Blogging and Earning as a Malaysian

Since the exponential growth of social networking in the East, the country of Malaysia has been a leader in blog creations. Not only are these blogs websites where people can read others’ opinions and ideas, but the authors are finding that blogging can be a good way to make money. It is also a way to promote business, trade, and the travel industry, and even political agenda in Malaysia. Those who enjoy writing can find a great way to make extra money, plus they can share the stories of their beautiful native country.

Blogging History

Ever since recorded history, people have enjoyed writing their thoughts, goals, and daily rituals for posterity. Ancient civilizations used crude pictograms and hieroglyphics on stone and clay tablets. Later societies created alphabets and used animal skins and papyrus for journaling. There are famous diaries, such as the one by Samuel Pepys. It gives us one of the most intimate chronicles during the Black Plague of Europe.

Today, most of us have traded our leather-bound journals and locked diaries for a keyboard. Computer blogging has become the universal medium for people to comment about their lives and the things around them. Blogger enthusiasts write about events and topics that are of interest to them and they draw audiences by the thousands. The range of topics is just as diverse as the audience who reads them.

Of course, blogging in one’s own language is the easiest way to write about his or her thoughts, events, and other points of interest. These native blogs can attract local and even national followings of individuals who are interested in the topics. If Malaysian writers are blogging about science and technology, they probably already know that the universal language of these subjects is English. If you write the blog in Bahasa Malaysia, you can probably get local interest from those who speak it. However, bloggers who write in English have greater opportunity for an international interest and following.

How To Start Blogging

Novice writers in Malaysia are finding how easy it is for them to start their own blog. The first consideration is deciding on a subject. Writers have to choose if they are just going to record things happening in their lives or the community. This can also consist of local history, commerce, or events. Some may choose to post personal opinions about current events or politics, either local or international. Lots of other writers blog about technical subjects, hobbies, or other areas of expertise. The important part of choosing a blog subject is for writers to blog about a subject they know or really enjoy. Chances are that there will be like-minded blog followers.

Setting Up The Site

Writers who are hoping to build a following and earn money from their blogs need to decide if they will host their own site or use one of the many webpages that offer free blog hosting. Those who are new to blogging may want to take advantage of free hosting. Often times, these sites will offer tutorials and templates that make blog publishing easier. People who have more experience with computer languages such as HTML or publishing programs may choose to buy their own domain and publish their own blog.

After these paramount decisions are made, it is up to the blogger to attract visitor traffic to their site. Bloggers in Malaysia, like their international counterparts, find that social media sites are some of the best venues for blog promotion. These world-wide sites offer users tools such as bookmarking and blog directories. After working on their blogs and providing comments to other blog sites, writers can work their way into major search engines. These steps bring followers to the bloggers’ sites. It may take some time.

There is Money In Blogging

Many people do not understand how writing one’s thoughts on a website can equal money. The idea is to get more traffic to the website using SEO. SEO is an internet term that means search engine optimization. These terms allows people to use keywords to attract to their site. When a person types in a keyword into a search engine, websites that have this content are brought to the page.

Advertisers know that popular blogs can receive hundreds or even thousands of hits every day, so they utilize this method of cost per click advertising. By placing ads on the side of the blog, the blog owner will get paid whenever someone clicks on these links. These links are relative to the content of the site and there is big money by utilizing these little ads. Therefore, there is a great potential for blog owners to earn money with their site. Malaysian bloggers are discovering this as a way to boost their income.

Here’s a good beginner’s guide to search engine optimization.

There are other ways to make money from a blog, like websites that will pay the website owner to post on their blog. The world of internet marketing and blogging is exploding and the Malaysians who are getting on board are profiting.

How To Get Paid

The payment is the main reason that people are blogging. To get paid is really simple. There are three separate methods that one can accept money. The methods are:

Paypal– This international website is becoming widely recognized. It is easy to be paid through this company and withdraw the funds. As soon as funds are transferred they can be instantly withdrawn. Many stores also utilize the pay with “Paypal” option, so this makes it easy to do international currency exchanges.

Merchant Accounts– A merchant account allows a person to accept credit cards and electronic processing. The company that processes these transactions will take a percentage of the funds to cover transaction fees. The money can be deposited into a bank account of choice, usually within 2-3 business days. There are several online service provider in Malaysia like NetPay and iPay88

Online Banking– I can say that the online banking system in Malaysia, especially for online merchants, is still in its infancy stage. Even when you pay using Maybank2u, the transaction number is not automatically passed on to the fund receiver. So how is the receiver going to verify the payment made by specific buyer, especially when there are over hundreds of transactions within a day? Anyway, we still have to live with it until the banking system is improved.

Blogging For Cash

Blogging is a great way to generate a steady income working from home. Those who enjoy writing will enjoy the freedom of being able to work anytime, anyplace. There are some things to remember as a blogger. The ideas are not always easy to come by. After a person writes for any length of time they can seem to have writers block. There are also days when a person may not feel like working, but that’s okay. Blogging has no rules and no right or wrong way to do it. The person who chooses to blog for money can make their own path and decide what is best for them.

This article is contributed by Samantha Adkins. Samantha Adkins is a freelance businessness and financial writer. Her latest article is about the Genius Engagement Platform via BMA.

Notes from KCLau

I started my online business from a simple blog post back in December 2006. That’s the first seed I planted and now I am making money full time online. Over the years, many readers had asked me to share with them how I did it. In fact, there is no secret. I can teach you all about it but I cannot possibly show you every detail through writing. So, I’ve decided to produce a course on blogging, called Blogging Method. CF Lieu, my partner from REIT Method is going to work with me again on this upcoming project. If you are interested, visit this page and sign up your email for future announcement.