Keeping things in perspective!

[frank_d]

Hey everyone!

I’m pretty sure that by now most sellers on the platform are experiencing a slump in sales, or even project cancellations, due to what appears to be the first wave of COVID-19 related market jitters.

I am getting very few inquiries, close to 0 sales, and I just had a UK start up inform me that they will not be paying the remainder balance on my invoice as they are entering a sort of hibernation mode to protect investors. (this was a recently completed project via my personal company not Fiverr, and it means I won’t be receiving several thousand of dollars. Dollars I was counting on receiving.)

Most of my large scale projects on Fiverr have been put on hold, and long term contracts are being cancelled left and right.

I just delivered my last active order on the platform, and the lack of leads currently is rather intimidating.

I am not panicking however, not just yet.
That doesn’t mean I think we just need to be patient, waiting for this whole ordeal to blow over.

This seems to be one of those rare cases where the entire game is changing and freelancers, small and medium sized businesses need to either adapt or die.

What we can do during this time:

1. Cut down on expenses.
Eliminate most non-essential costs for your business and household.

2. Try to get paid, ASAP.
If you have open orders that you have yet to deliver, jump on them ASAP. Work a few extra hours if need be, try to increase output without sacrificing quality. You will need to get as much money as possible, as quickly as possible so that you can create a reserve for the coming months. If you have on-going projects, offer your clients the incentive to pay you upfront by offering a discount, as monthly retainers and per project based payments are riskier right now.

3. Think strategy
Use your downtime to think ahead. No one can predict how things will look a month from now, but assume that whatever it was you were doing right now, will probably not work the same. For example: there may not be a market for $4k+ Pro explainer videos, so I need to rethink what I will offer and at what price point.

4. Don’t panic
Do not start slashing prices just yet. If you think the market can’t bear your price, tweak your offering, not just the price tag. Offer less for less is what I am saying, make your service more attainable.

5. Consistency is key
Keep a tight schedule. Even if you aren’t actively working on a project, wake up the same time you always do, don’t change your routine. Now is the time to work on all the stuff you were postponing (updating your portfolio, re-wording your description, updating your profile) and keeping yourself busy with new tasks: learn a new skill, start posting on social media, try to read as much as possible.

And finally keep things in perspective.
Just because people are not buying my gigs right now, doesn’t mean I am worth less.

I worked too hard to get where I am now, and I don’t intend on giving up just yet.

Here’s a small example of how much I’ve progressed during my journey on Fiverr:

This is the very first custom animated video I made for a client on Fiverr:

I sucked big-time

I got $80 for it in 2014.

Here’s a video I just wrapped up for Microsoft Europe, 3 days ago:

I now suck a little less

I got paid several thousand dollars for it.

Sometimes it’s good to just stop for a second, and look at where we are now vs where we started.

Please feel free to post your own samples of work, one of your very first projects vs one of your latest ones.

I am here if you want to talk strategy or of you just want to vent.
I will try to help any fellow Fiverr sellers need it.

I can definitely organize a zoom.us chat room if you want to talk about this whole ordeal or if you need any advice on either crisis management or your gigs.

Let me know if you are interested, my schedule is suddenly wide open. 🙂

EDIT:
If anyone needs any help with ANYTHING, please reply to this post.

Do NOT message me on Fiverr, you will be reported for spam.

Stay safe, let’s keep things in perspective.

[cherboub]

“The impediment to action advances the action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

-Marcus Aurelius

[frank_d]

“The impediment to action advances the action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

-Marcus Aurelius

That’s a great way to look at things right now.

[hinajehan]

My orders are fine, my repeat buyers are ordering and I got a few orders from new buyers too.

[frank_d]

My orders are fine, my repeat buyers are ordering and I got a few orders from new buyers too.

That’s great news for you.

Having a $5 price point is definitely helping.

You have more time to prepare, if you choose to acknowledge that hard times are coming.

[melanielm]

Great post. I’m firmly focused on #3 right now. So many other projects have fallen by the wayside when my Fiverr biz kept me busy. Not only does positive action improve things for the future, it helps keep your mind off unpleasant realities.

[frank_d]

Great post. I’m firmly focused on #3 right now. So many other projects have fallen by the wayside when my Fiverr biz kept me busy. Not only does positive action improve things for the future, it helps keep your mind off unpleasant realities.

It doesn’t hurt to prepare for the future.

In fact even if I am wrong, it will still benefit you if you enter a phase of over-correction.

You are also right to try to stay positive, but you also want to stay aware of the situation and avoid going in denial.

[misscrystal]

Thanks for this much needed calm outlook on what’s happening now.
It’s so easy to bounce from panic to denial and back again.

We have so much to think about and things to do in our personal lives, it’s hard to make plans for our online business, but as you say,
I too have worked much too hard for too long on this to
not take some careful actions to correct things as much as possible.

I haven’t come to any conclusions about what that might be so far.

[frank_d]

Thanks for this much needed calm outlook on what’s happening now.

It’s so easy to bounce from panic to denial and back again.

We have so much to think about and things to do in our personal lives, it’s hard to make plans for our online business, but as you say,

I too have worked much too hard for too long on this to

not take some careful actions to correct things as much as possible.

I haven’t come to any conclusions about what that might be so far.

I don’t have any answers as of yet myself.

This is a process.

All we can do is make some well researched assumptions and act on them pre-emptively.

We need to stay safe, so not getting ourselves and others sick is still job #1.

But we also need to prepare for the recession that is sure to follow.

Remember: we are still in the shock phase.