Why you should never use "out of office"

[smashradio]

When working on Fiverr, you’re spending time ranking and improving your gig, constantly doing everything you can to get work and stay visible.

But sometimes, we have to take a step back and chill for a few days.

TL;DR: When going away, instead of using “out of office”, extend your delivery time so that no orders are due while you’re gone. This is an alternative to avoid the negative effects of using “out of office”, like drops in ranking, visibility and response rate, but it requires you to still respond to messages while you’re away.

Cute cats! We love cute cats!1000×630 113 KB

(Photo: Envato Elements)

So what do most sellers do when they need a few days off?

They activate “out of office” mode – (now called "set availability on your profile page, but for the sake of this post I’m gonna keep calling it “out of office”) hoping that their gig will survive being out of search and out of sight for a few days.

When they get back and deactivate out of office-mode it’s time for the wait. Waiting for the gig to get back in search, orders to start rolling in…

After a few days with no orders, it’s easy to start to worry that you might have lost your ranking.

Set your availability437×548 21.2 KB

(You can use out of office, or not. There is an alternative.)

Bit by bit, your gig will probably begin to pick itself up again, but I’ve experienced drops lasting as long as two weeks after deactivating “out of office” before.

So I decided to look for alternatives way back when the mode was called “vacation mode”.

What I’ve learned might sound a bit complicated at first, but it works, and you don’t even have to touch the “out of office”-button!

It’s not a magical solution because one of the reasons why your gig ranking will drop is that you’re not active on Fiverr; you’re not responding to messages, delivering gigs or receiving reviews.

With this solution, you still need to respond to buyers, but you don’t have to do any actual gig deliveries while you’re away. Keep that in mind.

Here’s what I do when I need time off from Fiverr, without touching the “out of office”-button and without having my gigs disappearing from search:

A couple of days before I want to take some time off, I increase the delivery time on all my gigs.

I normally deliver within 24 hours on most orders, so I increase my delivery time so that any order rolling in just before I leave will not run out of time before the day after I come back.

I then adjust this time as needed, based on the amount of work I get.

Delivery time1000×630 28.5 KB

(Increasing your delivery time is easy. Just edit your gig and mange the delivery time according to your time off.)

You can do the same with custom offers (in fact, most of my orders are from custom offers, so they are easy to adapt).

Just make sure to give yourself enough time to deliver all the work when you get back.

If your delivery time is longer, let’s say five days, you would need to start earlier by changing your delivery time to 5 days + the number of days you’re gone, plus some time to finish the gig when you get back.

Just make sure to plan it out properly so that you still have time to finish all orders when you’re back.
If you’re using this method and you offer extra fast delivery on your gigs, make sure to turn it off. I forgot once, and it hurt. :rofl:

I also recommend adding a note to your gig descriptions, explaining that your delivery time isn’t usually this long and that you’re preparing to take a few days off.

You might frighten some people with such an extended delivery time, and they might not want to check your gig out again if they think your delivery time is usually this long. You can also let them know in the description that your delivery time will go back to normal on a specific date.

Here’s the message I put in my gig descriptions:

“I normally deliver within 24 hours on most orders, but at the moment, I’m preparing for a few days off. Fast deliveries will be back on xx.xx.xx. Don’t hesitate to reach out with your questions!”

When using this method, you still need to reply when you get messages. That’s what the app is there for. It doesn’t take long to set up a Quick Response explaining that you’re out of the office for a few days and that you’ll get back to them then.

Quick response1000×630 29.7 KB

(Set up a quick response and make sure you respond to anyone, even when you’re on holiday. If you don’t, your response rate can go down and your ranking will drop.)

Alternatively, you can respond manually to anyone reaching out. If you’re fine doing that, this is your best option. It’s business as usual, except that you’re planning for time and making sure no gigs are due while you’re gone.

Some people will probably say that they don’t want to work while on holiday at all. And that’s fine. If you’re comfortable using “out of office” to avoid having to plan, that’s fine, too!

But in my mind, working on Fiverr is about running my own business. And when you’re running your own business, you sometimes have to work, even on your days off.

What are your thoughts on “out of office”, and what do you do to avoid difficulties when you’re taking time off? Let me know!

P.S. This method has been around for a good while, and I wasn’t the first to come up with it. That being said; I did come up with it on my own!

[smashradio]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

I could. But then again, I enjoy writing longer articles for people who like to read longer articles. I wouldn’t write with SEO in mind on the forum, since there’s no point to that.

Here’s a TL;DR just for you:

Don’t use “out of office”. Extend your delivery time instead. Have a good day!

:rofl:

[donnichols]

I could. But then again, I enjoy writing longer articles for people who like to read longer articles. I wouldn’t write with SEO in mind on the forum, since there’s no point to that.

Here’s a TL;DR just for you:

Don’t use “out of office”. Extend your delivery time instead. Have a good day!

:rofl:

[smashradio]

Yeah I actually got your point after a bit of thinking and decided to withdraw my comment 😆

[obaid360]

When working on Fiverr, you’re spending time ranking and improving your gig, constantly doing everything you can to get work and stay visible.

But sometimes, we have to take a step back and chill for a few days.

TL;DR: When going away, instead of using “out of office”, extend your delivery time so that no orders are due while you’re gone. This is an alternative to avoid the negative effects of using “out of office”, like drops in ranking, visibility and response rate, but it requires you to still respond to messages while you’re away.

Cute cats! We love cute cats!1000×630 113 KB

(Photo: Envato Elements)

So what do most sellers do when they need a few days off?

They activate “out of office” mode – (now called "set availability on your profile page, but for the sake of this post I’m gonna keep calling it “out of office”) hoping that their gig will survive being out of search and out of sight for a few days.

When they get back and deactivate out of office-mode it’s time for the wait. Waiting for the gig to get back in search, orders to start rolling in…

After a few days with no orders, it’s easy to start to worry that you might have lost your ranking.

Set your availability437×548 21.2 KB

(You can use out of office, or not. There is an alternative.)

Bit by bit, your gig will probably begin to pick itself up again, but I’ve experienced drops lasting as long as two weeks after deactivating “out of office” before.

So I decided to look for alternatives way back when the mode was called “vacation mode”.

What I’ve learned might sound a bit complicated at first, but it works, and you don’t even have to touch the “out of office”-button!

It’s not a magical solution because one of the reasons why your gig ranking will drop is that you’re not active on Fiverr; you’re not responding to messages, delivering gigs or receiving reviews.

With this solution, you still need to respond to buyers, but you don’t have to do any actual gig deliveries while you’re away. Keep that in mind.

Here’s what I do when I need time off from Fiverr, without touching the “out of office”-button and without having my gigs disappearing from search:

A couple of days before I want to take some time off, I increase the delivery time on all my gigs.

I normally deliver within 24 hours on most orders, so I increase my delivery time so that any order rolling in just before I leave will not run out of time before the day after I come back.

I then adjust this time as needed, based on the amount of work I get.

Delivery time1000×630 28.5 KB

(Increasing your delivery time is easy. Just edit your gig and mange the delivery time according to your time off.)

You can do the same with custom offers (in fact, most of my orders are from custom offers, so they are easy to adapt).

Just make sure to give yourself enough time to deliver all the work when you get back.

If your delivery time is longer, let’s say five days, you would need to start earlier by changing your delivery time to 5 days + the number of days you’re gone, plus some time to finish the gig when you get back.

Just make sure to plan it out properly so that you still have time to finish all orders when you’re back.

If you’re using this method and you offer extra fast delivery on your gigs, make sure to turn it off. I forgot once, and it hurt. :rofl:

I also recommend adding a note to your gig descriptions, explaining that your delivery time isn’t usually this long and that you’re preparing to take a few days off.

You might frighten some people with such an extended delivery time, and they might not want to check your gig out again if they think your delivery time is usually this long. You can also let them know in the description that your delivery time will go back to normal on a specific date.

Here’s the message I put in my gig descriptions:

“I normally deliver within 24 hours on most orders, but at the moment, I’m preparing for a few days off. Fast deliveries will be back on xx.xx.xx. Don’t hesitate to reach out with your questions!”

When using this method, you still need to reply when you get messages. That’s what the app is there for. It doesn’t take long to set up a Quick Response explaining that you’re out of the office for a few days and that you’ll get back to them then.

Quick response1000×630 29.7 KB

(Set up a quick response and make sure you respond to anyone, even when you’re on holiday. If you don’t, your response rate can go down and your ranking will drop.)

Alternatively, you can respond manually to anyone reaching out. If you’re fine doing that, this is your best option. It’s business as usual, except that you’re planning for time and making sure no gigs are due while you’re gone.

Some people will probably say that they don’t want to work while on holiday at all. And that’s fine. If you’re comfortable using “out of office” to avoid having to plan, that’s fine, too!

But in my mind, working on Fiverr is about running my own business. And when you’re running your own business, you sometimes have to work, even on your days off.

What are your thoughts on “out of office”, and what do you do to avoid difficulties when you’re taking time off? Let me know!

P.S. This method has been around for a good while, and I wasn’t the first to come up with it. That being said; I did come up with it on my own!

So I decided to look for alternatives way back when the mode was called “vacation mode”.

thank you so much for sharing these wonderful tips 😀

if i change gig price and delivery time, will it affect on gig ranking?

[smashradio]

So I decided to look for alternatives way back when the mode was called “vacation mode”.

thank you so much for sharing these wonderful tips 😀

if i change gig price and delivery time, will it affect on gig ranking?

Both your price and delivery time can affect gig ranking because if you raise your price too much, you’ll get fewer orders. You need orders to succeed and rank, so you don’t want to up your price too much, but then again, you don’t want it set too low, either, since you’ll want to earn enough to make a living. Another reason to up your rates might be that your price is too low, attracting problematic buyers.

Increasing your delivery time might also affect your gig in the same way. Since longer delivery times can be viewed as less value to a buyer, it might also affect your ranking.

In my experience, though, it will affect your gig less to up the delivery time than using “out of office”. This is based on my own experience, and it might affect you differently, so I would certainly test out both methods and see which one works best for you! 🙂

[vickiespencer]

I could. But then again, I enjoy writing longer articles for people who like to read longer articles. I wouldn’t write with SEO in mind on the forum, since there’s no point to that.

Here’s a TL;DR just for you:

Don’t use “out of office”. Extend your delivery time instead. Have a good day!

:rofl:

Here’s a TL;DR just for you:

Don’t use “out of office”. Extend your delivery time instead. Have a good day!

:rofl:

I first used you tactic when @eoinfinnegan told about 2 or 3 years ago. But I got tired of the hassle of changing the delivery time on the 9 gigs I have. Therefore, I went back to using the Old OOO now the Unavailable option. I made myself unavailable for 3 days last week for Thursday through Sunday. When I came back on Monday I had the same amount of orders I usually do on Mondays.

I wonder if @eoinfinnegan still uses the method you described.

PS: I know of one seller who goes OOO every weekend and still has orders on Monday.

[smashradio]

Here’s a TL;DR just for you:

Don’t use “out of office”. Extend your delivery time instead. Have a good day!

:rofl:

I first used you tactic when @eoinfinnegan told about 2 or 3 years ago. But I got tired of the hassle of changing the delivery time on the 9 gigs I have. Therefore, I went back to using the Old OOO now the Unavailable option. I made myself unavailable for 3 days last week for Thursday through Sunday. When I came back on Monday I had the same amount of orders I usually do on Mondays.

I wonder if @eoinfinnegan still uses the method you described.

PS: I know of one seller who goes OOO every weekend and still has orders on Monday.

Yes, I know this varies from seller to seller. Might have to do with competition in their niche etc. as well.

I think you should test what works best for you. I have 8 gigs, so I know it can be a hassle. There has been times when I too used out of office but I find that my orders dip a lot in the week following my return, so I’ve seen better results with delivery time changes.

However, this method isn’t just about changing the delivery time, but also about responding to buyers and at least being somewhat active on Fiverr, even though you’re not doing work. So it might be that this is what determines if the method works or not.

[vickiespencer]

Yes, I know this varies from seller to seller. Might have to do with competition in their niche etc. as well.

I think you should test what works best for you. I have 8 gigs, so I know it can be a hassle. There has been times when I too used out of office but I find that my orders dip a lot in the week following my return, so I’ve seen better results with delivery time changes.

However, this method isn’t just about changing the delivery time, but also about responding to buyers and at least being somewhat active on Fiverr, even though you’re not doing work. So it might be that this is what determines if the method works or not.

Yes, I know this varies from seller to seller. Might have to do with competition in their niche etc. as well.

I agree. I have been more analytical concerning my gigs since March, so I started keeping track of my daily and weekly orders. The week after I went OOO, I had more orders than any other week since March.

this method isn’t just about changing the delivery time, but also about responding to buyers and at least being somewhat active on Fiverr, even though you’re not doing work.

I never have just gone OOO without accepting and replying to messages from new and regular buyers, so perhaps that is why I did not take a hit on getting orders. I do not remember if @eoinfinnegan said he took messages or not with his metnod? :thinking:

[smashradio]

Yes, I know this varies from seller to seller. Might have to do with competition in their niche etc. as well.

I agree. I have been more analytical concerning my gigs since March, so I started keeping track of my daily and weekly orders. The week after I went OOO, I had more orders than any other week since March.

this method isn’t just about changing the delivery time, but also about responding to buyers and at least being somewhat active on Fiverr, even though you’re not doing work.

I never have just gone OOO without accepting and replying to messages from new and regular buyers, so perhaps that is why I did not take a hit on getting orders. I do not remember if @eoinfinnegan said he took messages or not with his metnod? :thinking:

We might be onto something here. I haven’t used OOO in a while due to the dips, but it would normally lead to less messages (even if you allow for messages to come through) since you’re not visible in search. Simply having less activity on your gigs can lead to lower visibility.

But if you’re in a niche with less (or not comparable) competition, you would likely have less trouble getting to the top again after being OOO.

Another reason why I don’t like OOO is that it takes you out of the search results, meaning less exposure to new buyers while you’re gone, and you’re also risking that regular buyers think you’re gone from the platform if they can’t find you. So there are other reasons than just order dips to not use it, in my opinion.

But if you have no issues using it I see no reason why you shouldn’t. We all do what we feel is best, and this is simply my method for going away. It can’t and won’t be the right method for everyone. 😃

[vickiespencer]

We might be onto something here. I haven’t used OOO in a while due to the dips, but it would normally lead to less messages (even if you allow for messages to come through) since you’re not visible in search. Simply having less activity on your gigs can lead to lower visibility.

But if you’re in a niche with less (or not comparable) competition, you would likely have less trouble getting to the top again after being OOO.

Another reason why I don’t like OOO is that it takes you out of the search results, meaning less exposure to new buyers while you’re gone, and you’re also risking that regular buyers think you’re gone from the platform if they can’t find you. So there are other reasons than just order dips to not use it, in my opinion.

But if you have no issues using it I see no reason why you shouldn’t. We all do what we feel is best, and this is simply my method for going away. It can’t and won’t be the right method for everyone. 😃

regular buyers think you’re gone from the platform if they can’t find you.

My regular buyers usually contact me through my inbox. 😉

[smashradio]

regular buyers think you’re gone from the platform if they can’t find you.

My regular buyers usually contact me through my inbox. 😉

The same holds true for me, but I know several of my buyers who use search instead. Often that’s the more easily confused individuals to begin with, so they give up more easily, too. :rofl:

[david_post]

I was planning on using this feature if I happen to get order… Now, this informative has just save me. Thanks

[david_post]

We might be onto something here. I haven’t used OOO in a while due to the dips, but it would normally lead to less messages (even if you allow for messages to come through) since you’re not visible in search. Simply having less activity on your gigs can lead to lower visibility.

But if you’re in a niche with less (or not comparable) competition, you would likely have less trouble getting to the top again after being OOO.

Another reason why I don’t like OOO is that it takes you out of the search results, meaning less exposure to new buyers while you’re gone, and you’re also risking that regular buyers think you’re gone from the platform if they can’t find you. So there are other reasons than just order dips to not use it, in my opinion.

But if you have no issues using it I see no reason why you shouldn’t. We all do what we feel is best, and this is simply my method for going away. It can’t and won’t be the right method for everyone. 😃

This is also informative. Thanks

[atik845033]

This is also informative. Thank you so much.

[eoinfinnegan]

Here’s a TL;DR just for you:

Don’t use “out of office”. Extend your delivery time instead. Have a good day!

:rofl:

I first used you tactic when @eoinfinnegan told about 2 or 3 years ago. But I got tired of the hassle of changing the delivery time on the 9 gigs I have. Therefore, I went back to using the Old OOO now the Unavailable option. I made myself unavailable for 3 days last week for Thursday through Sunday. When I came back on Monday I had the same amount of orders I usually do on Mondays.

I wonder if @eoinfinnegan still uses the method you described.

PS: I know of one seller who goes OOO every weekend and still has orders on Monday.

I wonder if @eoinfinnegan still uses the method you described.

Yeah, I haven’t decided on the best approach for these days - I tend to do a mix of either pausing certain gigs with short deadlines or extending them usually. I would always look at recent experiences people have though rather than from a couple of years ago. Fiverr has changed so much in the past couple of years that some things could be completely different.

For all we know, Fiverr listened to Sellers complaining about these issues but never told us of a change!

Another thing I do is to pause/extend gigs but reactivate them for the day before I am ready. I am actually very busy at the moment and am considering whether to change things or not. Changing delivery times could affect ranking like editing can sometimes, OOO could affect it too. My bottom line on these things is to not get too worried about them and do what suits me at the time.

[eoinfinnegan]

Yes, I know this varies from seller to seller. Might have to do with competition in their niche etc. as well.

I agree. I have been more analytical concerning my gigs since March, so I started keeping track of my daily and weekly orders. The week after I went OOO, I had more orders than any other week since March.

this method isn’t just about changing the delivery time, but also about responding to buyers and at least being somewhat active on Fiverr, even though you’re not doing work.

I never have just gone OOO without accepting and replying to messages from new and regular buyers, so perhaps that is why I did not take a hit on getting orders. I do not remember if @eoinfinnegan said he took messages or not with his metnod? :thinking:

I do not remember if @eoinfinnegan said he took messages or not with his metnod? :thinking:

Yeah, I would always accept messages - it’s mainly for keeping existing clients happy who might not check my profile to see whether I’m active. If I don’t respond, they may assume I am being rude or am not interested. They may also be happy to wait for me if I tell them when I am back; otherwise they may find someone else and continue with them until they have reason to come back to me!

[smashradio]

I wonder if @eoinfinnegan still uses the method you described.

Yeah, I haven’t decided on the best approach for these days - I tend to do a mix of either pausing certain gigs with short deadlines or extending them usually. I would always look at recent experiences people have though rather than from a couple of years ago. Fiverr has changed so much in the past couple of years that some things could be completely different.

For all we know, Fiverr listened to Sellers complaining about these issues but never told us of a change!

Another thing I do is to pause/extend gigs but reactivate them for the day before I am ready. I am actually very busy at the moment and am considering whether to change things or not. Changing delivery times could affect ranking like editing can sometimes, OOO could affect it too. My bottom line on these things is to not get too worried about them and do what suits me at the time.

Yes, it might be that they have changed it, but the fact remains that being less active on Fiverr most likely will cause a drop in ranking/visibility/orders, and using the OOO will increase the chance of that by taking you out of the search results, meaning that even though they have changed it, you’ll still dissapear and therefore get less messages etc.

I find it much easier and safer to just increase my delivery time. Whenever I’ve used the OOO I too have reactivated the day before I get back home to shorten the deadzone.

But you’re right: upping your delivery time can also affect gig ranking. I think everyone should test it out for themselves and see what works best for them. I also think there’s situations that calls for the use of OOO, for example if you’re going to be gone for extended periods of time, since setting my delivery time to for example 14 days or longer wouldn’t be very smart, either.

[miiila]

I do not remember if @eoinfinnegan said he took messages or not with his metnod? :thinking:

Yeah, I would always accept messages - it’s mainly for keeping existing clients happy who might not check my profile to see whether I’m active. If I don’t respond, they may assume I am being rude or am not interested. They may also be happy to wait for me if I tell them when I am back; otherwise they may find someone else and continue with them until they have reason to come back to me!

Yeah, I would always accept messages - it’s mainly for keeping existing clients happy who might not check my profile to see whether I’m active. If I don’t respond, they may assume I am being rude or am not interested. They may also be happy to wait for me if I tell them when I am back; otherwise they may find someone else and continue with them until they have reason to come back to me!

I do use out of office, I’m glad that option exists. I usually wouldn’t mind (or even would want, depending on the circumstances) messages from existing or former clients or even actual potential clients, I just sometimes can’t be bothered with having to react to all the annoying spam when I already have reason to use out of office mode, i.e., I don’t activate the box that lets new people contact you when I turn on ooo.

However, while former customers (or even people who contacted you before, perhaps, not sure) always could and sometimes did leave messages while I was in ooo, I just noticed this little text, which does sound as if no messages at all will come through:

OOO_2021-May699×83 7.22 KB

I didn’t receive any messages since I turned ooo on yesterday, but that might have to do with the weekend, too, so I’m not sure if this has changed, or if the wording is wrong, and should be “… from new people until …”, in accordance with that checkbox that I didn’t check when turning on ooo. :thinking:

Since lately, sellers on and off did have issues with customers not being able to accept custom offers while the sellers were in ooo, I’m wondering if it’s indeed not a bug but some change, and whether this wording which sounds so absolute, really means no orders/messages, from nobody, now, but that wouldn’t make sense; customers that I have open orders with, at the least, would have to be able to message, right?

[vickiespencer]

There was one thing about the last time I went OOO (I like that name better) that I did not like.

I went OOO the day I got my last COVID vaccine. Because it made me so tired the first day, I noted that I was going OOO as a precaution that I would be too sleepy to work that day. Fiverr sent an email of my OOO statement and I had a regular buyer contact me immediately and ask for a cancellation because he feared I would not get his work done. I had to reassure him I could and would.

So, be careful how you word your OOO message. From now on I am going to use the generic,
“I am a bit busy,” or whatever the exact wording is.

[moikchap]

One other possible mark against OOO for the sellers: I was negotiating with one seller who entered this mode during negotiations. He asked for a longer due date and I accepted, so he sent a custom offer. The Continue button was greyed out for me. It seems a buyer can’t accept these types of arrangements if you’re in the OOO mode.

Personally, I’ve accepted every due date extension that’s been proposed to me. I don’t feel it’s something sellers should hesitate about. You could also sound the buyer out asking about general project deadlines. I have a sort of “print deadline” of late July. People send me the due date extension requests full of apologies and prostrations, but I never cared about getting in three days to begin with. I have open orders right now for simple $5 watercolours due June 15th because the seller asked for time and it doesn’t impact me. If a buyer knows what they’re doing they’ll have a flexible schedule with room to accommodate sellers. It gives a buyer options when they can offer accommodations. It’s a better practice.

[eoinfinnegan]

One other possible mark against OOO for the sellers: I was negotiating with one seller who entered this mode during negotiations. He asked for a longer due date and I accepted, so he sent a custom offer. The Continue button was greyed out for me. It seems a buyer can’t accept these types of arrangements if you’re in the OOO mode.

Personally, I’ve accepted every due date extension that’s been proposed to me. I don’t feel it’s something sellers should hesitate about. You could also sound the buyer out asking about general project deadlines. I have a sort of “print deadline” of late July. People send me the due date extension requests full of apologies and prostrations, but I never cared about getting in three days to begin with. I have open orders right now for simple $5 watercolours due June 15th because the seller asked for time and it doesn’t impact me. If a buyer knows what they’re doing they’ll have a flexible schedule with room to accommodate sellers. It gives a buyer options when they can offer accommodations. It’s a better practice.

If a buyer knows what they’re doing they’ll have a flexible schedule with room to accommodate sellers. It gives a buyer options when they can offer accommodations. It’s a better practice.

I have the same approach when buying - it’s just a pity that not all do!

[kreativzak]

Thank you for pointing this out @smashradio I would have never guessed that a feature of Fiverr would cause this trouble with the ranking of my gigs.

 

[visualstudios]

Agreed, been saying this for a few years now. Just use pricing / delivery times to control order flow. Don't want to get orders for a few days? Increase delivery times. Don't want to get orders fro an extended period of time? Jack up the prices to the point where nobody will order.