New - Trying to Learn and Gain Experience

[jnmcghee8587]

Hi, everyone. My name is Jasz. I just published my very first book of poems, and I’m very proud of this accomplishment. Before my book, I was doing freelance copy editing, book editing, developmental and content editing, beta reading, proofreading, book reviewing, etc. I was doing pretty good because I was trying to expand and polish my skills. I took a break for a while. But now, I’m ready to get back to my passion.

A friend of mine proposed Fiverr to get started, but so many people are doing the same thing. I really don’t know what to do, and I’m trying not to panic. I started my first and only gig to try it. I had one client message me and asked to send an offer. I did, and I never heard from her again.

I’m wondering what can I do to get clients.

I’m really hoping to learn and grow a little confident in my abilities.

Thanks.

[Guest uxreview]

Welcome!
First, there’s no need to panic 🙂
Secondly, your gig requires quite a bit of work before you can start making sales. The good thing is that there are literally hundreds of posts here that will guide you and since you’re a proofreader I think reading 100s of posts won’t be an issue 😉

I had a look at your gig and a few things popped out right away

• 20 000 words for $10 (This is a ridiculous offer. It shows that it’s low quality or you’re desperate which is even worse. Check your competition and factor in your quality of service.)
• Set up packages starting at 1000 words maybe. If I had a script with 3K words then what would be the price of that considering 20K is $10? Choose a reasonable increment for your packages so that users can hire you for less than 20K words.
• You’re a writer, why not show it in your gig description. Write something unique, something that engages the readers.
• Add a video intro to your gig instead of that stock photo that others are using as well. Personally I check gigs that have a video and it’s even better if it’s a personal video. You need stand out meaning no stock photos nor whiteboard animations.
• Add samples to your gallery. You mentioned “Little Girl Blues: Existence of an Image”, why not make it stand out a bit more? Add a cover photo to your gallery instead of the stock photo. Next to it you can add a few paragraphs as an example. I’m guessing only 5% of writers here have published something. It would definitely help you stand out so why not use it.

Start with these and in a few weeks time I’m sure you get some orders.

[jnmcghee8587]

Welcome!

First, there’s no need to panic 🙂

Secondly, your gig requires quite a bit of work before you can start making sales. The good thing is that there are literally hundreds of posts here that will guide you and since you’re a proofreader I think reading 100s of posts won’t be an issue 😉

I had a look at your gig and a few things popped out right away

• 20 000 words for $10 (This is a ridiculous offer. It shows that it’s low quality or you’re desperate which is even worse. Check your competition and factor in your quality of service.)
• Set up packages starting at 1000 words maybe. If I had a script with 3K words then what would be the price of that considering 20K is $10? Choose a reasonable increment for your packages so that users can hire you for less than 20K words.
• You’re a writer, why not show it in your gig description. Write something unique, something that engages the readers.
• Add a video intro to your gig instead of that stock photo that others are using as well. Personally I check gigs that have a video and it’s even better if it’s a personal video. You need stand out meaning no stock photos nor whiteboard animations.
• Add samples to your gallery. You mentioned “Little Girl Blues: Existence of an Image”, why not make it stand out a bit more? Add a cover photo to your gallery instead of the stock photo. Next to it you can add a few paragraphs as an example. I’m guessing only 5% of writers here have published something. It would definitely help you stand out so why not use it.

Start with these and in a few weeks time I’m sure you get some orders.

Wow. Thanks so much!!! I really appreciate it! And you’re right about

20,000 words offer. I didn’t know where to start with the pricing, so I

just thought I’d start small and build on that! But I did go back and add a

few pictures like you suggested. That’s on the first gig. I did another

gig, but I may do a video for that one, later on, today ( so I can look

presentable).

Would you mind taking a second look at the first gig to see if it’s a

little better?

Again, thanks.

[Guest uxreview]

Wow. Thanks so much!!! I really appreciate it! And you’re right about

20,000 words offer. I didn’t know where to start with the pricing, so I

just thought I’d start small and build on that! But I did go back and add a

few pictures like you suggested. That’s on the first gig. I did another

gig, but I may do a video for that one, later on, today ( so I can look

presentable).

Would you mind taking a second look at the first gig to see if it’s a

little better?

Again, thanks.

That photo of yourself holding the book is definitely better than a random stock photo.

However, I think for the pricing you should probably lower the # of words rather than increase the price. It’s difficult to get an order for $100 without a single review.

Considering your new price it should be like 1000 words for $5. That is actually in the same price range with your competition. Once you get some reviews you can revise your prices.

If they need 20K words then they order your gig multiple times, use extras or you can make a custom offer.

[jnmcghee8587]

That photo of yourself holding the book is definitely better than a random stock photo.

However, I think for the pricing you should probably lower the # of words rather than increase the price. It’s difficult to get an order for $100 without a single review.

Considering your new price it should be like 1000 words for $5. That is actually in the same price range with your competition. Once you get some reviews you can revise your prices.

If they need 20K words then they order your gig multiple times, use extras or you can make a custom offer.

Yes, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks again. But I will continue to work on it. I appreciate your time, response, and insight. Very helpful for this newbie.