How Do You Manage Your Gig Business?

[kevinwil]

Thank you to all who provided useful answers to our question! Have a look at our most recent blog post and see if your comments were featured:



<a href="http://blog.fiverr.com/2013/09/05/managing-your-business-in-the-gig-economy-sellers-share-their-tips?utm_source=fm_ct&utm_term=n198>Managing Your Business in the Gig Economy: Sellers Share Their Tips



You can find further tips and insights from our spectacular Super Sellers and their new and improved interviews – now with new images! A HUGE thanks to them for giving us deeper insight into their lives 🙂



@chrishardy ☞ He Quit His Corporate Job To Do What He Loves: Super Seller Chris Hardy



@ttzachii ☞ Going Mobile With Super Seller Ttzachii



@madmoo ☞ Madmoo: The Fiverr Super Seller With a Big Heart



@bookreviewstew ☞ The Actor Turned Fiverr Super Seller: Bookreviewstew



@anarchofighter ☞ The Fiverr Super Seller Who Bought a House: Anarchofighter



@amitbt ☞ Amitbt: The Man Who Quit and Transformed Into a Fiverr Super Seller



@mark74 ☞ Video Works Wonders: Fiverr Super Seller Mark74



@oldbittygrandma ☞ Promoting Other Sellers Over Herself: Fiverr Super Seller Oldbittygrandma



@bizgrowthcoach ☞ The Man With a Business Plan: Fiverr Super Seller Bizgrowthcoach



AND our very first Super Seller @twistedweb123 ☞ The Fiverr Super Seller With a Truly Awesome Reputation: Twistedweb123



Learn how to nominate a community member to be a Super Seller here.

We’re also looking for more of you to feature in the news media. Contact us at community@fiverr.com.



Stay awesome!



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You are all entrepreneurs in the Gig economy, whether Fiverr is your full time Gig or you’re still trying the marketplace out. We’re still learning what the Gig lifestyle looks like and would like your help. Here are some of the questions we’d like to hear from you about:

How do you manage your time?

What challenges did you face or have you faced?

Have you overcome challenges?

Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?

Where do you work? The Gig lifestyle is taking place all sorts of places – we’d love to see any more photos or even video.



Share your answers to these questions and more in the comments below. We can’t wait to hear from you!

[kibble]

Right now the challenge I am facing is selling a gig. I’ve been on here for a couple months but haven’t sold a single gig. My gigs are competitive to other gigs in their genre, so I can only assume that buyers are reluctant to purchase from a new seller without any feedback. On their Facebook page, Fiverr told me to email them to be a Featured Gig. But upon receiving a reply I was then told I couldn’t be featured because I don’t have enough sales—the problem I was trying to remedy in the first place. Fiverr needs to figure out a way to help new sellers get their foot in the door. Unless I’m willing to outright buy feedback by paying people to buy my gigs, it seems unlikely that anyone will purchase a gig. Any tips about how to get your foot in the door on here would be appreciated.

[tgreen7163]

Everyday, I try to find one way to improve my gig. Usually just a couple changes to wording in my description. What really helps is looking at many New gigs that are getting a lot of orders and high ratings. Study your competition.



I Offer Expert Marketing Solutions

http://fiverr.com/tgreen7163

[darklimitarts]

> How do you manage your time?

I have a full-time job so managing my time is very important especially as an artist. Being an artist for 16 years+ I have insight into what gigs will take me a longer time to complete, so I tackle the ones I can finish in a shorter time while maintaining the quality.



> What challenges did you face or have you faced?

The challenges I am facing right now are clients ordering my gigs before messaging me, so we can work out the details before hand. I guess it’s the nature of the system so I find ways to deal with it.



> Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?

I have not been a member long, what I have learned is it’s important to be yourself. Offer gigs you have a passion for, yes we are here to make a living but we have to also understand our clients and deliver a product that they will be proud to use/have. Make the selling/money topic as transparent as possible and enhance the buyers experience. Put your best forward no matter the ($5) price.



> Where do you work?

I live in Toronto, Canada and I work in my small studio I put together myself.

[anarchofighter]

 

> How do you manage your time?

 

There's an APP for that :) When it comes to fiverr. I let the emails come to my phone so I can evaluate their relative urgency. I pick a few key times in the day to deliver on gigs and set the rest of life's little pleasures as "non-Fiverr" time.

 

> What challenges did you face or have you faced?

 

One of the biggest challenges that I faced initially was my own mypoia to the idea of being willing to do something for $5. I missed the point that the harder part of the doing was already done for me by the Fiverr infrastructure, brand value and collective efforts of mine and other buyers and sellers.

 

After getting past this. I faced the challenge of growing with Fiverr as policies and procedures changed. Sometimes, as they didn't always seem to be idea for my type of offering as opposed to some other types.

 

Currently an ongoing challenge is the issues with the communications systems and keeping my gigs free of negative feedback messages especially from new buyer who don't yet know the culture or how to handle an issue if they think they have one.

 

> Have you overcome challenges?

 

Of course, and some remain repeat battles. I'm still surprised how much a negative feedback causes me to be very sad. It can be frustrating to have someone fail to read or fail to understand the process or a request. Then be hard to reach. The new communication system doesn't seem as reliable in all cases and we no longer know a user's last long on time or how long they've been a member (that can really matter on how to best contact/reach out to them).

> Any tips you've learned along your Fiverr journey?

 

#1 - It's all about the gig extras. Well though back end offers, quality and sensible front end $5 offers that make

 

#2 - Test constantly. You won't need to ask people what they like or don't like...they'll tell you. Even when I feel the feedback is way off, I look at it from different angles and test and tweak my offers.

 

For example, I tested price on one of my gig extras and I both sell more and get better response at the $20 price than I did at a $10. If I hadn't been testing, I not only would have left a lot of money on the table, my experience as a seller would have been diminished.

 

> Where do you work? The Gig lifestyle is taking place all sorts of places -- we'd love to see any more photos or even video.

 

I work from a home office most times. I also have a table on which I can do some work.

 

 

 

[eddycloyd]

Reply to @darklimitarts: love your work area and my wife thinks two would be two much for me. You have now given me a goal.

[Guest marsch001]

> How do you manage your time?

It depends on if I have work to do or not; I prefer to work on my gigs in the mornings, so if I get something in the evening (unless it’s 24-hour express) I will look at it (to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the file, in case I have to contact the buyer about it) and maybe start a bit, but usually wait to start fresh in the morning with the actual translating - at which point I may also have other gig-related things to do (update my spreadsheet, reply to potential buyers, rate an order etc). If I’m not doing anything important or away from home, I might also work on something as it comes in/I notice it throughout the day (messages especially). Then it can depend entirely on the amount of work; usually the files are fairly small and it doesn’t take me too long to go through them, once I actually get started.



> What challenges did you face or have you faced?

I guess it’s mainly a struggle to find buyers, without using social media. It’s something I’m still working on.



> Have you overcome challenges?

Just general annoyance.



> Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?

Don’t procrastinate! I tend to end up getting more orders when I have one or two already waiting with deadlines looming (karma is a bitch).



Be open with your buyers and communicate with them - recently, I’ve not only been boggled down with quite a few larger orders, but I’ve also been very sick. One buyer allowed me to deliver part of the order (three different documents in total, I’d already delivered two) after the gig had technically run out of time, and I believe that is because we communicated so openly - my first message to him wasn’t that I was sick and I’d be a little bit late with some of the work. Not only does it help them, but he is now someone I look forward to working with again, in part because of his understanding with my need for extra time (which only happens once in a while).



> Where do you work?

At home, at my desk (which I need to clean). I share a home with three other people, so I work in my room next to my bed. It makes it easy to work in pyjamas, which is always a bonus.

[adnagam]

> How do you manage your time?

I have my M-F, 8-5 job which takes priority, but a couple of times a day I skip away and am able to give attention to Fiverr where I’m scheduling tweets, completing orders and responding to messages. Once I get home, I can devote a few more hours to it, if needed, but lately since Fiverr is pretty slow I don’t need to spend much time on it at home.

> What challenges did you face or have you faced?

My current challenge is a huge sales slump and I’m trying to figure out how to get out of it or to just move on. I depend on Fiverr for a significant chunk of my income and since V2 came out, the traffic just isn’t there.

> Have you overcome challenges?

The day I was featured in a Fiverr email blast, I basically stayed up all day and night for about 3 days catching up with all of the messages and orders it brought me. I’d say I made about $1500 in that short time. I busted my butt, but it paid off =)

> Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?

Underpromise and over deliver, but don’t expect that’s all it takes to ‘WOW’ a buyer. Even though our gigs are relatively inexpensive, our buyers expect a lot more and if you want to survive on Fiverr, you really need to deliver.

> Where do you work? The Gig lifestyle is taking place all sorts of places – we’d love to see any more photos or even video.

Basically, anywhere where there’s internet access… my phone, my work desktop, my home laptop… literally on my lap.

[dpachecojr]

Reply to @darklimitarts: Nice office setup!

[momscreations]

I am very thankful to the Fiverr community and the awesome job opportunity I have been given. I have been on Fiverr less than a year and it has exceeded all my expectations! I started a Fiverr account just kind of throwing it out there one evening and seeing what happened and now I basically work a full time job from home!



> How do you manage your time?

I’m not the best at this, but I try to stay on top of everything by checking my orders regularly and reading the briefs as they come in and go ahead and get windows opened up on the big jobs and start gathering elements. This allows me to ask questions of my client early on and gives enough time for them to answer and me to finish the project well before the time’s up.



> What challenges did you face or have you faced?

Biggest challenge was basically a lack of business experience. But I’ve found that the lack of experience is easy to overcome if you put your best foot forward, over-deliver, and treat the customer with respect.



> Have you overcome challenges?

Absolutely! Now my biggest challenge is growing in my field. Staying on top of the trends.



> Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE! No matter the cost - it does pay eventually.



> Where do you work?

At home at my desk or on the couch with my lap top!

[castlerockkid]

I just wanted to chime in here for a second.

I’ve been selling on fiverr for about two months now and I don’t know what took me so long to start doing this. I didn’t think I would have a sale yet and I already have completed 30. I am hooked.

Here are a few tips from a soon to be level 2 seller.

FOCUS



Shut off the facebooks and the twitters and get your back end in that chair young man and lady.



VALUE



Find out what you can do for a market place and then do it better …and then even better.



SYSTEM



Develop a system that delivers ten times the value for a low investment. I am very serious about helping people that don’t have a lot of cash to burn on a designer. I have invested thousands in my setup and education so they don’t have to. I never dreamed that I would find a source of traffic this powerful.

I am not full time yet but I have a flexible day job so I spend every minute of my extra time working towards full time internet marketer. Fiverr is getting most of my focus right now because it has the potential to replace my day job… My other ventures are building over time. Fiverr started to generate cash immediately, almost by accident, and I haven’t looked back since.

QUESTIONS

How do you manage your time?

I consider every minute an investment. I’m rendering a video right now.



What challenges did you face or have you faced?

Making sure the time it takes me to deliver is profitable.



Have you overcome challenges?

Yes – It’s coming together but I try to be ready for anything that might come up.



Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?

Seriously care about the people that need your service and the investment they are making in you.



Where do you work?

Day Job / Construction – Composite Cleanup – Castle Rock, Co

Fiverr – I have a studio that I use for film making and product development.

[weknowseo]

I think that in order to be successful anywhere you just have to do the best possible work and provide your customer with quality service. Be polite, even when the client is a complete tard. I am new to fiver (about 2 months) and I have noticed people will tip and celebrate you more if you provide super fast service. There is nothing like waiting and waiting and wondering when this person will see your message or are they gonna ride out the Fiverr clock.



Managing your time, - Just get to the Gig ASAP. I work from home creating websites so I am in front of a pc most of the time. When I am not, I have the emails with a distinctive tone on my cell so I know its Fiverr gig. Again just try to get to the gigs as soon as possible so your client is impressed on how fast you work and that brings repeat business, just check out my gigs. I have a few customers trying to set a record for most gigs bought from one seller lol. But it is because I try to get to their gigs instantly, I know how important it is to have instant / semi-instant results.



Challenges? Learning how to word your gig. If you dont explain your gig the right way you are in for a few headaches.



Tips: ^^ as above mentioned by castlerock - Take care of your customers. They may be paying $5 but I look at it as I am getting: $5 and a new relationship. You never know when one of these clients may make you rich (or at least put alot of money in your pocket)



Habitat: I have been working from home for over 3 years.



Cheers from Houston, TX!

[kindler]

> How do you manage your time?

> What challenges did you face or have you faced?

> Have you overcome challenges?



These three questions were all related for me: to be viable (and profitable) at $5 I needed to have an extremely fast process. My specialty is book conversion. I couldn’t spend one or two hours per book: I would have to raise my prices.

Instead, I wrote a software to simplify most of the conversion task, making it possible to get each gig done is less time, and at the same time provide a quality difficult to reach with other more manual methods.

Ebooks often have a spartan look, but this should not be the case anymore. We can make the ebook reading experience as pleasurable as with a real paper book.



> Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?



Always try to think about ways to make your work more efficient. This could allow you to process more gigs per day, and also to offer more gigs.

[viser1000]

> How do you manage your time?



I’d like to think of myself as a juggler. I try to juggle as much work as I can all the time without dropping a ball.



> What challenges did you face or have you faced?



Some people say that for some, if you offer a hand they take an entire arm, when I encounter people like this I think it’s a challenge.



> Have you overcome challenges?



In cases I’ve mentioned above I just don’t like it when a client leaves unsatisfied so I try to grind on it until they love it. It also helps to get clearer details and asking for the appropriate price additions in case the project requires more effort than what is within the payed price.



> Any tips you’ve learned along your Fiverr journey?



A lot of things. I don’t believe I am at the end of this journey. In fact I am looking into more opportunities, more interesting experiences, and of course more cash. I love drawing the Superhero alter egos of people. It makes me see more and more diverse forms of power some of them even applies to real life or are actually based on what people think is superheroic about them. This is my favourite learning experience so far. Knowing that people stand out, not just in their own minds but in their workplace as well. And it’s also surprising to see that it’s not just kids who dream about being in costumes and having super powers. I’ve learned that not just comic book readers and movie fans but also business professionals, doctors, community leaders, entrepreneurs, cooks and waiters, a whole lot of different people still haven’t thrown away their childhood dreams! 🙂 And this makes me smile! It’s like underneath the vanilla pretensions lies a secret world of real life costume-donning, super thematic superheroes! Makes me love reality even more! 🙂 And all these thoughts, because of working in the Fiverr Universe.

> Where do you work?



I’m a freelance artist for more than ten years. I also run a spa and a start-up restaurant (restaurant is from Fiverr cash :-D) I’ve never really had a long term job outside my workplace at home. But since Fiverr involves a lot of clients with different backgrounds it feels as if I am outside meeting new people all the time. So now my main place to hangout in is Fiverr, it also my main source of income.