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

[vektor3d]

Here are some lessons I've recently learned the hard way:

1. First, acquaint yourself with Fiverr Seller Safety Best Practices
2. Milestones are your best friend, so use them whenever possible(slice up the project into reasonable steps) to ensure that you receive some compensation for work you've already completed. If the buyer decides to terminate the order, you will at least be at ease knowing that most of your time wasn't wasted.
3. No matter how technical a project is, keep everything inside Fiverr, don't ever communicate with the buyer outside the platform. I'll even go as far as stating that you should avoid sharing anything on sites like GitHub, or through any other collaborative tools, submit everything through Fiverr. Granted, all interactions were kept in Fiverr, document everything!
4. Never let a buyer pressure you for quick turnarounds. Don't give yourself an unreasonable amount of time to deliver. If they aren't happy with your schedule, then don't commit to an order.
5. If your buyer cannot communicate clearly in your language, then take additional measures to ensure that the requirements are properly understood and outlined.
6. DON'T be generous with your revisions because if your buyer decides to abuse them, you WILL lose. Keep revisions at 1-3, if any.
7. Be very clear on your gig page about the ownership rights of the work you produce, and the commercial use policy.
8. Be extremely cautious about people who send in buyers requests — the majority of them are looking for cheap labour, and will spare no effort in trying to get it free through the resolution center.
9. Always opt to contact customer support early or cancel the order if you suspect any unprofessional, sketchy or fishy behaviour from the buyer.
10. Have a portfolio ready to showcase, and don't let anyone ask for a 'prototype' before ordering.
11. Fiverr doesn't provide any seller protections against refund scams or buyers fraud because the buyers(customers) are highly favoured and always right, so be mindful about how much time and effort you're committing.
12. DON'T ever let greed or desperation get the best of you. Be strong enough to say NO.
13. Bad ratings might hurt more than a cancelled order.
14. Develop your self-management skills (time, emotions, thoughts, etc.)

Please share this around and edit if necessary, I can't allow what happened to me to occur to someone else. 

All the best to you guys. 

Edited October 3, 2021 by vektor3d
words changes

[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

[Guest]

Quote

What Lesson Did You Learn The Hard Way?

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 

[kaneswriting]

Quote

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 😞 

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, kaneswriting said:

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

Hey, I appreciate the sentiments, thank you, but the school of hard knocks really does offer some of the best learning!

1 hour ago, kaneswriting said:

convey that you are organised, not careless. 

That's golden advice and shows how doing what you think is the right thing, can sometimes backfire on us.

It's amazing how sometimes we work against our own best interests. 

 

[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. 

[Guest]

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

1) Don't mess with Andy 🤣

That did make me laugh, thank you.

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. 

[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

[Guest]

6 hours ago, williambryan392 said:

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!

William, that was really nice to wake up and see, you're one of the very few people here I think can, quite rightly, call themselves an expert, nice career you've had and if you're ever negged out again, just look at your reviews, they're brilliant!

[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

[narab0420]

Hi, guys. I am a voice-over artist and I usually do only voice-over on Fiverr. Recently, I received a request to be a spokesperson to promote an application. I did not know much about what app it was and did not ask. because the buyer had good reviews. It was my carelessness. Recently, I found out that my video is being used for promoting spam apps on Facebook. It was horrible for me because 200 000 already watched and people from my hometown and colleagues recognized me. I already reported it to Facebook, but no response. I can not take any action now. Even if I contact the police, I am not sure they will catch a person from another country. My message to you is, to be careful with your order, you shouldn't trust the reviews directly. If you are showing your face, be extremely careful. It was a big lesson for me. I am thinking about quitting my job, because people see me like I am a fraud.

[newmalevoiceguy]

Hello my dear freelancer colleagues Im kind of new to this forum, so I wish you a welcoming Hello. Im an German voice Actor and providing German voice over on fiverr

 

I just coincidentally found this thread and thought of the situation I got into this day...

 

Well I had to deal with a very irrational review that will stuck now on my main gig and I don't know if this will impact my future career here. 

This guy came in with a "I just have this budget" thing right through the door without, as many others, reading my description....

( Wouldn't it just be efficient for every party, seller, buyer and fiverr to put on a "I have read this gig and understand the terms etc..." before buyers can actually order your gig. This would just help and keep the transparency and prevent misunderstandings)

.. and I told him friendly and polite that this is not my price category but I would make an exception. He also asked for a backing track.. created which I also take a fee .. but again I was polite just to make everything vocal and backing track for the basic prize my gig had. 

He stated he needed  a small voice over just for intern purpose  and with no radio quality , just to demonstrate his idea to his colleagues. 

Okay I thought no problem I do it and will put him extra between my other projects. So I pressed him between voiced it, created a traffic backing track ( the voice over was about driving carefully because school kids are back after vacation) mix mastered it and delivered top notch audio quality with top notch content in a time  of like 1/2-3/4 hour. 

He had a listen first and told me he needed it faster since it was a mini radio ad. Okay no problem  that's what revision for. I did that too in couple of minutes delivered again a high quality polished voice over sample. He checked it, and thought it was cool and left it with a he will use this.

Alright so I prepared the finishing and put everything in to the delivery folder. Then I just had to wait. Hours later there was the accepting. I just rated him 5+ as a regular client with an interesting order. 

BUT he rated me like 3,3 in whole 4 stars on communication 3 as described and three if he would recommend..

WITH all what I had done, communicate fast and friendly, delivered it in nearly light speed and offering a professional Audio he didnt even asked for... getting this review was kind of a slap in the face. I was kind of stunned after what I did for him , even lower lower lower the cost,  he had the dignity just to give me that rev.

 

I tried to asked fiver to somehow to check and have a transparent view on this case because it was a bummer for me and it might impact my future career here on fiver. I explained my matter and told them all the processes and dialogues I went through.. just that they understand that this review was more than unfair.. and I wanted the comment deleted because that doesn't show my service technically or in terms of quality.

And im getting just the typical answers from fiver customer support.. or paraphrasing me. Always telling me they couldn't do anything..its not like moving a mountain or something.. I felt very disappointed right now not being backed up on this 

 

Do you have any similar experience?

 

and does this rev impact my future upgrading my status on fiverr?

 

sincerely Jacob 

[eyevenear]

6 Major Tips I Learned after 1 Year of Sales that will save you incredible stress and lead you to a perfect score.

1) When you send a custom offer, add at least 1 extra week to the delivery date. This is a buffer time that prevents issues in case the Buyer asks for a revision, and prevents the order from going "late". If they ask about it, just be honest, and explain to them that is a buffer.

2) If there is something off about a buyer or they seem "too frustrated", do not start an order with them; otherwise, you'll 99% end up in a cancellation or, have a really really frustrating time. Skip that ride on that rollercoaster in the first place, be patient. A more positive individual will reach out to you eventually.

3) Double-check that they didn't send "unusable" assets mixed with the good ones. Hop on a call with them and double-check the folders together. Trust me, this will save you from wasting tens of hours.

4) Know when it's better not to solicit a review.

5) Understand that humans are volatile: the only true chance you have to close a deal is when people message you the first time, as soon as the conversation is over, they are gone and will never come back (except in VERY rare cases); Maximize your communication skills to keep that from happening.

6) Don't give valuable information for free before closing a deal. The info you give doesn't have to solve the buyer's needs, your delivery has; otherwise, you will earn 0 but the taxes will arrive anyway at the end of the month. Train your gut feeling to recognize a buyer's fishing attempt. Maintain a high IQ and Stoicism in the way you respond and everything will flow in your favor.

Good luck and stay hard!

Edited February 14 by eyevenear

[filipdevaere]

1)    I agree with this. In all my custom orders, I am also adding a buffer time. Not 1 week, but the buffer is there.
2)    I agree with this. Unfortunately, many sellers desperate for an order accept the order, and later, they tell their sad stories on the forum.

[nadeera0v0]

Are you aspiring to become a successful seller on Fiverr? Well, I've been there and done that, but I made some crucial mistakes that made it incredibly challenging to regain my former glory. Here's my story and some invaluable advice for upcoming sellers.

I ventured on my Fiverr journey while still a student. Initially, things were going great—I was inundated with daily orders. However, as my academic commitments grew, I found myself struggling to balance work and studies. Instead of focusing on one or two orders at a time, I started accepting multiple orders. I planned to outsource some of the work to my trusted designer friends. But This decision, unfortunately, backfired.

Those friends didn't always deliver as promised, and the quality of their work was often subpar. I couldn't meet deadlines, and my reputation took a hit. Clients who once gave me repeat orders began leaving negative reviews, questioning my credibility as a seller.

It didn't take me long to realize my mistake. Recognizing my inability to dedicate time to work, I decided to hit the pause button and temporarily stepped away from Fiverr.

After a few years, I'm back with a valuable lesson to share. Here are some essential guidelines for aspiring Fiverr sellers:

1. **Know Your Limits**: Only accept work you can handle comfortably. It's better to decline a project than to overcommit and fail to deliver.

2. **Set Realistic Expectations**: Clearly communicate the time needed to complete a job. Don't promise the impossible; it's a recipe for disappointment.

3. **Stay in Your Lane**: Accept jobs well within your skillset and expertise. Avoid venturing into uncharted territory.

4. **Don't Rely on Third Parties**: Never accept jobs that rely on third-party collaborators. You can't control their quality or reliability.

5. **Transparent Communication**: Clearly communicate the timeframe and budget with your clients from the outset. Transparency builds trust.

6. **Avoid Multitasking Overload**: Be cautious when handling multiple orders simultaneously. Quality should always take precedence over quantity.

7. **Honor Your Commitments**: Your word is your bond. Always deliver on your promises to clients, even if it means saying no to additional work.

8. **Protect Your Reputation**: Your Fiverr account, name, and reputation are more valuable than any single order. Protect them at all costs.

9. **Prevent Negative Reviews**: Avoiding even one negative review is worth more than securing ten orders. Prioritize client satisfaction and quality in everything you do.

These guidelines are not just words; they are the keys to success on Fiverr. Learn from my mistakes, and you'll be better equipped to navigate the competitive world of freelancing. Good luck on your Fiverr journey!

[m_jahid_hasan]

It's important that you should keep your clients happy so that you will get more work 

[pranto975]

You must have lot of knowledge about the field your are working on and also basic knowledge about related fields. For example you are a digital marketer; you also need to know about website backend, landing pages, different cms etc.

[omirodricks]

If you are facing a buyer with rude behavior simply discuss the project and do it. And if things get toxic, do not make the conversation lengthy, mention some valid points to you buyer and seek for Fiverr support team for order cancelation or dispute. Then again do not misbehave or do not talk irrelevant topics in the argument.