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Advice For Sellers (A Buyer's Perspective)

porma9

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porma9 Enthusiast

porma9

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Hi

I have been using fiverr for a few months now. I have worked with a few different sellers and have sifted through probably 100 other sellers via buyer requests. I am pretty much a noob when it comes to fiverr as you can see, but I have a background in accounting and business and customer service, so I think I can offer some direct and transparent advice to sellers—as a buyer. This is all the personal perspective of one person, which may easily vary from your past, present or future experiences. Or I could have just missed something.

-Social proof is important but not always needed. AKA, how I pre-qualify gigs and sellers.
We all like to think we are special wallflowers and the best things since sliced bread. Well…on fiverr…we are one of many. When I search for gigs, I frankly look for gigs with more than 3 or 5 pictures and ones with 4/5 or 5/5 stars with at least 20 ratings.

Conversely, when I get buyer requests, I tend to ignore how many ratings someone has, but I still care about whether the seller has more than just 3 pictures for me to see. Sometimes I dig deeper, which some buyers may or may not do, and message the seller for more info. Then I can assess their willingness to work with me, if they have extra examples they just didn’t share on their gig and their overall fit. In short, to me, the buyer has to demonstrate strongly and clearly in some way that they can fulfill my order. If it’s not via proof of past work and past reviews, honestly, sometimes it comes down to personality and work ethic. No seller or buyer is a mind reader, so ultimately both sides will need to work through bumps in the work to reach the final result. Because of this, willingness to work or a higher interest in the work is important, I think.

You may wonder why I care about personality and work ethic. Well, If I’m gonna pay someone to work for me and I will spend 3 or 7 days with them, why would I want to work with someone I have to “drag to the finish line” or someone with a resistant or unwilling personality? So yeah.

I have worked with some new or relatively new sellers, because other factors besides work experience or prior fiverr sales won me over. Sending messages is a good way to more or less create an interview and assess fit on a deeper level, for both sides. It is also an indirect or direct way of showing willingness to work.

In both cases though, having a lack of relevant examples can be an issue. (It is way, way better to have 10 or 20 examples than 3. If you cannot show this, please have some kind of portfolio available.) Sure, I know what YOU can do. But if whatever you can do is not what I want, then there is little to no incentive for me to use your gig. Describing and showing your gig and work in a way that fits the buyer is way better than showing your work from just your perspective, if that makes any sense. (Your work needs to FIT my need. If I can’t detect that it will fit via the examples or gig description, I will move on/)

Sometimes though, the work you offer is simply the work a buyer does not want, and there isn’t much you can do about that. You can be willing all you want, but your work product may just not be what the buyer needs or wants.

-For god’s sake, read the Request description when viewing buyers’ requests.
I know this is kind of a sore spot for both sides, but when I post a buyer request and get offers that clearly do not fit the description or price, I just skip them. I don’t understand why one would create an offer that isn’t even compatible with the request’s price or description. I get minor differences, but sometimes I have just gotten requests that are very different in terms of work, style or price. Not cool. Please actually READ the description so you can fulfill the requirements. If you can’t…don’t submit the offer in the first place.

-Communication is key.
I have observed over time that sometimes there are delays or bumps or frustration due to a lack of communication. It could be for a variety of things like deadlines, order details, project scope, missing details, misunderstanding details, the power went out for 2 days, etc. Thing is…it’s great that you know that, but if the other side is waiting on your to complete something, giving a heads up would be nice. A preemptive notice looks better than a last minute or late notice that something went wrong. It causes more frustration and more misunderstandings. So, in short, communicate more or communicate more frequently. Couldn’t hurt, I think. It just simply looks better if I get told about a power outage the morning of day 1 rather than the end of day 2 or on day 3. I think this would also reduce the need for revisions by refining/tuning direction early. Trying to fix everything on the last day is kind of a bummer.

If you have questions on something I did not cover here, feel free to leave a comment. Hope this helps to simplify and speed up the process as a whole.

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afarigh Contributor

afarigh

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Hello there!

It’s really nice to get an insight from a buyer’s perspective.

I think for newbies like me, the most challenging aspect of getting orders is not having social proof. However, it’s quite a pet in the back after reading this.

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide valuable insight, means a lot to us.

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porma9 Enthusiast

porma9

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Hello there!

It’s really nice to get an insight from a buyer’s perspective.

I think for newbies like me, the most challenging aspect of getting orders is not having social proof. However, it’s quite a pet in the back after reading this.

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide valuable insight, means a lot to us.

Yeah my own gigs lack social proof too. I would appeal directly to buyers via submitting to their requests and/or messaging them. If you demonstrate you have a detailed or deep understanding of their request, it will stand out a lot. Most of the time, I can tell when someone didn’t read my details, half read them or really read them. If you just try to stand out through search, it’s too hard because other results around you will have more pics and reviews.

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afarigh Contributor

afarigh

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Yeah my own gigs lack social proof too. I would appeal directly to buyers via submitting to their requests and/or messaging them. If you demonstrate you have a detailed or deep understanding of their request, it will stand out a lot. Most of the time, I can tell when someone didn’t read my details, half read them or really read them. If you just try to stand out through search, it’s too hard because other results around you will have more pics and reviews.

I have been trying to follow those exact tips and so far I’ve got one order from several offers I made. I think with a lot offers it’s really difficult to make it stand out.

Or maybe I just started out and being very impatient here; however, I am trying to apply whatever I am absorbing from the forum.

Also, for me buyer requests are hard to come by. It’s not like I have a lot of options to sift through either.

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porma9 Enthusiast

porma9

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I have been trying to follow those exact tips and so far I’ve got one order from several offers I made. I think with a lot offers it’s really difficult to make it stand out.

Or maybe I just started out and being very impatient here; however, I am trying to apply whatever I am absorbing from the forum.

Also, for me buyer requests are hard to come by. It’s not like I have a lot of options to sift through either.

I’ve never asked my sellers about their order history, but they’ve been on the platform for 6 months to 2 years…takes time to ramp things up and build a name for yourself I think (more than a month or two). Try keeping that in mind.

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cynthia_dewi Newbie

cynthia_dewi

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Thank you for the post.
Really insightful for a new member like me. However, when I read your post about the extra samples, I want to ask about it. Is it okay to only share a maximum of 3 of the extra samples that I didn’t share in my gig to show my portfolio? Or, I should share all of my extra samples? I am afraid I can’t share all of my examples, due to my status as a ghostwriter in the past.

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porma9 Enthusiast

porma9

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Thank you for the post.

Really insightful for a new member like me. However, when I read your post about the extra samples, I want to ask about it. Is it okay to only share a maximum of 3 of the extra samples that I didn’t share in my gig to show my portfolio? Or, I should share all of my extra samples? I am afraid I can’t share all of my examples, due to my status as a ghostwriter in the past.

Hi, try to have at least 10 examples in your slideshow or description. Def more than 3 or 5, in my opinion. If you have 20, great.

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nahdhasan20 Mentor

nahdhasan20

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Thank you for the post.

Really insightful for a new member like me. However, when I read your post about the extra samples, I want to ask about it. Is it okay to only share a maximum of 3 of the extra samples that I didn’t share in my gig to show my portfolio? Or, I should share all of my extra samples? I am afraid I can’t share all of my examples, due to my status as a ghostwriter in the past.

Thanks for your valuable advice and tips

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cynthia_dewi Newbie

cynthia_dewi

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Hi, try to have at least 10 examples in your slideshow or description. Def more than 3 or 5, in my opinion. If you have 20, great.

Okay, Thanks :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

It is really helpful because we look at the buyer’s perspective, and you are willing to share some of your experience in here.

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