Stop being afraid.

[smashradio]

12 hours ago, fastcopywriter said:

How did you get a success manager? Did you write CS or did they find you? I had an SM many years ago, when I was a TRS.  Do you pay $19 a month for your SM? 

A success manager comes with Seller Plus. 

Not all sellers are eligible for it. If you are, you can join here: https://www.fiverr.com/pages/seller-plus

It costs 29 bucks a month. 

I was invited to join early on. I remember that Top Rated sellers used to get a success manager for free. As I remember it, the problem was that the system also rewarded TRS status automatically. It was just another seller level and the marketplace was saturated with them, meaning that there was no capacity left with the SMs. It was just a bad deal for everyone and didn't really make a difference. 

Now that TRS is manually awarded, there are fewer of us on the platform, but since Fiverr needed to increase their revenue, it became part of Seller Plus instead. 

[fastcopywriter]

9 hours ago, smashradio said:

As I remember it, the problem was that the system also rewarded TRS status automatically

That wasn't my experience, and I was a TRS many years ago. I was manually selected. 

Thanks for sharing the seller plus. I don't know if generating enough money to justify $29 a month. 

My last success manager, many years ago, didn't do anything for me. Didn't give me keyword tags, price points, or any advice whatsoever. He just said hello, I asked a few questions, he gave me very generic answers and I gave up on him. 

Can you quit seller plus if it doesn't work out? 

[newsmike]

21 minutes ago, fastcopywriter said:

Can you quit seller plus if it doesn't work out? 

Yes, you can quit anytime. 

[smashradio]

On 7/14/2022 at 8:01 PM, fastcopywriter said:

That wasn't my experience, and I was a TRS many years ago. I was manually selected. 

Thanks for sharing the seller plus. I don't know if generating enough money to justify $29 a month. 

My last success manager, many years ago, didn't do anything for me. Didn't give me keyword tags, price points, or any advice whatsoever. He just said hello, I asked a few questions, he gave me very generic answers and I gave up on him. 

Can you quit seller plus if it doesn't work out? 

I don't remember when it became a manual thing, but it's been so for several years already. This was way back in the old days. 

But like you said: your success manager didn't do anything for you. That was because TRS was too easy to achieve. It might have been manual for you, like you said, but a lot of people got the level, meaning the SMs where stretched too thin. 

Having it as a paid service makes a lot more sense. That said, it really does matter who you get as your SM. I've had two, and they have both been awesome, helpful and responds to me within a day or so, even on weekends. I've heard of others having a totally different experience, so I think it all comes down to who you get as your SM (and how you use that service to your advantage).

If you don't generate enough income to invest in your business, perhaps the investment is what's lacking? But then again, you said you don't run your Fiverr work as a business. If you just do it as a side-gig to make some extra cash for gas and take-away, it might not make sense to invest in Seller Plus.

Edited July 15, 2022 by smashradio

[fastcopywriter]

On 7/15/2022 at 7:54 AM, smashradio said:

I don't remember when it became a manual thing

I thought it always was. Otherwise, every level 2 would rise to TRS if his statis meet the minimum requirements.  Maybe that's a good question for your SM. 

I applied to Seller Plus. I made $176 in June, I figure I need all the help I can get.

[sarahhagwood]

Thanks for the post. I had a buyer today that tried to get me to do a "revision" but it was really just a request for more work for free. I kindly asked him to please pay for additional work. What's bad is I actually started to complete the "revision" and as I was typing away and finding that it was actually a whole new task and time consuming, I realized that his request was not reasonable to label as a revision. I stopped working then created a modification (to add more money for more work) and thankfully he accepted just a while ago! I almost submitted additional work to him without payment! 

I think you're right... out instinct is to avoid conflict and make the customer happy. But it is okay to professionally explain to a buyer that you are happy to help but there is a difference in the original agreement and the new request. 

I am still so new to Fiverr but I am already learning so much about the dynamics of communication with the buyer. 

[theratypist]

16 minutes ago, sarahhagwood said:

I am still so new to Fiverr but I am already learning so much about the dynamics of communication with the buyer. 

Welcome! Don't worry, even seasoned sellers are still learning new things as well. Yes, its definitely important to make it clear before the start of an order on the scope of the service for the amount purchased. If you don't have it listed down yet -- you can even put what your revision policy covers somewhere in your gig page. 😄 

[smashradio]

On 7/15/2022 at 9:35 PM, fastcopywriter said:

I thought it always was. Otherwise, every level 2 would rise to TRS if his statis meet the minimum requirements.  Maybe that's a good question for your SM. 

I applied to Seller Plus. I made $176 in June, I figure I need all the help I can get.  

Fiverr is one of those "millenial turnstyle" type of businesses. People come and go all the time. So she probably wouldn't know. I think this was back when Fiverr had thumbs up or down and not a five-star rating system. Everybody became a TRS if they got enough good reviews. It might have been some sort of manual approval behind it, but everyone could become a TRS of they sold enough and got thumbs up. It was a bad system and Fiverr became very top-heavy. 

Awesome! I look forward to hearing if you'll get some results from it. Don't forget to use your success manager for all they are worth. Ask for an introductory zoom call to get to know your SM and get feedback on your gig. It's a great time to ask questions about anything from your thumbnails to your descriptions, gig videos, or how you handle communication with buyers. Also, make sure to ask where you're at with your buyer satisfaction rate. They won't give you details, but if your SM is any good, she will give you subtle hints like saying "it has room for improvement" or "you're doing really well!" or "it has gone down a bit lately. I would consider..... " and so on.

[newsmike]

11 hours ago, sarahhagwood said:

But it is okay to professionally explain to a buyer that you are happy to help but there is a difference in the original agreement and the new request. 

It is the perpetual upsell as they ask for additional services. "You want fries with that?" Many people, as you suggested are afraid to say that we'd be happy to do that for you for an additional cost. Funny how your waitress is never worried that the shake, onion rings and fries you asked for are going on the bill.  It is indeed a mindset. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by newsmike

[miiila]

This reminds me of a used shop decoration item, a light display with "NO FEAR" written on it, I bought at an auction years ago, to put up in the kitchen (it's still there, but the socket stopped working at some point, I'll need to put on my electrician's hat, one of these days...), as a glowing reminder.

Life is too short to be afraid of this or that all the time, and usually, being afraid doesn't really help with anything, either (putting aside things that your common sense, instinct, intuition, or knowledge about things like gravity will tell you to be afraid of, to keep you from doing really stupid stuff).

On 7/16/2022 at 9:31 AM, newsmike said:

It is the perpetual upsell as they ask for additional services. "You want fries with that?"

I don't frequent places that want to sell me fries as an upsell, if anything I go places that sell the fries as the main attraction, but I dread going to the now only remaining stationary shop around, since they require their staff to try and upsell me copper-coloured markers or some similar must-have, whenever I buy a basic like paper, or stamps or something. It's super cringey, awkward, and I can't but pity them, and pitying someone or being pitied is no nice feeling in my book (even if there are people who seem to enjoy it, I don't, at all).

I do, however, see a big difference between trying to "upsell" something that people actually need/should really have vs. trying to push something on them that they don't really need or want, and, personally, would only call the latter "upselling". 

Discussing additional payment because of "difference in original agreement and new request" issues doesn't quite hit the "upselling" box for me either, if a customer requests something new, that's not me trying to upsell, but me reacting with an offer to a new request. But that might be just different interpretations of semantics, it's an interesting discussion, in any case, reading different sellers stance on such things is one of the things that draw me back to the forum, despite everything.

Edited July 16, 2022 by miiila

[fastcopywriter]

12 hours ago, smashradio said:

I think this was back when Fiverr had thumbs up or down and not a five-star rating system. 

I remember those days, it was pre-level system, pre-star system. The "Wild West" era of Fiverr. But I also remember TRS's were selected by the editors. Then again, that's just my experience, maybe others have a different experience. 

Thanks for your advice.