TRS Tells Us To Always Be Available (Even At Night)

[zero_doshomik]

so, is it possible to work like a regular office worker 8/9/10-5/6pm in weekday? 

But for good health, response rate, alive in 24/7, one of the main barrier is TIMEZONE!

 

[miiila]

9 minutes ago, frank_d said:

what’s the number?? 

Enough to pay a team of live-in butlers 24/7/365 to take your Fiverr calls for you, and only wake you up for the really important ones.

Personally, I'd be more than happy enough with a third of that, working just a third of a day, doing something else another third, and just sleeping in peace for the remaining third. I can't imagine how that number is possible without being a reseller/outsourcing stuff anyway, so I'm pretty sure when you're at that point, you could even pay someone to handle your account in the night hours who wouldn't mess it up, so I don't really understand why someone would want to live under such nightly dread, but unfortunately, I could only watch the start of the webinar - ironically because I had a "live gig" - and when I could tune back in, it was already over, so I missed the Q&A.

The part I could watch seemed a bit inconsistent, he said the webinar was for new sellers (in which case the stay awake and such might make more sense, to get going and all, but going from OP's screenshot, it seems to say he's doing that even now) but at the same time, the screen showed some points re what buyers are looking for, one of them being 5K reviews.

Anyway, more power to him, and I hope he is and will stay somewhat healthy, it sure sounds like a very stressful life.

[frank_d]

11 minutes ago, miiila said:

Enough to pay a team of live-in butlers 24/7/365 to take your Fiverr calls for you, and only wake you up for the really important ones.

OK now you are going to make me look for a link to watch the whole thing.

[eoinfinnegan]

I think the TSR dude may have forgotten that correlation doesn't mean causation. 

He may still have become TRS while getting 10 hours of sleep, beginning the day with a run, 2 hours of yoga and a McDonald's breakfast.

Truth is though, I would imagine that it may lead to a couple more sales; I know when I have done similar I have got some "We need this done now, yes we will pay the extra cost" sales from it. However, in those instances, I think a key part of it was that they wanted ME at that time and that was why they were so willing to pay the extra. 

Then the matter of what you want comes into play. If I was offered the chance to triple my income by doubling my workload, I would turn it down. It just isn't worthwhile being that busy. Sure, I have done it in spurts for a short period and got the rewards. But then I take time off to recover.

One thing that is often under-mentioned, is the idea of time zones and target audience. For those of us living in the same time zone of most buyers, it may not occur to us that those in Asia would need to work outside their hours to be online when most businesses in the US and Europe are online. It may be an idea for those people to adjust their life schedule to be available to respond to messages quicker. 

[miiila]

5 minutes ago, frank_d said:

watch the whole thing.

 

Good! If you watch and don't sleep but are up anyway, your loud computer won't startle you as much 😉

 

I kind of miss the old forum option to be able to reply to posts without having to quote. 

[uk1000]

32 minutes ago, miiila said:

the screen showed some points re what buyers are looking for, one of them being 5K reviews.

Though that TRS has about 338 reviews. So the buyers can't always be looking for 5K reviews/it can't always be necessary.

Also most of the TRS who gave the talk's gigs have a 30 day delivery time. Surely buyers who know the delivery will take 30 days  (or lots of days) won't mind as much about very fast response times. eg. it will likely be the buyers who want the delivery in a day or less that would be most likely to want a very fast response.

Also maybe the talk should have given some stats to show that you need a very fast response time if that was the case, instead of just saying it as a fact. Though maybe there weren't any stats to show that a very fast response time really helps that much (ie. that there's probably no need to wake up in the night to answer messages quickly) - as well as the fact that lack of sleep will be bad in the long run.

[krheate]

2 hours ago, miiila said:

I watched the start of the webinar, good I didn't watch to the end then and can continue to sleep to rain sounds or music instead of laptop fan white noise and jolting beeps.

Haha! The rest of the webinar was pretty good, but it wasn't that informational (for me). I think it was aimed at brand new sellers because it mostly covered the basics of setting up and gig and selling on Fiverr.

 

2 hours ago, miiila said:

I must say I'm surprised about the statement from the screenshot in the opening post, though, with the kind of earnings he has, it's no surprise that he'd run a 24/7 shop but I'd have thought he could easily pay someone to not sleep in peace in his stead. 

That's what I was thinking too! I googled his Fiverr username, and it turns out that he also runs his own business.

2 hours ago, frank_d said:

what’s the number??

He made 60K in June. 

[vickiespencer]

What service does he offer?

[krheate]

1 hour ago, eoinfinnegan said:

Truth is though, I would imagine that it may lead to a couple more sales; I know when I have done similar I have got some "We need this done now, yes we will pay the extra cost" sales from it. However, in those instances, I think a key part of it was that they wanted ME at that time and that was why they were so willing to pay the extra. 

That is true. I've missed a chance to work with some buyers because I was sleeping and they needed the work done within a few hours. 

1 hour ago, eoinfinnegan said:

One thing that is often under-mentioned, is the idea of time zones and target audience. For those of us living in the same time zone of most buyers, it may not occur to us that those in Asia would need to work outside their hours to be online when most businesses in the US and Europe are online. It may be an idea for those people to adjust their life schedule to be available to respond to messages quicker. 

I think that's why most of my buyers happen to be located in the USA (where's I'm located). Being in the same time-zone as your buyer definitely helps communication-wise. Once, I had a buyer who was located in South Korea I think, and I was always sleeping when she was awake, and she was sleeping when I was awake 😄 But we were able to make it work!

1 hour ago, miiila said:

and when I could tune back in, it was already over, so I missed the Q&A.

They emailed the attendees with a link to watch the recording of the session, in case that helps!

1 hour ago, miiila said:

I kind of miss the old forum option to be able to reply to posts without having to quote. 

Me too 😔

1 hour ago, miiila said:

the screen showed some points re what buyers are looking for, one of them being 5K reviews.

Yeah, and all the gigs that were using as examples were Fiverr's Choice, TRS, 1K+ reviews, online sellers, etc. It was basically like the perfect all-in-one gig.

11 minutes ago, vickiespencer said:

What service does he offer?

SEO stuff. (like SEO content, setting up SEO, etc.)

Sorry, I responded to all of the comments out of order lol!

[eoinfinnegan]

1 hour ago, krheate said:

 

 

1 hour ago, krheate said:

SEO stuff. (like SEO content, setting up SEO, etc.

Ahh, explains a lot. I see so many Pros, TRS and high volume sellers who are clearly outsourcing these services to the third world. I mean when all their purchases are related to the service they offer it's kinda obvious. 

I would imagine that 60k is lessened by what they spend on buying the services then. Would explain why they haven't hired someone to manage things for them. 

[mariashtelle1]

8 hours ago, krheate said:

I attended a Fiverr event called "Speaker Series: Supercharged Selling Tips & Tricks from a Top Rated Seller". It was hosted by a TRS who is actively selling on Fiverr. Here's one of his slides from the presentation:

 

He also talked about how we have to always be ready to respond immediately, or we'll lose clients. On the Forum, we always talk about how staying online 24/7 won't help with sales, but then stuff like this comes up...

And I'm surprised to be hearing this from a TRS!

Oh hello anxiety, nervous tic and mental health issues 🤞

working hard and working smart are totally different things. 

[mariashtelle1]

3 hours ago, eoinfinnegan said:

One thing that is often under-mentioned, is the idea of time zones and target audience. For those of us living in the same time zone of most buyers, it may not occur to us that those in Asia would need to work outside their hours to be online when most businesses in the US and Europe are online. It may be an idea for those people to adjust their life schedule to be available to respond to messages quicker. 

 Nope, I moved from Europe to Asia 3 years ago and 95% of my clients are still in the US or Europe. I do work office hours and I don’t stay awake at night and my income is more than it used to be. 
of course I have an app and if it’s a simple question I can answer it even at 10pm just because I have phone in my hand anyway and it will take me only 30sec to respond, but I don’t work at my night. 
 

yes, it does take longer to respond if I’m asleep but most people in Europe and US have similar values with downtime and disconnecting from work 

[asad931]

9 hours ago, krheate said:

to be online for 17 hours, etc.

TRS sellers say this because maybe they live in Asia zone. 

 

9 hours ago, vickiespencer said:

I get on my computer at about 7 am and log off at about 9 pm and get a good nights sleep.

It's easy for you because you live in the USA. If I turn on my PC 7am-9pm, I will miss the USA buyer response. USA time different (10 hour) of Bangladesh. 

 

I noticed that some seller active on fiver 18+ hours. Because they have a team/some sellers use ''auto refresher extension''. Single sellers can't active on fiverr 18+ hours. If single sellers try to active 18+ hours, they lost their fitness and suffer their health.

I know we are human and we need sleep. But if you active on fiverr for short time (6/7 hour), you get very low gigs impressions. When you try to active 14+ hours, your gigs impression increase day by day.  I noticed this matter. 

So now what to do, I am? So, I sleep 10pm - 4am (BD). And I try to active other time on fiverr (13/14 hour). Because these times will cover the USA time.

 

[vickiespencer]

46 minutes ago, asad931 said:

It's easy for you because you live in the USA. If I turn on my PC 7am-9pm, I will miss the USA buyer response. USA time different (10 hour) of Bangladesh. 

I understand. Most of my orders are from USA buyers. However, many of my east coast USA buyers are online and ordering 3 hours before I even hop out of bed. Besides that many of my west coast, Hawaii and Alaska buyers stay up way past the time I shut down for the night. But I still get orders.

You do not have to be online to get orders. The kind of buyer who wants to hire an online seller is usually in a hurry and I do not like to work that way. I do have two gigs for 24 hour delivery, but they are for work I can get done quickly.  

 

[thewritingbuff]

I have ADHD. I am chronically exhausted. I need a minimum of 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep to remain functional for the rest of the day.

This is the worst kind of advice.  

[eoinfinnegan]

I have work to do. 

I'm going to be late on an order. 

I'm on my way to meet friends for cocktails and to show them my new place. 

I've spent 18 months in various degrees of lockdown. 

I havent been to a bar in that time. 

I'm ok with not putting the customer first. 

To paraphrase Robin Williams

"Working all night and depriving yourself of sleep may seem like or be a noble pursuit in work, but going out, meeting friends, enjoying life, this is what we work for"

[andrewcarpen756]

Like any advice, it is always good to take it with a pinch of salt however I totally understand this mindset, not that I endorse it but we all have the choice to work how it best suits us. 

I firmly believe that freelancer is evolving and especially since the pandemic more types of people are taking this lifestyle up and brining in skills/habits not so common in the industry. I myself came from the corporate world, so waking up at 3am answer an email is nothing new or stopping what I am doing (even pleasure or relaxing) to work has been my life for the last 7+ Years. At a certain point it just becomes normal life and believe me from my experience Fiverr is a walk in the park compared to that environment which I was personally used to. The same could be said about my role by the likes of investment bankers, stock brokers etc those guys make my experience look like a picnic, it is all relative.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, you take too much free time you might have less orders, you take on too much work and you risk burning out. Do what works best for your goals, mindset and health. 

 

[melanielm]

I'm actually a bit disturbed to see a representative of Fiverr here saying that waking up in the middle of the night and disrupting sleep to answer Fiverr messages is a good thing that shows dedication.

I personally think it's incredibly unhealthy and smacks of everything that's wrong with the working world today: expectations of 24-hour access, compromising health in a potentially serious way just so you can stay viable, poor separation of work and personal time, etc.

 

[genuineguidance]

This advice sounds akin to working on an Amazon assembly/conveyor belt line - cannot go to the potty when you need to, need to move so many packages or you are in trouble etc. Sounds like communism to me. Nope. I will NEVER wake up in the middle of the night to answer a "hi there!" message on Fiverr. I LOVE sleeping too much! I mean, I REALLY love to sleep!

The sad thing is, new sellers who are desperate will look at this TRS who obviously has a crew to do the work for him some of the time, so he or she is not answering those messages in the middle of the night - will think if they just do that one thing - stay online 18 hours or more a day - that it will lead to 60k a month or at least a sale. Nope.

Did I mention how much I love to sleep!!! 🥰

GG

[krheate]

14 minutes ago, genuineguidance said:

The sad thing is, new sellers who are desperate will look at this TRS who obviously has a crew to do the work for him some of the time, so he or she is not answering those messages in the middle of the night - will think if they just do that one thing - stay online 18 hours or more a day - that it will lead to 60k a month or at least a sale.

I was worried about that too. Sellers (especially new ones) will start to think that they can make that much money from the start if they just stay online and respond to every single message immediately.

16 minutes ago, genuineguidance said:

Did I mention how much I love to sleep!!! 🥰

Haha! Gotta get that beauty sleep 😁

9 hours ago, vickiespencer said:

Most of my orders are from USA buyers. However, many of my east coast USA buyers are online and ordering 3 hours before I even hop out of bed. Besides that many of my west coast, Hawaii and Alaska buyers stay up way past the time I shut down for the night. But I still get orders.

Same! I'm located in the EST time zone, but I still get orders from PST time zone buyers, even though I'm usually sleeping when they message me (so it takes me extra time to get back to them). I've also gotten orders while I'm sleeping from people who live across the world, so being online doesn't help with getting orders. Unless, like @vickiespencer said, the buyer is looking for rush delivery.

10 hours ago, asad931 said:

TRS sellers say this because maybe they live in Asia zone. 

This TRS seller is actually located in the United States.

[looseink]

What a load of bunk!

Sure, we live in a society where the most ambitious thrive and the internet has turned things that used to be worth waiting for into instant gratification machines.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is worth losing sleep over.