In this month our account will be three and a half year old on Fiverr, and I thought we need to say a “Thank you!” for the Fiverr platform and to Fiverr employees. They really innovated the distance working industry, and most importantly because of Fiverr we use the term Gig economy in 2020.
As a thank you, we decided to write an article about our experiences on the platform, and we collected the most important goodies for first-time buyers on Fiverr.
Good To Know on Fiverr: Tips For Newcomers
Fiverr is around 10 years old but this young digital platform has become one of the most preferred ones for affordable graphic design. Even WordPress is well represented. In other words, if you look for WordPress customization on it, more than 6,000 results of gigs will be revealed to choose from.
Recently, Fiverr has also introduced a utility of listing premium services. For bringing as many as certified professionals on board, it is focusing on expanding their community. Thus, Fiverr is a budding freelance platform for graphic design and WordPress coding tasks.
Still, new buyers are not so confident when it comes to using this platform for having the best possible experience. They are likely to put messages such as “I do not know how this platform works” or “I have never used it before”. They also are less likely to comprehend gigs and extras.
While sellers answer these first-time buyers patiently to get more loyal customers, here are 10 things for them to know:
1. Check Out the Categories
The Fiverr homepage reflects gigs that are divided into several categories. This is where you should start searching for buying gigs. The category exactly indicates the type of work that it is for. If you are exactly aware of what you want, use the search bar option that will then show a list of gigs as per the search words entered. Fiverr put a huge effort to make these categories as perfect as they can be. In 2019 and 2020 they remastered several main categories to be more intuitive for visitors.
2. Save What You Like
If you have found a good service or a seller, Fiverr allows you to save it for quick recall later. This is similar to what you do on Pinterest. I would say finding the best contacts is essential to utlizie this platform in long term.
3. Badge and reviews matter
If somebody has up to 100 positive reviews on Fiverr it definitely means something. Just as in case of Amazon, reviews are objective things. My experience is that 80% of buyers are positive in general. They give positive ratings even when I feel that it wasn’t the best creative of my life, or simply could be better.
How these feedbacks work? Once a gig is completed, a buyer has the freedom to give a brief feedback review and rate the overall experience. Although not many will write a full review, it is worth reading the reviews to get an idea of work quality of the seller by glancing at the thumbs-up ratings.
4. Operate Just One Fiverr Account
The freelance platform only allows a single account to be used per user. If more accounts are found in the same name, Fiverr will disable them. Further, choose proper credentials at the time of registration, as you cannot change it once you submit it.
5. Talk before Order
If you think you have got the perfect gig as per your requirements, it is wise to not click the Order button. Rather, you should click the Contact button on the seller’s profile and use the popped-up contact window to discuss it with the seller. This is the coolest thing about Fiverr to know and use.
Just describe what you are searching for in short and view the seller’s reply to know the seller better. Analyzing different answers from various sellers will indicate which gig is truly perfect for you.
Through this internal messaging system, you can even talk with the seller during and after the completion of gigs.
In case of sellers who has up to 8-10 orders in queue, the response time could be higher and the expected answer could be shorter and more objective. I would suggest the check not only their gig’s description but also the gig’s FAQ which may hold the answer on your question.
6. Use a personal word when filling out the order form
While buying a gig, you are required to fill a section having the details to be covered in the completed gig. Apart from the message system, this section is an ideal way to catch what you want.
Writing the details in this section means posting a request. It is wise to add a personal word here and ask the sellers to convey it while giving you an offer.
Doing so will allow you to choose those sellers who are interested in your details and keep you motivated by revealing that word. Surprisingly, half of the sellers will miss your word!
It is true that the more information you enter here the best the outcome will be. It is good to know, that once you completed the payment of the order, and you are in this input information form, you can even leave the site, and come back later! If you need time to collect or prepare the information don’t hesitate to take it. The order won’t start until you entered all the information here.
7. Stop Clicking Top Offers
Once you place a request, it is obvious that you will start getting offers. This is usually done by sending e-mails with a chosen list of offers. As a wise tip, it is best to avoid rushing into these offers.
The digital platform selects them randomly, picking a few first level sellers who reply to your request. The offers from them will hardly have the personal word and are less likely to be the most interesting ones. After all, an automated e-mail cannot replace a shrewd human eye, right?
There is also a bottleneck of using “Post a request”, big players who already have enough order will never answer to a custom request. You need to find these sellers individually. Once you find them you can ask a custom quote directly from them if you have any special request. In this case they will answer you for sure, since Fiverr’s sellers are obligated to answer all of your custom messages! (It may hurt their response rate if they miss a message in time)
8. Stay Away from Full Setup Website Gigs
It is common to come across gigs that assure to deliver a fully setup or a complete site. While they seem attractive, there is a catch. For fulfilling this, at times, sellers use a pirated theme or unauthentic plugins.
These components may contain malware that shall run at the time of booting. Further, just forget about getting updates from their developers.
To get rid of these issues, it is worth asking the sellers if they have a license for these components and for how long these components are valid. For your information, a few themes come with a lifetime license, whereas the rest are available on a monthly or annual subscription.
9. Take the Benefit of Referral Program for Earning More
If you have no financial aid or budget to work on Fiverr, it is easy to start making some money. The credit goes to the referral program that allows you to earn more than you may have expected.
Rather than endorsing the platform to your colleagues and pals and obtain $5 per $25 project for each registration, it is better to subscribe to their affiliate program and win up to $50.
For new buyers obtaining WordPress gigs, you can expect to earn around $25 to $40 through the affiliate program. By endorsing the service on your website or blog, you can earn a big amount with which you can buy some more gigs for yourself.
10. Do Not Ask or Share Contact Details
Giving your contact details such as phone number, e-mail, and social media usernames is not allowed on Fiverr. Similarly, you cannot ask for the seller’s e-mail ID.
+1 There Is a 15 Days Clearing Period
Did you miss the acceptance period (3 days), and you order was automatically marked as complete?
If the delivery wasn’t sufficient or contains a loads of errors, there is a safety belt on Fiverr’s side. During the 15 days “clearing” period you need to contact directly the Fiverr support in order to describe the exact case.
Please note from seller perspective it is unethical to ask for a full refund after the seller spent hours/days of work with your delivery, but you aren’t satisfied with it.
Our Trusted Fiverr Service Providers
As sellers we spending a decent time on the platform so we were able to meet other service providers. This is our shortlist for you if you want to create an outstanding book and great experience for readers:
- Njdevincentis (Edit & Proofread fiction)
- Rebecacovers (Cover design)
- Nskvsky (Cover design)
- Design9creative (Fiction cover creation)
- Melissacaudle (Book marketing)
- Themediagrapher (Marketing video creation)
- Mrtwriter (Proofread and copyedit)
- Afycollection (Children’s book illustration)