I have no 'secret recipe'. :)

[itsyourthing]

I think it’s cute - in an ironic way - that I get PMs from newer sellers asking for advice, fairly often.They point out that they see me post on the forum and appreciate that I try to be helpful.



The cute (ironic) part is that a vast bulk of my posts/comments drone on the fact that Fiverr is fickle, very little can be done to ensure consistent sales, the system itself is loaded with technical problems (that increase regularly), Customer Support is a crap shoot, and the Terms of Service can largely be ignored by Fiverr, or enforced with a vengeance with little or no warning (or reason).



In short, my helpfulness generally amounts to saying “follow best practices for small, online business, be as preemptive as possible, and hope for the best”. Oh, and in quite a few instances, I scold people for lying, tricking or selling stolen work while suggesting they sell something they can actually produce.



It makes me wonder how many messages TRSs or sellers who genuinely believe that ‘proven formulas’ will definitely be effective here, must get. The mind boggles. 🙂

[kay2809]

This is my reaction when people ask for my 'secrets’

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/234/739/fa5.jpg

[Guest digilancer99]

Fiverr is a funny place. While I’ve only had the best experiences with Customer Support, there are way too many threads that say otherwise on here for me to chalk it up to misunderstandings.



There are also no particular guidelines for becoming a Top Seller, shady sellers, shady buyers, freeloaders, odd/inconsistent management, weird new features that no one wanted (I’m lookin’ at you, “proposals” and “custom offer requests”), etc.



But then you also have a great community of sellers and buyers on here who always show support for one another, awesome buyers who communicate to make orders easy, and professional sellers who are truly serious about making their buyers happy.



It’s the cost of doing business in such an enormous marketplace, I guess. I think your advice is sound. Vague, but accurate. Just do the best you can, and hope your good business practices reward you with steady work.

[Guest vectormoon]

It’s like health and fitness. You can explain the whole “get in shape secret formula” using just one sentence. But because that information is too simple, then it has a multibillion dollar industry built around it.

[itsyourthing]

Reply to @kay2809: Everyone knows retrievers make the best scientists - you’re being too humble. 😛

[itsyourthing]

Reply to @digilancer99: “Vague, but accurate”. Looks like a case of the solution mirroring the problem. 🙂

[itsyourthing]

Reply to @vectormoon: And just like health & fitness, the ‘industry’ feeds on desperation.



No pun intended, but it’s kind of sickening, actually.

[kay2809]

Reply to @itsyourthing: But seriously. I have to use the new ‘quick message’ feature for this purpose now. Store a long message for people who want to know my secrets.

Heck, I sill don’t know about Victoria’s secret. I’m not gonna tell mine to anyone.

[itsyourthing]

Reply to @kay2809: But that makes sense for you. You’ve been here for ages, you’re a TRS, you have loads of sales, and on the forum (when you’re not being funny) you’re straightforward and knowledgeable with advice. You should be getting hounded.



I generally use way too many words to say “meh, do what you want, it doesn’t make much difference, if any and here’s why…” 🙂

[kay2809]

itsyourthing said: I generally use way too many words to say "meh, do what you want,

From my experience. Someone could trick you into writing a whole article on a subject and you wouldn't even know you did that. So basically, working for free :p

 

 

[joeyperezwest]

I took business/marketing in college years ago, most of it has gone out the window since the internet came along but there is somewhat of a solid success structure you can follow that I have applied to my gigs and in real life to book myself into real television commercials, get myself into SAG and the Producers Guild.



Part of the reality working here on fiverr is it is all about how productive you can be without burning yourself out and using technology to help you succeed.



Also my experience with customer support is totally different from yours… Fiverr customer service has always helped me, listen to my suggestions to the point where they discuss it at their company meetings. Why? because I ask and give some suggestions to the problem with inference.



When they don’t know the answer, to some of my complicated questions, they don’t answer right away but I request they get back to me with at least a time frame for a time frame.

[joeyperezwest]

There is a quote I really liked when I saw “Pirates of Silicon Valley”…

[jamesbulls]

Here’s the secret: work your damn ass off. If you’re limiting your promotional activities to just optimizing your seller profile and gigs, then you’re not doing even half the work it takes to make it.

[jtengle]

I don’t get messages asking for advice, but I do get messages asking for my “overflow work”. Sorry, folks, I don’t have overflow work. I have a waiting list.

[landongrace]

Reply to @itsyourthing: It was my desperation that made Fiverr work for me. It just had to work. No other option. I jumped in head first.

[landongrace]

I am happy to share the steps to make it work. Most people aren’t willing to work hard enough so they usually won’t pull it off. If they can, then they deserve it. I can only do a handful of jobs a day. We need great providers to support and grow the traffic.

[itsyourthing]

Reply to @kay2809:

kay2809 said: So basically, working for free

Is it really work if it comes so naturally? ;)

[itsyourthing]

Some of you folks are just proving my point. Even on this thread, you’re providing examples and advice on what can help towards being successful here. I agree with most of it, but I also believe that there is a very finite limit to how effective anything can be, based on the platform itself.



I’m just gonna send my next ‘pupil’ to you guys. 🙂