Hey everyone! I’ve decided to do a video reveal of all my 8 current sources of income as a Malaysian blogger, and additional income ideas I might consider to do in the future. Combined, I’m not rolling in cash or whatever, but enough la to get by. Most importantly I’m enjoying the process.
How many sources of incomes do you have? Are you planning to explore additional sources of incomes? If yes, which ones? Tell me in the comments section!
When I typed in ‘make money in Malaysia’, Google presented me with 570 million results.
570 million! In contrast, ‘invest money in Malaysia’ showed ‘only’ 37 million results!
So it’s obvious that many of you are interested in this topic. Many articles will give you good suggestions on how to make money – some gave part-time ideas, some gave side income ideas (what you can try), some gave ways to make money online, etcetera.
But none of them tells you what one person has tried 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.
In January 2017, I posted My Total Income and Expenses in 2016 article and was blown away by supportive comments – you guys actually liked reading an analysis of my personal income and expenses for the whole year.
So here’s how 2017 turned out for me, based on my financial data. Incomes are recorded via a Google spreadsheet while expenses are recorded via my expense-tracking app Money Lover.
Developing Ringgit Oh Ringgit from scratch is truly one of the most fulfulling things I’ve ever done. Since its inception less than 2 years ago, I’ve made thousands in passive income.
Teaser proof to get you excited about the income potential – shared the below on Twitter. This is just from one source of affiliate marketing: referral from Shopback.
This is my highest payout redemption from @shopbackmy yet ? RM431.31. Half from things I buy anyway, half from referrals via RoR website pic.twitter.com/VnRXTwsKaD
— Suraya Zainudin (@surayaror) August 8, 2017
And here’s my screenshot from Google Adsense (taken on 15 August 2017):
1.5 years ago, I switched from paid employment to self-employment. It’s been great. I have earned up to 4.8x my previous monthly salary.
My exercise journey also started more or less the same time. From the peak of my weight, I’ve lost about 28kg so far. I know BMI (Body Mass Index) isn’t the best indicator, but I’m finally in the ‘healthy’ range. As someone who has always been ‘the fat one’ since primary school, this is a pretty big achievement. I’m crazy proud of myself.
It can’t be a coincidence. I think exercising and healthier living choices did impact my career and income, for the better. This post is a jumble of self-reflection on this correlation.
I truly believe that personal finance is beyond just simple, boring money. They show insight of who you are, as a person. They show what you decided were important enough to spend money on, and serves almost like a diary.
Well, this is my 2016 diary. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to show them, so be nice ya 🙂
So. I want you to earn more money. $$$
I get it. The economy sucks, ringgit price sucks, yada yada.
There’s nothing you can do about the sucky bits, so why complain? Complaining is boring. In the spirit of self-determination, in the spirit of ‘you are the master of your own destiny’, I want to invite you to the beautiful world of supply and demand. If done right, this can make you a lot of money.
How does it work? How will it make you money? It’s exactly four steps.
When I was in Standard 2, I sold mini chewing gums to my classmates. The demand was novelty sweets. The supply was foreign sweets I received as presents from someone, and not available in Malaysia.
With a little marketing and ‘free samples’, you bet I filled up my baju kurung pocket with coins real fast. I sold out in one day. My pocket money at the time was 50 cent per day, and I made around RM5 – a lot of money at that time/age!
This is an innocent example, but the principle applies. Many people who want to earn side income in Malaysia would first decide on a product/service to offer, then join an over-saturated, competitive marketplace. How to price your product/services higher if like that?
In this article, I’ve brainstormed and compiled some business ideas that *I think* might do well in Malaysia. To my knowledge, these businesses are not competitive yet, so if you have the skillsets for it, go ahead and do it. I really hope it can generate you good income.
What’s my share? Drop me a little prayer, regardless of your religion – mom’s a teacher, and she said that knowledge passed on is good for the afterlife. I need me some pahala points haha.
“Pahala points”P/s – I call them side income here, but they can also be part-time jobs or full business ideas.
Bonus: Sell Money Stories book series with no upfront capital. More info here
While I had fun brainstorming, I have to admit that these ideas are mostly in my line of work (writing) and my personal interests (e-commerce, personal finance, organisation porn).
Therefore, the 15 ideas above are mere teasers, just to give you an idea of things that *may* have demand for them. I might be wrong, so take the ideas with a pinch of salt, or test them first. Also, self-employment is no picnic – here’s what I learned about self-employment, after doing it for about a year.
If you are not afraid of analysis paralysis, here are 1000 random business ideas to choose from. Don’t take too long to decide, though, because inaction won’t earn you anything. Most importantly, inaction also won’t make you learn anything.
To check some other side income ideas by Malaysians, check my RTs on Twitter (@surayaror). Do you have any other ideas for businesses, part-time jobs or side income ideas that have high demand nowadays? Please share in the comment section 🙂
