Last month (September 2018), I made $614.40 in my first month on Fiverr and this article is going to delve into how I managed to do that with no previous knowledge of freelancing or how to succeed on this platform.
When I decided I was going to launch my own gig, I had no idea what to expect after only using the site sporadically for little tasks that I needed help with for this website, but I thought “sod it, what have I got to lose?!”
My First Month on Fiverr
So I set about finding the most professional picture I could find of myself, drafted, re-drafted and finalised my gig description (it was for writing blog posts) and finally put together an eye-catching image using Canva to finish it off.
I then proceeded to do what I imagine all new sellers on Fiverr do, constantly refresh, and spend hours on the website so as to be “online” and available to take an order. 3 days later and I think my gig had been viewed once.
Heartbreak.
But, out of the blue, I got my big break which skyrocketed my gig views and culminated in a slew of orders!
Rising Talent Badge
Roughly three days after launching my gig I received an email from the Fiverr support team telling me I had been designated a “Rising Talent”. At the time I had no idea what I had done to deserve such an honour, nor what it meant for the bigger picture regarding my gig.
What it meant was gig views, and lots of them.
Within two days of that email I had my first order. I found it incredibly ironic that I had launched my services to the world’s biggest online freelancing platform and I now have clients from California to Lithuania, but my first client was based less than 4 miles down the road in Manchester!
Luckily the topic was something I already knew a lot about, website hosting. This was my first order so I spent a lot of time on it, over 2 hours. Which definitely wasn’t necessary for a measly $15, but I knew I had to get it perfect to get that all important 5-star rating. Which I did within minutes of delivering the order.
Over the next couple of weeks, the orders kept on coming and I kept on improving. The first blog I wrote took me over 2 hours, then the next took me less than two hours, within a couple of weeks I got that time to under an hour by having a set routine.
- Discovery (find out what the client wants)
- Research (find everything I can out about the topic)
- Write the piece as fast as possible
- Read/Edit (re-read at least twice to edit out typos and syntax errors)
Now if I get a blog on a topic I already know a lot about I can knock out 500 words in 20-30 mins. Just shows that constant repetition leads to results.
70% Price Increase
I quickly realised that after Fiverr’s commission and foreign exchange rates from Paypal back into pounds that $15 wasn’t worth it. Even for only 30 minutes’ work. So I increased by my minimum price by 70% to $25 and prayed that the orders wouldn’t slow down as a result.
They did the opposite, they increased.
I was starting to see some real returns on my efforts. My time for completion was slowly getting quicker and quicker whilst my profitability was starting to go through the roof.
I also started getting more orders for my more expensive gigs as people ordered longer blog posts and gig extras such as extra focus keywords.
Orders Start to Calm Down
Finally, as the month of September drew to a close, my “Rising Talent” promotion had been removed and things finally started to settle down, which I was actually glad about. Although these orders only took me a couple of hours a day to complete, they were two hours I didn’t have spare!
I had to start waking up earlier and working a lot later, and my other money making side-hustles (matched betting/advantage play) had to take a back seat. I actually enjoyed the break to be honest as it refreshed me, and allowed me to go hard at the offers again when the orders slowed down.
Lessons Learnt So Far
The first thing I didn’t even think about (but should have) was delivering on time. I was late in delivering my first ever custom order (it was a monster – 10 blog posts!). I was with in constant contact with the client and we agreed a date but I didn’t realise the timer would run out early in the day in my time zone (GMT+1). He wasn’t bothered at all, but it decimated my on-time delivery percentage down to 50%.
This meant I spent the remainder of the month completing everything as quick as possible to combat my poor percentage and get it back back to over 90% (minimum required for promotion). I now use the Fiverr app to send me a notification when there are less than 12 hours remaining so I never deliver late again, and so far I haven’t!
The second lesson I learnt is that without a Rising Talent badge given to you early on you may struggle getting orders early on. I have since deleted my second gig which was for writing content for PBNs (more on these later if you don’t what they are), but I had two gigs running initially and the second one only got about 6 clicks in the same time I got 20+ orders from my other gig.
If you look at the screenshot below it helps to illustrate my point:
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, making sure you can deliver whatever it is you are selling quickly is crucial. Not only does it make sense profitability-wise, it also encourages clients to re-order from you as they know they can get a quick turnaround.
I have found that building relationships with clients so that they become your go-to for whatever service you offer is also vital. It helps keep the orders and reviews rolling in, building a more positive profile every time you deliver and bumping you up the Fiverr rankings.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the highlights of my first month on Fiverr. There is a lot more to write about which I will deal with in separate posts. Such as how to approach a cancellation of an order without hurting your reputation, how I managed to achieve the Rising Talent status, how I’ve since gone on to become a Level 1 seller and much more.
So look out for more posts coming soon!