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Seeking Volunteer Interviewees For College Survey On Freelancing And Retirement Planning


ifscrapp

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Hi!

I'm doing a short survey for my MBA class at Johns Hopkins University. Can I ask a few of you a few questions about how Fiverr workers plan for retirement? Please let me know if I can DM you, or, if you prefer to make first contact, I welcome DMs from freelancers on this topic. (Spam messages will be treated as such, and be reported.) Some of the questions we (my classmates and team in this project) prefer a more free flowing approach to gather insights. 

If you are already retired, we are still interested in your insights into the rapidly changing marketplace of today. (Age range: Under 18, 18-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-62.5, 63+)

1. What do you do? Are you strictly a freelancer, or do you also have a day-job? 2. If you have a job outside freelancing, does your employer provide a retirement benefits plan? If so, do you participate or contribute? 3. How do you, personally, define retirement? 4. How or where do you get information on retirement today? 5. What options have you considered on retirement or planning for retirement? 6. How do you feel emotionally when you think about self-directing (generally) your own retirement? 7. How often do you worry about retirement? (Daily, weekly, monthly, 5 years or so) 8. What actions to plan for retirement in the past 3 months did you take? (examples: download an app, take a course, watch a video, read a book, invest in a stock) 9. If you didn’t take any actions in the past 3 months, what prevented you from doing so? 10. If you did take actions in the past three months, do you have any words of advice or encouragement for those that haven't?

We would prefer to conduct the interview through DMs, as the topic can be somewhat sensitive.

For US based Freelancers.

Thank you,

Ifani

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I will definitely at least fill out the questions. Expect a DM soon.

Tagging some people I think might be interested or willing. (Since this is purely voluntary, y'alls can say 'no, thanks', but we don't see interesting stuff like this pop up on the forums much.)

@graphtersawyer@enunciator@vickiespencer@damooch916@jonbaas@nikavoice@topaz_muse@krheate@genuineguidance@newsmike@fastcopywriter

(Yeah, I know I tagged a few that haven't been on the forums in a little bit.)

Edit: Forgot to ask, when do you need these by? I'm guessing as soon as possible, seeing this is research for a class project, but deadlines are helpful.

Edited by imagination7413
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Out of curiosity, why strictly the US? Just to keep the scope of the project from getting out of hand, or project limitation specifics such as Government programs like Social Security being a US thing? 

One thing that should be noted in your presentation/paper, even if you do stick to the US, is that the lack of saving for retirement isn't limited to the US. One of the interesting things about freelancing online (a gig economy) is the global market. 

2020 caused a LOT of people to migrate online, yes, but the internet is global. Operating online means dealing with cultural clashes and things can-and-do get lost in translation.

---

Oh, and thought of another question you might want to include. (This is an important question, because, exactly like investing, it's NEVER good to put all your eggs in one basket, and many Fiverrians are not strictly on Fiverr.)

- Roughly how many different platforms are you on, where you actively try to sell your service? 

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9 hours ago, imagination7413 said:

if you do stick to the US, is that the lack of saving for retirement isn't limited to the US. One of the interesting things about freelancing online (a gig economy) is the global market. 

Sure, but from what i understand the US is particularly bad in terms of retirement. In Portugal (and most of europe), for example, most people retire and live of their pension. They don't really need to have "saved for it", it's an automatic (and mandatory) process. It's taken out of your taxes, pretty much (not directly, it's a separate process, but for practical purposes it's the same idea). You don't see 70 year olds still working here because they have no retirement, and from what I've heard that's pretty common in the US.

Either way, I think most freelancers should not count on pensions, and invest for retirement. That's what I'm doing, and I plan to be retired well before 60. Like, 20 years before, if all goes well. As for the % of take home you invest, that's another metric that will vary wildly, based on cost of living and earning power. If I was making 100k a year, for example, I could save (and invest, of course) 90% of it. If I was living in NY or LA, that % would be very different.

Basically it boils down to this - as a freelancer in a global marketplace, you want to live in the cheapest col area/country possible (while retaining safety, stability, infrastructure, etc.), since that maximizes arbitrage potential, allowing you to save more and retire much sooner (or get much richer if you decide not to retire).

Edited by visualstudios
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11 hours ago, visualstudios said:

as a freelancer in a global marketplace, you want to live in the cheapest col area/country possible (while retaining safety, stability, infrastructure, etc.), since that maximizes arbitrage potential, allowing you to save more and retire much sooner

Ooo, that's (indirectly) a VERY good point to bring up! One major difference is if a person is a natural spender or a natural saver... Actually, I'm just going to save myself some time (I have to clock in to work soon) and link an article:

https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/what-are-money-tendencies

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Hi again! just catching up on the conversation. There has been some great feedback here. 

The reason we chose to limit our sample size to the US is because of culture practices and regulations. Someone mentioned pension practices in Europe that are quite different from that of the US. Things like that will change the needs and behaviors. 

I loved the question around "Roughly how many different platforms are you on, where you actively try to sell your service?". Can someone list some of the other platforms folks use to sell their services?

Finally, is anyone up for a Q&A, to discuss their retirement planning. It can be anonymous. Please let me know.

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There are a LOT of freelancing platforms out there, but they can usually be divided into 2 categories: General-all-purpose, and Specific-category/niche. Fiverr falls into the first category, as does Upwork, and even LinkedIn somewhat. A category specific example would be Voice123 that is specifically for Voice-acting.

Google "top freelancing platforms" and a year. The digital freelancing landscape has changed drastically over the last decade.

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Thank you so much! You've been just an incredible help :))

Just as a final heads up if there're fiverr members here who's primary source of income comes from freelancing and would like to participate in our short interview, please let me know ASAP. 

Thank you all so much for your contribution and encouragement.

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  • 6 months later...

Hello I am a German student and have to do a project about freelancer platforms and how these could possibly be a future for my life in terms of job. I would find it very cool if you could answer me how it is for you to work on fiverr and write me a few deteils about it so like how long you work per week or if you make a living with fiverr etc. .
I hope I can collect some information and look forward to your answers.

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15 minutes ago, mrmaths79 said:

Hello I am a German student

Hello @mrmaths79 I am also a student doing my major in Computer from Bangladesh🚩

I'm quite passionate about this main-steam software development sector so Fiverr has been a great opportunity to gain real-world experience & earn a good passive income as a beginner developer (in accordance with the standards in my country).

Currently I am working as a full-stack web developer. As you know, as a freelancer I have a completely flexible schedule. In this way, I can manage both my regular academic curriculum and learn more skills for my future. I really think Fiverr or such platforms is a great way to prove yourself & great push towards your career.

 



 

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Hello! I created a profile on Fiverr in 2020, but started to actually dive as a full-time freelancer in the platform in mid 2021. It was during Covid lockdown after I resigned from my office work. I am graphic designer and I mainly create streetwear designs.

Initially, it was pretty difficult to gain order as I haven't got any review and I can only rely on live portfolio to "persuade" buyers, but it gets better now as I gained level 2. I've completed hundreds of projects and I am delighted to say that my monthly earning in the platform has given me the option to not go back to 9-5 job. I have no particular working hour, but it's usually in the evening. The duration varies, depending on the complexity of the project and the due date. In other words, it's very flexible. What I like the most about freelancing is that I could work from ANYWHERE, as long as there's internet connection.

As a freelancer, I think one of the most important skills to have is self-discipline. No boss is going to shout at you to get the work done or dictate how things have to be done, so you have to establish a working system that is the most effective for yourself 😊 expanding connection, marketing your service, you gotta do that on your own.

Edited by kevindwren
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everyone

I'm a 21 year old student in ecnonomics from Switzerland which is currently writing a paper about gig work.

I'm in urgent need of 2 participants for an interview about your experience with gigwork and particularly fiverr. Please let me know if you're interested. The interview can be anonymized if wanted. You would receive the questions beforehand. The interview can take place either via zoom or just on a written level.

The venue would take place between the 31st of Ocotober and 13th of November. I'm glad for any help that I might receive.

kind regards

Yara

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On 10/18/2022 at 9:13 AM, yaralein01 said:

The interview can take place either via zoom or just on a written level.


Fiverr sellers cannot participate in zoom meetings unless the buyer has a business account. Therefore a written level would be best for most freelancers, as doing anything else could endanger their account.

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Thank you for the links! I'll definitely have a look into the post.
I'm a student in a university of applied sciences in Switzerland. The project is for a subject called "methods and projects" where we have to write a thesis on the topic. The order was given by a scientific employee from the school.

Thank you too for the hint concerning the zoom meetings. Written answers will definitely be possible too!

Edited by yaralein01
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hello and thank you for posting. 

I am from Germany myself. Fiverr is for me current a way to fill my gaps in my regular work and still profit a little from it. 

In order to make your first $1000 on Fiverr, you must be willing to do the following:

Learn a high paying skill: Find a skill, such as website design, social media marketing or UI design and work on mastering that skill. Practice on doing projects so you get good.

Work hard/smart: If you are a new seller, it is going to take time and effort to make your first sales and reviews. However, if you are willing to be patient and you put in the work, you will start getting sales.

Optimise your gigs: Make sure that your gigs are properly set up, have good keywords, description and a good looking thumbnail. If you can master these, then your gigs are going to look attractive.

Prices: Sell yourself and know your value. If you want to make $1000, then you need to charge high ticket offers. Charge at least $100 for your premium package and know that Fiverr takes 20% of what you make.

Do know that people will be willing to pay high prices if you provide the value and get good reviews.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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  • 6 months later...

Hi, everyone!

I know that contacting clients outside of Fiverr's platform is against the TOS. I'm ok with that and even like it, to be honest. Though, a group of students from the University of Groningen are conducting research as part of a larger research project on the use of generative AI by freelancers, and asked me if I could help them by answering a couple of questions on that topic.

Is it ok if they send me a Googe Meet link and I attend it? Because I definitely don't want to get in trouble while trying to help them.

It wouldn't be anything work-related, of course.

Thanks 

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