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Multi award-winning poet & student of English literature looking for work


ica224

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Hey everyone,

My name’s Isla and I’m new to fiverr. I’m a student of English Literature at Cambridge University with multiple awards & publications to my name re. creative writing - particularly poetry. I also have a close eye for proof-reading, analysis and application-writing.

Due to a difficult family set-up I’m looking to work as much as possible & meet new & interesting people with similar interests / goals. Totally flexible re. my hours. Send me a message if you’re interested in any of my gigs or just want to say hi - I’d love to talk to some other members.

xo Isla

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Welcome to Fiverr, Isla. I took a look at your profile and would like to suggest the following amendments in your Gigs, based on my experience.

  1. Set your starting price at $5. As much as everyone likes to earn a lot from the day they start working, I suggest you write just for the sake of it. This doesn’t mean that you should take on low paying jobs, but I assume you have heard of the phrase:
    “You get what you pay for”

  2. Edit your gig descriptions to 1st person pronoun. It is of paramount importance that you converse with your buyers. They should feel that their orders are of great importance to you and they can rely on you for their projects.

  3. Take full advantage of the 1200 characters limit in the Gig descriptions. Explain your offerings in a sleek, yet professional manner.

Last but not the least, give a good read to Fiverr TOS, refrain from outside contact, use a good antivirus to protect yourself from hacking attempts and steer clear of scammers.

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@deluxewriting Thanks for the advice. The info about gig descriptions and pronouns is really useful. I got my first gig a few days ago so I know that some people are willing to pay decently for a poem - in this case it was a movie director. I’ve also been commissioned for festivals etc for higher prices. While I understand that cheap work is attractive, creating original content takes me a lot of time and it’s a skill-set I’ve developed over 7 years so I’m hoping people will recognise that and pay fairly. I’m also in a pretty difficult financial situation now so I can’t afford to work for 5+ hours for $5, if that makes sense?

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@deluxewriting Thanks for the advice. The info about gig descriptions and pronouns is really useful. I got my first gig a few days ago so I know that some people are willing to pay decently for a poem - in this case it was a movie director. I’ve also been commissioned for festivals etc for higher prices. While I understand that cheap work is attractive, creating original content takes me a lot of time and it’s a skill-set I’ve developed over 7 years so I’m hoping people will recognise that and pay fairly. I’m also in a pretty difficult financial situation now so I can’t afford to work for 5+ hours for $5, if that makes sense?

I think you didn’t quite get me. I understand that no one should be underpaid for their hard work. I have also worked with Multi-Million dollar companies, renowned producers, authors, artists and brands in my career. What I have learned from my experience is that everyhting has its own unique market. You cannot just shove your prices down your buyer’s throat (no offense). Even though my gig says that I charge $5 per 500 words, I hardly ever get paid that price. Clients contact me, looking for professional-level work, and we discuss a custom quote depending on their requirements and project type.

What I am trying to imply here is that you need to offer at least something starting at $5. Maybe a 2-liner or an intro to the main content. You may get lucky by scoring a number of orders, but not everyone is comfortable with paying over 60 bucks to someone with absolutely 0 reviews.

That’s my 2-cents on this. I am just trying to help because I understand your situation. You are free to either make use of it or let it go.

I hope you got my point.

Best wishes!

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I think you didn’t quite get me. I understand that no one should be underpaid for their hard work. I have also worked with Multi-Million dollar companies, renowned producers, authors, artists and brands in my career. What I have learned from my experience is that everyhting has its own unique market. You cannot just shove your prices down your buyer’s throat (no offense). Even though my gig says that I charge $5 per 500 words, I hardly ever get paid that price. Clients contact me, looking for professional-level work, and we discuss a custom quote depending on their requirements and project type.

What I am trying to imply here is that you need to offer at least something starting at $5. Maybe a 2-liner or an intro to the main content. You may get lucky by scoring a number of orders, but not everyone is comfortable with paying over 60 bucks to someone with absolutely 0 reviews.

That’s my 2-cents on this. I am just trying to help because I understand your situation. You are free to either make use of it or let it go.

I hope you got my point.

Best wishes!

That makes sense, so the $5 is a hook? I’m not trying to ‘shove’ a price at anyone, I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry and I’m good at what I do. But if it’s just a question of gathering momentum by being savvy then I completely take your point. I wasn’t aware that the set price wasn’t definitive, and only started a week ago, hence no reviews yet. But thank you for your tips, have taken them on board.

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That makes sense, so the $5 is a hook? I’m not trying to ‘shove’ a price at anyone, I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry and I’m good at what I do. But if it’s just a question of gathering momentum by being savvy then I completely take your point. I wasn’t aware that the set price wasn’t definitive, and only started a week ago, hence no reviews yet. But thank you for your tips, have taken them on board.

Not a hook, but to give your buyers an idea of your writing style. They can decide whether or not to buy your services, after taking a look at whatever you can produce for them for $5. It shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes to write something worthy of being called your sample, especially when you are claiming to be a professional.

I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry and I’m good at what I do.

I am gonna disagree with you on this one. The pool of the most successful sellers on Fiverr is dominated by the Female sellers. If you are true to yourself and never let your guard down, you can never get exploited, at least in the digital world.

P.S. May I suggest, you use Grammarly (a free Chrom extension) to automatically scan your writings for simple errors? It is not highly precise, but it helps.

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Not a hook, but to give your buyers an idea of your writing style. They can decide whether or not to buy your services, after taking a look at whatever you can produce for them for $5. It shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes to write something worthy of being called your sample, especially when you are claiming to be a professional.

I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry and I’m good at what I do.

I am gonna disagree with you on this one. The pool of the most successful sellers on Fiverr is dominated by the Female sellers. If you are true to yourself and never let your guard down, you can never get exploited, at least in the digital world.

P.S. May I suggest, you use Grammarly (a free Chrom extension) to automatically scan your writings for simple errors? It is not highly precise, but it helps.

If you are true to yourself and never let your guard down, you can never get exploited, at least in the digital world.

This isn’t true whatsoever. Fiverr is a microcosmic pool, and young artists are notoriously exploited. It has happened to dozens of people I’ve known and worked with. Also, I don’t understand your tone - ‘claiming to be a professional’? I was just here for advice, which I have engaged with, and these messages are becoming increasingly disparaging.

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That makes sense, so the $5 is a hook? I’m not trying to ‘shove’ a price at anyone, I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry and I’m good at what I do. But if it’s just a question of gathering momentum by being savvy then I completely take your point. I wasn’t aware that the set price wasn’t definitive, and only started a week ago, hence no reviews yet. But thank you for your tips, have taken them on board.

My piece of advice: do NOT lower your price point.

🙂

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If you are true to yourself and never let your guard down, you can never get exploited, at least in the digital world.

This isn’t true whatsoever. Fiverr is a microcosmic pool, and young artists are notoriously exploited. It has happened to dozens of people I’ve known and worked with. Also, I don’t understand your tone - ‘claiming to be a professional’? I was just here for advice, which I have engaged with, and these messages are becoming increasingly disparaging.

Welcome! While I agree with you not wanting to under-price yourself, I also think deluxewriting makes a good point. When you’re starting out on Fiverr (as I am!), it can be difficult to convince people to purchase your services if you start with higher prices.

Ultimately it’s up to you, but I think the $5 “hook” (which you can do without devaluing your services) can be immensely useful in gaining clients in the beginning. Hope that helps, and good luck on Fiverr 🙂

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You can have several gigs ( I think up to 7 as a new seller), so another option is to create another gig at a ‘hook’ 😉 price point, offering something you will be halfways okay with spending a certain amount of time on (think of something you can do in a short time and for $5) and keep the gig starting at a higher price point at the same time and see how it goes for both gigs - if you get sales and reviews on the cheaper gig, they don´t count for your higher priced one, obviously, but the reviews still will be on your profile, and they count for moving towards level 1 and level 2 ranks.

I think most people here start out with lower prices, and once they got some reviews, experience (Fiverr is a world in itself and there are many things that can go wrong that you never even thought about before you’ll experience them 😉 ), perhaps regular customers, they adjust their prices towards what they think fair or think what their services really are worth, or what they want to make. Being a freelancer means making decisions about such things all the time. :slight_smile:

Good reviews give your gig momentum, that´s not to be underestimated, but if you want to keep with one, or with several but still higher priced gigs only, that´s of course absolutely okay, you can try and see what happens.

Maybe you can find a good balance/compromise that works for you at the moment, or you could give yourself a specific time frame, like a month or two, in which you’ll work longer than you think okay for the price if needed to get reviews and the levels, and then adjust according to your experiences here and your personal situation.

You’ll figure something out that works for you, if Fiverr is the right place for you.

Anyhow, welcome and 🍀 !

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If you are true to yourself and never let your guard down, you can never get exploited, at least in the digital world.

This isn’t true whatsoever. Fiverr is a microcosmic pool, and young artists are notoriously exploited. It has happened to dozens of people I’ve known and worked with. Also, I don’t understand your tone - ‘claiming to be a professional’? I was just here for advice, which I have engaged with, and these messages are becoming increasingly disparaging.

Have I seen your achievements? Or do you have any proofs of such achievements in your profile? Therefore:

‘claiming to be a professional’

It wasn’t pun intended, whatsoever.

I am, in no way, trying to take a dig at you. I just laid down my advice and point of view on your claims, such as:

I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry and I’m good at what I do.

It’s ok, you do not have to agree with me. I just tried to help a newbie.

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That makes sense, so the $5 is a hook? I’m not trying to ‘shove’ a price at anyone, I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry and I’m good at what I do. But if it’s just a question of gathering momentum by being savvy then I completely take your point. I wasn’t aware that the set price wasn’t definitive, and only started a week ago, hence no reviews yet. But thank you for your tips, have taken them on board.

I just don’t want to be underpaid because (esp young female) artists are so often exploited in the freelance industry

You decide if you want to be exploited or not. So set your gig description in a way that you don’t get exploited. Even if someone tries that, tell them that you won’t lower your standard (still scammers are everywhere, try to steer clear from them).

I do not get exploited. Even if someone tries to get work for free, I either don’t work for them or send a quote to them.

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