Fiverr - The good, the bad and the why not

[Guest yourtexteditor]

Hello All,



I’m new on fiver (less than one month), and guess what. I have no sales. When I got on Fiverr as a seller, I thought someone would surely become enthralled with my gigs and start ordering. But that ain’t happening.



I’ve spent many hours tuning, revising, trimming, etc., but still nothing.



So what’s wrong? Are my gigs not attractive to buyers? Can buyers not find my gigs? Is there too much competition? Am I not pushing my gigs on the web? Maybe all of these. Fiverr is a good opportunity for many, but it can also be tedious for others. This is what I’ve been thinking.



THE GOOD

1. Opportunity - Fiverr is a good opportunity for those who can offer something the public needs but can’t do themselves, such as creating a unique, eye-catching logo or optimizing a website. And if you can complete the gig quickly, you will be earning more per hour.
   
2. No bidding – It’s nice not to have to bid on jobs and just let the buyers come to you. Bidding can be time-consuming and frustrating especially when you know you can do a job but are rejected for reasons unknown.
   
3. Good for sellers in low cost of living countries – If you’re in a country where the cost of living is low as compared to countries with advanced economies, Fiverr does give you a chance to make a living wage. This is good. But don’t count on Fiverr to support you if you live in Manhattan.
   
4. Easy to Set Up – It’s easy to set up a gig as long as you can write a decent product description and have a decent photo/logo for your profile and your gigs. Even better, make a video, highlighting your offerings, for more sales.
   
5. Buyers are always looking for deals. Yes, buyers will buy almost anything if it’s cheap enough. And $5 is pretty cheap.
   
6. No cost to maintain your gigs- This is a good deal for those of us who like free stuff. If money were no object to you, then you would probably not be on Fiverr.
   
   
   
   But, wait a minute. If Fiverr is so good, why do so many people complain about it and the way it’s run. (It’s true that there are many who love it.)
   
   
   
   Fiverr is a great concept – for the owners and for buyers. But is it a good deal for sellers? Yes, it can be a good deal for sellers who sell something that’s in demand and easy to do such as creating a logo or singing a song while jiggling some body parts.
   
   
   
   But what about the rest of us. I set up three editing and proofreading gigs but haven’t gotten any bites yet. I recently decided to cut it back to one gig. The other two gigs were too similar to the one I kept. So, now I’m just waiting for buyers.
   
   
   
   It’s becoming apparent to me there’s something wrong.
   
   
   
   THE BAD
   
   
   
7. A lot of effort – It takes a lot of effort to get your gigs noticed. Sellers are supposed to do all sorts of acrobatics to ensure their gigs are noticed on LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, blogs, etc. And buyers have to make sure they keep getting noticed by posting relevant comments on forum-type sites or by writing their own blog posts. It’s tiring, even when you enjoy it.
   
8. Labor-intensive gigs – What if your gigs deal with labor-intensive services? If you do things like write articles or update software, good luck. Those gigs take more than a few minutes, sometimes several hours. I personally have an editing/proofreading gig, and I can say that a poorly written 1,000 –word article will take me more than a half-hour to complete.
   
9. Search Algorithm – Keywords are the key to being found (or should be). Keywords are part of the Fiverr algorithm for displaying matching results, but there are other things as well – your average time to complete gigs, buyer reviews of your gigs, Fiverr’s own idea of what to display. What else? Who knows.
   
10. Forget full time – If you think you’ve got it all figured out because you can complete a gig in no time, such as 30 minutes, think again. Even if you could do two gigs per hour, worked 8 hours per day, worked 7 days per week and had gigs to work on 8 hours per day, you would make a whopping $23,296 per year ( $5 x 2 gigs per hour x 8 hours per day x 7 days per week) x 0.8). Did you forget the 20 percent that Fiverr gets? And what about paying taxes if you’re honest? If you live in the U.S. or similar country, you’ll have to depend on government programs to help support you. (Of course, if you have add-ons, you’ll make more money.)
    
    
    
    WHY NOT
    
    
    
    So, now what. I’ve decided to stick it out. I believe Fiverr is addicting, as someone write. My ego tells me there are buyers out there just waiting to line up to buy my gigs.
    
    
    
    I even started linking my LinkedIn page to my Fiverr page and started a Pinterest group with my Fiverr page on it (Get this. I’m the only one in the group and, I can’t find my pin when I do a search for it. Maybe I’m doing it wrong). I even submitted my gig page to all sorts of search engines. I know there’s more I can do, and maybe I will. But that could be a full-time job.
    
    
    
    I suppose that eventually my gig will attract some buyer attention, so I’m waiting. Luckily, I don’t have to depend on Fiverr to survive.
    
    
    
    
    

[mgjohn78]

I think the biggest issue allot of sellers have is a lack of patience. And patience is the most vital building block a freelancer has when starting out, second building block is motivation.



On the subject of promoting i always recommend you begin promoting to contacts you already have such as former colleagues, employers, local businesses, family, friends, neighbours, basically anyone who knows you. You could also design your first gig to be something that is of interest to your existing contacts.

Once you gain a bit of a reputation as a fiverr seller you can focus more on traditional promotion such as fb, blogging, seo, advertising etc

[Guest yourtexteditor]

That’s a good point about promoting to friends, colleagues and family. Of course, you need to have some something to offer that they (or anybody) would be interested in buying.

[ashleytoaddy]

I agree with mgjohn78. I am still a beginner as well being only eight days in. I thought the same thing as you that something was wrong. I wasn’t getting any sales. Then a couple of days ago, I woke up to find two orders waiting for me.



In the last two days, I have done twelve orders! Promotion helps, but if their is a need for you gig then the sales will come.

[Guest yourtexteditor]

ashleytoaddy,



Do you any idea what prompted buyers to buy from you?

Have you done anything special to promote yourself?

Maybe it’s your straightforward gig (I looked at your editing gig). It’ simple and direct.

[rosebarlow]

I think it’s difficult to break into the proofreading/editing side of fiverr. There is a lot of competition. You just need someone to give you a break! I hope that it happens for you! 🙂

[topaz_muse]

Another factor is the time it takes to get a gig delivered. When I first started years ago during 1.0, I didn’t get any sales till I reduced the time to deliver down to a single day. After that I started to get orders.



I’m not up for doing that again. I do mention that some orders will be delivered within a day but if there is a high volume of orders it may take 2 days max. I don’t have orders, yet, but this is mainly due to the gig category pertaining to specific seasons.

[Guest yourtexteditor]

I have no problem completing gigs in a day, at least until I get some orders.

[jamesroscoe]

I think patience is key when you are a new seller. For example, I signed up to Fiverr in March this year, but didn’t get my first order until the end of May - 2 months later!! Since then, things have really taken off.



Getting positive reviews is a great way to attract new buyers - Once someone takes that first plunge and orders your gig for the first time, be sure to do a REALLY good job for them, so that you get a great review which will encourage more custom. (Of course, you should be doing a great job for all your buyers, but I’d recommend going out of your way to over-deliver for the first few especially!!).



Until then, ‘yourtexteditor’, have you considered adding a video to your gig page? Fiverr always recommend this to get more business. It’s a good way to bring your gig to life, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Fiverr factor it into their ranking algorithms…!

[Guest yourtexteditor]

jamesroscoe,

I have thought about it (video), but I don’t think I would come across well, so I’ve been putting it off; although, I am convinced it would help with sales.

Thanks

[Guest yourtexteditor]

By the way, jamesroscoe, you’re very talented.

[bytezz]

I’m in the exact same situation as you… My gigs are sitting there, getting impressions and views but I have no orders. It’s alright because everything is free for me… I am just waiting it out now, promoting it here and there on FB.

[Guest yourtexteditor]

Maybe that’s the right approach.

[cole99]

Be patient, and PROMOTE EVERYWHERE.

[humble4real]

As many have suggested,patience is very important and you just need to keep working even when the sales are not coming yet. Adding a Video is also very important, likewise your keywords. I personally don’t have problem with promotion, express delivery and quality service. I only need to do more on getting more quality gigs to deliver, so i do more of research now and i am very optimistic as a fiverr member. Goodluck !

[happyspace]

Hi yourtexteditor 🙂



I think you are offering a valuable gig on Fiverr. Please allow me to make some comments about what I think could maybe help.



About the gig-image: why not change your main gig photo with a new one more clear and direct? More eye-catching in the search line. With less words on the image it would be easily read. Maybe use a different concept? An image showing “writing”. The image you are now using might be confused as that of a graphic design gig.



About the gig-description: If instead of highlighting 3 parts, use bold letters for a few of the most important words? It is hard for many people to read with eyes tired by computer screens.



About your profile image: I suggest you use a more official one. Like you would appear in a professional environment. And one that isn’t cropped to leave out other people. Casual profile iomages work fine for many gigs. But in the case of proofreading, I think the “pro looks” and styling would work best.



Important: I suggest that you point out very-very clearly what you ‘do not do’ (e.g. the fiction) as too many buyers are in a hurry, do not read the whole description or do not read carefully, so you might get someone ordering for that (what you do not do) and then you would have to ask for cancellation. That is not good for a new seller and by the new T.O.S it will affect the seller’s rating.



Hope that helps. Best wishes for lots of sales!

happyspace

[lilianarice]

Hie Yourtexteditor,



I probably joined Fiverr at the same time as you, about 1 month ago and my story was different. My gigs were quickly scooped up quickly and to date i have done no advertising even to my family although i’ll start soon. Happyspace pretty much said what i would have said as advice however i’ll add that do a little bit of market research on your gig. I know there is a top rated Fiverr seller who offers the same exact gig, i can’t remember his name sorry. Fiverr has done several blog posts on him and the difference between both your gigs is that 1. He uses his face as a picture, 2. He has video describing his gig 3. He makes his gig sound scintillating like he totally knows all about editing. When i read his gig that struck me as proof of his expertise. So as i said do a little research to see who are the top dogs in your market and what you can learn from them.



On a separate issue i’d also advise you to have an entry strategy. Posting the gig and watching it sit there is not going to cut it with a marketplace this big. You need a way to distinguish yourself from the other sellers. When i started i did my research on the who’s whos then i chose a strategy to offer more than them all which i did even though it gave me sleepless nights all of last month. 99 sales later, i am able to scale back and quote a more realistic price for my services, however the strategy served its purpose. I got noticed and got established fast. Now, i have to actually work to build the reputation and momentum.

Hope this helps you and best regards



Liliana

[Guest yourtexteditor]

happyspace and lilianarice,



I like the comments both of you have made, and I’m definitely going to implement at least some of them.

I’m on vacation at the moment, so those “fixes” will have to wait a bit.



Thanks

[Guest arthur67]

Hi!! I know that this a 4 year old topic but I just got through reading everyone’s messages and thank you!! I will take all of this good advice to help with getting sales!!

[lloydsolutions]

Hi!! I know that this a 4 year old topic but I just got through reading everyone’s messages and thank you!! I will take all of this good advice to help with getting sales!!

The moderators don’t like to see old posts resurrected.

If you like an old topic it is best to just “like” the original post.