Bad time to start freelancing?

[mdcrowmusic]

Let me make it clear that I have not even posted a gig yet, but I have been reading the conversations about how reactions to COVID-19 are causing Fiverr orders to slump. I was just wondering. Did I pick the worst possible time to try freelancing? I’m currently working on setting up my first gig. I plan on publishing soon. I suppose, I shouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get instant gratification with this one. I have a day job still. So, I’m not relying on this. However, I was wondering what the community’s thoughts were on starting fresh as a freelancer in a time of crisis. I’m going to try regardless. I have nothing to lose.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

[jonbaas]

Let me make it clear that I have not even posted a gig yet, but I have been reading the conversations about how reactions to COVID-19 are causing Fiverr orders to slump. I was just wondering. Did I pick the worst possible time to try freelancing? I’m currently working on setting up my first gig. I plan on publishing soon. I suppose, I shouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get instant gratification with this one. I have a day job still. So, I’m not relying on this. However, I was wondering what the community’s thoughts were on starting fresh as a freelancer in a time of crisis. I’m going to try regardless. I have nothing to lose.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

I have been reading the conversations about how reactions to COVID-19 are causing Fiverr orders to slump.

This is not the case across all sellers, or all gig categories. Some people may be experiencing sales slumps that they directly attribute to the coronavirus, however, I know of plenty of other sellers who are doing just fine on the sales end. What a few people claim as their experience, does not apply to everyone. The world (historically) is moving toward the freelance model, and, as such, now (historically) is always a good time to get in on the relative ground level (or at least the “first few floors” 🙂 )

Keep in mind, though, there are no guarantees of success in the freelance world, nor any guarantees that you will make sales here, on Fiverr. There are many factors to success (far too many to list here), therefore, the more seriously you take this freelancing thing, the more willing you are to treat it like a business, and the more determined you are at marketing and self-promotion, the more likely it will be that you find revenue and success.

In terms of the current pandemic, don’t let that stop you from giving freelance work a try. There is far too much uncertainty in that area right now for anyone to know how things will shake out. It could affect you greatly, then again, it might not affect you at all. You’ll never know unless you give it a try.

[mdcrowmusic]

That’s really good to hear! Thank you! I realize that this is going to be a lot work in order to receive results. I’m trying to just start with one gig, and aiming to make it as thoughtful as possible. It’s been a very enjoyable, fulfilling challenge.

[jonbaas]

That’s really good to hear! Thank you! I realize that this is going to be a lot work in order to receive results. I’m trying to just start with one gig, and aiming to make it as thoughtful as possible. It’s been a very enjoyable, fulfilling challenge.

You’re welcome. Have fun, work hard, and always find the joy in each challenge!

[eoinfinnegan]

In addition to what Jon has said above - there’s posts with reasons (excuses?) for why people don’t have sales every day of every week of every year. This month it is Corona virus, a couple of weeks ago it was Fiverr Algorithm messing me up, before that it was the holiday season etc. Sure, I have several NYC based clients who I doubt I will be hearing from any time soon, I have Italian clients who have been quiet, but there are others from other places who have been ordering.
If you have time to have a side-gig then now is the time to start as the more you leave it, the less likely it is to ever happen.

[misscrystal]

Bad time, good time, any time is the right time. It’s free to make gigs on fiverr, so there is no bad time.

There are very few places where you can start a business totally free of any costs. But here it costs nothing to at least try.

[imagination7413]

The only main cost to consider is opportunity cost. The time spent that could but used for something else. This includes time for research and planning, not just the setting up of the gig.

(On that note, be sure you copy any text (description, requirements, faqs) into a desktop document before you leave each section of the gig creation. There’s a tendency for the gig to not save properly, and you can loose a lot of time and effort if it happens.)

[afzaldesigner78]

Hi,
Thanks for sharing your problem but i am getting daily 4-5 orders. No need no worries start your carrier on fiverr and publish your gig and share on social media. And other hand you also right the quantity of coustomers are less now a days.

[articulateasian]

There are some really great points made by everyone above! I think one thing to consider is that there is a huge shift to working remotely around the world and I think we, as online digital freelancers, will benefit from the majority of the workforce moving operations online. Especially those Sellers who “compete” with brick and mortar business have the advantage of already establishing their digital business.

But the truth is that a lot of industries who historically didn’t operate digitally and online, will need to adapt and do so, which makes for an exciting time for certain niches to (as @jonbaas said) get in on the ground floor.

For example, my wife is a therapist and is seeing all of her clients via tele-health as are the majority of mental health professionals. This is a huge shift in how psychotherapy has historically been conducted. But it does two things. One it legitimizes video calls as an effective form of communication. And two, in a global crisis where people will need counseling, it brings on new “consumers” who will only know this mode as the “norm”.

I see this kind of example translating into a number of different freelancing areas. So bottom line, it’s never to late to start freelancing!

[gemmatoscana]

I would just like to add that you don’t get orders as soon as you publish your gig. There’s a sort of lead time (or at least they say). In my case I received the first order after 40/50 days. That said, you should publish your gig already (and be inline frequently, that helps!). The longer you wait, the longer you need to get your first order…unless you’re in a marvelous niche… because consider that when you have no reviews nor orders, it’s quite unlikely that customers will want to pay more than the minimum fee for your services (in my case, the average minimum is 5$…)… 😌 Also these are the normal dynamics. With or without the pandemic…you need to be patient!