Inclusive of sharing across my social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
– Inclusive of all administrative and logistical charges (within Klang Valley)
– [Sponsored] tag and disclosure must be included; no native advertisement
Cost: RMxxxx for up to half-day event (including event-day prep time), 50% advance deposit required
Option 3: Sponsored Post on Ringgit Oh Ringgit (500-1000 words)
Suitable for: long-term SEO/brand awareness
This option is:
– Inclusive of content creation and marketing consultation
– Inclusive of all aspects of the writing process, including keyword research and search engine optimisation (SEO)
– Inclusive of sharing across my social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
– Inclusive of all administrative and logistical charges
– Unlimited revisions until your complete satisfaction
– [Sponsored] tag and disclosure must be included; no native advertisement
Cost: RMxxxx per article, 50% advance deposit required
Note: New articles stays on the front page of
ringgitohringgit.com
 for ~6 weeks
Article will be auto-shared in perpetuity in Twitter and Facebook platforms (rotation-based)
How the sponsored post process usually works is:
– Confirmation of engagement and deposit
– Ideation, drafting and writing process with continuous feedback from your team
– Content optimisation (SEO etc)
– Publishing and promotion
– Final payment
– Submission of statistics from my end post 1-week and post 1-month of content publishing
Happy to receive an offer from your end for other types of work not included above, or in a different combinations 🙂
Past work with clients
You can have a look at my past sponsored content from various companies here:
https://ringgitohringgit.com/tag/sponsored/
 .

I have helped many clients with their campaigns, would be glad to do the same for your organisation.
For your information, my current stats are:
Ringgitohringgit.com website
 – approx xx monthly traffic (H2 2022 data)
Facebook page
– xx followers
Twitter
– xx followers
Instagram
– xx followers
Youtube
– xx subscribers
The reach of each post varies based on the type of content. Optimisation tips will be covered during the consultation and throughout the content creation and marketing process.
If you are happy to proceed, we can have a chat to discuss further. Let me know if you have any questions, happy to answer them 🙂
Best,
Suraya

You might notice that I put 50% deposit as one of the requirements. As I shared in my
How I Get Great Clients Who Pay & Treat Me Well
 article, this method helps me weed out non-paying clients. The last thing I want for you is wasting time working for a non-paying client and running out of savings.

Be clear about payment for your work

Some clients will reach out already with budgets. But don’t assume – some clients may just hope for free content from you, in exchange for free (or just discounted!) product or service.

So sending your influencer rate card sends a clear message that engaging you will be a PAID job. You want to be firm that you are not offering your services for free.

What if they have a paid job… but offering super low rates? I quite like the take below. There are other great replies as well, go check it out.

Negotiation tip: if you’re dying to work w/ a client no matter what, when they say a low budget, say, “You know, I’d do this no matter what the budget is. I’m doing this to work with you, not for the money. But I’m wondering, is there any more in the budget?” Then be silent.
— Chris Do (@theChrisDo)
September 5, 2022

Note: it is absolutely fine to do free/low-paid work if you truly love the product or service, or if its a social enterprise. There’s no hard and fast rule. But you have to remember – every unpaid job takes time away from paid jobs. You gotta eat, so prioritise paid jobs

(When you do decline, do it nicely, don’t burn bridges. There are
ways to say no
 without being adversarial. Who knows they’re just out of marketing budget for the month/quarter/year, and can engage you when they get more).

That’s all I have for you today. Don’t forget that income from promotional activities are taxable income – read
3 Things You Must Do When You Start Your Small Business in Malaysia
 to set up your biz right 🙂 Being an influencer is fun but challenging, so wishing you all the best out there, you can do this!


Why ‘Invest in Yourself’ Advice Sucks… Even Though They’re Right Ugh

Let’s play a game. Anytime you see someone asking the understandably common question of ‘What/Where should I invest in?’ online – in Facebook, Twitter, any social media really – try and see if you can find that one fella who reply ‘you should invest in
yourself
first’.

Which is, you know, not wrong.
But it *is* condescending and useless advice if told without additional, helpful details
. I said what I said.

(Btw – the actual answer to what/where to invest your money is in
this article
. Most people can start their investment journey this way and personalise it as they go along)

But fine. Like I said, those fellas are not wrong. It *is* important to invest in yourself first, I agree.

How does ‘invest in yourself’ look like in practice though? In this article I’d like to share how I’ve been interpreting that statement. The steps are loosely chronological.

#1 – Get access to learning materials

Learning materials are:

Books, in both non-fiction AND fiction* categories

Courses – online and offline

Any source of new knowledge, paid or free

Any new method(s) to apply said knowledge better

I’d put travel in this category too

(Note: Finance and self-development people LOVES non-fiction books, but
fiction books are important for soft skills and EQ development
.

As mentioned in
this Harvard Business Review article
, “Reading literary fiction helps people develop
empathy
,
theory of mind
, and
critical thinking”
. These are all necessary for personal and professional success)

Tbh you already know investing in yourself requires learning materials – it’s too obvious and I’m not even going to expand this section beyond this.

I will say though that I have books you can consider reading:

Money Stories from Malaysians series
 – helps you expand your understanding of ‘personal finance’ from other people’s POV. Read a
FREE chapter

Bergaji & Pokai
 – Malay-language beginner’s guide to money management (You can also double this as a way to improve your conversational Malay)

#2 – Look for ways to increase personal time so you can use it for self-improvement

I didn’t make the connection early, but oh
boy
 is time important.
Buying all the learning materials means nothing if I didn’t have time to go through them
!

(Plus, having time also allows me to explore free sources of information. You can even find
video summaries of the best investing books on Youtube
!)

Getting more personal time is easier for some than others. For example, someone who grew up with a domestic helper in the household (like I did – admitting my privilege here) tends to have more free time because someone else handles the housework.

Others use different strategies to find the time, like the ‘hack’ of waking up early. People who do this belong to what they call The 5am Club – I’m not even kidding about this. It’s a whole book and everything.

The good thing is you can use money to
buy
 time. For example:

Buying gadgets and tools that cut down time spent on performing household chores, like robo vacuum cleaners that automatically clean the house

Hiring someone to do work that would take you ages to complete, like hiring a plumber

Hiring someone who can help you exercise effectively

Using ride-hailing services instead of LRTs and busses

Buying tools that help automate parts of your business

So those expenses,
as long as within reason and within your budget
, I would consider as an ‘investment in yourself’.

This is also why I support government policies that help people save time rather than save money. Like childcare services and better public transportation connectivity. Giving cash handouts is cool but sometimes I look at people queueing up for hours and think, wow that’s counter-productive.

#3 – Attend in-person events

As you gain more time and money – they kind of feed off each other in a positive loop;
more money gives you more time and more time gives you the opportunity to make more money and so on
 – you can do more things that require more resources, like attending workshops, conferences, and networking events.

Your motivation to attend these events is to meet more like-minded people and learn new knowledge. Later on you realise that paid events tend to result in better connections and knowledge, so you start to dedicate some money towards it.

Note: free events aren’t necessarily bad. It’s just… if I’m being frank, I find that the sort of people who attend exclusively free events and the sort of people who attend paid events are different sorts of people. The latter are usually more driven, ambitious. The former complains the free food isn’t good enough.

I talked about this a bit more in the
 What Rich Malaysians Do With Their Money (That You Don’t)
, under Point #2.

#4 – Cultivate relationships that matter

(Note: Cultivate is such a strange word to use since some people I meet through #3 became great friends and even lovers.)

This is what people mean when they say you should ‘invest’ in relationships – spending the time (aka money) to meet them regularly so they can strengthen their bond because they know that quality relationships matter more than quantity.

The awesome part is the better your relationships get, the better you grow
together
. You’ll introduce new friends and bounce off ideas and pass on work to each other. They hype you up and you hype them back. It’s a nice, supportive environment to be in.

How do you invest in yourself?

What comes after #4? Do you agree with my loosely chronological structure at all? What is the one investment you have made for yourself that has been transformational and life-changing?

Would love to hear your thoughts, leave ’em in the comments section below 🙂


I Made Thousands in Affiliate Income: My Involve Asia Review

This is my Involve Asia review as someone who has used the platform for over 2 years and earned thousands from it.

In case you’re not familiar, Involve Asia is one of the biggest affiliate marketing platforms in Malaysia and Asia. With over 1000 brands in its platform, they allow everyone to earn commission (read: extra income) by promoting various products and services.

You can sign up with
this link
, or click the image below.

Earning via Involve Asia is pretty straightforward:

Sign up to the platform
Pick brands you want to promote (some require you to apply in advance)
Write and edit your content – make sure it suits your target audience
Publish the post along with your affiliate link
Hopefully someone buys
Withdraw your income after the transaction is validated (may take a few months) AND after you hit minimum withdrawal amount (RM80)

Involve Asia Review: Is it legit? Can really earn money?

Yes, Involve Asia is legit, at least from my experience. I have made withdrawals of my earnings to my bank account multiple times with no problems. To date, I have earned ~RM3000.

Coincidentally, as of writing time, I am also waiting for USD5,273 or around ~RM23k in earnings to be validated. Once validated, it will be available for withdrawal.

Don’t be too impressed with the amount, I probably won’t get the full RM23k. That’s because…

Estimated earnings =/= successful conversion

The RM23k is
estimated
 earnings, not successful conversion. The two are not the same.

I learned this the hard way. Previously, I promoted a similar product and
only a third of the recorded earning resulted in successful conversion.
 The dashboard said I got RM6k in estimated earnings, but I only got RM2k.

I don't know why do I even remain with this affiliate company when they reduced my confirmed earning from RM6k to RM2k. Without notice.
— Suraya | suraya.eth (@surayaror)
April 18, 2022

What happened with the Involve Asia payment?

When my dashboard showed my Involve Asia payment reduced from RM6k to RM2k without notice, I was livid. You’d be too – RM4k is a lot to lose!

I emailed my account manager and after a few attempts, they finally replied and explained. It turns out the reduced income is due to the type of product I was promoting
having a high rejection rate
.

In short: Some products are straightforward purchases (think Shopee, Zalora purchases), while others require
extra validation
. Mine was the latter, thus my income was lower than originally projected.

So yeah, something I learned by experience. Estimated earnings are not necessarily successful conversion, so don’t get too excited over high estimated earning amount, and definitely don’t pre-spend the money until it’s available for withdrawal.

Can you earn a lot of money as Involve Asia affiliate?

Personally, I have earned thousands as an Involve Asia affiliate, but not regularly. It just so happened that one of my recent attempts was wildly successful. Most months, I only earn a couple of ringgits here and there. I concentrate most of my efforts on other
referral programmes
 and
income generation methods
 instead.

The reason I don’t earn that much from Involve Asia is simple: As a personal finance blogger, I try not to deviate too much outside of the Finance niche, so that significantly reduces my options. I’m also choosy and don’t promote certain things (like personal loans, forex etc), so that reduces my options even more.

However, when I do find good products to share, I believe they are
good
. That’s why I got that RM23k in estimated earning within 3 weeks.

Note: I’m not even going to pretend I am good at affiliate marketing, because others are way better at it, no contest. Top affiliate marketers in Malaysia earn five-figure incomes every month*!

*I tried to look for the source but unfortunately can’t find it at writing time. If you know the link, please share in the comments

I may have my limitations, but you don’t. If you are a lifestyle content creator, or even a regular consumer and social media user, you have way more products and services you can promote across various niches, including:

Electronics,
Fashion,
Finance,
Health & Beauty,
Marketplace,
Services, and
Travel

You can sort by category easily

So you can promote whatever you want. As long as you
consistently
 create interesting content alongside your affiliate links, you’ll be able to get some sales and earn via affiliate marketing in no time.

Best practices to earn money via affiliate marketing in Malaysia

“But Suraya, I don’t have many followers”

You want to know something? Most of the top affiliate marketers don’t have a lot of followers.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have a high follower count to earn via affiliate marketing.

Instead, they:

Are good at copywriting, and
Are familiar with at least one type of digital marketing (be it SEO or social media marketing or whatever), and…
Are contributors in huge Facebook groups

The first and second are obvious, but the last one blew my mind when I first learned about it.

But for real, that’s what many top affiliate marketers in Malaysia do.
They didn’t limit product promotion on their own social media page with limited followers/friends. Instead, they posted in Facebook groups with hundreds of thousands, even a million members.

Which Facebook groups? There are so many of them, but here are a few examples to show what I mean:

In the groups, you’ll find various product recommendations from contributors along with their affiliate links. Some of them are drafted so well, they get thousands of shares beyond the group too!

So if you want to try out affiliate marketing to earn extra income, but worried that you don’t have the followers count for it, don’t worry, it’s not a requirement.  Go ahead and join the groups and study what types of posts do well, and try it for yourself.

My recommendation is,
do a 30-in-30 challenge
where you create at least one post a day – the more you post, and the more consistently you post, the higher the chance of you making sales.

It’s worth remembering the
Pareto Principle
here: 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your posts.

Involve Asia Review and Verdict: Good place for beginner affiliate marketers to start earning

All in all, I like my experience with Involve Asia:

They have many established brands that people already know and trust
I love the fact that they have both Shopee AND Lazada marketplaces – this means you have countless products and services to promote in one platform, you don’t need to apply separately
It’s free to start, no upfront capital needed

As you can see, while I have some ups and downs with this  affiliate marketing platform, I’m still a big fan of it. I think affiliate marketing is excellent for people looking to earn extra income, and you get to learn sales and marketing at the same time too.

I’ll end this Involve Asia review here. Share with me your experience with affiliate marketing in the comments, and how you are improving your sales and conversions. Would love to hear your best practices 🙂

You can sign up with Involve Asia with
this link
, or click the image below.


4 Best Jobs for Students in Malaysia Looking for Fast, Quick Money

There are many jobs for students in Malaysia, but the question is, which one can give you fast, quick money?

In this article, I will different types of part time jobs for students in Malaysia, as well as their pros and cons so you can make an informed decision. I’ll also share WHERE you can find the jobs. Let’s start.

#1 – Booth attendant / Promoter / Event staff

Personally, I think this is one of the best jobs for students in Malaysia. I did some myself – the ones I remember:

Handing out Salonpas samples at multiple pharmacies around KL

Manning booths during fairs (the ones at malls)

Tasked as a ‘greeter’ at a corporate event

Pros:

Good, immediate money. Payment ranged from RM80-200 per day

The employers don’t tend to micromanage. They check up once in a while, but mostly leave you to do your work

If you do good work, the recruiter may remember and get you again for their next events

Personally, manning booths during fairs were busy but quite fun! Time passes by very fast

A LOT of opportunities during festive seasons and annual events like book fairs etc

Cons:

Tiring. Some of the jobs were all-day jobs, may need to stand for up to 12 hours. You need to be in good health

Seems to be competitive (but to be fair what job is not competitive nowadays). I was only hired for maybe 1 out of 10 or so applications I submitted

Places to browse for these jobs:
 I used
Parttimejobs
.
Upal
 looks good too. Share more good options in the comments section!

#2 – Focus group

Note: not to be mistaken for online survey jobs. Those pay crap. Focus groups are face-to-face discussions, conducted for the purpose of market research.

Pros:

GREAT money. I remember being paid RM200 (if I remember correctly) for one 2-hour session

Easy. All you need to do is be there and answer questions by the moderator and give your own personal opinions on a product/service

Cons:

You need to fulfil the exact requirement of that focus group setting, and that’s out of your control. Some may need for you to be a car owner. Others need you to be new mother. There’s a reason why I only did a couple of sessions – I didn’t qualify for the rest

Timing is fixed. If you can’t make it to the session – usually conducted during office hours – too bad

Not immediate. Upon signing up in focus group platforms, you may have to wait weeks or months to get an invitation you’re qualified for

With improvements in technology, I’m not sure if companies still want to shell out money for expensive focus groups tbh. There are other cost-effective ways to conduct market research. I personally think its a dying – if not dead – industry. Feel free to comment

Can be spammy. I remember receiving bulk invites via email and text, for focus groups I am not eligible for

Places to browse for these jobs:

OpinionHero
 is one option. comment if you’ve tried it or other platforms.

#3 – Service jobs

Simplistically, there are two ways to make money: sell products or sell services.

As a college student, selling products can be a bit hard because you may not have the money to keep stock – unless you get paid by commission, which I’d argue is no longer a part-time job.

Doing service jobs, on the other hand, is selling your time and skills for cash. You can either browse job sites, or offer your own services.
Kaodim
 is a good place to browse for an overview of service jobs:

 Screenshot from Kaodim.com

Personally, I’ve done:

Tutoring (at an international school) – for 1 year

Waitressing (at a fancy restaurant near my uni in UK) – for a couple of months

Catering baked goods – failed before it started

From the limited experience that I had, my favourite was the tutoring one. It paid more and the environment was comfortable.

Pros:

Complete autonomy, until you are employed and have to listen to your bosses/clients

Sometimes you kind of stumble into it when people around you offer to pay you for the services. For example, I’ve certainly told my friend I’d pay good money for their cookies they made and brought to a potluck, and hired someone for their tech services when I see them posting about it online

Technically unlimited income potential

Cons:

(For people who know what services they are good at and can sell) Other people take advantage of your passion and use that as an excuse to pay you less. Unsupportive friends and family may ask for discount or even expect it for free. Have to learn to say no

(For people who don’t know what skill they can sell) You get stuck in analysis paralysis and can’t pick what to offer

Differentiating yourself from other similar service providers might be a challenge

You have to learn marketing, networking etc to get potential customers

Places to browse for these jobs:
 Go to your preferred job listing websites, or if you want to be self-employed, read my
How to Get Clients: A Guide for Malaysian Freelancers
 article

Related:

How I Get Great Clients Who Pay & Treat Me Well

How to Charge Clients: 5 Methods Freelancers Can Use

#4 – Student jobs in uni

Some of your schools may put up student job listings. I’ve heard of people working as lecturer assistants, staff at student bookstore, staff at student cafeteria and more.

Personally, I worked as a student DJ when I was studying at UPM. I’m very sure no one tuned in but it sure was fun. Until now I put ‘English DJ at Putra FM’ in my CV.

Pros:

Convenient because it’s located right there in school compound

May give you perks like discounts, free meals and/or access to areas restricted to students. Gives you bragging rights

Easy to find the job listing – just go to the student center. If it’s not displayed, ask where you can find it

Cons:

They don’t usually pay well

Try not to mess up too badly. May have lasting consequences

Places to browse for these jobs:
 just go to the student centre. If the job listing is not displayed, ask where you can find it

Last words

Thus concludes the 4 types of jobs for students in Malaysia, its pros and cons, and where you can find them. Am I missing any other types of jobs or platforms?

I’d love to hear more tips from you. Share in the comments section your own experience working while studying – what did you do to earn money? Can you share with us how you got the job, and if you’d do it again?

Any tips would be appreciated!


Personal Finance is Trendy. Here’s How You Can Make Money From It.

Confession: It’s really… weird… that personal finance, as a topic, is getting more attention than ever. I mean, it’s good and all, it’s just strange to be right smack of it all, as a personal finance blogger.

And shit REALLY got real ever since the Malaysian government launched the National Strategy for Financial Literacy (2019-2023) on July 2019. I’ve personally gotten more outreach requests for interviews, speaking engagements and collaborations since then.

Related:
19 Financial Education Initiatives in Malaysia You Should Know

So, there’s no questioning that personal finance is a HOT topic. For today’s article, I’ve decided to brainstorm and compile how YOU – a personal finance enthusiast – can take advantage of this situation. Here are some ways to make money from this hot trend.

#1 – Create anything educational

You’re familiar with these personal finance products and services. I’m talking about:

Books

Apps

Courses

Workshops

Conferences, events etc

The key here – as with all product and services offering – is to zero in on your target audience. There are lots of educational materials out there – what makes yours different? Browse in your local bookstore to get ideas. I personally find the ones targeting the Malay market fascinating.

View this post on Instagram

This is the Malay-language business and management section at the bookstore . I’m showing this to you because I find the copywriting, personal branding and niches fascinating. They’re very different from their English-language counterparts, the ones I usually read . For example, there are the usual ‘get better with money’ books, but there are also investment and entrepreneurial topics on: 🔹Becoming an agent 🔹Making money in doorgift business 🔹Taking advantage of online influence and making/selling products 🔹Making money by making music/DJ-ing 🔹Digital marketing (email marketing, online branding) . What’s the one Malay-language business book that you would recommend? I want to read more of them . #marketresearch #mphbookstore #personalfinancemalaysia #malaysiainfluencer #on9branding #tipskewangan #bukumelayu #bisnesonlinemalaysia #membaca #bisnessendiri

A post shared by
 Suraya Zainudin
 (@surayaror) on
Sep 24, 2019 at 10:35pm PDT

And you’re familiar with financial literacy workshops too I’m sure. There are many types, catering to all types of audiences, covering all sorts of topics. Recently I found out there’s an events company in Malaysia which organises financial empowerment retreats for (rich) women!

Financial-themed workshops have been in demand and will continue to be. Just be careful of that ‘financial literacy workshop’ that turns out to be a two-hour long sales pitch for some MLM or 5-figure product or service. (I say, hey no harm attending, but I’d leave my wallet at home. If they have it their way they want you to sign up and pay up there and then.)

So yeah, I guess there is demand for all types of financial education material. Here I want to share my soft spot for
Grow the Goose
, a social enterprise which funnels 60% of profits from paid workshops to run free financial education programmes for participants in rural and marginalised communities. Bless.

#2 – Be a personal finance content creator

I’m using the term content creator not KOL (key opinion leader) or influencer because even I find those terms a bit ew. My view is, other people can call you that but you cannot.

Anyway, yes! Come join us!

Being a content creator is really fun because you can play around with income-generating ideas and THAT CAN BECOME YOUR CONTENT. You can do merch:

or create products and services (overlap with #1). I know of some personal finance figures in Malaysia who sell their own seminars, coaching services and books.

I did this too. When I made
Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 1 Book
, I had the best time getting you folks involved! You helped me share the writing competition, helped me decide on the book cover design, helped me decide on pricing, and more! It got into the Top 10 Best-Selling list because of you!

View this post on Instagram

Money Stories from Malaysians: Volume 1 is now listed in @borders_my ‘s Top 10 non-fiction list!!! 🤯🤯🤯 . Thank you so much Melisa for snapping and sharing this pic. I’m so blessed and grateful for you and everyone’s support. You folks are so sweet I kenot uuuu 😭 . I have a favour to ask. If you have extra pocket money (only if you do okay), can you buy a copy of the book at bookstores near you? That’s literally the only way to remain (and get a higher spot) on the BESTSELLERS LIST . In exchange, let me know what topics you’d like me to cover more in ringgitohringgit.com. I don’t like asking for something without offering something back in return! . Thanks in advance, Suraya . #malaysianauthors #malaysianwriters #malaysiabloggers #bloggermalaysia #bordersbookstore #kualalumpur #personalfinancemalaysia

A post shared by
 Suraya Zainudin
 (@surayaror) on
Sep 18, 2019 at 12:51am PDT

Come get some ideas:

6 Personal Finance Blog Ideas, Absolutely Free for You to Take

12 Malaysia-Based Personal Finance Twitter Accounts to Follow

21 Malaysia-Based Personal Finance Instagrammers You Should Follow
 (I should update this to include newer ones! If you’re not in there, can you share link to your profile in the comments section please!)

#3 – Stationaries

Otherwise, if you don’t want to do #1 or #2, then may I suggest creating personal finance-related stationaries? People with art backgrounds especially – this is one way to make money from your craft! Here I’m using the term ‘stationaries’ to refer to anything that makes financial planning fun, from:

Budgeting

Saving money

Investing

Meal-planning

Business/Entrepreneurship planning

And more

Some ideas include (all images are from Etsy):

Making and selling personal finance-related printables

Making and selling cash envelopes (it’s a budgeting style. More info
here
)

Making and selling money-themed posters and home decor

And more!

I’ve also seen people selling notebooks, stickers, pens, cards, tshirts, bags etc with money themes/slogans on them in various platforms, to various audiences. It’s not a bad idea!

And you’ll be doing us a favour too. The more ‘visual’ personal finance is in our society, the more collective awareness of this important topic will rise, no? Financial institutions – bless them – do try to create these stuff but I think you can make prettier ones for sure.

Last words

Comment if you or anyone you know already sell any of these products and services – would love to check out the wares 🙂

Do you have other money-making ideas to share, to take advantage of this personal finance trend? Let us know in the comments section!