What comes first, the seller or the skill?

[capitalquality]

I’ve read a number of posts recently that are all along the lines of “I’ve joined Fiverr because I want money but what should I sell?”

Dudes & dudesses & non-binary duds, you are doing this the wrong way around. And to be honest, this is one approach that indicates you might be one of those bad amateur sellers that buyers come on the forum to complain about.

This is what you do instead.

1. Look critically at yourself
2. identify what you’re good at, either professionally, or as a hobby or interest
3. identify what of those you think there is a market for
4. identify which of those you think you would actually like to do
5. identify which of those you think can be broken down into small chunks to offer as gigs
6. see what’s left on your shortlist now
7. look at Fiverr and maybe other freelance sites and see what is already being offered in those areas
8. you may decide to shortlist further to weed out the categories saturated with sellers already
9. you may give some thought to how you can turn your shortlist into something a little bit unique
10. you may decide that none of your current skills are suitable and you need to learn something new
11. you must give some thought as to what will make buyers buy from you instead of other sellers
12. create a gig

Good luck.

[blaisefaint]

Dear Carol:

You raise some fine points.

I would add that a great tool for helping people find and articulate their strengths is Strengths Finder 2.0, which offers an assessment you can take to help identify your Top Five Strengths.

This has helped me to put my own strengths into words:

1 Intellection: I like to sit in a room for hours, learning and studying.
2 Input: I like to collect ideas and share them.
3 Deliberative: In general, I’m comfortable making decisions based on the available data.
4 Adaptive: I go with the flow.
5 Maximizer: I like to take things that are good or great and make them even better.

If I remember correctly, no two people should have the same Top Five Strengths in the same order, making us all special little snowflakes.

As always, your mileage may vary.

Thank you,
Blaise

[djgodknows]

I say the Skiller. 😜

[misscrystal]

Yes I too am puzzled when I see that.

[landongrace]

Yes. Well said! You’re exactly right!

[pastordre]

I say follow your passion and produce your skills in that area…