By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Marketing In Asia
  • Marketing
    • Viral
    • Expert Opinions
    • News & Trends
    • Research
    • Market Podcasts
    • Market Videos
    Marketing
    This category deals with best news and updates on marketing and branding news and events.
    Show More
    Top News
    Sangeeta Mudnal
    How conversational commerce benefits marketers
    2 months ago
    Andrew Monu, VP of Marketing, LinkedIn
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Andrew Monu, VP of Marketing, LinkedIn
    2 months ago
    Ankita Thakur
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Ankita Thakur, Group Head of Marketing, MoneyHero Group
    2 months ago
    Latest News
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Cris Tan, Associate Director, Publisher Development (SEA)
    2 months ago
    Time for ASEAN to Rethink a Single Currency Amid Global Trade Tensions
    2 months ago
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Carine Chin, Head of Corporate Marketing, Etiqa Insurance Singapore
    2 months ago
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with April Tayson, Regional VP INSEAU at Adjust
    2 months ago
  • Startup
    • News from Startup world
    • Startup Stories
    • Trends and Opinions
    • Startup Podcasts
    • Startup Videos
    Startup
    News and articles from startup and venture investment world
    Show More
    Top News
    Japan’s Evolving Booze Culture: A Market in Transformation
    Japan’s Evolving Booze Culture: A Market in Transformation
    9 months ago
    text
    Safe Space™ announces partnership with National Healthcare Group as it continues to boost employee support and wellbeing
    10 months ago
    Sakshi Kalani Founder & CEO of Savy Click and Jaipur Unfolded
    AI-Powered Analytics: Sakshi Kalani on Influencer Marketing in 2025
    10 months ago
    Latest News
    Byron J. Fernandez: Minimize the stress of business crises with strong CX
    7 months ago
    Vedant Mahajan Acquires Stake in Flite: Transforming Event Technology with Innovation
    7 months ago
    Navigating the Digital Economy and Tax Challenges for SMEs
    7 months ago
    sehatUP Launches India’s First Integrated Digital Health Clinic, Pioneering Holistic Healthcare
    9 months ago
  • Business
    • Feature Stories
    • News
    • Business Podcasts
    • Business Videos
    Business
    News and press releases from business world of Asia
    Show More
    Top News
    Andrew Monu, VP of Marketing, LinkedIn
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Andrew Monu, VP of Marketing, LinkedIn
    2 months ago
    Ankita Thakur
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Ankita Thakur, Group Head of Marketing, MoneyHero Group
    2 months ago
    Mary Reschar, Head of Product Marketing, Fluent Commerce
    How retailers can prepare for the rise of Gen Zalpha
    2 months ago
    Latest News
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Cris Tan, Associate Director, Publisher Development (SEA)
    2 months ago
    Time for ASEAN to Rethink a Single Currency Amid Global Trade Tensions
    2 months ago
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with Carine Chin, Head of Corporate Marketing, Etiqa Insurance Singapore
    2 months ago
    Marketing in Asia Presents an Exclusive Interview with April Tayson, Regional VP INSEAU at Adjust
    2 months ago
  • Society
    • Inspiration
    • Destinations & Travel
    • Food & Gourmet
    • People
    • Young Voices
    • Society Videos
    • Society Podcasts
    Society
    News and articles from and for societies around us
    Show More
    Top News
    Smashers Sports Acquires Delhi Franchise of WPBL: A Game-Changer in India’s Sports Entertainment
    Smashers Sports Acquires Delhi Franchise of WPBL: A Game-Changer in India’s Sports Entertainment
    7 months ago
    Resorts World Cruises Sets Sail from Dubai with New Luxury Gulf Voyages
    Resorts World Cruises Sets Sail from Dubai with New Luxury Gulf Voyages
    8 months ago
    Australia luxury property
    Australia’s Luxury Real Estate Market Soars as Affluent Buyers Seek Waterfront Dreams
    8 months ago
    Latest News
    From Taboo to Triumph: How Malaysians Are Transforming Their Intimate Health Journey
    4 months ago
    Top 5 Misconceptions About Antibiotics Malaysians Need to Stop Believing
    4 months ago
    Eagle Eye Reveals Impact of Loyalty Programs on APAC Retailers
    4 months ago
    Elevate Your Haircare in 2025 with Jung Beauty’s Luxurious Camellia Edition Treatment
    6 months ago
  • Press Release
  • Awards
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2023 Malaysia
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2023 India
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2023 Philippines
    • Australian Women in Business Excellence Awards
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2024 Singapore
    • Mia Impact Circle Stellar Cxo 2024 Hongkong Award 
    • Mia Impact Circle Stellar Cxo 2024 Indonesia Award 
Search
Technology
  • Hot
  • Trending
  • Editor’s Choice
  • NSFW
  • Reactions
  • Authors
  • Viral on Internet
Other Pages
  • My Bookmarks
  • Customize Interests
  • About Marketing In Asia
  • Business Register & Login
  • Web Stories
  • Videos
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
© 2024 Marketing In Asia Sdn Bhd. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: For Freelancers, the Mistakes Made Are Mostly Expensive But Priceless. Here’s What I Learned From Mine
Share
Sign In
Notification Show More
Latest News
Samsung
What Is It Truly Like to Live in an AI Home? 
Press Release
Junior Cho, Country CEO of Zurich Malaysia at the launch of Zurich Malaysia’s AI powered virtual assistant, Z Buddy.
A Smarter Way to Serve: Zurich Malaysia Unveils AI Powered Virtual Assistant to Empower Agents
Press Release
HKAPA GBAYO Opening Concert
Swire and HKAPA renew partnership on the Greater Bay Area Youth Orchestra to foster musical and cultural exchange across the GBA
Press Release
AIA Logo
AIA Singapore launches inaugural AIA Ultimate FitnessFest to champion healthier lifestyles
Press Release
Google-Play-Protector-Squad1
PLAY PROTECTOR SQUAD: DDB, GOOGLE PLAY CHAMPION SAFE GAMING PRACTICES IN EXHILIRATING TOURNAMENT STARRING JOE TASLIM
Press Release
Aa
Marketing In Asia
Aa
  • Hot
  • Trending
  • Editor’s Choice
  • NSFW
  • Reactions
  • Authors
  • Viral on Internet
  • My Bookmarks
  • Customize Interests
  • About Marketing In Asia
  • Business Register & Login
  • Startup Register & Login
Search
  • Marketing
    • Viral
    • Expert Opinions
    • News & Trends
    • Research
    • Market Podcasts
    • Market Videos
  • Startup
    • News from Startup world
    • Startup Stories
    • Trends and Opinions
    • Startup Podcasts
    • Startup Videos
  • Business
    • Feature Stories
    • News
    • Business Podcasts
    • Business Videos
  • Society
    • Inspiration
    • Destinations & Travel
    • Food & Gourmet
    • People
    • Young Voices
    • Society Videos
    • Society Podcasts
  • Press Release
  • Awards
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2023 Malaysia
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2023 India
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2023 Philippines
    • Australian Women in Business Excellence Awards
    • MIA Impact Circle Stellar CxO 2024 Singapore
    • Mia Impact Circle Stellar Cxo 2024 Hongkong Award 
    • Mia Impact Circle Stellar Cxo 2024 Indonesia Award 
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2023 Marketing In Asia Sdn Bhd. All Rights Reserved.
Marketing In Asia > Blog > Marketing > Buzz > For Freelancers, the Mistakes Made Are Mostly Expensive But Priceless. Here’s What I Learned From Mine
Buzz

For Freelancers, the Mistakes Made Are Mostly Expensive But Priceless. Here’s What I Learned From Mine

profile
Last updated: 2024/07/26 at 4:51 PM
Nor Afizah
Share
11 Min Read
business woman working with financial report
SHARE

They say mistakes help us to discover who we truly are, help us to let go of fear,  help us grow and evolve, and allow us to be happy. From mistakes, we finally know what we want in life. Some also say, when you make mistakes, the sky will not fall down and the whole world will not stop spinning just to laugh at you. But these are what they say. Let’s take a look at my top five biggest mistakes in my freelance translation career;

“I’m not afraid to make a mistake. I embrace mistakes, they make you who you are.”  Beyonce Knowles

Cold calls, hard copy resume and face to face meeting with local agencies and companies. Business is a war zone. They say we should learn from mentors to minimize the number of mistakes we’re going to make. And one of my mentors in this field disclosed her marketing secrets; cold calls, hard copy resume and face to face meeting. I thought that’s it. Equipped with a Yellow Pages book and a brief script in hand, I spent hours and hours calling local agencies to introduce myself with the same boring script just to get my call routed to the wrong person most of the time. I have also gone to the cheapest stationery shop in town once in a week to get a supply of envelopes to mail my resume out to these agencies, just to receive no feedback from all of them. I have accepted 2-3 invitations for a face to face meeting with several local companies, just to be handed a one-page recruitment form. It feels suck when they seriously want the completed version to be handed in on a hard copy by myself when I know that the fuel cost isn’t worth the investment. After all of these ambitious attempts ‘failed’, I may proudly conclude that my mentor’s marketing secrets are highly effective – only in the 80s, not in this era.

Google AdWords linked to Proz profile. All the hype about how effective Google AdWords is, got me trapped in my second biggest mistake ever. It is pretty obvious that nobody has a website when they are just starting out. However, I did not want to be like other newbies out there despite me being one. I wanted to be a smarter version newbie. Since I was very smart, I used my only profile online at Proz profile and linked it with the Google AdWords . I was not earning at all from any translation job yet, so the AdWords stunts that cost me about RM300 per month are fully funded by my pocket money. Yet, the result was remarkable. The number of visitors jumped from 4-5 to 100-150 per month. The only problem was, it did not land me any single job. Not even one. Why on earth my AdWords traffic isn’t converting? After months of observing, thinking and scratching my head, I’ve landed into a simple conclusion. An answer that I already know it all along but neglect it. AdWords need a website. Paid ads need to go hand-in-hand with an impressive website. The ads won’t win you customers. It’ll only help to increase traffic to your website. It’s your website that sells stuff for you.

Created my own website. Frankly speaking, I could not afford to hire a copywriter and a web designer to build an impressive website. Hence, I did everything my own. DIY is the only way ahead. After all, how hard can it be? That what I thought at that time. They were many free website templates, cheap domain, hosting and all. Of course, the cost of hiring self-proclaimed professionals in Fiverr sounds fair and shouldn’t break the bank too. Happily, I decorated my website with whatever I thought was going to get people to hire me. Dark background colour picked, no SEO or analytics inserted, no quality content and poorly optimised pages. Happily and with a sky-high confidence, I linked my newly built website with AdWords . This time, it will surely fly. But it didn’t. What is wrong now?!

As reviewed by a few of my mentors, there are several grammatical errors on my website. To some people, that’s a sin. It’s a complete switch-off. On top of that, the website didn’t answer the ultimate question; Why they should hire me in the first place. The wow factor was not there and a number of other errors were spotted too. Apparently, creating something from the customer’s point of view is not as easy as I initially thought. I realised at that time that I got monkeys after investing peanuts for my website. Period.

Registered a company, created a current account and business card. Determined to be a real-deal language entrepreneur, I equipped myself with business knowledge. From my reading, I found a term called Business to Business (B2B), which means a mutual business between two companies. In my opinion, in order to secure a translation project from a large company, I would need to stand as an entity and not as an individual. After all, a business-minded and forward thinking person like me needs to think big and thus, I should work on establishing my own company as my next move. In the period of 8 years, I have registered 3 companies namely Nor Afizah Thalhan, Fiza Ink and Fiza Translations as legal entities with the Companies Commission of Malaysia.  I have also created a banking account that comes along with the process. And I got myself a business card of my own too. I have done all of the formalities correctly, but did all these bring me any business? Unfortunately no. Why, simply because companies that require translation work are actually looking for individual freelance translators, that’s it. The company registration is only relevant if only you wish to set up a translation agency. Since the customers are mostly overseas and doing business via online, the business card is truly a waste. Big one.

Rented a shared services office. Apart from No. 2, this is my second most expensive mistakes ever. When I signed up for a 6 months rental for small cubicle somewhere in the Klang Valley, there was only one thing I had in mind. Professional vibe. I will not sugarcoat my home office to be a professional environment, regardless of how you decorate your workstation area within the house. That productive corner isn’t an office, no way! I also wanted to dress up too. I wanted to take the train to office and get some lunch during lunch hour just like any other professionals out there. I believe a little struggle like these will help discipline myself. Freelancer’s biggest enemy is sloppy-ness and I believed I have tackled that hiccups, excellently. This discipline basically cost me RM300 including GST per month, a damn good offer for a place in the heart of Kuala Lumpur!

Reality check. Six months down the road, I have come to the office not more than 25 times. As opposed to the salaried job, I don’t have professional things to do every day. I work for international clients residing on the other side of the world, and they start working when I am already out of office here in Malaysia. Apart from that, air-conditioned was too cold, I was charged for every single thing I touched from tea bags, A4 paper, photocopy, outgoing call and all other nonsense. There was no light after 6 PM. The cleaner was rude, and the best part is the sales manager informed me that I had to continue paying for the next 3 months under the Virtual Service Office package which cost me another RM600 per month when my tenancy expires soon. Two months deposit of RM1,200 I paid upfront a few moons ago was also not returned even after the building pass is returned and all parting-away documents signed. When I checked the agreement when home, they somehow have so many hidden clauses lying around and I would proudly say that I have been conned big time with my eyes wide-open.

Hence, to all freelance translators out there, just appreciate the freedom and perks that come with the job. Keep everything simple and stay humane. Office, it is not for us and yet we can still make money!

You Might Also Like

Chilli Crab Sauce. Like Never Before. McDonald’s and JUMBO Seafood Unveil Chilli Crab Sauce Burgers for Singapore’s 60th Birthday

A Bloom-Filled Escape: Tulip Time Returns to the Southern Highlands this Spring

Woolworths Group’s Healthylife Appoints Bread Agency as Social Media Partner

KFC appoints We Are Social as social agency of record

BONDS TAPS CONTENT CREATORS TO TELL THE AS WORN BY US STORY WITH A Y2K TWIST VIA SPECIAL

MIA
Get Latest Job Updates on Whatsapp and Telegram
SCIKEY Logo
Whatsapp
Telegram
TAGGED: digital marketing, freelance

Sign Up For MIA Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest updates about the Marketing world delivered straight to your inbox.

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
    Nor Afizah July 26, 2024 January 16, 2018
    Share This Article
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link Print
    Share
    What do you think?
    Love0
    Happy0
    Joy0
    Surprise0
    Sad0
    Angry0
    Cry0
    profile
    By Nor Afizah
    Follow:
    Nor Afizah or Fiza is a Malay native speaker who is also a trained translator and proofreader, working in English-Malay language pair. She is a razor-sharp Bahasa Malaysia linguistic professional.
    Previous Article focused businessman analyzing sales result This is the Real Reason Why Your Sales Result is Weak
    Next Article tele-marketing:-the-old-school-marketing-method-that-changed-my-life Tele-marketing: The Old School Marketing Method That Changed My Life
    Leave a comment Leave a comment

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    9.5k Followers Follow
    3.4k Followers Like
    1.1k Followers Follow
    214 Followers Follow
    208 Subscribers Subscribe

    Latest News

    Samsung
    What Is It Truly Like to Live in an AI Home? 
    Press Release 13 hours ago
    Junior Cho, Country CEO of Zurich Malaysia at the launch of Zurich Malaysia’s AI powered virtual assistant, Z Buddy.
    A Smarter Way to Serve: Zurich Malaysia Unveils AI Powered Virtual Assistant to Empower Agents
    Press Release 13 hours ago
    HKAPA GBAYO Opening Concert
    Swire and HKAPA renew partnership on the Greater Bay Area Youth Orchestra to foster musical and cultural exchange across the GBA
    Press Release 14 hours ago
    AIA Logo
    AIA Singapore launches inaugural AIA Ultimate FitnessFest to champion healthier lifestyles
    Press Release 14 hours ago

    PropertyGuru

    property guru

    You Might also Like

    Mcdonalds
    Press Release

    Chilli Crab Sauce. Like Never Before. McDonald’s and JUMBO Seafood Unveil Chilli Crab Sauce Burgers for Singapore’s 60th Birthday

    4 days ago
    Tulip Time
    Press Release

    A Bloom-Filled Escape: Tulip Time Returns to the Southern Highlands this Spring

    5 days ago
    Healthylife
    Press Release

    Woolworths Group’s Healthylife Appoints Bread Agency as Social Media Partner

    5 days ago
    WAS-KFC-Announcement
    Press Release

    KFC appoints We Are Social as social agency of record

    5 days ago
    //

    Get Asia to Notice You

    Quick Link

    • Contact
    • RSS Terms of Service
    • Policies & Standards
    • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms Of Service
    • Privacy Policy

    Top Categories

    • Marketing
    • Startup
    • Feature Stories
    • News
    • People
    • Inspiration

    Sign Up for Our Newsletter

    Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

      Marketing In AsiaMarketing In Asia
      Follow US
      © 2024 Marketing In Asia. All Rights Reserved.
      • Disclaimer
      • Terms of Service
      • Privacy Policy