Just a random thought and thinking out loud...

[zeus777]

So a LOT of us know that saying online 24 hours ( whatever that means...) will NOT bring in sales.
On the other hand, sadly there are TONS of people who somehow believes(?) that will help.

Many of us posted over and over again that the 24-hour-rule does nothing yet those stupid advice posts keep popping up.
I mentioned somewhere that I wanted to do an interview ( and pay $5 per person) to ask HOW and WHY they think it will help.
I think having an actual interview will be hard, but I had an idea.

😄drum roll please😁

I can have an essay contest!! I want people to post and let me know why they think it is a good idea.
If ANYONE can come up with a logical/intelligent/well-thought-out-list along with some examples on why it's one of the "best" ways to get sales,
I'll gladly place an order for them as a Christmas gift.
 

OK, clearly I am (kind of) joking but I am quite curious and somewhat serious.
Why did this trend start? Who was the first person who came up with that 💩 of an idea? I am aware of those fake Youtube "gurus" who had mentioned this
silliness, but why is it that so many people think it's a good idea? Has ANYONE found success in following that rule? 
Now I do have the experience of not sleeping for 48 hours back in college because there was this killer assignment. 
Towards the end I was talking to the wall, almost fell down the stairs, I even had this strange hallucination of this silver-ish blob coming out from the floor, I kid you not.

WE NEED TO SLEEP. So why oh why is it a good idea to stay online? Come oooooon, SOMEONE needs to have a good explanation.

 

[brownzay]

Well, I'm a victim of people who always stay online because I was told that staying online will bring sale or make one get order on time. To be sincere with who might be seeing this my comment, it doesn't work. 

When I joined this platform getting to 6 month or 7, I have been staying online from 5am to 12am everyday but I haven't get order for once. I stick to this idea for good 6 months no order. The funny part is that during when I went to bed which I will be offline is when I do get messages from those scammers because I haven't got any messages from real buyers yet. So, staying online for 24/7 everyday won't bring in any order neither will it make your gigs to get promoted if you don't have order. Your gig will rank down if you don't get order just like mine either staying online everyday or not. 

The only benefit of staying online base on my observation since I joined this platform is that; you will be able to respond to messages on time without any delay before loosing that potential buyer to another available seller. Most seller's do like to get in touch with a seller who is online for urgent service. So, if you are lucky enough you can be selected once you can offer them what they wanted.

Likewise, this staying online work best during when FIVERR BUYER REQUEST was this very available. You need to stay online to send 10 daily OFFER whenever it's available because that's another way to get offer then. If you are not online to attend to attend to buyer's message who pick interest from the offer you send to them, you will loose them to another potential seller's. I think this should be the reason why people like me as new seller are solely advise to stay online to get order on time during when buyer request was still available. 

For now, I don't think that will work anymore because buyer's request is not available anymore. And this Fiverr Brief matching work best for the level 1 and 2 for now because I don't think any new seller's have started getting Brief Matching yet including me. So staying online for now is just waste of time and data. 

Thanks 👍👍👍

[sunysuny998]

36 minutes ago, brownzay said:

The only benefit of staying online base on my observation since I joined this platform is that; you will be able to respond to messages on time without any delay before loosing that potential buyer to another available seller. Most seller's do like to get in touch with a seller who is online for urgent service. So, if you are lucky enough you can be selected once you can offer them what they wanted.

That is the most logical reason for most seller to say that staying online is effective.

In my observation, most of the seller target US/UK/international (for Asian seller I'm talking about) based buyer, so they think it's beneficial to get order because of the time zone. Other then that most buyer knock those who are available online. that is also a reason for seller believe that being online is effective. also most buyer don't wait that much time for replying the seller. if they don't respond almost immediately they start to fishing other seller 

but I think there's no need to be online 24/7, specially not physically nowadays. you can have the fiverr app on your device. whenever there's notification, you can attend the conversation/start communicating with buyer. Meanwhile fiverr also show that you're online 24/7. You can do whatever you want to do on your pc/laptop. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by sunysuny998

[vickieito]

2 hours ago, zeus777 said:

If ANYONE can come up with a logical/intelligent/well-thought-out-list along with some examples on why it's one of the "best" ways to get sales,
I'll gladly place an order for them as a Christmas gift.

This might be hard because most of the people preaching this advice are just regurgitating advice given to them by others. I was told by the first seller I met on this platform to stay online as much as possible. There was no explanations of "why."

2 hours ago, zeus777 said:

I can have an essay contest!! I want people to post and let me know why they think it is a good idea.

Okay! I'll direct any good nominees to this thread! 😊

2 hours ago, zeus777 said:

Why did this trend start? Who was the first person who came up with that 💩 of an idea?

The earliest mention I see on the forum of "stay online 24\7" was a 2013 complaint that Fiverr's policies encouraged sellers to be online 24\7. This was on page 1,241 of the forum results. Other more recent complaints pointed to the "online" search filter and the green "online" indicator on each seller's profile picture as a cause for encouraging sellers to be online more.

I also visited several YouTube channels and websites from gurus who were TRSs and Pro-sellers. It looks like they just wanted more subscribers.

2 hours ago, zeus777 said:

why is it that so many people think it's a good idea?

I ran through a couple of recent threads from those wanting to bring buyer requests back and their reasoning was it was the only thing that kept them "busy" and "online" all the time (which support what @brownzay was saying above about the buyer request link to "staying online").

There's a lot of anxiety around starting a new business. Unlike being an employee, "busy" doesn't equal income. However, being busy can alleviate stress associated with not having orders. Staying online is one of the easiest ways to stay busy and make someone think that they are doing something productive that will lead to orders. Unfortunately, it rarely does.

[uk1000]

So like has been said there's the ability to respond quickly and to show up in the "online" filter (though obviously if you are really active too much and not getting enough sleep it's going to be bad for your health, which could also lead to lower response times, lower work quality etc). And there was the buyer requests that could disappear quickly if you were unlevelled. There's also buyers in different timezones that like has been suggested might want quick deliveries.

The Fiverr Shareholder letter q2 2020 says:

Quote

The new infrastructure is able to support multiple machine learning models across different contexts such as search and category pages, and takes into account advanced user behavioral data in communication, availability and engagement metrics in addition to textual relevance. The result is an improved search experience for our buyers...

So that says "availability" is one of the things it takes into account, so it might take the fact that you are active on Fiverr (eg. loading a page recently) to help determine your position in search results, or it might not (it might just mean your normal availability status eg. that you're not out of office, that your gig isn't on hold).

The "engagement metrics" are most likely how fast your respond to buyers, response rate etc. (though those could be part of "communication") but in theory engagement could also mean you are active on Fiverr (using the different Fiverr pages) - but it's probably not though.

Edited December 10, 2022 by uk1000

[breals]

Apparently, so legend has it, the earliest mention of being online 24/7 was made my the ancient chipotle people some 40,000 years ago. Early cave drawings suggest they were also frustrated at the lack of buyer requests and gig impressions. 

However, the story also states that in frustration of pressing the refresh screen constantly with their hairy and course hands. the friction caused a fire and modern man was formed. 

So yes!  Being online 24/7 did have it's advantages, even back then.

[imagination7413]

According to forum archives, about 5 years ago (mid September of 2017) Fiverr tried out a feature called "Available Now". Those forum records indicate that it was something sellers could turn on when they were online, for Buyers to use as a filter to find Sellers who were (as the name indicates) available right that instant. Records further indicate that the critera for accessing and keeping this feature as a Seller were fairly strict (and a bit buggy). Forum post dates indicate the feature was cut by July of 2018.

So, for nearly one year, Sellers were handed a blatant "be online" card.

Now, I joined in 2019, so that was before my time, but I can easily see a tentative possible connection. We frequently see posts along the lines of "my friend and I are nearly identical, why he/she get sales and I don't?" Proof that what works for one person might not work for another. All it would take is the perception of "active online = good" for a false-positive to circulate.

There's also the "anchoring" cognitive bias. Which is how we get parrots.

[melanielm]

6 hours ago, vickieito said:

There's a lot of anxiety around starting a new business. Unlike being an employee, "busy" doesn't equal income. However, being busy can alleviate stress associated with not having orders. Staying online is one of the easiest ways to stay busy and make someone think that they are doing something productive that will lead to orders. Unfortunately, it rarely does.

As usual, I think Vickie is 100% correct. 

Staying online, active, or busy 24/7 seems like a simple thing to do (not an easy or healthy one, though!) in order to receive some type of business/financial benefit. When faced with a total lack of understanding of best business practices or real marketing knowledge, things like this offer a lifeline and hope. From all that I've seen on the forum over the years, however, it mostly leads to confusion and despair.

I'm firmly on the side of setting regular business hours and sticking to them. One of the biggest reasons is that I don't want to work with anyone who expects me to respond to them at 3AM my time.

All that being said, I understand that my perspective comes from a very different place than people just starting out now. I've been at this for decades, and things simply work differently once you're established. I would not want to have to start freelancing today.

[catwriter]

17 hours ago, zeus777 said:

Has ANYONE found success in following that rule? 

There are some sellers who got orders while they were online, and now they think that that's how you get orders.

[strategist_ceo]

Based on my experience, staying online does make it easier to capture leads.

I have found that many buyers are looking for sellers who are "online" and having an App on your mobile staying online to capture all the leads doesn't sound difficult to do.

I understand that you say "we need to sleep"... my question is why don't you just "mute" your phone when you sleep?

 一期一会 (Am I using this correctly? )

Edited December 10, 2022 by strategist_ceo

[damooch916]

30 minutes ago, strategist_ceo said:

Based on my experience, staying online does make it easier to capture leads.

Of course. Of course it does.

Look guys, if you’re tired of this sloganized, one size fits all, one rule for all types, sort of strange ideas like, “being online will increase your sales,” then imagine how ridiculous we sound when suggesting that, “being prompt is equal to being not prompt.”

Heres the reality: in the rush to over correct stupid beliefs (you’ll magically achieve good sales by being online) we’ve created completely wrongheaded, “forum expert” beliefs like, “it makes no difference to a potential client when or if you’re currently available.”

That’s just crazy talk. Of course it matters. It matters to me. It matters to my long form clients and it mattered when they found me. Just because it isn’t the “end all be all” for clients seeking out services, doesn’t mean it’s a non factor. Far from it. People are impulsive. How many lesser than industries exist completely because of their availability? More than not. Literally more than not. 

As the long standing guard here at the forum show room and casino, we’ve allowed ourselves to believe even sillier ideas than the people we hoped to counteract. It’s crazy when we say things like, “being on the forum won’t get you sales,” or “YouTube has no good advice to offer…” or “25 shots of espresso isn’t healthy.” Obviously none of that is true.

I’ve made fairly significant money from this forum. I’ve taken plenty of great tips from YouTube and I’ve been approached many times with, “I see that you’re online, can I ask you a question?” Sure, that question may be regarding WhatsApp, a prince, a cashier’s check and maybe my identity will end up on the black market … but I was online when it happened.

10 hours ago, imagination7413 said:

Fiverr tried out a feature called "Available Now".

This. This is the key piece of information in understanding where the “be available” suggestion went from “this will help” to “it’s a must” and why it wasn’t the bad advice that forum echoers would have you believe. Ultimately, the feature proved redundant when fiverr allowed for users to see who was online during the profile vetting process and came to find out that people who prioritize impulse purchases will go out of their way to initialize them.

Especially now.

Fiverr is currently allowing users to message multiple potential sellers. Your being online is a factor in the message, the response rate and the outcome. Pretending it doesn’t have any impact doesn’t make sense and it’s bad advice.

What we really mean is: “being online 24 hours a day won’t be the reason you hit TRS.” There’s a laundry list of factors that go into being amongst the elite in your vertical. Some of them are very real, very exclusive and we do, in fact, keep that information under our cap. Then the rest of it boils down to which side of marketing you want to invest in and your ability to stretch that dollar to its most maximum capacity. And all of that takes a back seat to the most important question of all: are you good at what you do?

All of these tiny complexities go into the strange labyrinth that is fiverr success. In some way, all that seemingly insignificant advice plays a minor part that makes the entire whole. Staying online is a fraction of it, that when paired with the many, many other factors of being successful here, will be a part of how you played the game. 

[zeus777]

11 hours ago, melanielm said:

As usual, I think Vickie is 100% correct. 

Heeey, I was gonna say that!! (JK)

Jokes aside, this thread is getting quite interesting, I'm currently sipping on my coffee in my office booth, but wow this is nice!
"Staying online is one of the easiest ways to stay busy and make someone think that they are doing something productive that will lead to orders. "
That's the quote of the day, and NOW it kinda makes sense and I can understand.
I guess what confuses me is that people say "stay online 24 hours" and the other respond with "OK thank you for good advice," and that makes me go

"Uh, so you're not gonna question why...?"

When I started over 10 years ago, I spend a few days setting up my gig, and once they were up I just left it. I got an email telling me I got an order a while later, and I'm pretty sure I was watching TV or something when the order came. I had no fear of "losing the opportunity of getting an order" by not staying online, because the beauty of online orders is that you don't physically need to be there. But I get it, I didn't join Fiverr out of desperation, so...
 

3 hours ago, strategist_ceo said:

"we need to sleep"... my question is why don't you just "mute" your phone when you sleep?

Actually I don't mute my phone in case someone calls me for an emergency. True story, a buddy of mine called me at 3 in the morning once because he was having some kind of seizure. I ran to his apartment ( thank god he lived 5 minutes away), called the ambulance and he ended up in the hospital.
Fiverr or no Fiverr, I always have my phone with me 😎

 

3 hours ago, strategist_ceo said:

一期一会 (Am I using this correctly? )

"Once in a lifetime experience!"   😃

Funny fact, the Japanese title for the movie Forrest Gump was 一期一会 for some reason.

[psykkopatte]

Well, not about to be mean or something but to me, if they still can't understand after months that it doesn't mean anything and even worse, keep repeating over and over the same copy/paste and wrong advices on each topics after seeing this, then they are as smart as battle droids in star wars and can't be saved 🤷‍♂️
They'll just follow their initial programmation: go forward and get funky 🤷‍♂️

Edit: yes, I changed my profile picture 🤷‍♂️

Edited December 12, 2022 by psykkopatte

[sujanaprodesign]

I keep always turn on notification of my Fiverr.