How to Up Your Game on Fiverr and Elsewhere - UPYOUR

[eoinfinnegan]

Have you ever watched those TV programs like Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Supernanny, etc.
All these TV shows are based on the premise of an expert telling others what they are doing wrong, even though the people doing the parenting or the owners of the restaurant are working full-time on what they do and desperate to succeed.
It seems incredible at times, when you have a restaurant owner whose kitchen is dirty and staff are incompetent or a parent who feeds a kid tons of sugar and can’t get them to go to sleep, yet they cannot see what the problem is.

The thing is, to a lesser or greater extent, most business owners/freelancers are actually guilty of the same thing. They believe that the way they are doing things is correct and that the problem is being caused by someone else. Of course, some outside forces can affect us all such as recessions, spiraling costs etc but in the case of most businesses I have worked with, the problems were internal and improvements could actually be made with a few simple changes or additions.

This is my challenge to you today.

Look at your own business, whether you are full time or part time on Fiverr or as a freelancer and ask yourself, what 3 things do I do in my business that I could improve on?
If you cannot think of 3 then you are either not looking hard enough or you are not being honest with yourself. We can all improve on things and we all have quirks and habits that affect our businesses negatively. Identifying and fixing these things will enable your business to grow and it is well worth taking the time to do it.
If you are brave, perhaps share them in the comments and perhaps others can help you.

Common issues:

• Lack of communication
• Too much chat/communication
• Expecting too much from your clients - if they don’t understand what you do then you need to explain it.
• Outdated systems - there may be better ways for you to do things
• Outdated technology - Is a slow computer/internet slowing you down? Is there a better software to use?
• No time for… eg. marketing, expanding knowledge/skills, analyzing your performance etc.
• Taking advice/instruction from the wrong people

Remember: “This is how I always did it” is the worst reason for choosing a way of doing things.
I could go on and on about this topic but it will be better to have this as a discussion rather than a lecture so share your thoughts and questions in the comments.

This post is one of a series of posts I am doing which are aimed at helping sellers to Up Their Game and begin to earn more from their work, gain new clients and make the most of being a freelancer. The posts will be based on This Poll which is still open so if you haven’t made your voice heard, please do so as the more that vote on an issue in that poll, the more likely I am to post about that issue.
To see all posts in the series, Click Here

[eoinfinnegan]

PS: The idea to write this topic came after working on a blog post for a client which mentioned that while some business owners do not manage their time well, MOST business owners do not manage the “timing of their time” well. This means that they do not use their most productive times for the necessary tasks. This struck a nerve with me because I realized I am guilty of this. My most productive time is (unusually-I am a night owl) around 8-12pm. However, I often use this time to watch football matches as that is the time they are on. If I can find a workaround, I will be able to knock some of my procrastination on the head which is another one of my weaknesses at times.

[iamsachmusic]

Thanks for this topic. I was actually thinking about stepping up the game on Fiverr and elsewhere from last week or two. But i wasn’t sure… From where should i start, from my positive side or negative. You gave me a little push. Now i know what i am looking for in the future. (MY MIND STARTS THINKING ABOUT VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES) 😂.

[eoinfinnegan]

On 4/10/2017 at 7:28 PM, iamsachmusic said:

Thanks for this topic. I was actually thinking about stepping up the game on Fiverr and elsewhere from last week or two. But i wasn’t sure… From where should i start, from my positive side or negative. You gave me a little push. Now i know what i am looking for in the future. (MY MIND STARTS THINKING ABOUT VARIOUS POSSIBILITIES)

The first step I would suggest is to set aside a time to do this without distractions. This will allow your mind to get serious about the possibilities! 🙂 Treat yourself like you would treat a client!

When it comes to Fiverr, my suggestion would be to look for some of the topics on the forum that you read and at the time you thought “that’s a good idea”. Chances are, you forgot it the day after you read it. Go back to these posts and take note of them with a pen and paper. Then work through them 1 by 1 and cross them off your list as you go along.

A big help on Fiverr is to have an “Order Process”. ie. What you do at each stage of an order. Working this out for yourself can be a huge influence on your level of professionalism. My repeat buyers know what to expect from me every time.

[fonthaunt]

The first step I would suggest is to set aside a time to do this without distractions. This will allow your mind to get serious about the possibilities! 🙂 Treat yourself like you would treat a client!

When it comes to Fiverr, my suggestion would be to look for some of the topics on the forum that you read and at the time you thought “that’s a good idea”. Chances are, you forgot it the day after you read it. Go back to these posts and take note of them with a pen and paper. Then work through them 1 by 1 and cross them off your list as you go along.

A big help on Fiverr is to have an “Order Process”. ie. What you do at each stage of an order. Working this out for yourself can be a huge influence on your level of professionalism. My repeat buyers know what to expect from me every time.

Eoin, this is a great post. It makes me realize my game needs some upping too! 😉 I pinned it because I figured you wouldn’t pin your own post. 🙂

[eoinfinnegan]

Eoin, this is a great post. It makes me realize my game needs some upping too! 😉 I pinned it because I figured you wouldn’t pin your own post. 🙂

Thanks!

The thing is, as more and more competition for orders happens on Fiverr (and elsewhere), repeat buyers become more and more important. The times when I have not shown up high in the search results have actually not affected me as much as they used to when I first started here. This is because I have regular buyers and my earnings are not totally reliant on getting new buyers.

This is one major aspect of “Upping the Game”.

It is a reason why so many sellers struggle here. If, after a few weeks of being artificially promoted as a “Newbie”, you have not got a number of regular buyers, I believe you will struggle both to maintain an income and to show up in search results. This is why many people complain that they don’t get as many sales after becoming level 2. The service you provide needs to be something that people come back for over and over. The quality you deliver needs to encourage them to come back to you. Finally, your order process should give them a good experience so they are not put off by something you do - for example, if you are too chatty, if you get the job done but it took too many revisions because you didn’t ask for all the info at once, you didn’t explain what you were doing, etc.

Little things like this can put buyers off a seller just as much as poor quality work. It is important that you streamline your method to ensure that you know what the buyer wants and deliver the quality product with as little over and back as possible. Of course, some buyers are also freelancers and are bored and want to be involved in every step with you but the majority of people do not want questions every few hours when they could have all been asked at once.

[fastcopywriter]

High speed internet makes life better in all areas. I pay about $45 for 29MB, it makes the internet so enjoyable.

[artlifeoriginal]

There are also sources of help for common issues in business. I noticed you mentioned time management. That reminded me that I need to pay more attention to it once again.

How do I know where to start? I went to a business seminar. (Conference room, projector, people in professional attire, the works)

I know that there are a lot of fake seminars out there, but it might help to look for a legitimate business seminar company and review their offerings. I’ve only attended one so far - on time management. It was a great program, with real business people to speak with. I need to review it again.

Oddly enough, the speaker mentioned that first timers would learn it, apply it enthusiastically, and then start slipping and find themselves in a difficult situation again. He mentioned that many professionals attend multiple times.

I’m speaking of the seminars that cost money to attend, of course, but some of them can be a wise investment.

A good business training company will probably have a large offering of seminars to choose from.

Actually, it’s starting to come back to me right now. Yikes, I’ve been wasting a lot of time!

This is an excellent post, by the way. 🙂

[eoinfinnegan]

There are also sources of help for common issues in business. I noticed you mentioned time management. That reminded me that I need to pay more attention to it once again.

How do I know where to start? I went to a business seminar. (Conference room, projector, people in professional attire, the works)

I know that there are a lot of fake seminars out there, but it might help to look for a legitimate business seminar company and review their offerings. I’ve only attended one so far - on time management. It was a great program, with real business people to speak with. I need to review it again.

Oddly enough, the speaker mentioned that first timers would learn it, apply it enthusiastically, and then start slipping and find themselves in a difficult situation again. He mentioned that many professionals attend multiple times.

I’m speaking of the seminars that cost money to attend, of course, but some of them can be a wise investment.

A good business training company will probably have a large offering of seminars to choose from.

Actually, it’s starting to come back to me right now. Yikes, I’ve been wasting a lot of time!

This is an excellent post, by the way. 🙂

Yes, time management is a big issue for freelancers as there is always the option to “do it later”. For people who are or were in employment where a boss checks up on you, this is one of the big differences that they struggle with. It isn’t a case of being lazy, it is a case of having the freedom to choose what to do. Another issue is that partners, spouses, children, friends and neighbors believe that you can do what you want so you are the go-to person for help with things as everyone else “has a real job”. Saying no can be very difficult but it is necessary.

Aside from that issue, it is common for freelancers to just “wing it”, as in do things as they become necessary rather than when you can/should do them. This leads to a certain degree of chaos and causes problems in two ways:

1. When you have a lot of work to do, you struggle to get it done as they are all due at the same time. Throw in a sick child or a friend popping in to say hello and you quickly get behind on deadlines.
2. When you have very little work to do, you tend to not do anything as you have plenty of time left. Instead of getting stuck in and using the free time proactively seeking orders, procrastination and doodling become an issue.

Business courses can be very hit and miss in terms of their value. Often I find that the material is outdated or simply opinion based which can be deceptive are there are many different ways to achieve the many different goals people have. That said, I have been to many and there are always some things to take away from them. One of the best results from these business courses is that when you spend money on something you are more likely to take action and give it your full attention. When you download a free “Get your business organized” PDF, it will often stay in your mental to do list before eventually being forgotten about.

I have been on and given more of those courses than I care to remember but the reality is that there are always things that you pick up and even if the boost is only short term, it will be worth it - even if you think you only stuck to something short term, it is likely that some habits from it will stick longer.

[seochick786]

Nice
You’ve made me think again and take a look at my weaknesses and all lope holes hindering me from success. Actually identification of a problem is the most crucial step that takes time to pick and then finding a way to get around the one.

[zeeshan_tirmizi]

Thanks alot Eon. Please keep the series going.

[b_mustafa965]

Very important points. I think self-assessment is a key to success.

Usually, on Fiverr it gets very hard sometime to have some free time and evaluate yourself because of bombardment of orders. But whenever I get some free time, I do some work on myself and see how I can improve my service. I am a transcriber and I study grammar, take English courses etc.

[imagination7413]

You are replying to an old thread. Just an FYI, the mods don’t like seeing old threads pop up in recent activity.

(Though, this one's a good one...)