The most overlooked "tip" for new sellers with no orders.

[newsmike]

The forum is awash with threads from new users who cannot get orders and are seeking advice. The responses offering advice usually range from those who just copy/paste the same few obvious tips, such as "make a nice gig", to SEO tips, and often the dreaded "stay online always" bunk. 

It strikes me that the common thread between those asking for advice and the ones usually answering it (with the exception of a few experienced sellers who make a tireless attempt to help) is.... poor English skills.

Yes. Poor English skills.

I am not trying to offend, but if you look at the threads saying that they cannot get sales, and the army of responses, you will see that English is a problem to varying degrees in almost all of them. From the messages that are essentially gibberish to the ones with small tells, such as "please response me" and endless problems with calling people "dear", etc...

I am not suggesting that you need perfect grammar, but I am saying that you need to be fluent to the point that the buyers feel comfortabele in your ability to understand in the most common situations. So, while gramatically incorrect, it is perfectly acceptable to say "I never got your response," it falls completely flat when you say, "OK Dear, you never response me." And, there are hundreds of these little tells. 

So it seems that in a global marketlace, where one can buy services from any one of thousands of sellers, why would someone not gravitate toward a seller with which they can easily communicate? If your competitor has that advantage, you will probably not succeed. I think we often start analyzing their woes and offer the same advice about checking gig images and descriptions, while maybe, out of politeness, we don't tell them that the most likely issue preventing sales is, poor English skills.

It may be unfair, but human nature is to favor people who seem to be on the same page, and language is all you have on this platform to sell yourself. So English classes to the point of fluency is an investment that will probably help you make the sales you desire.  

  

Edited August 14, 2021 by newsmike

[theratypist]

Mike with the 🔥 content again! 💯 

[riaduddinamin]

while communication it dose not have to be super perfect most of the seller in  fiverr is not a native english speaker ....... but yet your speaking skill has to reach in a minimum level of understanding form both side as client to seller and as a seller to client ... Because when someone is spending money on you gig..... and there is not that bridge of understanding each other understanding of the project key details some criteria which has been avoided because of poor speaking skills.... or as a new seller you didn't bother to ask the buyer ........ and deliverd the job on time just hit and run kinda stuff....... praying for that five star review.. you might not face any issue in the beggining but in the long run you will slip of the road while watching other seller running their horses...... Thank you

[smashradio]

6 hours ago, newsmike said:

It strikes me that the common thread between those asking for advice and the ones usually answering it (with the exception of a few experienced sellers who make a tireless attempt to help) is.... poor English skills.

Yes. Poor English skills.

Indeed. I wrote a post on the same topic a year or so ago. If your English skills suck, I'll automatically assume we'll have communication issues, and someone else will get the order. 

6 hours ago, newsmike said:

I am not suggesting that you need perfect grammar  

I am. At least, I'm suggesting that people should make an effort. It's darn easy to install the Grammarly extension. There's no excuse. Ok, so I wouldn't be bothered by the odd typo here and there (I have them myself), but it's apparent that these people aren't making an effort at all. They don't care. 

6 hours ago, newsmike said:

So it seems that in a global marketlace, where one can buy services from any one of thousands of sellers, why would someone not gravitate toward a seller with which they can easily communicate?

Thank you bro in law! Or was it lawn.. Brotha in lawn! That's it. 

[lenasemenkova]

I thought it was going to be “develop a skill, any skill at all.” 

But taking English classes can also help.

[visualstudios]

Agreed. English proficiency > technical skills in your field in terms of revenue potential long term (provided the first is under a certain threshold and the later over a certain threshold, of course). Communication will impact every facet of your business in a way that hard skills simply can't.

[ageomion]

I absolutely agree with the author of the topic. At the same time, I heard from friends and some bloggers that they know very little English and communicate with the help of a translator. And these people have regular orders.

Edited August 16, 2021 by ageomion

[leannelrivers]

On 8/14/2021 at 5:02 PM, newsmike said:

It strikes me that the common thread between those asking for advice and the ones usually answering it (with the exception of a few experienced sellers who make a tireless attempt to help) is.... poor English skills.

Great post! Thank you. Clients want to know that their time, money, and project are all in safe hands. Competent communication is key to creating trust and getting orders. 

[webdesigneratif]

Thank you for this. This is very helpful. But without the skill of speaking in English what else do you I need for getting my gig ranked. Please make a content on that

[markeewan]

On 8/15/2021 at 1:02 AM, newsmike said:

The forum is awash with threads from new users who cannot get orders and are seeking advice. The responses offering advice usually range from those who just copy/paste the same few obvious tips, such as "make a nice gig", to SEO tips, and often the dreaded "stay online always" bunk. 

It strikes me that the common thread between those asking for advice and the ones usually answering it (with the exception of a few experienced sellers who make a tireless attempt to help) is.... poor English skills.

Yes. Poor English skills.

I am not trying to offend, but if you look at the threads saying that they cannot get sales, and the army of responses, you will see that English is a problem to varying degrees in almost all of them. From the messages that are essentially gibberish to the ones with small tells, such as "please response me" and endless problems with calling people "dear", etc...

I am not suggesting that you need perfect grammar, but I am saying that you need to be fluent to the point that the buyers feel comfortabele in your ability to understand in the most common situations. So, while gramatically incorrect, it is perfectly acceptable to say "I never got your response," it falls completely flat when you say, "OK Dear, you never response me." And, there are hundreds of these little tells. 

So it seems that in a global marketlace, where one can buy services from any one of thousands of sellers, why would someone not gravitate toward a seller with which they can easily communicate? If your competitor has that advantage, you will probably not succeed. I think we often start analyzing their woes and offer the same advice about checking gig images and descriptions, while maybe, out of politeness, we don't tell them that the most likely issue preventing sales is, poor English skills.

It may be unfair, but human nature is to favor people who seem to be on the same page, and language is all you have on this platform to sell yourself. So English classes to the point of fluency is an investment that will probably help you make the sales you desire.  

  

Communication is very important for the online marketplace as you state, but I do love being call "Sir" in communications.

It is a very Philippine way of talking and makes me feel so important.

I love it.

[imagination7413]

3 hours ago, markeewan said:

Communication is very important for the online marketplace as you state, but I do love being call "Sir" in communications.

If you're personally fine with being addressed with 'sir', nothing wrong with that. The problem is when it's default. Many ladies prefer to not be called 'sir'.

[markeewan]

38 minutes ago, imagination7413 said:

If you're personally fine with being addressed with 'sir', nothing wrong with that. The problem is when it's default. Many ladies prefer to not be called 'sir'.

The default of course for ladies would be Ma'am and unless it is a cut and paste response then you should be addressed appropriately, otherwise you can be rightly indignant.

My pet peeve is "wanna"; enough said.

Edited August 29, 2022 by markeewan
typo

[fahadislamjuel]

I think Google translate or some other AI will partially solve the English skills problem. It is easy to use and works fine. 

In the meantime, they should invest in English skills.

Thanks. 

[imagination7413]

23 minutes ago, fahadislamjuel said:

Google translate or some other AI will partially solve the English skills problem. It is easy to use and works fine. 

Only if you have a VERY good understanding of a language. There are a few very common translations errors I've seen time and time again, such as gig/concert, contact/knock, and Fiverr/fever, fiber.

Plus Google translate can't help at all with colloquialisms.

[amy2220]

As a proofreader on Fiverr, I agree with this 100%. Don't let spelling or grammatical errors detract from your message (or request for help)!

[markeewan]

For many people that have English as a second language, then their expression is a function of the education they received. 

But you know what, they can usually express themselves better in English than I can in Chinese, or Thai, so don't be too negative on them.

If someone comes to me with an order and I can understand what is required, then I will fulfill it; poor grammer or not.