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Taking Days off From Fiverr – Some Helpful Tips from a Top Rated Seller


smashradio

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I'm taking a few well-earned days off. It got me thinking: many sellers/freelancers struggle with this. Taking time off is scary, especially on Fiverr. If you activate the dreaded "out of office"/"I'm unavailable" mode on your profile, your gigs disappear from the search results. It can take days or even weeks before you get back to your regular revenue stream when you get back. 

Fiverr rewards sellers who sell. So by not selling, you set yourself up for less business, not to mention that the projects you would have picked up if you were available will go to other sellers. 

Even so, we have to take time off to stay sane. 

Here are a few tips to make your days off easier:

#1 - Plan ahead

Start planning now if you know you're taking a week off next month. Make sure you don't get overbooked. Increase your delivery times when appropriate. Make sure you include days off in case you need it on large projects. 

#2 - Inform your regular buyers if you have active orders/upcoming projects

If you're currently working with some regular buyers on orders, inform them about your days off. They might expect you to be available next week for new projects or follow-ups. By telling them, they can plan accordingly, and you avoid getting questions from your regulars about a new project during your time off. Don't message sellers you don't have active or on-going work with. They don't need to know and you risk annoying them. 

#3 - Decide if you want to be available to take orders or not

If you're just gone for a couple of days, increasing your delivery time might be a good idea instead of activating "out of office" mode. That way, you're still active and working on Fiverr.

When you activate "out of office", you're gone from Fiverr. If you're willing to respond to all messages quickly while away, you can maintain some normality for yourself and your buyers during and after your time off. Make sure to follow #1 if you do this. 

If you're gone for more than a few days, increased delivery times may be unreasonable to your buyers and give the impression that you're slow. I tend to use out-of-office for anything more than a single day. If I just want Wednesday off to be with the family, I'll increase my deadlines on custom orders and gigs by an extra day instead. 

# 4 - Budget your days off

Calculate your average hourly salary and how many work hours you'll miss by being off for your set amount of time per year. The amount you're left with should be added to your rates. If you miss 10% of your salary yearly because of days off, bake that into your gig prices. 

Don't forget that we tend to spend more while on vacation. Add that, too! 

#5 - Ramp it up!

For large projects with longer deadlines, you could ramp up production a few weeks ahead of your days off. It can be a good option if you wish to clear your dashboard before going away but requires you to work more in the weeks leading up to your vacation.

#6 - Time it right

Try to take your days off when it's quiet on Fiverr. That means weekends, bank holidays and so on. Make sure you check when important buyer countries have their days off.

It might differ in your country. For example, there is no bank holiday in western countries during the Islamic holiday Eid Al-Fitr, and while most western countries have days off during Christmas, this might not be the case in your country if you don't celebrate Christmas. 

And now it's time for me to sign off. This awaits me for the next three days: 

image.thumb.png.b241f7c413f1a380299d27d95eea3869.png

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7 hours ago, smashradio said:

#6 - Time it right

We're 'hopping' over to Paris and London next week (gone for a full week, too!) and I reaaally tried to make sure that I'll have not much going on during the week (mostly because it's not a lot of time for such huge cities and we're doing Disney for one full day, which is quite a lot, but Disney! 

ANYWAY...

I've been having a fairly quiet period, some new orders but nothing too overwhelming and I was quite happy with it as I have plenty of ongoing games I'm working on (which could basically fill up July just by themselves!). Just today, I was playing some new game I found and had a bunch of back-to-back inquires with projects that I REALLY want to do. 

So now I'm in a bit of a predicament, but if I push it a bit, I might be able to get everything done and still go on 'vacation mode' (or just let people know my deadlines are longer for x days!)

The fact that Friday is midsummer and I technically was planning to take it off DOES make things a bit harder but I'm sure it'll work out!

Happy vacation, hope you get to unwind! 

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5 minutes ago, katakatica said:

 

Happy vacation, hope you get to unwind! 

Thanks! I'll do my best. Naturally, I didn't take my own advice and forgot a custom offer in chat, so I have to write a bit tomorrow, but that can be done from the pool. 

It's never easy. I used to feel guilty for taking days off. Telling my regulars I was going away made me grind my teeth. So it's something I had to learn over time. 

Disney sounds nice! Though wou would never catch me spending money there. I much prefer Portaventura in Spain. The roller coasters are my thing, not the theming. Also, I hate what they've done to Star Wars. 😂

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On 6/20/2022 at 5:08 PM, smashradio said:

Thanks! I'll do my best. Naturally, I didn't take my own advice and forgot a custom offer in chat, so I have to write a bit tomorrow, but that can be done from the pool. 

I mean, sneaking SOME work in is fine, I think (but I'm also... a workaholic, so!)
I started telling regulars / people I knew would be ordering during that time (for longer projects that we do in smaller parts) early this year once we booked everything but even then it's a bit eh to say 'sorry, I'm away next week'. 
I haven't been to Portaventure - I'm more of a franchise person, in it for the characters, the park itself (as overpriced as it is, it's quite pretty!) There was one aqua park in Italy that I loved ages ago that was almost as pretty but I can't remember the name!) I'm a Disney 'kid' for sure. 

We're probably doing Gröna Lund and some other parks later this summer as well (but in Sweden) so now I'm hoping to get better at rides! Last time in Disney I chickened out several times. 

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  • 5 months later...
On 6/20/2022 at 9:48 AM, smashradio said:

 

I'm taking a few well-earned days off. It got me thinking: many sellers/freelancers struggle with this. Taking time off is scary, especially on Fiverr. If you activate the dreaded "out of office"/"I'm unavailable" mode on your profile, your gigs disappear from the search results. It can take days or even weeks before you get back to your regular revenue stream when you get back. 

Fiverr rewards sellers who sell. So by not selling, you set yourself up for less business, not to mention that the projects you would have picked up if you were available will go to other sellers. 

Even so, we have to take time off to stay sane. 

Here are a few tips to make your days off easier:

#1 - Plan ahead

Start planning now if you know you're taking a week off next month. Make sure you don't get overbooked. Increase your delivery times when appropriate. Make sure you include days off in case you need it on large projects. 

#2 - Inform your regular buyers if you have active orders/upcoming projects

If you're currently working with some regular buyers on orders, inform them about your days off. They might expect you to be available next week for new projects or follow-ups. By telling them, they can plan accordingly, and you avoid getting questions from your regulars about a new project during your time off. Don't message sellers you don't have active or on-going work with. They don't need to know and you risk annoying them. 

#3 - Decide if you want to be available to take orders or not

If you're just gone for a couple of days, increasing your delivery time might be a good idea instead of activating "out of office" mode. That way, you're still active and working on Fiverr.

When you activate "out of office", you're gone from Fiverr. If you're willing to respond to all messages quickly while away, you can maintain some normality for yourself and your buyers during and after your time off. Make sure to follow #1 if you do this. 

If you're gone for more than a few days, increased delivery times may be unreasonable to your buyers and give the impression that you're slow. I tend to use out-of-office for anything more than a single day. If I just want Wednesday off to be with the family, I'll increase my deadlines on custom orders and gigs by an extra day instead. 

# 4 - Budget your days off

Calculate your average hourly salary and how many work hours you'll miss by being off for your set amount of time per year. The amount you're left with should be added to your rates. If you miss 10% of your salary yearly because of days off, bake that into your gig prices. 

Don't forget that we tend to spend more while on vacation. Add that, too! 

#5 - Ramp it up!

For large projects with longer deadlines, you could ramp up production a few weeks ahead of your days off. It can be a good option if you wish to clear your dashboard before going away but requires you to work more in the weeks leading up to your vacation.

#6 - Time it right

Try to take your days off when it's quiet on Fiverr. That means weekends, bank holidays and so on. Make sure you check when important buyer countries have their days off.

It might differ in your country. For example, there is no bank holiday in western countries during the Islamic holiday Eid Al-Fitr, and while most western countries have days off during Christmas, this might not be the case in your country if you don't celebrate Christmas. 

And now it's time for me to sign off. This awaits me for the next three days: 

image.thumb.png.b241f7c413f1a380299d27d95eea3869.png

What a beautiful scene. I imagine that was a lovely place for a well earned rest.

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