Condense or Spread About?

[fiveroptic1]

Hi all - (firstly disappointed to see the amusing 5r tips & tricks / life hacks thread has been removed - well I can't find it anymore??)

Down to the question - I'm in the VO Niche, but this applies to anyone really. All expert & established opinions welcome...

I wondered, as I build my 5r presence, if it's better to build up one gig or, separate orders into different gigs. I currently have 3 gigs, which are targeted for different keywords, but more or less do the same thing - e.g. I supply a voice! Currently, when I receive a buyer's enquiry message and supply a custom quote, I'll pick a gig that hasn't been used as much - to build it up.  Obviously it doesn't matter to the buyer (I doubt they even look at the gig title when they receive a custom quote).
 
So my question is - is this a sensible strategy, or, is it better to pile all the custom quote orders onto one gig - when there may be a chance that the gigs that don't have many orders attached to them will suffer in search going forward. Hope that makes sense!

I know that it's different in every niche and no one knows the 5r algo, but if anyone has any anecdotal opinions on this - I'm all ears. 

Cheers      

[timothykoen]

Like any endevour it is best to perfect one skill at a time. Then move on to new skills as you need. It is better to be an expert at one thing than it is to not be an expert at many things. Having 3 gigs with the same skill but targeting different niches (read keywords) is smart. Having one gig that is a catch all is dumb. People will think you are not an expert at anything and just hoping someone will hire you..

Suppose I wanted a VO for a particular character I was animating. I would choose a voice over artist that is an expert in my particular niche. I would find this person  by researching my keyword. "character voice over." I would definitely pass over the "video editing" gig that also does voice overs. My thinking is I want an expert that specializes in and has extensive experience in one particular area. Why? Because that expert won't be distracted by other opportunities. And probably won't try to compete with me in my niche.

In short; it is better that a gig focuses on one skill at a time. Even if that means orders are far and few between.

Does that make sense?

Tim

[imagination7413]

I honestly think it depends on your voice(s). If you're good at different voices, a gig for each is great. I'm not limiting this to voice actor 'roles' 'styles' or 'accents' either (villain voice, hero voice, cowboy voice, Bronx voice, etc.) but different 'tones', like 'smooth slow Jazz DJ' or 'exuberant new-menu-item announcer' or 'polite/professional telephone answering system recording'. 

In my option (take it or leave it as you will), if there's nothing different between what you're actually offering in the gigs, then it's pointless to have more than one. 

[fiveroptic1]

5 hours ago, timothykoen said:

Having 3 gigs with the same skill but targeting different niches (read keywords) is smart. Having one gig that is a catch all is dumb. People will think you are not an expert at anything and just hoping someone will hire you..

Hi @timothykoenIndeed, well that's the thinking behind creating 3 gigs. They all target different keywords /phrases that buyers may search for. Starting in August as I did, it was clear to me pretty quickly after a bit of research, that having one gig called 'British Male Voice Over' was really a waste of time. I would probably have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting anywhere near the 1st page! So whilst my gigs all effectively offer the same thing - they appear to different niches.

 

24 minutes ago, imagination7413 said:

In my option (take it or leave it as you will), if there's nothing different between what you're actually offering in the gigs, then it's pointless to have more than one. 

Thanks @imagination7413you are right, I could have gone with one gig, but as mentioned above, trying to break into VO work on 5r in any meaningful way would have been so so difficult with one 'catch all' gig. I think if I had gone that route from the beginning, my posts on here would now be of the 'pray for me' & 'why no orders?' variety!  Thankfully, things are going well - much better than expected to be honest. It's the way forward that I'm not so sure about - keep one gig going, stick all my eggs in one basket and let it grow, or hedge my bets and keep all three live, but 'dilute' the 'Fiverr Love'. 

Would love to hear from other members who've faced this decision... 

[imagination7413]

Glanced at your profile, and now I see that you're targeting specific markets with and within the gig(s). Interesting, and... I'm not sure. It's different, for sure, than what I mentioned with tone or type. No clue how it will go, as most VO gigs I've seen demonstrate more what roles the user can cover, rather than who they're specifically trying to reach. (Not to say that they don't make suggestions for uses.)

[uk1000]

6 hours ago, fiveroptic1 said:

Currently, when I receive a buyer's enquiry message and supply a custom quote, I'll pick a gig that hasn't been used as much - to build it up.  Obviously it doesn't matter to the buyer (I doubt they even look at the gig title when they receive a custom quote).

I'm not sure that's a good idea though. I'd make sure the gig title and description covers what the buyer has asked for.  eg. lets say a buyer asks for a voice over and hasn't mentioned youtube. I wouldn't create a custom offer with the "...voice over for your youtube video" gig. One reason would be that the buyer is asked to rate for "Service as described" and if their  VO wasn't for youtube the service might not really be as described (and least in the gig title).

But I do think having the multiple voice over gigs (for different topics/types of voice over) will probably be better than just having 1 VO gig - partly because of the probably increased chance of one being found through different search terms.

[fiveroptic1]

30 minutes ago, uk1000 said:

'm not sure that's a good idea though. I'd make sure the gig title and description covers what the buyer has asked for.  eg. lets say a buyer asks for a voice over and hasn't mentioned youtube. I wouldn't create a custom offer with the "...voice over for your youtube video" gig. One reason would be that the buyer is asked to rate for "Service as described" and if their  VO wasn't for youtube the service might not really be as described (and least in the gig title).

@uk1000That's a good point - I hadn't thought of that, although once they've received their order & it's to their satisfaction, I'm not so sure it would make a difference. 

What I am certainly thinking of doing is to create a new gig for 'British Male Voice Over' and dump any custom offers in there. 2 reasons: firstly as you've highlighted, that is pretty innocuous - the customer won't have the hump, because that's what they've asked for. Secondly, putting all the custom orders in there will help that 'generic, catch all' gig gain traction. 

That's the thinking. Of course, if the 5r algo ignores custom offers being ordered within a certain gig when the buyer enquiry originates from a different gig, then this entire strategy is up the creek!  If that makes sense. 

[fiveroptic1]

48 minutes ago, imagination7413 said:

Glanced at your profile, and now I see that you're targeting specific markets with and within the gig(s). Interesting, and... I'm not sure. It's different, for sure, than what I mentioned with tone or type. No clue how it will go, as most VO gigs I've seen demonstrate more what roles the user can cover, rather than who they're specifically trying to reach. (Not to say that they don't make suggestions for uses.)

Yep  - it was never about a different skillset, simply about effective targeting & getting seen. Given, according to my success manager, that VO is the 2nd most populous market for sellers on 5r - I'm sure I made the right decision and glad I did. Now all I need is to work out is an exit strategy from having 3 gigs that effectively offer the same thing and maybe to start consolidating a bit! 

[uk1000]

9 hours ago, fiveroptic1 said:

that VO is the 2nd most populous market for sellers on 5r

What did he mean? In terms of total number of Voice Over gigs or number of gigs of a particular subcategory sold over a particular time-frame? In terms of total number of gigs available, according to the image given in another thread the top was 1) Logo Design, 2) Photoshop Editing, 3) Wordpress, 4) Illustration.

[fiveroptic1]

1 hour ago, uk1000 said:

What did he mean? In terms of total number of Voice Over gigs or number of gigs of a particular subcategory sold over a particular time-frame? In terms of total number of gigs available, according to the image given in another thread the top was 1) Logo Design, 2) Photoshop Editing, 3) Wordpress, 4) Illustration.

I've no idea  - it was just something that stuck in my mind. Maybe numbers of gigs per seller?? I'll clarify it when I next speak to them...

[uk1000]

Thanks. It could be that.  Or it might be that they get the 2nd highest number of orders after Logo Design (since there seems to be lots of reviews for them) or did recently (or maybe based on total income for those orders), even though other subcategories have more available gigs.