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Level 1 Hell - Pass the test - New Sellers


mattvopro

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At some point, hearing about freelance, you think, “wow, I can make that kind of money on the side?!” Maybe you read an article or watched a YouTube video and it all sounded perfect for you.

You do some research and find fiverr. By far the easiest way to get started in freelance. You sign up, build a gig, do some research, refine your gig, and jump into the market.

You get the boost for being a new seller and you quickly rack up a few sales. Everything feels perfect and you’re ready to take over the freelance world!

You easily get promoted to Level 1 and throw a tiny celebration in honor of your new-found success!
You lean back in your chair, wait for the fiverr skies to part, and for it to rain orders.

And then….nothing. No orders. No impressions. No inquiries. No money.

Then the doubt begins to creep in. Welcome to Level 1…aka Fiverr Hell.

This is a COMMON “trap” on Fiverr. Most people come to Fiverr believing that they are going to crush it. They start off getting a few sales and their optimism shoots through the roof.

Then the reality check of “Level 1” sets in. I’m 100% convinced that Fiverr considers Level 1 as a test. They probably expect most people that reach level 1 to not make it. And that’s reasonable. The rigors of freelance work are not for everyone. Level 1 tests the commitment and to some extent, the service skills.

My number one tip to any new freelancer (especially on Fiverr) is to know that it takes time. During that time, do what you can to help yourself. Study competition, learn a new skill, refine something that you currently offer, etc. Find some way to move forward. Eventually, the sales will come if you have something to offer.

Yes, you will occasionally see a random seller just go through the roof with no explanation. It happens but it’s not common. Just ignore that and do your best.

When I started on Fiverr, it took me 9 months to earn over $100 a month. But once I broke $200, it increased quickly. I could have easily given up. And truth be told, I considered it a few times.

The day I began my Fiverr journey, I distinctly remember seeing another guy in my category that was also brand new. We were both “New Seller” level and he had exactly 1 review. 1 more than me!
He was very similar to me in offering and skill. I considered him direct competition and watched him closely. His gig is still active to this day. I have over 1100 reviews and he still has around 50. I’m convinced that the only difference between that seller and I is that he gave up. Nothing on his gig ever changed. He built it and expected them to come. I built a gig and then refined it over and over and over.

TLDR, #1 TIP: Realign your expectations to long term. Do not get frustrated. Pass the Level 1 test.

Never give up.

Good luck
Matt

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Hi,very well said it’s easy to achieve level one on fiverr.i have gone through all this.gotten few orders when I started.thereafter a big silence.but I knew I know work just stacking there.and now I am getting regularly orders.so big thing is believe in yourself.

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On 7/31/2018 at 10:31 AM, mattvopro said:

I’m convinced that the only difference between that seller and I is that he gave up. Nothing on his gig ever changed. He built it and expected them to come. I built a gig and then refined it over and over and over.

Wait a second? You’re saying that getting sales on Fiverr isn’t magic or something everyone should be entitled to? - That’s mind blowing.

Quote

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Well written, exactly my thoughts. It takes time to break the $100 barrier, and it gets better soon!
HOWEVER.
My personal experience is once I got well in to the thousands, my orders started to drop, my past 2 years were terrible, back to well below a thousand. It hurts like hell.

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  • 8 months later...

Oh my God! It’s so hard!

I’m very new in this and in just one week I had 10 orders, I was so happy. Reaching the third week now and reaching level one too. But… I HAVE NO ORDERS 😦 Am I reaching hell? What you did you do in this situation?

It always goes up and down, all the time.

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Oh my God! It’s so hard!

I’m very new in this and in just one week I had 10 orders, I was so happy. Reaching the third week now and reaching level one too. But… I HAVE NO ORDERS 😦 Am I reaching hell? What you did you do in this situation?

What you did you do in this situation?

First, I calmed down before I had an aneurysm. Then I watched Game of Thrones.

How everyone deals with stress is different. The main thing is to keep an eye on your blood pressure.

Otherwise, welcome to the wild ride of uncertainty that never ever stops. 😉

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Oh my God! It’s so hard!

I’m very new in this and in just one week I had 10 orders, I was so happy. Reaching the third week now and reaching level one too. But… I HAVE NO ORDERS 😦 Am I reaching hell? What you did you do in this situation?

What you did you do in this situation?

You can study your target customers, and then market and promote to them, and convince them to hire you. You should not be expecting Fiverr to provide you with all of your customers.

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What you did you do in this situation?

First, I calmed down before I had an aneurysm. Then I watched Game of Thrones.

How everyone deals with stress is different. The main thing is to keep an eye on your blood pressure.

Otherwise, welcome to the wild ride of uncertainty that never ever stops. 😉

What a better time to watch Game of Thrones! But it’s final season, then what?

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What you did you do in this situation?

First, I calmed down before I had an aneurysm. Then I watched Game of Thrones.

How everyone deals with stress is different. The main thing is to keep an eye on your blood pressure.

Otherwise, welcome to the wild ride of uncertainty that never ever stops. 😉

So important to not let the amount of orders you get dictate your health!

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  • 3 weeks later...

And here I am, thinking level 1 will offer some reprieve from my old struggles. I guess I shouldn’t be too excited about it anymore.

However, one thing I’m sure of is that if your service is quality, you’ll get orders and make sales.

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Wooow this tip has come in handy for me, srsly. New seller here, and I’ve been working as a freelancer for some time… a designer for 8 years to be exact (not all this time as a freelancer though).

To submit your work here or on any other platform that competes with designers is something I would never consider doing 3 years ago… It’s hard to come to terms that you need to promote your work but also in such a big community of artists.

But I think if you do what you love and you trust your work, gradually improve by working on it every day, it might sound cheesy but if it’s what you love then you don’t see the hours go by right? hahah

Also, you improve naturally, you do your research, and hopefully just like Matt said, you need to convince yourself that you will beat Fiverr Hell hahah
cheers!

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Hi,very well said it’s easy to achieve level one on fiverr.i have gone through all this.gotten few orders when I started.thereafter a big silence.but I knew I know work just stacking there.and now I am getting regularly orders.so big thing is believe in yourself.

But how long for the big silence to end? hahaha

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But how long for the big silence to end? hahaha

progress depends on so many things 😦

Luck, search position, luck, skill, service level…LUCK…

see the trend there?

Just do your best and the “luck” will show up at some point.

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On 5/14/2019 at 11:46 PM, mattvopro said:

And then….nothing. No orders. No impressions. No inquiries. No money.

That happens to everyone regardless of level.

Besides, the real hell is getting demoted, having to pause gigs, maybe having to change prices because some levels don’t allow the prices you were using.

Don’t worry, you’ll be level 2 before you know it, just make sure you keep all your numbers green (OCR, 60 day rating, etc). If one of them falls in the red and you can’t lift it before the 15th, that gets you demoted.

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On 5/15/2019 at 8:14 AM, mattvopro said:

Luck, search position, luck, skill, service level…LUCK…

I’ve been playing this indie game called Sundered last week and sometimes the screen would cut to black and tell me that “luck is an underrated skill”. 🙂

I actually don’t remember Level 1 being HELL. Being the new seller for a month - month and a half was pretty intense, though. The level of abuse my pride had to take was kinda phenomenal. At some point, I had a guy in my inbox arguing with me that my work cost $4 not $5 and I was lucky to have him in my life considering me for the job at all. I still shudder when I remember that particular encounter.

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On 5/15/2019 at 8:20 AM, fastcopywriter said:
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And then….nothing. No orders. No impressions. No inquiries. No money.

That happens to everyone regardless of level.

I think that is a myth that everyone spreads to make it feel ok. I’ve been on fiverr for over 3 years and I have a couple dozen friends that have also been on it and we have never experienced it once we reached level 2 and were established… We sort of laugh about it because we all kept expecting it to happen and it never did. And to be clear, I’m not saying that they don’t shuffle search and that it cant hurt a bit, but literally never had a period without orders, impressions, inquiries, or money. Not once after getting level 2.

Nevertheless, when you are a new seller and you make the jump to level 1 most expectations are misaligned with the reality that ends up happening and it can be crushing. Simply knowing that it is common can help people deal with it and press on instead of beating themselves up, questioning their legitimacy, and giving up. That is what this thread is for.

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Luck, search position, luck, skill, service level…LUCK…

I’ve been playing this indie game called Sundered last week and sometimes the screen would cut to black and tell me that “luck is an underrated skill”. 🙂

I actually don’t remember Level 1 being HELL. Being the new seller for a month - month and a half was pretty intense, though. The level of abuse my pride had to take was kinda phenomenal. At some point, I had a guy in my inbox arguing with me that my work cost $4 not $5 and I was lucky to have him in my life considering me for the job at all. I still shudder when I remember that particular encounter.

I actually don’t remember Level 1 being HELL.

Some people get lucky. I have one friend that got on well after the rest of us and he went from new seller to $5k a month in about 60 days. It was crazy. He did absolutely nothing different than the rest of us in terms of setting up, pricing, etc. He just got lucky with a couple early customers that really pushed him up with repeated business and he quickly got a foothold in the search. Now he’s TRS and earning around $9-$12k a month.

He never had to claw for reviews. Never had a single $5 gig. Never hustled BR’s. Nothing. He’s insanely talented but he had a little luck on his side that helped him.

I wasnt lucky 🙂 Most arent.

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He’s insanely talented but he had a little luck on his side that helped him.

Kudos to your friend. Those are pretty impressive numbers, luck or not.

Those are pretty impressive numbers, luck or not.

yeah. I always say not to measure yourself against others but it’s hard to see his numbers and not judge myself at least a little. lol.

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That happens to everyone regardless of level.

I think that is a myth that everyone spreads to make it feel ok. I’ve been on fiverr for over 3 years and I have a couple dozen friends that have also been on it and we have never experienced it once we reached level 2 and were established… We sort of laugh about it because we all kept expecting it to happen and it never did. And to be clear, I’m not saying that they don’t shuffle search and that it cant hurt a bit, but literally never had a period without orders, impressions, inquiries, or money. Not once after getting level 2.

Nevertheless, when you are a new seller and you make the jump to level 1 most expectations are misaligned with the reality that ends up happening and it can be crushing. Simply knowing that it is common can help people deal with it and press on instead of beating themselves up, questioning their legitimacy, and giving up. That is what this thread is for.

Yesterday I was a level 2, and got one order. Today I’m level 1, and got three orders. My point is that if you work on the fundamentals, such as delivering ahead of schedule, having a high OCR, getting good reviews, etc, you will see good results eventually or you will have to promote your gigs all over the internet.

I’m too self-conscious to promote my gigs, so that’s not an option for me. My point is I had 14 gigs, had to pause 4, and today I made more money than yesterday. I didn’t even lower my prices.

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I also thought it would be easier. I thought order frequency will massively increase. I also got motivated when I checked other Level 1 sellers’ gigs and see up to 12 queued orders. You can imagine my shock when I spent several days without getting any impressive increase in numbers.

Anyway, I’m relieved to know this isn’t unusual. I believe tomorrow will definitely be better! 😄

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Yesterday I was a level 2, and got one order. Today I’m level 1, and got three orders. My point is that if you work on the fundamentals, such as delivering ahead of schedule, having a high OCR, getting good reviews, etc, you will see good results eventually or you will have to promote your gigs all over the internet.

I’m too self-conscious to promote my gigs, so that’s not an option for me. My point is I had 14 gigs, had to pause 4, and today I made more money than yesterday. I didn’t even lower my prices.

Yesterday I was a level 2, and got one order. Today I’m level 1, and got three orders. My point is that if you work on the fundamentals, such as delivering ahead of schedule, having a high OCR, getting good reviews, etc, you will see good results eventually

This is true. What is OCR?

Sales go up and down all the time. At one time sales were very steady and sure on fiverr, at least for me, but the past year I see huge variations from day to day in the number of sales. Many things are factored into your number of sales now.

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