Covid Took a Big Hit to my Fiverr status

[willstauff]

So, perhaps Vacation Mode would of been the lesser of two evils instead of just letting people know I'm in the hospital for 2 weeks with Covid.  Because, that hurt me a lot.  I ended up being late on several orders and had to cancel a few.  Plus, a couple of buyers canceled themselves.  I told them about my Covid situation, they were sympathetic but business is business and they had to cancel.  3 days pass by....where is this dude?  I can't blame them.  

Still thankful I still have my Top Rated Seller Status.  Went down low but not toooo low.  

Here's where I started 
Inbox Response Rate 100%
Order Response Rate 100%

Delivered On Time 100%

Order Completion Rate 100%

 

Here's where I ended up
Inbox response rate 97%

Order Response Rate 98%

Delivered on time 96%

Order Completion 93%

Yikes!  Here's how it affected my work.  I've been trying to get my Audiobook Narration gig off the ground.  It won't show in any search with the keyword "Audiobook" I've added over Twenty 5 Star Reviews to this gig.  Recently added a couple of 100 dollar orders.  In the past, that would take that gig to the front of the page easily.  Not this time,  Based on what I'm reading in forums like this and everywhere else...I'm probably going to be in the doghouse for at least the next 60 days or so....

Any advice 🙂

Will Stauff 

[newsmike]

12 minutes ago, willstauff said:

Any advice 🙂

Hey Will, glad you are over the illness. Are you participating in either promoted gigs, or seller plus?

 

 

[willstauff]

I'm doing promoted gigs.  But, what's seller plus? 

[willstauff]

Put in request for seller plus.  I'm on a waiting list 

[worthy_pixelia]

I can feel you!!!!!!!!!

[smashradio]

Glad to see you're doing better! 

If you have some regular buyers, keep working with them to get your stats up. In time, you'll bounce back from this! But certainly, getting Covid is one of those things that can really hurt your bottom line and destroy businesses. 

I have a plan if that happens: direct to vacation mode. It's not that evil, anymore, to be honest. It used to be, but out of curiosity, I've tried it a couple of times recently, and even though it took a few days to bounce back, it did happen. So I don't think you should fear it as much as before. Certainly preferable to getting late orders and a bad response rate. 

Because of the gig rotations going on, it's difficult to say if you'd rank on the first page for any term because of a few big orders. I did a 2k+ order a while back, and it got quiet the next week. So big orders doesn't get you high up in the results on its own. 

Anyway; keep at it! You'll bounce back from this in no time if you have some regular buyers who can help you get those orders and stats back up. I've been trying to rank my own audiobook gig, but so far, no orders. I'm actually considering removing mine, because I realized that audiobooks aren't my thing unless I get paid.....

(I like long-form, but I earn much more on eLearning)

[newsmike]

2 hours ago, smashradio said:

(I like long-form, but I earn much more on eLearning)

God bless ya, I hate long form. They say that the great DLF, used to occasionally leave his big white limo running outside for a job where he had to lay down like 2-3 sentences. This was before remote sessions and home studios, so he'd ride every day from studio to studio in his chauffer driven limo all over LA. Then he'd joke that he'd just make the monthly payment on it in 3 minutes flat. 

 

[smashradio]

14 minutes ago, newsmike said:

God bless ya, I hate long form. They say that the great DLF, used to occasionally leave his big white limo running outside for a job where he had to lay down like 2-3 sentences. Then he'd joke that he'd just make the monthly payment on it in 3 minutes flat. 

 

I used to hate it, too. But not all that glitters is gold. I used to be so happy when I received a couple of short, commercial spots. You make the rent in 5 minutes. (OK, so I still love those jobs!). But there is something to be said for steady work, too. If I know that, for the next two weeks, I'll be making the following three or four rents on a single project I get that. "aaaaah, everything is safe for the next few months" type of feeling. And it can be pretty relaxing to record long-form, too, because you can sign off and focus on that one project. Not having to deal so much with clients for a while can be a nice break from the usual "why do I need commercial rights if I'm only using it on my website?!?!"-people. 

But audiobooks? It kills my inner child unless I really like the book. It's underpaid, too, which just makes me annoyed while in the booth. Knowing that I'm getting 200 PFH doing that, when I could have done a five minute commercial for triple the amount is enough to make my butt itch. So I leave the booth and give up. SO I quit doing them. I'd consider it if a book from Dan Brown, Stephen King, or J.K. Rowling came along, but most audiobooks these days seem to be stupid self-help gurus on mushrooms-type of books with the same old cliches and metaphors. Yuck. 

I miss DLF. 

[newsmike]

24 minutes ago, smashradio said:

I miss DLF. 

In a world where we're all just poseurs.....

[smashradio]

2 minutes ago, newsmike said:

In a world where we're all just poseurs.....

One man stands alone in his musky booth.....

[abdheshkjha]

On 9/11/2021 at 3:12 AM, willstauff said:

So, perhaps Vacation Mode would of been the lesser of two evils instead of just letting people know I'm in the hospital for 2 weeks with Covid.  Because, that hurt me a lot.  I ended up being late on several orders and had to cancel a few.  Plus, a couple of buyers canceled themselves.  I told them about my Covid situation, they were sympathetic but business is business and they had to cancel.  3 days pass by....where is this dude?  I can't blame them.  

Still thankful I still have my Top Rated Seller Status.  Went down low but not toooo low.  

Here's where I started 
Inbox Response Rate 100%
Order Response Rate 100%

Delivered On Time 100%

Order Completion Rate 100%

 

Here's where I ended up
Inbox response rate 97%

Order Response Rate 98%

Delivered on time 96%

Order Completion 93%

Yikes!  Here's how it affected my work.  I've been trying to get my Audiobook Narration gig off the ground.  It won't show in any search with the keyword "Audiobook" I've added over Twenty 5 Star Reviews to this gig.  Recently added a couple of 100 dollar orders.  In the past, that would take that gig to the front of the page easily.  Not this time,  Based on what I'm reading in forums like this and everywhere else...I'm probably going to be in the doghouse for at least the next 60 days or so....

Any advice 🙂

Will Stauff 

Hi Will, 

I follow you on FB and I do the optimisation based your suggestions. But now there are lots of changes which has been done by Fiverr. There are only one answer i.e, complete as much order as you can and it will help you to make your statics better.

[willstauff]

I have several students who have followed the old methods of optimizing their gigs and it still works.  I could give you a couple of examples.  However, when you take a hit like I did there will be consequences.  Don't give up.  It takes a while to get traction.  To be honest guys now that I'm full time.  I just love being busy.  Good news is I've got a good number of repeat buyers who are keeping me a float plus on top of that my political consultant has gotten me steady work.  Oh by the way @newsmikeI've run across some political commercials you've voiced for 2020.  We have overlapped some of the same circles and Super Pacs and consultant contacts so to speak hahah :) .  Thanks for the advice...and @smashradioI've followed you quite a bit on the forum.  You always have great info to give out.  Thanks for the encouragement! 

[newsmike]

54 minutes ago, willstauff said:

Oh by the way @newsmikeI've run across some political commercials you've voiced for 2020.

I do love election season. They come fast and furious. 

[rachelbostwick]

On 9/10/2021 at 5:42 PM, willstauff said:

I've been trying to get my Audiobook Narration gig off the ground.  It won't show in any search with the keyword "Audiobook" I've added over Twenty 5 Star Reviews to this gig.  Recently added a couple of 100 dollar orders.  In the past, that would take that gig to the front of the page easily. 

If it makes you feel any better, you're now on page one of "audiobook" if one filters out by Top Rated Sellers. If one searches for "audiobook male" there are only two pages of results at all. (Seems like a lost keyword opportunity for a lot of people there.) You're at the very bottom of those two pages but the competition is pretty weak, tbh. You're gonna catch back up in no time.

[willstauff]

@rachelbostwick thank you! 

I appreciate the encouragement 🙂