Designing Lorri

Always a skeptic…

I had seen ads for Fiverr around the web before, but never really considered looking into it until a commercial came on the TV. Fiverr has been around for a while, but so have many other freelancing sites and I did not trust any of them. But once I saw a legitimate commercial I hopped on the web to do some research. After finding out that there are actually many of people on Fiverr who produce a good income, I decided to give it a go back in October.

I created a few gigs and realized, like in most markets, people don’t really want to pay what you are worth. I deleted my gigs relating to graphic design because I won’t make a logo or vector graphic for $5 when I went to college for this, and I’m not selling anything because of the hundreds of other people who will. I’m not just some schmo with expensive design software–I’m a professional. What’s worse is that websites like Canva make it to where anyone with a minuscule sense of what looks good can design something nice for free. I’m not willing to do cheap work just to get a quick dollar.

Not Working for Free

Ultimately, my gigs relating to blogging really took off. I created a listing for blogs in general, and one targeted to a Christian audience. I did this to highlight my history of writing and editing for Churches, which would turn away many people who probably were seeking a secular writer. In my generic gig post I was able to highlight my Wedding articles and other things that have been published in magazines. I’ve found that narrowing things down and being specific is really how to succeed on Fiverr.

After working with a variety of Christian organizations and businesses, I realized the need for a social media package. It has been successful so far!

Finding a Rhythm

I’ve noticed some little things like staying active and logging in often will draw in more people. Also, editing a word or two will make your listing more popular. It seems like whenever I want to work all I have to do is edit a gig a little then I start getting messages about it–this happens because it gets bumped up as if it were a new posting.

I wouldn’t vouch for using Fiverr as a soul source of business, but it definitely is a great place to work for extra money. There are some sticky things that are a little frustrating, but I don’t want to just bash Fiverr. So, here are 5 good things and 5 areas that need improvement.

5 Good things:

1. You can get really creative with what you want to sell. There are people who sell physical goods, written works, and even Tarot readers.
2. You can transfer money to your PayPal daily.
3. People are easily blocked.
4. Clients get ratings too.
5. Images are automatically watermarked until the client pays for and downloads them.

5 Bad things:

1. Handling Time Zone differences when there is a questions about the order.
2. Waiting 16 days for funds to “clear” before you can access your payment.
3. Only 5 tags per gig.
4. Customer support is really sub-par.
5. Lots of spammers.

Should you try Fiverr?

If you are a writer, artist, speaker, councilor, or just about anything–you could sell your services on Fiverr. It is impressive and surprising what people are doing. Just make sure to price accordingly and stand your ground. “If you build it, they will come.”