Entrepreneur and influencer attributes success to late daughter

KLANG: M. Panimalar attributes every inch of her success as a social media entrepreneur and influencer to her late daughter Thanushiyaa, 12, who passed away last year.

Panimalar, who is almost 40, said her daughter who had lived with Alexander disease, helped garner her a strong following on social media, an essential tool for online businesses.

“I uploaded videos of my daughter and how I took care of her to create awareness about Alexander disease and people started following me on my social media accounts,’’ said Panimalar whose other daughter Anushiyaa is now 11 years old.

Alexander disease is a disorder that progressively damages the nervous system.

Panimalar, who became a Grab driver in 2018 after her marriage broke down, metamorphosed into a social media entrepreneur during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.

“I did not want to sit at home doing nothing during the lockdown so I started exploring online business,’’ said Panimalar who was previously a homemaker.

She said initially she started off by making videos promoting kurti (Indian blouses) made by a garment manufacturer and supplier.

“I was paid for that and at the same time I noticed that the garments were of good quality and with an initial investment of RM2,000, I started selling the kurti online,’’ she said.

At the same time, she also started to explore affiliate marketing by selling various products ranging from mops, vacuum cleaners and anything else that caught her eye.

“I was able to sell about 500 to 1,000 units after each demo and the income was good,’’ said Panimalar, who started affiliate marketing in addition to selling the kurti pieces, which she modelled herself.

Affiliate marketing is a method whereby people with social media accounts help to sell items without any investment, or even liaising with the product owners, for a commission.

All they need to do is create social media content to promote the products after registering as an affiliate marketer with the respective social media platforms.

Last year, Panimalar embarked on an endeavour to train other women as affiliate marketers to help them earn more income.

“I conduct classes via Zoom as well as hold one-to-one classes for those interested and I teach them to create content, as well as manage and maintain social media accounts for affiliate marketing.

“I have trained many women and they are all doing well. Most of them say they gained confidence after watching me conduct my sales on social media.”

Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya Business and Economics Faculty Assoc Prof Dr Ezlika Ghazali said affiliate marketing has grown rapidly in Malaysia because people here are quite active on social media platforms.

“Influencers and content creators use these platforms to promote products and services, increasing the popularity of affiliate marketing,’’ she said.