Work Ethics and Definition of Quality

[reskiyoer]

After almost one year of selling services over Fiverr, I’d like to tell you something about my opinion of quality and work ethics. It’s a mixed topic for “Tips for Sellers”, “Fiverr Stories”, and “Conversations”, feel free to move this thread to its approate sub-forum.

First, please excuse flaws and short explanation on different points. You could write a whole book about this topic and I tried to keep it short.

Quality has its price.

My story on Fiverr began last year in June. I decided to start freelancing on Fiverr. Initially, I wanted to buy a logo for three offsite businesses and stumbled across Fiverr. As a newbie and reasonable person, I wasn’t expecting much from a $5 logo. So I ordered a bunch from different sellers to at least get great inspiration and… was highly disappointed.

I wasn’t disappointed in the way of “I paid you $5 - now deliver a $300 logo”. All sellers were very eager to achieve something I wanted (but they failed on different levels). I was disappointed by Fiverr’s advertising policy and the sellers’ attitude and marketing. The quality of the whole package (creativity, experience, knowledge, requirements, communication, honesty, etc.) sucked. Not even one seller was a (real) professional. I can do better logos myself without any designing experience. For me, professionalism doesn’t have much to do with what you’ve studied but rather with your work experience and career amongst other things.

Since I was already working offsite, I offered different services. So, I checked out the potential competition in case I wanted to start working on Fiverr. And I was shocked at the quality. The quality was worth its price, but the quality was bad. Sadly, it was presented as “best possible quality at the lowest possible price in the universe” – I’m exaggerating a tiny bit. But this is something that I learned in the past decade: There is no good quality for low prices.

There is bad, mediocre, and good quality (in all their shades) and you always pay for them accordingly. You can’t pay $5 for a logo and expect a $300 logo service. Only dayfly-freelancers could offer such services before selling all their stuff to get a meal the very next day. Vice versa, it’s possible - of course. You can get bad quality for high prices, there are frauds all over the world who try to sell you a $5 logo for $300.

What’s quality?

In my opinion, quality is the package. The result (e.g. logo) is only one part of it. I also count communication, honesty, integrity, character, continuity, stability, structure, organization, etc. into it. If I order a logo for real, I don’t look for the price first. I look for the package of quality. E.g. you don’t have to speak in perfect English (who am I to judge you on that, I suck at English), but you have to understand and write/talk with me in a reasonable way.

It’s no shame to not deliver the best quality possible. Nobody can do that. But you can try your best to achieve the best possible quality within your reach. The great thing about it: You will always get customers within your reach. As soon as you lift your quality, you will get new customers from above. And so on. If you always deliver your best quality, you will get better, resulting in an even better quality of yours. And maybe, one day, you are better than most of your competition. But still, it won’t be the best possible quality.

By trying to sell better quality than delivering, you will fail. Maybe it will work for a day, or a week, or even a month, but at the end of the day, you will fail. On a side note: During the last year, I had so many clients who were heavily disappointed by other service providers before coming to me. Even though I didn’t deliver the best quality, I always delivered as promised. Every one of them highlighted that. They loved how they got exactly what they paid for (and always a tiny bit extra on top of that).

How to value your quality?

By far, I don’t deliver the best quality possible, but I always give my best and continuously improve. And I see lots of amazing other sellers on Fiverr (and other places) do the same. Even though we’re not the best, we get new customers due to our steadily increasing quality and caring overall service. Every seller offers something different.

E.g. I will never offer the same mixing and mastering quality that another audio engineer will offer. Simply because it’s nothing you can compare one-by-one. For one band, my result will sound better, for another, hers. You should be authentic and clear about what you’re offering. At the end, it’s the client who decides to deal with you or another seller. Don’t lie to your potential customers. Honesty pays off. Always.

Same quality = same price?

No. Of course not. At the end of the day, you have to decide how much you’re requesting for your services. There is no same quality, there’s only similar quality.In my opinion and after speaking with many different buyers, I offer the best quality for the budget of my offered prices on Fiverr. That’s why I call them unique. There’s no other seller on Fiverr (or the whole world) with the same experience, knowledge, pricing, character, workflow, etc. Maybe there’s someone who communicates the same way as I am but who doesn’t know how to deal with a certain problem within a project. Maybe there’s someone who’s a largely better problem solver than I am but sucks at communication. That sets us apart. That’s why she would deliver her best quality for her price and I’d deliver my best quality for my price. Be confident and find your own price for your quality.

To bounce back to the logo story: There are so many different sellers who offer a logo for $5. But I bet that there will never be the same quality. I know that’s difficult to stand out from all the competition online, especially when it comes to living standards in different countries. I’m from Germany, living here is way more expensive than e.g. India, but on the other hand, I can speak German with my German clients who don’t speak English. Everyone should not only be honest to their clients but also to herself. If you walk your line, you’ll achieve something great.

Do you have to be a professional to offer services?

No! Please, don’t think like that. But please, be honest. For my part, I only want to provide services that I professionally executed within the last decade or two. Though, I could also start as an amateur graphic designer, getting better and better to finally find myself as semi-professional and then, one day, as professional. You don’t have to achieve an academic degree to be an expert. You’ll be an expert by continuously studying and working year after year.

Your story.

What are your thoughts on this topic? To what extent​ are you agreeing or disagreeing? Tell me from your own experience.

I’m already thrilled to read your comments!

—

TL;DR: Quality is more than just the project outcome and always has its price. Don’t deny it. Deliver your best quality and be authentic, honest, and never stop learning.

[sugamlife]

Loved the advice. I have just started and would abide by these work ethics.🙂

[eoinfinnegan]

Moved to allow it be pinned. Tips & experience combined!

[reskiyoer]

Loved the advice. I have just started and would abide by these work ethics.🙂

That’s great. Especially when you’re starting, don’t rely on one job only. The best you can do is getting an employment that pays your bills and gradually moving into freelancing the more you make profit out of it. This way, you can select your clients and projects, this allows you to put even more effort into each job resulting in better quality, better work-life balance, and a huge learning curve. Good luck!

[idostuff74]

After almost one year of selling services over Fiverr, I’d like to tell you something about my opinion of quality and work ethics. It’s a mixed topic for “Tips for Sellers”, “Fiverr Stories”, and “Conversations”, feel free to move this thread to its approate sub-forum.

First, please excuse flaws and short explanation on different points. You could write a whole book about this topic and I tried to keep it short.

Quality has its price.

My story on Fiverr began last year in June. I decided to start freelancing on Fiverr. Initially, I wanted to buy a logo for three offsite businesses and stumbled across Fiverr. As a newbie and reasonable person, I wasn’t expecting much from a $5 logo. So I ordered a bunch from different sellers to at least get great inspiration and… was highly disappointed.

I wasn’t disappointed in the way of “I paid you $5 - now deliver a $300 logo”. All sellers were very eager to achieve something I wanted (but they failed on different levels). I was disappointed by Fiverr’s advertising policy and the sellers’ attitude and marketing. The quality of the whole package (creativity, experience, knowledge, requirements, communication, honesty, etc.) sucked. Not even one seller was a (real) professional. I can do better logos myself without any designing experience. For me, professionalism doesn’t have much to do with what you’ve studied but rather with your work experience and career amongst other things.

Since I was already working offsite, I offered different services. So, I checked out the potential competition in case I wanted to start working on Fiverr. And I was shocked at the quality. The quality was worth its price, but the quality was bad. Sadly, it was presented as “best possible quality at the lowest possible price in the universe” – I’m exaggerating a tiny bit. But this is something that I learned in the past decade: There is no good quality for low prices.

There is bad, mediocre, and good quality (in all their shades) and you always pay for them accordingly. You can’t pay $5 for a logo and expect a $300 logo service. Only dayfly-freelancers could offer such services before selling all their stuff to get a meal the very next day. Vice versa, it’s possible - of course. You can get bad quality for high prices, there are frauds all over the world who try to sell you a $5 logo for $300.

What’s quality?

In my opinion, quality is the package. The result (e.g. logo) is only one part of it. I also count communication, honesty, integrity, character, continuity, stability, structure, organization, etc. into it. If I order a logo for real, I don’t look for the price first. I look for the package of quality. E.g. you don’t have to speak in perfect English (who am I to judge you on that, I suck at English), but you have to understand and write/talk with me in a reasonable way.

It’s no shame to not deliver the best quality possible. Nobody can do that. But you can try your best to achieve the best possible quality within your reach. The great thing about it: You will always get customers within your reach. As soon as you lift your quality, you will get new customers from above. And so on. If you always deliver your best quality, you will get better, resulting in an even better quality of yours. And maybe, one day, you are better than most of your competition. But still, it won’t be the best possible quality.

By trying to sell better quality than delivering, you will fail. Maybe it will work for a day, or a week, or even a month, but at the end of the day, you will fail. On a side note: During the last year, I had so many clients who were heavily disappointed by other service providers before coming to me. Even though I didn’t deliver the best quality, I always delivered as promised. Every one of them highlighted that. They loved how they got exactly what they paid for (and always a tiny bit extra on top of that).

How to value your quality?

By far, I don’t deliver the best quality possible, but I always give my best and continuously improve. And I see lots of amazing other sellers on Fiverr (and other places) do the same. Even though we’re not the best, we get new customers due to our steadily increasing quality and caring overall service. Every seller offers something different.

E.g. I will never offer the same mixing and mastering quality that another audio engineer will offer. Simply because it’s nothing you can compare one-by-one. For one band, my result will sound better, for another, hers. You should be authentic and clear about what you’re offering. At the end, it’s the client who decides to deal with you or another seller. Don’t lie to your potential customers. Honesty pays off. Always.

Same quality = same price?

No. Of course not. At the end of the day, you have to decide how much you’re requesting for your services. There is no same quality, there’s only similar quality.In my opinion and after speaking with many different buyers, I offer the best quality for the budget of my offered prices on Fiverr. That’s why I call them unique. There’s no other seller on Fiverr (or the whole world) with the same experience, knowledge, pricing, character, workflow, etc. Maybe there’s someone who communicates the same way as I am but who doesn’t know how to deal with a certain problem within a project. Maybe there’s someone who’s a largely better problem solver than I am but sucks at communication. That sets us apart. That’s why she would deliver her best quality for her price and I’d deliver my best quality for my price. Be confident and find your own price for your quality.

To bounce back to the logo story: There are so many different sellers who offer a logo for $5. But I bet that there will never be the same quality. I know that’s difficult to stand out from all the competition online, especially when it comes to living standards in different countries. I’m from Germany, living here is way more expensive than e.g. India, but on the other hand, I can speak German with my German clients who don’t speak English. Everyone should not only be honest to their clients but also to herself. If you walk your line, you’ll achieve something great.

Do you have to be a professional to offer services?

No! Please, don’t think like that. But please, be honest. For my part, I only want to provide services that I professionally executed within the last decade or two. Though, I could also start as an amateur graphic designer, getting better and better to finally find myself as semi-professional and then, one day, as professional. You don’t have to achieve an academic degree to be an expert. You’ll be an expert by continuously studying and working year after year.

Your story.

What are your thoughts on this topic? To what extent​ are you agreeing or disagreeing? Tell me from your own experience.

I’m already thrilled to read your comments!

—

TL;DR: Quality is more than just the project outcome and always has its price. Don’t deny it. Deliver your best quality and be authentic, honest, and never stop learning.

Good stuff!

But please, be honest. For my part, I only want to provide services that I professionally executed within the last decade or two.

With regards to “Quality is the package” plus a bit of my Fiverr story. In addition to the above, I believe it’s a good idea to focus on services you actually like providing. My first gigs were all Photoshop related. The background removal, the general image editing, the make your product shots “pop” for Ebay and Amazon. I (only then) looked at my competition and did a mental Fast Forward. That was when I ditched those gigs and instead, had a real, good look at how to “gigitise” (totally a word!) what I really love doing, providing a sense of said “package”. I may have missed out on potential work by doing so but lately, I feel like I’ve made a good decision.

[reskiyoer]

Good stuff!

But please, be honest. For my part, I only want to provide services that I professionally executed within the last decade or two.

With regards to “Quality is the package” plus a bit of my Fiverr story. In addition to the above, I believe it’s a good idea to focus on services you actually like providing. My first gigs were all Photoshop related. The background removal, the general image editing, the make your product shots “pop” for Ebay and Amazon. I (only then) looked at my competition and did a mental Fast Forward. That was when I ditched those gigs and instead, had a real, good look at how to “gigitise” (totally a word!) what I really love doing, providing a sense of said “package”. I may have missed out on potential work by doing so but lately, I feel like I’ve made a good decision.

Yeah, gigitizing (with “z”) what you love is the only way you’ll make it successfully as a freelancer. And only this way you can build a great quality package including everything your buyers will love about you and your service. In the end, you’ll probably earn more if you find your niche rather than competing in a broad range of services every second person can provide. I missed so much potential work on Fiverr, simply because I didn’t want to work on the projects. Today, I rejected a project that would’ve brought me a higher three digit amount. However, the next project came a moment later, and that one is way better and completely aligns with my work ethics. It sells to walk your line.

[logoflow]

Yeah, gigitizing (with “z”) what you love is the only way you’ll make it successfully as a freelancer. And only this way you can build a great quality package including everything your buyers will love about you and your service. In the end, you’ll probably earn more if you find your niche rather than competing in a broad range of services every second person can provide. I missed so much potential work on Fiverr, simply because I didn’t want to work on the projects. Today, I rejected a project that would’ve brought me a higher three digit amount. However, the next project came a moment later, and that one is way better and completely aligns with my work ethics. It sells to walk your line.

Hey @reskiyoer

Thanks for the sharing your experience, its very help to seller and buyer also, it’s very interesting

Thanks

[reskiyoer]

Hey @reskiyoer

Thanks for the sharing your experience, its very help to seller and buyer also, it’s very interesting

Thanks

Thanks. And you’re right, this doesn’t only affect sellers, but buyers too.

[logoflow]

Thanks. And you’re right, this doesn’t only affect sellers, but buyers too.

That’s Right 🙂

[omo_derek]

thanks for the tips.

[candidcoach]

This was a really great synopsis of the fiverr experience. Thanks so much for sharing! It’s easy to get caught up on quantity (let’s face it, we all want to make money) but a focus on quality truly makes the difference. Did you notice any other trends/patterns in terms of correlation between seller profile & product quality?

[reskiyoer]

This was a really great synopsis of the fiverr experience. Thanks so much for sharing! It’s easy to get caught up on quantity (let’s face it, we all want to make money) but a focus on quality truly makes the difference. Did you notice any other trends/patterns in terms of correlation between seller profile & product quality?

If you do it right, quality will bring you more profit than quantity - and a much easier work and private life. There are many patterns, but they are quite individual. You can’t judge someone only by his profile appearance. If you’re looking for a service and it’s not a clearly indicated premium seller, it’s always good to get in touch first. The first message usually decides whether to proceed with this seller or not. Price-service-relationship is a big fish. If someone offers a service that is clearly worth 20 times more if you go to a “cheap” real expert, there’s something wrong.