What Lesson Did You Learn The Hard Way? (Secrets for Success)

[kaneswriting]

Hi there, I thought it would be fun to share small lessons we, as sellers, have learned "the hard way". That way, we can learn from one another and hopefully not make the same mistake. Feel free to share your stories and lessons below. 

Why Delivering Early Hurt My Reputation

At the beginning of my journey of selling on Fiverr, I consistently went out of my way to deliver the project as early as possible to exceed the customer's expectations. The method was great except for one fatal flaw. Instead of just sending the project and thanking them for the opportunity to work with them, I would acknowledge how I had gone out of my way to deliver the project early. After a few "early" deliveries, I realised that this acknowledgement worked against me as I was giving off the idea that I had rushed the project. 

The Lesson

If you are going to deliver your project early, do it without any acknowledgement. This alternative method will exceed your customer's expectations and prevent them from thinking you rushed the project. Remember, you want to convey that you are organised, not careless. 

Thanks for reading! 

Edited November 9, 2022 by kaneswriting

[kaneswriting]

14 minutes ago, andymoorevoice said:

Off platform, and historic, but these still leave a bitter taste in my mouth:

1) Make sure both business partners have access to the bank account. 

2) Always hold 51% of shares in the company when you're a partnering up with someone.

(The business from 1 & 2 partner ended up dead, so I won that one)

3) Get your paperwork and share certificates in place before you business partner runs off with the $300,000 you were meant to share.

(That one ended up rotting in jail so I won that one in the end)

Watch out folks, karma is a biatch lol 

These are some extremely valuable lessons! I'm sorry you had to learn these the hard way 😞 

[sabinespoems]

1 hour ago, kaneswriting said:

I thought it would be fun to share small lessons we, as sellers, have learned "the hard way". That way, we can learn from one another and hopefully not make the same mistake.

Wonderful idea, I always enjoy reading the answers on such threads! Not that the struggle of others is my entertainment, but you catch my drift 🥴

2 hours ago, kaneswriting said:

Instead of just sending the project and thanking them for the opportunity to work with them, I would acknowledge how I had gone out of my way to deliver the project early. After a few "early" deliveries, I realised that this acknowledgement worked against me as I was giving off the idea that I had rushed the project. 

I also always strive to deliver my orders asap but unlike you, I never went out of my way to let them know. Not saying I'm better, it just never occurred to me haha. However, I noticed that people often leave comments about how I'm fast and deliver far before the deadline. What I learned is that by increasing the delivery days with 2 more than you actually need, and you deliver early, people are impressed by your quickness (it's psychological trickery folks!). Most people know the delivery deadline, so they're aware of when you deliver early. You already learned the lesson, I just wanted to provide my experience with this as well. 

Here's my contribution though! 

Starting to work on orders that haven't been placed yet
This is linked to my attempt to deliver as soon as possible, as well as juggling my 'real' job with my freelancing. Many times it didn't give any issues. However, there are a few instances I worked for nothing because a potential buyer ended up ghosting or never following up on placing the order. I've completed quite a few orders, so I believe I've gotten pretty good at weeding out not-so-serious buyers from those who are. But some slip past my defense vetting wall!

The hard lesson here is obvious (but still), never work and spend time on an order that's not showing up on your 'active orders' tab. 

Thinking raising prices will turn away buyers
I waited for a long time to raise my prices because I figured people want to pay the least amount possible, especially in these expensive times. But even before that I hesitated tbh. Perhaps it's because I'm Dutch and 'being cheap' is in my nature so I expected it of others too 😅 Anyways, that's not the case. I've raised my prices steadily ever since I began with $5, and I never noticed a decline in orders.

The hard lesson I learned here is missing out on revenue due to assumptions. 

Believing everybody will be thankful for my service
I don't mean this necessarily regarding writing a review and expressing their gratitude. Nor do I expect a flood of compliments, it was a 'business' transaction overall. However, I write a lot of very personal pieces for people where I pour my heart and soul into. Sometimes it drains me mentally too. Again, it's what they pay me for so I'm not complaining! However, when this happens, and I deliver my order and it's radio silent and gets automatically completed I can't lie and say I'm not a tad disappointed. Am I upset about it when it happens? No. It's more of a 'huh, that's unfortunate' response.

The 'hard' lesson I learned here is don't expect to be congratulated for something you're expected to do. This makes sense in a work setting of course, but I'm only human and it's nice to know you helped someone with your service! 

These are the lessons I could come up with for now 🤔

[laurens_designs]

6 hours ago, kaneswriting said:

Hi there, I thought it would be fun to share small lessons we, as sellers, have learned "the hard way". That way, we can learn from one another and hopefully not make the same mistake.

Some silly mistakes that I've made:
Saying "I'll have these revisions sent over to you by the end of the day" then my normal life plans took longer than expected. Then me staying up late just to get a silly revision done. Totally could have been done the next day but since I promised it, it needs to be done.

Not charging for simple projects:
For example, when someone reaches back out for a simple update on a project that was completed months ago. Depending on the customer I do it for free because it takes less than a minute of my time. But its the customer's that tell me they only want xyz changed. Then I change it and send it over. Then they send me request after request of more changes. An order should have been opened for that - especially since Fiverr now tracks your repeat buyers.

I have a million more, but these are things are so tiny but are frustrating. I'll add more as I think of them!

[atawin]

2 hours ago, laurens_designs said:

Not charging for simple projects:
For example, when someone reaches back out for a simple update on a project that was completed months ago. Depending on the customer I do it for free because it takes less than a minute of my time. But its the customer's that tell me they only want xyz changed. Then I change it and send it over. Then they send me request after request of more changes. An order should have been opened for that - especially since Fiverr now tracks your repeat buyers.

Would you recommend handling this type of situation by sending custom offers, or having them reorder the original gig, or is there a third option you go with?

[williambryan392]

1) Don't mess with Andy 🤣

2) You don't need to have the last word with a client to maintain a good response time.

3) Delivering a bit early is good, very early is not.

4) Free has no value - someone came to me a few hours ago wanting to know what the biggest pain points were for me in generating new clients. I said sure, let's discuss it on a call, my basic package is enough. They said they couldn't pay. So I (rightly) said my biggest pain point was buyers asking for a free service.

5) Don't always assume because someones messages are abrupt they aren't good to work with. Some people just aren't great at communicating.

6) Trust your spider sense. If a buyer seems like trouble they probably are.

7) Buyers that say 'because I only need / because it's easy can you do it for X' - If it was easy then you'd probably do it yourself. Advice- avoid these buyers. 

[laurens_designs]

On 11/9/2022 at 11:37 PM, atawin said:

Would you recommend handling this type of situation by sending custom offers, or having them reorder the original gig, or is there a third option you go with?

It would be decided on a project by project basis, but I would send them a custom offer that is discounted. Sometimes just $10 depending on the changes. Its for the principal of it all, not worried about the $. If its as simple as changing a word or 2, I just do it free. If its more complex, moving around images, redesigning a portion of the card, I'd charge more.

On 11/9/2022 at 11:57 PM, williambryan392 said:

7) Buyers that say 'because I only need / because it's easy can you do it for X' - If it was easy then you'd probably do it yourself. Advice- avoid these buyers.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!! 

[imagination7413]

Hmm... Okay I've got one though it's similar to 'don't do work you haven't been paid for' but: Write out EXACTLY what IS and what is NOT a part of a custom order, and never even HINT that you'll include anything as a bonus. (aka 'under-promise')

[vickieito]

Good topic @kaneswriting! I enjoyed reading everyone's input on this thread. 🥰

Here are my key learnings:

1. Know what you can and can't control (and spend your energies and time accordingly). Don't waste time worrying about things that are outside of your control and don't blame things that you can control on external factors. Success depends on taking the right action leading to desired results.

2. Set clear boundaries with your customers. A lot of my "bad" customers were just a result of me not standing up for myself by setting clear boundaries. I didn't know how to say "no" and was bending over backwards (at my own expense and sanity). Once I started to set clear boundaries, I found out that most buyers were more than happy to respect them.

3. Customer Support helps sellers. For the longest time, I thought Customer Service was only pro-buyer. So, I didn't reach out to them as often as I should have. I took the hit for cancelations when I shouldn't have.

4. Don't act on emotions. It pays to be cool-headed. 😎 It shows professionalism and buyers appreciate it when I am level-headed and keep communications logical and productive. I also notice that all my stupid mistakes happen when I act on emotions (e.g., fear, anger, excitement, etc.), so I'll take a break if I need to keep my emotions in check.

[williambryan392]

Quote

It's not me, it's Karma: she is far harsher and crueler than I could ever be!

I love your profile and gigs by the way, they're crazy good.  

Yep, I'm a great believer in what goes around comes around, both good and bad!

That's very kind of you, it's been a long road of iteration. I had to pause some gigs to decide how to do things going forward. To be honest I'd been a bit negged out recently, but your comment really lifted me. It's amazing what a few nice words can do. Thank you! 

Edited November 12, 2022 by williambryan392

[evp_productions]

On 11/9/2022 at 4:35 PM, kaneswriting said:

Hi there, I thought it would be fun to share small lessons we, as sellers, have learned "the hard way". That way, we can learn from one another and hopefully not make the same mistake. Feel free to share your stories and lessons below. 

Why Delivering Early Hurt My Reputation

At the beginning of my journey of selling on Fiverr, I consistently went out of my way to deliver the project as early as possible to exceed the customer's expectations. The method was great except for one fatal flaw. Instead of just sending the project and thanking them for the opportunity to work with them, I would acknowledge how I had gone out of my way to deliver the project early. After a few "early" deliveries, I realised that this acknowledgement worked against me as I was giving off the idea that I had rushed the project. 

The Lesson

If you are going to deliver your project early, do it without any acknowledgement. This alternative method will exceed your customer's expectations and prevent them from thinking you rushed the project. Remember, you want to convey that you are organised, not careless. 

Thanks for reading! 

Totally agree. Also there are some works in wich people think it's better if you take your time. My recommendation is to deliver it as quickly as possible if they ask to, but don't deliver it quick if they want you to take your time, even if you do it in 24 hrs, don't deliver untill the time is right. Otherwise they can believe you are rushing on a fast earning and you didn't do it proper. Otherwise it could lead to a cancelation not for the quality, just because of the situation.

[williambryan392]

On 11/18/2022 at 6:50 AM, guru3dart said:

Out of all the challenges freelancers face daily, none are as irritating as a client constantly asking for changes to something you’ve already agreed upon.

“I really like the work, but can we change this and that?”

“Could you please add X?”

“I would really appreciate it if you can do an extra paragraph about subject Y!”

Regardless of what industry you work in, clients requesting revisions an inseparable part of freelancer life. That is why, instead of just getting upset with them and grinding your teeth through the extra work, you should have a specific strategy for dealing with client revisions.

A lesson I learned at school the hard way is that plagiarism is not allowed (I was 7 years old and copied a friends french test) . 

It can get you in trouble and it can get you banned from places. Places such as exams / schools / freelancing platforms and forums.

It can make people think you are not honest and honourable when in fact you are usually. 

It can make people think you don't know much about anything when in fact you do.

It can make mods like me issuing warnings, or potentially ban you from the forum.

You copied the above from another website.

Please don't do it again, it doesn't add value to the forum. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by williambryan392