Fiverr and College Students

[Guest canwrites]

Hi! So I just recently got my sixth order here on Fiverr and I've been thinking a lot about my future here, since I just got my first order about a month ago (crazy luck, I know. I thought it would take me much longer to get here). I know it's probably going to be slow going but I'd like to think that in a couple months I might have a steady stream of orders going (though that may be wishful thinking haha). In addition, I'll be starting my first semester of college as a freshman this fall!

I've been thinking a lot about - if I do have more consistent orders by the time I start - how I'll handle both those orders and transitioning into college life. I wanted to ask your guys opinion on that. Should I put myself on vacation mode for a couple of weeks? Or maybe I should just extend my delivery time to a long amount for a little bit until I get more used to things? Should I put myself as unavailable due to having too many orders at once frequently, if I need it? Or should I limit orders in my queue per gig to a small number (I have six gigs currently, so should I set this to like 2-3?)? Should I set myself on vacation mode during finals week? I’ve been considering just making all of my orders 7 day deliveries (and some of the bigger orders longer) and telling buyers that I just set it so I can balance schoolwork, clubs, and Fiverr, but I’m worried such a long delivery time might scare people off. I mean I think I won’t need 7 days to do so but in case I get a big project at school I want to account for that! 

I want to continue Fiverr throughout school but I also want to focus on my education and do well, and the school I'm going to has a quarter system and is known for being extremely rigorous. How would you go about accomplishing both of these tasks?

Or maybe I'll barely get any orders by that time, lol. Ah, a girl can dream!

Anyway thank you for reading this.

[looseink]

Number One: Your education should come first...no exceptions.

Number Two: Explain in your Gigs that you are a full-time student working freelance as a side hustle (which would be true).

Number Three: Limit the number of orders in your queue.

Number Four: If that doesn't slow things down and you have difficulty juggling both school and Fiverr, take a break from Fiverr.

Number Five: Your education should come first...no exceptions.

[Guest canwrites]

14 minutes ago, looseink said:

Number One: Your education should come first...no exceptions.

Number Two: Explain in your Gigs that you are a full-time student working freelance as a side hustle (which would be true).

Number Three: Limit the number of orders in your queue.

Number Four: If that doesn't slow things down and you have difficulty juggling both school and Fiverr, take a break from Fiverr.

Number Five: Your education should come first...no exceptions.

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate the advice. As for numbers one and five, I fully intend to prioritize my education haha. I just really like working on fiverr, so I'd like to continue if I can. As for number two, how should I bring up that I'm a full-time student? Should I just put it as a note in the top of my gig descriptions or tie it into longer delivery times?

[Guest ligiacarvalho]

The fact that you have a plan in mind, that you are concerned about your future but not compromising your work ethic and the quality of your service says a lot about you. You are on the right track 👏🏻

[leannelrivers]

I second looseink. Your education definitely comes first and your well-being. Having said that, it's fantastic that you're getting orders on Fiverr and have the opportunity to earning money on your own terms through college. If I'd know about Fiverr when I was a student I might not have been killing myself in a restaurant for a hell boss during the evenings. 

Knowing your own line and capacity is important. If I have a lot happening outside of Fiverr, I will set my out of office for a couple of days or extend my delivery times to get a bit of breathing space. It's also great to consider a future with Fiverr but, personally, I wouldn't recommend that anyone throw all of their eggs into this basket. It can be volatile and unpredictable when it comes to orders. But not for everyone!! Anyway, education is important precious and making money is great. Enjoy both and take care of yourself. 

By the way. Once you have a good chunk of reviews under your belt, consider raising your prices. What you're offering is gold at $5. I just finished a TV pilot draft at 55 pages and my writing mentor charged me 75 euros to read it and give notes and I was MORE than happy to pay that. 

[krheate]

13 hours ago, canwrites said:

Should I just put it as a note in the top of my gig descriptions or tie it into longer delivery times?

I would suggest adding it to your bio!

If you're feeling overwhelmed with Fiverr, you can always take a pause for a little and go Out of Office, or you can extend your delivery times. I completely agree with @looseink about education coming first. With a good education, you'll have the chance to pursue many opportunities out there instead of sticking to only Fiverr.

[khalifacyrusuk]

Education comes first - always. 

However, don't stop Fiverr! I've just graduated from University in the UK and I had my most consistent and highest-earning three months during the toughest part of my final year of my degree (Biochemistry). 

How I did it? Increase your price! Don't pause your Gig, don't limit orders and don't go on vacation mode.

What I did: I made music videos for people, usually charging $150. I upped my price to $200 and still received orders. My queue then became busy - so I made it $250. You then end up making the same amount of money, doing half the orders. Just be tactical!

All the best at college, feel free to reach out to chat about this.

[iaarnob]

It is better to explain all things in Gig and descriptions. so that buyers can easily feel your situation of yours. it may help your profile to exclude unwanted cancelation and buyers surely consider the delivery time also.

[meganblake81]

It depends if you like what you do; for example, I finished college (I didn't like college), and now I had nothing to do with the degree.

[felicityrogers]

College is the best idea to make development possible if there are no other ideas. But I agree that if you have a better idea than college, you can certainly not do college.

But what you think about a person like Steve Jobs?

[liamweiss23]

Studying will take up part of your time as long as you can allocate your time to projects. If possible, you can arrange with clients to do projects in the evenings.

[ashik_arifa]

Hi there,

I completely understand your situation because I have experienced the same. So there are few things you need to keep in mind:

1. If you go for vacation mood for more that 3-4 weeks your gig ranking will be affected and it will be hard for you to start again. 

2. If you increase the delivery date for a long period of time you will not get any order and fiverr system will gradually forget your existence and the result is demotion of gig rankings. 

 

So as I am a university student also, what I did that I have increased my gig price significantly 3 times more than my actual price and made the delivery time slightly like 3 days to 7 days. So, what happened I got message from buyers and keep replying them that if you want to order I will need that much time to complete the order. And if someone order directly I did my best to deliver on time during my exams, as a result I gave a reminder to fiverr that yes I am active and communicating with my clients so fiverr system don't forget my existence.  So the best suggestion is increase your gig price and delivery time and if you get any client you can work with them. Managing 3-5 clients in a month wont affect your study in addition you will earn three times more than your usual earnings. 

 

I wish you all the best!