Do you ever realise a particular potential customer is just wasming your time?

[tomerrose]

for student clients this is just not necessarily the right platform. If someone is really hard for money then 20% less can be a lot, and paying the fee to a site instead of to a freelancer can be really hard on some

My thinking is that if a student can’t afford Fiverr prices then they need to start looking for a good friend or friend of the family to help out in return for housekeeping or something 😛

Discounting actually goes against Fiverr’s whole way of business though - browse, click, buy.

I do it occasionally for various reasons but students wouldn’t really be one of them. Good causes/non-profits if I like the cause, a particularly big job that I would like to get etc.

Your time is yours and you should be rewarded accordingly - consider whether you should value a random student’s time more than your own time because that’s what it comes down to. Could the student have done some extra hours in McDonalds or mowed a few lawns so they could cover the actual cost of the service they need? Should you compensate them for not doing so? Unless it’s one of the lovely Fiverr students who frequent the forum, allowances can be made for them of course 🙂

I can see you translate as well, right? I lived in N. Ireland several years, fond memories…

[misterreegs]

Having been in and out of sales for years and I have learned a few things.

You need to find more self worth and confidence with the service you provide.
I hate starting a new client relationship on a discount.
The least paying clients, are the worst.
Think long term clients when you can. Sure you have to pay the bills, but it shouldn’t be standard.
Think about this. If you get busy with all of your discounted clients, you might have to turn down a great paying client because of time constraints.

Easy for me to say right? The best salesperson I have every worked with, was notorious for turning down low paying clients. But, he had a small client list of very good paying clients.

[tomerrose]

Having been in and out of sales for years and I have learned a few things.

You need to find more self worth and confidence with the service you provide.

I hate starting a new client relationship on a discount.

The least paying clients, are the worst.

Think long term clients when you can. Sure you have to pay the bills, but it shouldn’t be standard.

Think about this. If you get busy with all of your discounted clients, you might have to turn down a great paying client because of time constraints.

Easy for me to say right? The best salesperson I have every worked with, was notorious for turning down low paying clients. But, he had a small client list of very good paying clients.

Hi, thanks for your response, I feel you have seen through the actual point, it’s a matter of confidence, and you know I’m many years into translations, really a lot of years, but it’s more of an inner/emotional thing… your advice resonates with me so thanks, I know I just should change my attitude about it really. Because it’s exactly what’s happening, I spend too long on stuff that pays too little. Most of my clients are not here though, and I have had some well negotiated contracts, but I’m afraid I have this lesson to learn for “offline” clients as well. It kind of takes guts to do that (not discount) when you really need money and others depend on you, like in my case, and I had a rough patch, but I need to get things back into some kind of balance because I’ve kind of run myself to the ground working too much for too little lately… thanks for responding! 🙂

[misterreegs]

Hi, thanks for your response, I feel you have seen through the actual point, it’s a matter of confidence, and you know I’m many years into translations, really a lot of years, but it’s more of an inner/emotional thing… your advice resonates with me so thanks, I know I just should change my attitude about it really. Because it’s exactly what’s happening, I spend too long on stuff that pays too little. Most of my clients are not here though, and I have had some well negotiated contracts, but I’m afraid I have this lesson to learn for “offline” clients as well. It kind of takes guts to do that (not discount) when you really need money and others depend on you, like in my case, and I had a rough patch, but I need to get things back into some kind of balance because I’ve kind of run myself to the ground working too much for too little lately… thanks for responding! 🙂

But of course, if you haven’t done so already, maybe pick up some books on sales/negotiation.

I wish you well in your journey.

[tomerrose]

But of course, if you haven’t done so already, maybe pick up some books on sales/negotiation.

I wish you well in your journey.

Thank you, that’s a good idea, I’ll do that. All the best to you too. 🙂