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Handling Fiverr Seller Burn-out

hotwebideas

By hotwebideas
in Tips from Sellers

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aingham69 Newbie

aingham69

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It’s gone a little off but I thought I’d share what I do when I get seller burnout (and not just on Fiverr).


  1. for Fiverr, I extend my delivery times usually by three or four days. I know my burnouts last a couple of days and then I need a day to get back into the swing of writing for others so I want to counter all of that.
  2. Take a day away from the computer and spend it on yourself. I spend the day playing with my daughter, take her outside in her buggy and have a bath on the night and read a book.
  3. Spend the burnout time doing what you want to do. Don’t worry about anything else. If you keep worrying then you’ll just continue with the burnout.



    I suffered really badly from burnout a couple of years ago. We were so worried about money that I worked constantly (16 hour days) for four months. The only time I got away from the computer was to eat something (if I really had to), get drinks etc. I didn’t take breaks if I could help it just so that I could keep working and take on as many assignments as possible. My husband and his mum had to force me to take a day off work on Easter Sunday to go to the beach with them that year and then I was back at the computer as soon as I was home. After I realised what it was doing and how much I was suffering, I took a week off but that’s the longest that I’ve taken off (apart from maternity leave).



    My tip would be to take the steps to prevent seller burnout:


  4. Take regular breaks. Staring at a computer screen isn’t good for you. After every 30-45 minutes at the computer, take at least a 10 minute break. I make sure I have a 10 minute break completely away from my PC once an hour. It may make my day slightly longer but it is worth it to relieve the stress on my eyes, spend some time with my daughter and feel better about moving onto the next piece of work (or get on with the work I was doing)
  5. Allow yourself to have a day off. I schedule at least one day off a week (always on a Wednesday). I try to take Sundays off too but that is one day I don’t mind working if I have to but I’ll limit it to a couple of hours. My days off are spent away from the computer or on forums if I am online. I don’t touch work and try really hard not to talk to clients/buyers (although I start to feel guilty and will reply to messages as long as they’re short and I can do it from my phone.
  6. Have projects of your own to work on. I’ve found that a lot of my burnout involves working for others - I don’t want to do the work for others when I could be doing it for myself. I always have projects on the go. At the moment I have two websites that I’m starting, six blogs, five sites that I regularly post my own content on to create residual income, my law studies and what my husband calls my fun writing (absolutely no profit and just doing it for, well, fun!). I have to have these projects so there’s always something for me to do for myself when I suffer from burnout. I also like to read and have a pile of books waiting for me to get to.
  7. Space work out over a series of days. I don’t have any 24 gigs except two - my tip gig and one that involves me sending my own product so are easily completed for me. I make sure that my work is spaced out and my delivery dates work with how I like to space out my work. I do ask buyers to contact me if they are placing more than 4 orders at a time but it doesn’t always happen so instead of cancelling I leave enough leeway for that too.



    They’re just my tips and I know this post has turned out long (sorry for that).



    Good luck everyone! I had an empty queue when I stopped work Tuesday and will be starting work tomorrow with 18 orders or so in the queue that need to be spaced out to work with my private clients.



    Hope the above helps people to deal with and avoid seller burnout. Those who don’t suffer from it - lucky you! No matter how much I love what I do, it sometimes gets to me.
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freestyle25 Newbie

freestyle25

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Reply to @hotwebideas:



I guess they can’t make it unlisted. Here’s what they told me:



"Unfortunately, the only option we currently offer is to suspend the Gig. Please note that the act of suspending the Gig does not affect the Gig’s position in search. There are a wide variety of factors that affect where a Gig appears in search, so we cannot guarantee where it will appear once it has been activated again."



I don’t know how helpful that was. I have to wonder if response time is a factor too. I saw a gig that was above mine in rankings despite the fact that I had more reviews, collections, level 2 standing, and gigs in my queue. The only difference was that my estimated time was 5 days rather while the other was 3 days. That makes sense I suppose. Rankings seem to be based on reviews and delivery time. Perhaps there are other factors but it makes sense to weigh those two criteria more heavily. Of course, this is all speculation…



And for the sake of getting back on topic, here’s my tip to avoid seller burn-out:



Spend some time sitting and doing nothing. Seriously. Sit until you feel motivated to get work done. It’s very relaxing. Because my body is calm, my mind feels the same way. I often forget that my actions influence my thoughts. There’s research that says if you physically smile, even for no reason and even if it feels fake, you’ll soon be mentally happier. So if you’re physically calm, your mind will follow.

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Guest lisha5684

Guest lisha5684

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Those are great tips hotwebideas. And I didn’t realize that suspending a gig lowered search rankings. I suspend my gigs almost once a week (when I get burnt out, lol!)



I am in the middle of a burnout right now! I feel like sometimes I just have way too many orders. Or a lot of the time, I am just burnt out on messaging people, not actually doing a service for someone.



Sometimes I wish I could just do the gigs without messaging the same thing to everyone.



I’ve tried writing up my own FAQ for certain gigs that get more questions, but then the problem is that everyone’s question is different and I don’t want to bombard a simple question with a huge FAQ sheet.



So my biggest problem is answering messages. Anyone else feel like this takes up more time than just completing gigs for people?


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hotwebideas Enthusiast

hotwebideas

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freestyle25 said: guess they can't make it unlisted. Here's what they told me:

 

"Unfortunately, the only option we currently offer is to suspend the Gig. Please note that the act of suspending the Gig does not affect the Gig's position in search. There are a wide variety of factors that affect where a Gig appears in search, so we cannot guarantee where it will appear once it has been activated again."

 

Thanks, Emily. That makes sense. I was just iterating what I heard around this forum, but you got it straight from the horse's mouth, so it's official. Suspending gigs does not ruin search rankings ;)

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hotwebideas Enthusiast

hotwebideas

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lisha5684 said: So my biggest problem is answering messages. Anyone else feel like this takes up more time than just completing gigs for people?

 

Hey Lisha, yes I understand that. Answering questions is just part of being a seller on Fiverr and I assume that it would be hard to make any sales without at least one question from my buyers.

 

Here is the good thing about answering questions: You make your potential buyer more comfortable with you. If they ask a lot of questions, it may be because they got burnt by other sellers or somewhere else. I feel that the more questions you answer, the more comfortable the buyer gets with you as a seller.

 

I have a buyer now who has asked me over 7 questions without purchasing one gig from me as of yet. I just hang in there and hope for the best!

 

I hope this helps.

Bruce

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junoteam Newbie

junoteam

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I have to many orders and i have my own job so really stressful sometimes => couldn’t take care good family => so i had to pause my gig too many times and i didn’t know "Suspending gigs lowers your search rankings"



How about the feather gig?



Best,

Junoteam.

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contaythehero Newbie

contaythehero

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I was staring at 15 songs to do, 13 Press Release/Bio’s to write on top of my college school work, (cal 3 is a pain in the buttocks) and still delivered perfection to them. I’m not gonna lie. I’m late at times but I always communicate with my buyers and let them know that I’ll be late no more than a few hours usually…some extreme moments when it was a few days…but I’m such an awesome person and communicate well with my buyers, (that and I’m always genuinely intrigued by their project), so they are at ease that they will be getting a product above and beyond anything they will find elsewhere if given the same task. ESPECIALLY THE MUSIC I DO! But great discussion though! P.S. I’M STILL ROCKING 100% RATING BABY! CONTAY!

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ryangillam Apprentice

ryangillam

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I always communicate with sellers if I will be a little bit late, all of the time they say it is fine based on my feedback 🙂 Never knew about the suspending removing it from listings though, which I guess explains why I get little orders past few days. Although I am rated number 8 in website content for rating, which helps.

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shaunbaird Newbie

shaunbaird

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I suppose it depends on what we’re doing. Writing can quickly cause burnout - depending on the topic, it either comes quickly for some subjects, slowly for others and you feel under pressure. Gigs for funny videos would certainly appeal to me, but I chose writing due to needing cash quickly (after I purchased my partner a new car at christmas!)

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bbbcorbitt Newbie

bbbcorbitt

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Very good suggestions and comments on here! Love Fiverr!



I want to add my 2 cents to the discussion because I am a Level 2 Fiverr Seller and Fiverr is probably 70% of my overall income. Newbies…I promise you…I promise you can make a very good living with Fiverr.

For me personally what I have done is actually establish a set routine for my gig order production. I treat my Fiverr business just like I would a Job. I get up in the morning…do my personal workout routine…have my morning coffee and then report to “Fiverr work” by a set time. For me it’s usually about 9:00. First I check my revenue status then before I get to production I check orders and I answer the emails. Then I get to work. Sometimes I will work all day (but I take a lunch break) and I will work (depending on the number of orders) until 10 or 1l at night but I will cut off at a certain time. It’s hard to do sometimes but you have to because you will get burn out. Always leave at least 1 day for a day off…and don’t do fiverr. Spending personal time and enjoying life is one of the advantages of having a Fiverr account anyway. Also give yourself plenty of time for production of your orders and that way you won’t have to suspend a gig. I also have clients (because that is what they are) contact me before they order so there is very little doubt or confusion about what is to be expected also and it has worked for the most part. Of course not everyone will contact you beforehand but many do and it is a big help!

My advice is remember …“You control your gigs”…your gigs don’t control you!" and…my motto to my clients is “underpromise and overdeliever”. Have fun with Fiverr because it truly can offer you not only financial freedom but personal lifestyle as well. I am level 2 fiverrer and working to top status but heck even at level 2 this is soooooooo awesome!

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vpix360 Newbie

vpix360

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There is seller burn out and this can happen for a variety of reasons. And it’s easy to fix. Maybe you’re promising Gig turn around in 3 days. Okay, if you are working on Fiverr part time, then my suggestion, use 9 days turn. It’s the magic number because you can order it any time and it always over laps a Saturday or Sunday.



I write professionally and I do sales professionally and I’m here on Fiverr to moonlight. I was getting late on jobs two months ago as I had too many. I was up until 2 am doing work when I needed sleep to recharge my "creative batteries."



The solution? Adjust my Gig delivery time to 9 days.



Bingo!



No more pressure, no more stress.

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