Ray Mak
  • 11 months ago
In This Episode of In The Spotlight, I'm truly delighted to have the honor of having my favorite Tech and Travel Content Creator, @AriffSuffian , that I watch a lot especially during the pandemic lockdown. Our First Impressions of each other are Truly Majestic!

He's one of those Content Creators that started with random things like Vlogs, simple travel videos, food videos, even volleyball videos, and then experimented with Tech, and SLAYed! During the lockdown, I was always surprised by the quality of his work despite him having not that many subscribers back then. They were Majestic!

Then when the lockdown semi ended and ended (we had lots of hiccups in the lockdowns back then). He had some very captivating travel videos that I enjoyed too, both on YouTube and Instagram. Please take your time to listen to his story of his marvelous journey in content creation.

Be sure to like, comment, and most importantly share if you find this podcast useful. Thank you very much and advance and Enjoy the Show! Feel free to make use of these timestamps to go to the topics that you're most interested in.

00:00 Intro
01:20 How Did Ariff Suffian and Ray Mak Became Friends?
01:48 First Impression
08:14 How Did You Get Into Content Creation and Your Niche?
10:24 How Did You Know That Tech Would Be Something You're Passionate With?
11:56 Juggling Between Full-Time Job And Content Creation
14:45 Blessings Of Being In Both Tech And Travel
21:39 Do You Buy Your Gadgets Or Get Sponsored?
24:23 Getting Sponsored To Travel
27:48 Challenges Of A Tech Reviewer
29:45 Do You Get To Keep The Products?
33:03 Burnouts And Haters, How Do You Overcome Them?
36:51 Words Of Wisdom

About In The Spotlight

I have been a content creator for almost two decades now as I've had the privilege to have started when all these platforms started. Over the years, I've made many great friends and have also enjoyed the many blessings from the Internet.

In The Spotlight is a Platform where my amazing content creators friends share their precious experiences so we can all learn together as well. I really hope you like it too.

Last but not least, special thanks to my good friend @KevinChanBazi ( http://www.youtube.com/kevinchanbazi ) for being the catalyst, push, idea and brains behind In The Spotlight.

This podcast was recorded with the amazing new BOYALINK - All-In-One Design Wireless Microphone System from @BOYA-mic . They are so sleek and easy to use!

Special Discount Link to my Boya Link (Enjoy!) : https://shopee.com.my/BOYA-LINK-BOYALINK-Wireless-Lavalier-Lapel-Microphone-for-iPhone-Android-DSLR-Camera-Youtube-Live-Streaming-i.2735188.23445201496?sp_atk=88ac2dc3-5f0d-40a3-8846-e66f9f0d7682&xptdk=88ac2dc3-5f0d-40a3-8846-e66f9f0d7682

#inthespotlight #creator #contentcreator

Follow @AriffSuffian
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/ariffsuffian
TikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@ariffsuffian
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/ariffsuffian
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/ari
Transcript
00:00 Nothing is confirmed.
00:02 There's no defined rules like a normal job.
00:07 Like for B-Roll, for example, let's say I'm playing a game on this phone
00:12 and I want the camera from the back over my shoulder.
00:14 This one is in focus, this one is blurred out.
00:16 It takes like 30 minutes to set it up myself.
00:21 If you fail as a creator or you find out that you don't like it,
00:26 it's completely fine to not be a creator.
00:28 You're better off just enjoying what people create. It's totally fine.
00:32 Yo! Welcome to another episode of In The Spotlight.
00:42 So In The Spotlight is a platform where I invite my friends, my good friends.
00:48 I'm a good friend?
00:50 Yeah, of course!
00:52 And we talk about content creation stuff
00:55 because my friends are usually content creators.
00:59 And today we have Arif Sufian!
01:22 Do you remember the first time of our interaction?
01:28 Okay, so we met online first.
01:33 And it was a weird time because that was the pandemic.
01:37 So since the time we met online,
01:41 I think we only met physically afterwards about 2-3 years later, right?
01:45 Because it was right at the start of the pandemic.
01:48 And I know you're going to ask me my impressions of you.
01:51 And don't take this the wrong way,
01:55 but my first impressions of you were that you were such a weird person.
01:59 But it's not your fault.
02:01 It's because I was introduced to you by Sean from Illegia, right?
02:05 So he told me about your qualifications as a musician,
02:09 and a content creator verification and all that.
02:12 But the thing that he left stuck in my head was that you like to leave comments everywhere.
02:21 So in my head, as someone who doesn't comment as much,
02:25 you can see that I'm not...
02:27 Yeah, you're the quiet one.
02:29 Yeah, relatively quiet.
02:30 To me, I was like, "This guy is so weird."
02:32 Because I don't know you.
02:34 I've only known about you from another person.
02:36 So for the longest time, I was like, "This Raymark is so weird."
02:40 But after we connected with each other,
02:42 started speaking a bit,
02:44 I realized you're just a very friendly, bubbly, easygoing person.
02:48 So your comments are very comforting,
02:51 although people might see it as spammy.
02:53 But if they get to know you, it's just a very nice gesture.
02:57 But yeah, the first impression of you was like, "This guy is so weird."
03:03 Sorry if other content creators felt that way as well.
03:09 To be fair, you do go for a very bombastic intro.
03:16 Because after he told me about you,
03:18 and I had that thought of you spamming comments,
03:21 and then I watched one of your videos,
03:23 and then your starting is like, "Ray, Rayster."
03:26 So I was like, "What? This guy is..."
03:28 Because naturally, I'm a very quiet person.
03:32 So your friends, like I was talking about, Melvin, Dennis,
03:35 they are the type of people that would go,
03:37 let's say, in the middle of a pavilion and start dancing to get views.
03:40 I will never do that.
03:43 Even vlogging for me gives me so much anxiety.
03:46 But yeah, after I got to know you, I'm like,
03:50 "It's just very funny."
03:52 Everyone's funny in their own way.
03:54 So my impression of you was a more positive one.
04:02 Actually, it's both.
04:05 I tried to keep a very cool, professional-looking image.
04:09 Yes, that is the thing that I really enjoy.
04:13 Because during the pandemic, I watched a lot of videos.
04:17 Naturally, I'm someone who, when I watch a lot of videos,
04:19 I will comment also.
04:21 So I will comment.
04:22 And at the same time, why do I comment?
04:24 Because I like it when people come to my channel and they comment.
04:28 So in a way, it makes me want to return a gesture.
04:33 Especially in 2021, a lot of people come to my channel to comment.
04:38 Maybe because I did that a lot.
04:40 So a lot of people come and bombard me with very nice comments at the same time.
04:44 So when I stumbled upon your videos,
04:48 because I didn't know about what Sean told me about you.
04:52 I stumbled upon you before he told me.
04:56 So I thought, "Wow, this is such a new YouTuber,
05:01 such a new content creator, but so professional."
05:07 I was like, "Wow, the equipment and the gadgets and the things that you were using,
05:11 and the lighting."
05:12 And I'm like, "Wow, this is next level."
05:16 So my impression was actually quite majestic.
05:19 But I guess it's the opposite.
05:22 Mine, for you, was like, "This guy is weird, and now he's cool."
05:26 And yours, for me, was, "This guy is so cool.
05:28 Now you get to know me, he's so weird."
05:30 No!
05:34 So what happened is I would naturally leave comments and all those things.
05:39 I remember you leaving comments.
05:41 And I like gadgets as well.
05:43 Because I like gadgets, then I get to connect.
05:46 And then both of us, somehow, we get to work with Illigear as well.
05:50 So that's also how we get to connect.
05:54 And then about two years later, after the pandemic,
05:57 then we met in person.
05:58 Last year, to be exact, for the Nen Light event.
06:01 Nen Light event.
06:02 That's the first time we met.
06:03 And then when we met, we just continued the conversation like we knew each other for years
06:06 because we already had so much time together before.
06:09 Then the icing on the cake, of course, we won gifts at the event.
06:12 Yeah, we both of us won gifts.
06:14 That's crazy.
06:15 Just a quick note on your commenting, right?
06:17 It's worth noting that your comments on whoever's channels you put, right,
06:23 has a lot more weightage than any normal comment.
06:25 Because obviously your account is verified.
06:27 How many subscribers now?
06:29 460.
06:31 Yeah, so it's not common to get that type of comments,
06:35 even from my channel or other bigger channels.
06:38 So the fact that you, I know you give it out very easily,
06:42 but to that creator, it might be very big to them
06:45 because there's a lot of weightage.
06:46 RealMark, what is it, BlueCheck?
06:49 Yeah, it's basically a tickler.
06:52 And my account on YouTube is actually more special.
06:55 You know that it's double verification.
06:58 So there are some people who have just a checkmark.
07:00 So mine is both a checkmark at the same time a music note.
07:05 It's like a humble flex.
07:07 So the other people that have it are BlackPink, Justin Bieber.
07:12 Whoa, you're in that range.
07:15 It's a humble flex.
07:16 So yeah, so that's how, maybe because of that, there's a weight.
07:24 And maybe because also I use the same profile picture.
07:29 I use the same profile picture.
07:31 So people really recognize that profile picture.
07:35 And a lot of kids, especially, they would just go there and click.
07:40 Yeah.
07:41 They just go there and click.
07:42 You even have an article, right?
07:43 Is it World of Buzz?
07:44 Yeah, I don't know.
07:45 Wait, yeah, I think it's World of Buzz.
07:48 Something with W at the start.
07:50 Dedicated solely to you, commenting on your pictures.
07:55 What was the article already?
07:56 It was, I forgot, it's Says.com or World of Buzz.
07:59 I don't think it's Says.
08:00 Says.com also mentioned me before, like a long time ago.
08:03 Okay, I think the recent one was World of Buzz.
08:06 Yeah, the recent one.
08:07 Yeah, I think it's World of Buzz.
08:08 Yeah.
08:09 That's how significant your commenting is.
08:11 Okay, so I would also like to know, how did you come up with this content creation thing?
08:22 And how did you get into your niche?
08:26 Creating content for me, there wasn't something that pushed me to create content.
08:31 I got on YouTube very early.
08:33 And what I mean by getting on YouTube is not creating content, but I created a channel on YouTube so that I can comment.
08:39 Very early on, not really to comment.
08:42 For me, it's more to subscribe.
08:43 That's the right one.
08:44 And I can't remember when I created my channel.
08:47 I think maybe 2008 or something.
08:49 And I saw yours.
08:50 Yours was 2006.
08:51 Two years earlier than me.
08:53 I think we are very early because compared to some of my idols like Casey Neistat, our channels are so far ahead created compared to them.
09:02 So what I'm saying is that I was on YouTube when it was still a very small community.
09:08 And I followed a lot of musicians back then.
09:11 Please don't get offended.
09:12 Please don't get offended.
09:13 It was Boyz 7 U.
09:14 Oh yeah.
09:15 Back when they were in a one-shot with curtains at the back.
09:20 That's the only thing they could afford, I think.
09:21 David Choi.
09:23 I followed people like Wong Fu.
09:25 And then in tech, it was like Techno Buffalo, Sojourner's Best.
09:28 Those were the OG creators back then when it was so small.
09:32 And over the years, you grow with the creators, right?
09:36 You see them like Techno Buffalo.
09:38 Now it's a massive business.
09:39 You have your Boyz 7 U with million-dollar productions right now.
09:42 Yeah, crazy.
09:43 So no one pushed me to create content.
09:46 But seeing them grow makes you want to be a part of it and create content.
09:51 Sure, there's the aspect of fame, money, but you just want to create content.
09:56 So that's how I got started.
09:58 And I started a few times because at the start, it's quite difficult to think of YouTube as a serious business or career because nothing is defined.
10:08 Now also, it's very 50/50.
10:11 So I just started, created random stupid videos.
10:14 Stopped, created.
10:16 I did this a few times and it only kicked off a couple of years before the pandemic.
10:20 Then when you started creating content, how do you know that this tech and gadget kind of thing is something that you are passionate about?
10:33 So tech has always been a very big part of my life.
10:36 Even when I was in primary school, I was interested in computers.
10:40 I was the person in the house pushing for laptops.
10:43 And at that time, for some reason, I really liked Apple products.
10:47 This was before Apple was cool or Apple dominated the market.
10:51 So I had the MacBooks in the plastic shell.
10:55 Not the colorful ones, the white and black ones.
10:57 I don't think it was available back then.
11:00 So I was a very early adopter of computers.
11:03 Loved Apple products, but could not afford them at the start.
11:07 I had a compact computer, an Asus laptop and then Apple from then on.
11:13 And then in high school, despite liking IT, I did not go to the IT stream.
11:21 Because it looked like a death sentence where people go there to just play games on the computer.
11:26 So I suffered through pure science and barely made it through my SPM because I'm not interested.
11:31 But I was surrounded by smart people, way smarter than me.
11:36 And then university, throughout my whole university, foundation in computing,
11:40 I did a degree in cyber security and now I'm working in cyber security.
11:44 So tech has always been a part of me.
11:46 Any type of tech, I'm very interested in it.
11:49 So being a content creator, creating in tech was something that just came natural to me.
11:55 Cyber security is huge. I didn't know you're also in cyber security.
12:01 At times, even I don't know I'm in it because it's not easy being a full-time creator.
12:08 A solo creator and also having a full-time job.
12:12 A lot of people ask me, "How do you do it?"
12:15 I'm like, "Once you see me and you know how I do it, you tell me."
12:18 Because I don't know how I do it. Just surviving day by day.
12:22 No wonder you can sleep at 4am.
12:24 Surprisingly, I get enough sleep.
12:27 My watch tells me I get 7 hours or more sleep every day, which is a lot.
12:33 It's just that I sleep very late.
12:35 Because a lot of work really starts after lunch.
12:39 And because I work from home, I have the luxury of starting around 10, 11.
12:47 I wake up early also. It's just my habit.
12:49 Thankfully, I'm not a person that sleeps late, wakes up late.
12:52 Because then the day is gone already.
12:55 Are you a morning person?
12:57 I'm a morning person. I have to be a morning person.
12:59 Wait, he's a parent. He has to be a morning person, like it or not.
13:02 But if you sleep late, can you still wake up early?
13:05 I can, but I will be a bit slightly grumpy on that day.
13:10 If let's say I don't get enough sleep, I'll be a bit grumpy.
13:16 I'm smiling with one hour of sleep.
13:21 Maybe after this, you will just crash.
13:24 If you leave me on this couch, I'll probably just sleep.
13:26 Crazy.
13:30 So, cyber security.
13:33 But you have never actually done anything about cyber security on the channel.
13:38 No, because I don't find interest in talking about it.
13:42 First, it's generally a very dry...
13:45 Yes, there's a lot of new vulnerabilities coming out every day.
13:49 But what's there to talk about?
13:54 There's nothing much to talk about and there's already channels doing it.
13:57 Like you said, it's generally very dry.
14:00 I think I would get bored editing my own videos.
14:05 It's like I'm talking.
14:06 I would expect it to be a very long conversational video because it gets technical.
14:11 I think I would fall asleep editing the video.
14:13 It can't be anything like shots, you know, like the daily cyber security.
14:18 No, it's probably things that you've seen before like five tips to secure your home network,
14:23 make a long password, things like that.
14:26 But yeah, it's a very niche already and to me, it's not that interesting having work in it.
14:33 I guess it's like a chef that cooks every day.
14:36 Then you come back dinner, you want to cook again.
14:39 You might be burned out already from doing that.
14:41 I totally understand where you're coming from.
14:44 That's why I'm very blessed to be in a position where I think starting last year,
14:49 I started doing more travel content because I managed to partner with like Tourism Malaysia for some content.
14:55 So on my YouTube, it's mainly tech, long form video.
14:59 On Instagram, it's short form travel video.
15:03 Yeah, I enjoy those a lot.
15:06 It's a nice break because I think during COVID, there was one point where there was so much tech videos being produced.
15:13 I got so bored.
15:15 Basically bored, you can give me the best thing in the world, let's say the fastest laptop.
15:20 I will not open it until I need to get the job done.
15:23 To me, to you, you want to go to someone else.
15:28 You might want to go to the laptop and play all the games in the world.
15:31 To me, I look at it, looking back at me, there's a video to be done.
15:35 I get where you're coming from.
15:40 I totally understand.
15:42 It's nice. I'm glad there's a, it's not a 50/50 balance, but I'm glad there is a mix of content to help supplement each other.
15:51 Yeah, I think a mix is nice.
15:54 At the same time, you can go for holidays and all those things and stay in pretty nice hotels and very nice locations.
16:02 With that being said, creating content while traveling has its own set of challenges.
16:09 It is not as easy as people think it is.
16:19 Not only you have to carry a lot of things, you have to plan the things out because unlike shooting in the studio, you can't reshoot that shot while traveling.
16:27 You need to get it on the spot.
16:28 I mean, now this probably you can buy stock footage.
16:31 But I've never done that before.
16:34 You can buy stock footage, I guess.
16:35 But it's worth it because for me, when I travel, especially with my kids, I just take out the, I mean, it's not so professional.
16:42 I just take out the GoPro and record.
16:44 When I upload, my kids will be like, "Oh yeah, last time you went to this place."
16:49 That's the main reason why I started doing a bit of travel vlogging last time.
16:54 Not so much nowadays because I want to watch back these videos when I get older.
17:00 Or like my wife's nieces, every month I think they watch the travel videos we did because kids like watching this.
17:07 They're like, "We're on TV."
17:08 They're very happy.
17:10 So yeah, that's the main reason I did the travel-related content, like vlogging style.
17:15 My tech reviews are probably after the last review of the video before posting.
17:19 I don't watch it again.
17:21 I don't want to watch it again.
17:23 If it's out.
17:24 But the travel videos, sometimes when I'm bored, I'll watch like a honeymoon vlog or a Thailand vlog.
17:30 It's fun.
17:31 It's fun.
17:32 Yeah.
17:33 Yeah.
17:34 That's what I do also because I do mainly music.
17:37 But then from time to time, I have a bit of tech as well.
17:41 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:42 And I have sound card because I really, I'm a big fan of sound cards.
17:47 You can see from all the speakers over here.
17:49 Yep, yep, yep.
17:50 And you're very lucky in the sense that you recorded everything many, many years ago before it was a thing.
17:59 Yeah.
18:00 So you can post like, yeah, I don't think I have any videos of me.
18:04 In your college or high school?
18:06 Yeah, I have pictures, but I never had the foresight.
18:09 What were you thinking when you recorded those videos?
18:11 So, okay, I have this problem.
18:14 Hoarding?
18:15 No, I cannot remember faces and names.
18:19 I don't know if any of you can relate to that.
18:22 I am someone who can, I talk to you here and I turn back and I turn back to you, I will have forgotten your name.
18:28 I would know your face, but I would have forgotten your name.
18:31 And if we don't keep in touch or if you don't have social media for a pretty long time, I will have totally forgotten about your existence.
18:39 Or maybe I know you existed, but to me...
18:43 The name, the name doesn't come now.
18:45 Yeah, it doesn't come back.
18:46 It's like very difficult.
18:47 That's normal.
18:48 So, when I was in college, I was teaching martial arts.
18:51 Oh, you were teaching?
18:52 I was teaching martial arts.
18:53 I thought you were just learning.
18:54 And there were a lot of students.
18:55 Oh, that was a very...
18:56 That's a top stereotype, right?
18:59 This Asian guy teaching martial arts.
19:02 And teach martial arts, you know.
19:04 So, yeah.
19:06 As a student?
19:07 As a student.
19:08 Oh, okay.
19:09 University club?
19:10 University club.
19:11 Okay, just some casual, semi-casual stuff.
19:13 I was really...
19:15 Okay, I'm also an introvert.
19:17 By nature.
19:18 Yeah, by nature.
19:19 So, I have social anxiety as much as many introverts, okay?
19:25 But when I go to the martial arts class, and if I'm supposed to teach, I cannot be like,
19:30 "I'm very scared."
19:31 You know?
19:32 So, I have to force myself to fake it until I make it.
19:36 So, in order to remember names, I take pictures and videos.
19:41 And that's why, during those days, the pictures, I upload them on Facebook and multiply.
19:47 And then the videos, I was looking for Google Video and YouTube.
19:53 The last time we had Google Video.
19:56 And YouTube.
19:57 Back then, Facebook doesn't have video yet.
20:00 So, I uploaded them.
20:02 And then one of the videos of me playing piano, it went viral.
20:07 Then, from then, I became technically a YouTuber.
20:11 Because I think the normal thing to do would be to take pictures or create a contact card, add a picture.
20:17 It's the fact that you took videos which made you so much different.
20:22 And I think people nowadays also don't take as much videos as you did last time.
20:26 Nope.
20:27 The good thing is, despite the resolution being quite bad at that time, with AI now,
20:31 there's a lot of upscaling you can do.
20:33 So, you can bring back up those videos.
20:36 I am so happy.
20:38 I mean, I've been trying using Adobe.
20:41 It's still not as good.
20:42 So, I'm looking into AI on video upscaling.
20:45 No rush. It will come.
20:47 Yeah.
20:48 How do you store your videos from back then?
20:50 So, back then, the videos are not as huge as today.
20:54 That means you have to keep exporting it out.
20:56 I keep exporting.
20:57 So, I have multiple hard drives with the same videos.
21:01 Oh, that's good. Redundancy.
21:03 Yeah, because I started YouTube because of a hard drive fault.
21:08 The hard drive went faulty.
21:10 And then, I looked for somewhere I can store on cloud.
21:15 So, back then, X drive, Y drive, Z drive on the internet, it was very expensive.
21:22 Not really creative with the names.
21:24 Yeah.
21:25 Just the alphabet and drive.
21:26 Yeah, they just put there.
21:27 xdrive.com
21:29 But, come to think of it, X drive sounds a bit...
21:32 Sounds a bit adult-ish compared to the other drives.
21:35 Sounds a bit sus.
21:36 Yeah.
21:37 Sounds a bit sus.
21:38 Yeah.
21:39 So, I also want to know, since you got into this tech thing,
21:44 so, initially, do you buy your own things or you're already able to ask?
21:50 Because you were so small back then.
21:52 Yeah, yeah, yeah. At the start, you definitely have to buy.
21:56 It's either you buy or...
21:58 If I'm giving advice to someone,
22:00 if you want to create tech content, it doesn't have to be the latest things.
22:05 Just get whatever you have, whatever laptop you have,
22:07 and create content on that because you can showcase what you're capable of doing as a creator.
22:13 Wow.
22:14 But, I think, if I'm not mistaken, back then, I bought some stuff here and there.
22:18 I remember I created videos about the MacBook that I had.
22:20 Hey guys, so, today I've got a quick unboxing and little review for this thing I ordered from US.
22:26 And, over time, you get to work with brands.
22:33 And, the reason that Illygia is special to me, despite a lot of stories about it,
22:39 Cut, cut, cut.
22:40 is that they were the first to pay me to make videos.
22:44 Yeah.
22:45 Thanks to Sean.
22:47 Yeah.
22:48 At the start, it's a lot of doing your own products.
22:54 And, then, if you're smart, you start reaching out to brands.
22:57 But, ideally, you would have something to show for.
23:01 Because, just put yourself in their shoes.
23:04 Why would they want to loan you a product if they don't know what you can do?
23:08 And, now, I think I'm in a position where if I ask for something,
23:12 I think it's a 50/50 thing whether I can get it or not.
23:15 And, if I don't and I want to be on the bandwagon of creating that content when it releases,
23:22 and it makes business sense, I just buy it.
23:25 Sometimes, I don't ask for the product even though I want it,
23:30 and I just buy it just for the simple fact that I do not want to be tied down with expectations.
23:35 Yeah. That is very true as well.
23:38 Because, when I receive products from companies and all those things,
23:42 then there will be a certain expectation.
23:45 Expectations, deliverables.
23:47 If there is a payment, there is more expectation.
23:50 If there is no payment, usually, they don't expect that much.
23:54 Yeah. A bit more relaxed, your project.
23:58 So, I can truly understand the thing about it.
24:04 Oh, wow.
24:06 Just know that it's not a simple, it's not a very fast process.
24:10 It's very unlikely that it will be fast unless you're very good and you're very viral or something.
24:14 It's a very slow, calculated process of creating content, sending out emails.
24:22 This isn't related to my tech, but for my travel,
24:25 one of my first few creator trips, my self-created trip,
24:29 not like a sponsored trip to Thailand,
24:32 I wanted to get a hotel sponsorship, which I didn't get, spoiler alert.
24:39 But, what I did was I contacted more than 300 hotels in Bangkok.
24:44 Wow, next level.
24:47 Because that was my first trip as a creator, I have nothing to show for.
24:51 Thankfully, Thai people are very friendly.
24:54 I had a Google sheet of the hotel name, PIC, email, phone.
25:00 Did they respond? What did they respond with?
25:03 What are they giving? And some other notes.
25:07 I think out of 300 hotels, about 10 replied me.
25:11 Because you're a small person, and I think back then my negotiation skills in my initial email wasn't that good.
25:18 Out of the 10 hotels, 2 hotels in the end gave me a discounted rate.
25:23 That's all.
25:24 Getting that discounted rate put me on cloud nine.
25:28 I was so happy because I was like, "Wow, I did it."
25:31 [laughs]
25:35 It's a lot of effort.
25:38 Wow, that is a lot of emails to send.
25:43 Because so far I've talked to so many friends, not in interviews like this,
25:48 but because I've been talking to people for a very long time.
25:51 Joseph Germani is another creator.
25:54 One of the OG Malaysians.
25:56 Yeah, he's like you.
25:57 Because when he was very small, he actually sent like 400-500 emails,
26:02 and only one or two replied.
26:05 Whenever you're contacting the companies for whatever reason, travel, tech or whatnot,
26:10 always put yourself in their shoes.
26:13 You read your own email, would you reply to this noob?
26:18 Or however you see yourself, this pro.
26:22 It's good insight or have someone else read it.
26:25 How they feel.
26:26 Because your first impression is very important.
26:28 So nowadays I think I've got it keyed down already.
26:31 A good introduction email of me asking something, what I expect in return.
26:37 Wording also is important.
26:38 Obviously you don't want to be like, "I expect free rooms in return."
26:44 The political way to say is, "I am happy to receive any form of support that you are comfortable with."
26:51 Sometimes I have to twist it.
26:53 Wow, you're so good.
26:55 You have to be very political. Everything is very vague in the first email.
26:58 Because you don't want to seem like a very brat asking for things,
27:03 so you test the waters a bit.
27:06 Because there are some people who really just ask for free room.
27:11 "Give me free room, I'm an influencer."
27:13 Some people, yes. Because they're very spoiled brat kind of thing.
27:18 But some Malaysians, their professionalism is just not there.
27:24 It's not that they're bad.
27:25 The influencers, some of them are spoiled brats.
27:28 But some general Malaysians, they just don't have the sense of professionalism to...
27:32 And the copywriting.
27:35 They cannot write in the way that is comfortable for them.
27:40 It comes off as very bad, but who knows, they might be a really nice person, they just don't know.
27:45 They just don't know how to write it properly.
27:48 So aside from this, what are some of the other challenges that you usually face?
27:54 Well, tying back to the previous point at the start,
27:58 obviously for a tech reviewer, it's getting products.
28:01 What are you going to create?
28:03 And you just have to, like I said, create what you already have,
28:08 just to showcase your skills.
28:10 You can buy the product and then work your way into getting the products.
28:15 But now, as a semi-established creator, the problem is deadlines.
28:21 Companies generally, for some reason, all of them generally give up to two weeks to get a video done.
28:30 And for me, a comfortable timeline would be around one month.
28:34 There's a lot of things also.
28:36 There's so many other things.
28:37 I mean, putting the project aside, life has so many other things in store for you.
28:43 And reviewing a product is actually very time-consuming.
28:48 It's not the shooting, it's the testing and scripting that takes a lot of time.
28:53 And I try to keep it, this year I try to keep a long-form video to maybe two to four in a month.
29:01 But it's really not up to you.
29:03 If you plan to do two to four, if the company comes knocking in,
29:07 it's like, "Hey, I have this phone," which happened recently,
29:09 "I have this phone. Do you want to review it?"
29:11 You can say no, and then get left out from the way for people creating this content.
29:20 Or you can suck it up and do it.
29:22 So, well, I said yes.
29:24 Then I nagged, "They usually give two weeks," but I said, "Give me three weeks."
29:29 More often than not, I get to create it within the timeline, if I really set my mind to it.
29:37 But the extra time is just a nice cushion in case something happens.
29:43 Anything can happen.
29:45 But if, let's say, like a phone, for example, do you get to keep the product or is it a loan you need?
29:52 As you know, with this life, not life, this industry, nothing is confirmed.
29:59 There's no defined rules, like a normal job.
30:04 So, more often than not, it depends how you negotiate things with the company
30:10 or the company already has some rules.
30:13 Like this phone that I got a couple of days ago is loan and not paid.
30:20 For some reason, I've asked all the creators that I've worked with, let's not mention names,
30:25 this brand, they don't pay people.
30:28 And the first year I worked with them, of course, I'm very excited
30:31 because it's a prominent brand.
30:34 It's not Apple, but it's still a very big brand.
30:37 I covered almost all their phones.
30:39 Then last year, I got a bit tired doing the phones.
30:42 And this year, I rejected one of their phones.
30:44 And this year, I think I'm just going to do just a few phones.
30:47 I don't mind that they're not paying me because I get good, like I say,
30:54 with the wave of people watching the videos.
30:58 But I also, it's more of me putting too much time for this brand.
31:04 But even the phone is not for you?
31:06 Yeah, it's not for me.
31:07 Huh?
31:08 That I wouldn't take.
31:10 Yeah, but I can say as a tech reviewer, if you don't do, someone else will do.
31:15 Yeah, I'll let someone else do.
31:17 Yeah.
31:18 But I always, if I'm not getting paid, I will be very careful when selecting the project.
31:28 Like this brand, I know long term it's going to be good because they have like the ambassador programs
31:33 where they fly you off to many, many places.
31:35 Like last year, their ambassadors went to like Europe, Spain, and all that for the launch.
31:39 That is good.
31:40 So I always keep that in mind.
31:42 Even when I reject their products, I say just, everything is in good terms.
31:48 Basically, we're just like friends when I talk to their PR and marketing.
31:51 I just be honest that I don't have time for it.
31:54 And I have asked them about payments.
31:56 They just say they don't do it.
31:57 And it's not just to me.
31:58 I've asked every other creator.
32:00 They just don't pay.
32:01 Sometimes when you're working with big brands, they just have the upper hand
32:06 and you don't have much negotiation space.
32:09 And especially for products that are about to be released,
32:14 it really matters if you get in the first wave of people releasing products.
32:19 So like Sony, when they release cameras, those videos they don't pay.
32:24 But if you don't do, you miss out a lot.
32:27 Yeah, because everyone is doing it.
32:29 Everyone is searching for it.
32:31 But this year, every year I get more selective on where I put my effort.
32:36 Because as much as I like doing videos, it's now a business that I have to run
32:41 and I need to make sure it's financially viable monthly.
32:44 So it has to be a mix of paid and not paid projects.
32:49 And you have a full-time job at the same time.
32:51 I think having a full-time job is the only reason why I can do some jobs for free.
32:55 Yeah, otherwise it is difficult.
32:57 If not, it will not make business sense at all.
32:58 It takes so much time and there's so many bills to pay.
33:01 Exactly.
33:02 Yeah, it's not easy.
33:03 So along the way, you sure have like burnouts and maybe some haters here and there.
33:09 How are they like?
33:10 Generally for me, there is no haters because I...
33:14 Yeah, it's very hard to hate you.
33:15 It's not that it's hard to hate me.
33:17 My content is very...
33:19 Professional.
33:20 Evergreen.
33:21 You can have professional political content that will get a lot of hate.
33:24 Mine is very evergreen where it's very safe.
33:26 I don't touch on sensitive topics.
33:28 Even on my Instagram, I don't share the recent war happening because I've heard people getting shadowbanned, getting blocked here and there.
33:37 I try to keep it very to what I do.
33:41 And both travel and tech, it's very evergreen content.
33:45 There's not much to hate.
33:46 Sometimes I might get something technically wrong and then people comment on me.
33:49 I always try to take things in a positive way.
33:53 But if they purposely write bad things, if I can outsmart them, I'll reply.
33:58 You cannot resist from doing that.
34:00 Or you can just delete the comment or block them from your channel.
34:03 I'm thankfully in a position where I don't get attacked too much from haters.
34:09 And in terms of burnout, I think every year I am reaching the limit of getting there.
34:16 I haven't reached there yet where I'm completely like...
34:19 But because I do everything myself from the PR, the talking to people, the scripting, the editing, the talent, the music design, the lighting, the posting, the promoting.
34:39 It's actually very tiring.
34:42 So that's why I'm trying to scale down a bit and just do projects that are very significant to me.
34:49 And this is even saying no to projects that I want to do just because I need to take care and make sure things go well in the long term.
34:58 So I am close to burning out.
35:01 The next best thing to do is obviously hire people, but I cannot wrap my head around giving my video for someone to edit.
35:12 Same.
35:13 I cannot. I think no matter what, I'll still do editing.
35:16 Maybe I'll get someone to do testing and scripting, but then there's ChatchiPT.
35:20 But although the info is quite outdated, I think there's a cap to the year they get the info from.
35:27 2021, I think.
35:28 Like two years back.
35:29 Unless the latest version of ChatchiPT.
35:31 The paid one, it's not that they can access the latest one.
35:35 It's just that they have a built-in browser feature where they can read the latest articles or something.
35:40 But yeah, I have dabbled with the idea of hiring someone like an editor or something, but I cannot wrap around my head of giving my videos and expecting someone to give something back in return.
35:52 If they're good, obviously they're expensive. I don't want to pay expensive, then I'll get something bad and I'll do double my job.
35:59 True.
36:00 Same here. If I receive something that is very high-end, usually.
36:05 Maybe if things go well, I'll consider just hiring a general assistant.
36:11 Because certain shots, because I want nice aesthetic shots for B-roll.
36:16 Because I think my A-roll is already nicely set up. Everything is fixed already.
36:19 Like for B-roll, for example, let's say I'm playing a game on this phone and I want the camera from the back over my shoulder.
36:26 This one is in focus, this one is blurred out.
36:28 That one you need someone.
36:29 It takes like 30 minutes to set it up myself.
36:33 But if I have someone, all they have to do is just stand behind me and press that thing and within 1-2 minutes, I'm done.
36:39 Those are the challenges as a solo creator.
36:42 Unless your wife can do it for you.
36:44 Sometimes, but most of the time, it's just me.
36:47 Yeah, totally understand.
36:49 So, if there are people who want to become like you or general content creators, what are 3 advices that you can give them?
37:00 It just so happens that my brother wants to start creating cooking reels on Instagram.
37:07 And of course, he asked me things here and there.
37:10 But one thing that struck out the most to me is that he says he wants to plan out 10 videos and then shoot them in bulk or in consecutive days so that he has content to post over the next few days.
37:22 And I told him that generally that is a very bad idea because for content creation, if you want to get started, you just have to do it.
37:32 You just have to get started.
37:34 For me, I learned it the hard way because I tried to learn everything, tried to have the perfect video, tried to make sure everything looks good.
37:44 But if you aim for that, no video will come out.
37:47 Your first 10, 20, 30, 50, maybe up to 100 videos are going to suck without a doubt.
37:53 But most importantly is you just have to do and learn.
37:56 The most important thing from posting videos, even though they are bad, is that every time for the next one, you just aim to improve just a bit and by 100 videos, confirm you will be good already.
38:10 And to put it in context for people, maybe they are not creators yet, what I mean by improve a bit because I scared to them improve a bit is not realistic.
38:20 I'll give you some realistic examples.
38:22 Your first video is too bright, so many things you can change like the ISO, aperture, lighting or in your edits.
38:29 Those are small but very impactful changes that you will learn from doing bad videos.
38:35 Now let's say the next one you have subtitles with a typo, very common error even for people like us.
38:43 In your next video, you can put in like "I'll review this 3 times" or get someone else to review it.
38:50 So those are the small changes that I'm talking about. It's not big stuff that you have to aim for.
38:54 Just aim to improve a bit every single video and you will be fine after how many number of videos.
39:02 What other advice do I have?
39:06 Communication skills is very important in this industry because at the start, more often than not, you don't have much to show for.
39:16 So it's how you talk, how you present yourself, how you ask for things, how you tell them what you want to deliver.
39:24 And a funny thing about I think some of how things are in Malaysia is that we are generally very nice, welcoming people.
39:38 So you're not going to expect where I'm going with this point.
39:41 So let's say, like recently the Samsung S24 came out.
39:46 Yes, it's a huge thing.
39:48 But you see right, some of the content creators that get the phone create really garbage content.
39:56 I don't like saying things like that, it's just how it is because I don't want bad karma to come to me.
40:01 But it's just how it is. And why do they get the smartphone to keep?
40:06 It's more often than not, they have very good communications and connections with the Samsung PR or agency people.
40:15 So you don't always have to be the best, but you just have to be very likeable and know how to talk your way to get things.
40:23 It's a very unfortunate.
40:27 Very unfortunate.
40:28 Sometimes you find that people who don't deserve it get things.
40:32 Yeah, but today when it comes to things like copywriting, a lot of people are starting to use things like ChatGPT.
40:40 I've used ChatGPT a few times to give me an outline that I work on.
40:45 But people just copy and paste.
40:47 But after a few times using it, you realise that ChatGPT has a few words that they like using.
40:55 So people can tell out that I'm fine with using it to give a like a ranker, a foundation for you to work on.
41:04 But obviously you have to input your own twist to it because you do not want to be the face of ChatGPT.
41:14 So you need your own voice into it.
41:16 Also, you're probably not going to expect where this is going.
41:19 It's going to be contradicting. If you fail as a creator or you find out that you don't like it, it's completely fine to not be a creator.
41:28 It might be a cool thing that you see, but it is really not for everyone.
41:35 The amount of work that goes behind the scenes and up to a certain point, you might do it for fun now.
41:41 But after a certain point, it is a full-on business where you are the CEO, CMO, CFO, CTO, all the C's in the world.
41:49 You are everything.
41:50 You are everything in one.
41:52 Tech is a very big industry where, like I said, if you don't do things, someone else will do it.
41:58 If they don't want to match your price, there's someone doing it cheaper.
42:02 And I'm not really worried about the tech scene because not many people want to join into that.
42:07 But for travel content creation, a lot of people like the idea of it.
42:12 One of the videos that a lot of people share to me is of these FPV drones.
42:18 Like all these epic drones, they fly up, they dive with a waterfall next to them.
42:25 And then people say they want to do it.
42:27 First things first, flying an FPV drone is insanely difficult.
42:31 I have one and I don't even know how to fly it because it takes a lot of hours to build.
42:36 Because it's basically 100% manual.
42:38 You cannot fly a normal drone in that diving position.
42:41 All the security features will not allow you to do that crazy thing.
42:44 It will just fly away.
42:45 Yeah.
42:46 And then, because going back, I mean, still referring back to the example,
42:50 waterfalls are not located next to parking lots on highways, you know.
42:54 It requires a hike somewhere deep, at least like one hour to find really good ones where it's not populated.
43:00 So, it's not like your charter van will go there and then the waterfall is there.
43:05 Then you have the logistics of, besides the car, carrying a bag full of gear.
43:13 Because these FPV drones, they're small, which also means their batteries are small.
43:18 So, they only fly for maybe 5-8 minutes.
43:21 So, you definitely have to bring a lot of batteries.
43:24 Then you obviously need a tripod because you need to capture yourself flying it, right?
43:30 If not, people don't know it's you flying it.
43:33 They need to see you flying it.
43:34 Then you transition into the drone video.
43:36 So, it's really not for everyone.
43:40 I can say from personal experience, the travel videos is by far more tiring than the tech videos I do in the comfort of my studio.
43:51 Out there, anything can happen. Rain.
43:54 I've had to hike with a 10-15kg backpack full of camera because you have to bring gear that you might not use.
44:03 But in case you need it, you have to bring it.
44:06 So, my backpack easily has one camera, two lenses, one drone, one remote, filters, laptop and whatnot.
44:12 It's super heavy and I've had to hike with it before.
44:18 I think we were here for like 10-20 minutes.
44:21 There's not much to do. Where are we going after this?
44:23 To the Old Church ruins.
44:25 It's really not for everyone.
44:27 One thing that a lot of people might not think of at the start is that if you create content when you're travelling,
44:35 whether it's for vlogging or whatnot, there's a very high tendency for you to live behind the camera.
44:41 So, you're completely out of your travel and you're just living behind here.
44:46 So, that's how I was at the start, recording every single thing.
44:49 And you know, you wasted your trip because it's not confirmed that you're going to have a nice video out of it.
44:56 Most of the time, you're just behind the camera.
44:58 So, now the way I approach it is if I travel, I know what I'm going to shoot.
45:03 Like if I go to Thailand, I want to cover this cafe, I want to cover this hotel.
45:07 So, I only turn on creator mode for those times.
45:11 The rest of the time, I really travel.
45:13 You travel because that's the point of you going there.
45:16 Yeah.
45:17 It's not easy.
45:18 So, really, it's not for everyone.
45:21 And if you don't like it and if you don't make it, it's seriously okay.
45:24 Yeah, it's seriously okay.
45:26 You're better off just enjoying what people create.
45:29 It's totally fine.
45:31 It's totally fine.
45:32 Yeah.
45:33 Wow.
45:34 So, I hope in this entire conversation, you guys get to learn a lot from Arif.
45:41 You know, like...
45:43 I hope the takeaway isn't don't become a creator.
45:46 [Laughter]
45:47 Less competition.
45:49 So, if you really like this podcast, share it with your friends if you can.
45:55 Because it's still a very new thing that we have just started.
45:59 So, and please do subscribe to both of us.
46:03 Click on the subscribe button.
46:05 I don't think it's there.
46:07 Yeah, it will be somewhere.
46:09 I'll just drag it around.
46:11 Okay.
46:12 So, thank you.
46:13 Subscribe.
46:14 Bye.
46:15 Bye.