Fiverr's Changing ...Are You?

[vickieito]

Over the past year, we've seen a lot of major updates to the platform. Buyer Requests have been replaced with Briefs. The release of new AI tools transformed the way Fiverr, and many of its freelancers, are doing business. And just in 2023, Fiverr has been announcing quite a few new changes to its platform to elevate the customer experience, drive innovation, and support its freelancers. It'll be interesting to see how the latest updates will affect all of us, especially the updates for Top-Rated Sellers and Pros as well as the new suite of business products (Fiverr Neo, Fiverr Enterprise, and Fiverr Certified).

What It Takes To Win 🏆

Fiverr understands that to stay competitive, it can’t afford to stay where it is. Constant innovation and improvement are necessary to keep the business growing and moving forward. And as the business climate changes, Fiverr has to change and adapt as well. The same thing applies to all of the sellers on Fiverr's platform.

Too many sellers think that they can get their business to a certain point and just coast … but the truth is, there’s no coasting in business. If you aren’t moving forward or adapting to the changing business environment, you can easily slip behind. Doing what worked yesterday may not work for today. And if you aren’t preparing for tomorrow, you might be surprised when your business takes a nosedive. Often it’s the business that can pivot the quickest that performs the best in these situations.

I think about this a lot because my business on Fiverr is fairly new and I know that many freelancers don't make it past the first two years of business. I'd really like to pass the two-year mark and last a lot longer than that!  ...Kudos and hats off to all the sellers who have been at this for 5 years or more!🥳🙌

❔So the question is, with all of these changes on Fiverr's platform over the last year, are you also changing? Or are you just watching on the sidelines as your business is getting left behind?

Buyer Requests: Although I never really used it, I know that the loss of Buyer Requests was a huge blow to many sellers. Some sellers relied heavily on Buyer Requests to keep their businesses running. Those who were able to quickly adjust to this loss are doing better than the ones who didn’t make any changes to their businesses.

AI: The rise of sellers using AI tools changed the way I do business. I had a strict no-Zoom policy until this year but now I have Zoom calls every week. It started when buyers wanted to verify my language abilities and then kind of grew from there. This change in my business forced me to step out of my comfort zone and adapt (or get left behind). This meant I had to deal with a cancelation and a blow to my Buyer Satisfaction Rate as I navigated this new way of doing business for me.

Fiverr Updates: Whenever Fiverr rolls out new updates and features, I always ask myself, “Am I the type of seller that Fiverr wants? Do I align with the direction that it's heading?” In many cases, my answer is “No” or “Not quite,” so I know I need to make adjustments to my business.  This is really hard for me because sometimes I not only have to change how I do things, but I might also have to redefine who I am or take risks to try something new. Or shut down gigs that I have an emotional attachment to.

So what are your thoughts about the recent changes on Fiverr's platform?

📈 Have you felt the need to change, as I have?

🏃Are you pursuing things that you wouldn't have, but now are, because of the new announcements that were made?

💗 And what new hopes or apprehensions do you have for your business?

Edited August 11, 2023 by vickieito

[donnovan86]

7 minutes ago, vickieito said:

Or shut down gigs that I have an emotional attachment to.

That's the thing we have to do when we use a third party platform and not our own. When you own the platform, you are free to make the changes you want. But as I always say here, we have to adapt to what Fiverr does, and sometimes it can be hard. For me the bane of my existence is the private review system, which for me is extremely hard to adapt to. There's no way to know what causes a dip in orders, and when you have only great reviews everywhere it's hard to know why you're not in search. In my opinion, Fiverr should at least show us our current BSR so we know where we are and if that causes our dip in orders. It's not like they are offering any details about what private reviews buyer left.. But as a seller we should know where we are and what was not ok. Otherwise, why is that feedback, because it doesn't help one bit, if anything it just adds confusion. 

[vickieito]

2 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

But as I always say here, we have to adapt to what Fiverr does, and sometimes it can be hard.

I'd love to see all of the changes that you had to make over your 10 years on the platform! Were you always a writer?

When I joined Fiverr, I vowed I would never write or get on a Zoom call. That changed pretty quickly. 😅

2 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

For me the bane of my existence is the private review system, which for me is extremely hard to adapt to.

I would like to see a little bit more into all of these "additional quality metrics" and badges that are awarded to sellers. I just got the "Highly Responsive Badge" for the first time in my Fiverr life and I have no idea how I got it. It disappeared after 2 days and I have no idea how I lost it. Nothing has changed in the way I communicate (before or after getting the badge).

And since I'm a low-volume seller, I also know that a single cancelation/negative private review has a huge impact on my profile and gigs. So if anything goes wrong, I automatically think it's related to my BSR. But then my experience with losing the Early Payout feature wasn't related to my BSR - my success manager said my BSR was great -  it was other "stuff." I wish I knew what that "stuff" was!

[rabihumakhan]

Great, thoughtful post, Vickie! 

My journey on Fiverr over the last two years (I have spent two years on here) was not a smooth one; it was bumpy. 

Coming from a place where you must do niqab (cover your whole face, hands, feet, etc), it was hard for me to juxtapose my true identity. However, I taught to myself that I am not doing the business in my valley, it's an international platform and I must unveil myself in order to encourage my clients to start believing in me, to know that I'm an actual human being; hence you can see me now. 

 

Another issue for me here was the hidden metrics. After achieving level two seller's rank, I have been off and on periodically. I was not even included in the research for months and hence no work here. 

 

It's just recently that my business has seen some traction lately. 

 

One of the vital points that I fail to understand is that,  I have been one of the most successful sellers on another platform, yet I still search for regular gigs here on. 

Perhaps, I must adapt to new updates and should learn fiverr's organizational behavior. 

 

[grayprogrammerz]

2 minutes ago, rabihumakhan said:

Coming from a place where you must do niqab (cover your whole face, hands, feet, etc), it was hard for me to juxtapose my true identity. However, I taught to myself that I am not doing the business in my valley, it's an international platform and I must unveil myself in order to encourage my clients to start believing in me, to know that I'm an actual human being; hence you can see me now.

its not compulsory to show your face on fiverr

did you ever see fiverr employee's profiles ? (specially on on customer service)... their profile is low detailed/animated/cartoonish...

even my own profile image is of 6 years ago (so now no one can identity me)

everyone need privacy offcourse

you may even use logo

[rabihumakhan]

1 minute ago, grayprogrammerz said:

ot compulsory to show your face on fiverr

Of course yes, it's not compulsory. However, where did I mention it's compulsory, or obligatory. 

 

My point was that it was an adaptation and improvement. I learned that the business processes here are different from our locality. 

[grayprogrammerz]

1 hour ago, rabihumakhan said:

Of course yes, it's not compulsory. However, where did I mention it's compulsory, or obligatory. 

 

My point was that it was an adaptation and improvement. I learned that the business processes here are different from our locality. 

Yes, I understand it may be considered as improvement.

But I humbly disagree with this, i mean so far in past 2 year, i was never been questioned about profile image by clients (even not a single time)

Profile image doesn't matters(unless you are model or similar...).

Look, there's many TRS/PRO sellers without face. Then how they build trust ? offcourse reviews...

[catwriter]

21 minutes ago, grayprogrammerz said:

Profile image doesn't matters(unless you are model or similar...).

In the past, she used a photo of a child from her family. And we gently pointed out that, since her services were targeting businesses (and not businesses providing baby products), that kind of photo might not be the best idea. After all, if you're looking for someone to write legal documents for your company, you won't be looking for a cute child, but for a professional.

Profile image does matter. You can use a logo if you're a business, or if you're offering logo design. If you're an illustrator, you might use an illustration of yourself. But if you're not in those categories, using a photo of yourself might be a good idea.

1 hour ago, grayprogrammerz said:

did you ever see fiverr employee's profiles ? (specially on on customer service)... their profile is low detailed/animated/cartoonish...

They don't have to attract customers. It's not like you will refuse to talk to a customer support representative who is using a cartoon as their profile picture.

26 minutes ago, grayprogrammerz said:

i mean so far in past 2 year, i was never been questioned about profile image by clients (even not a single time)

As far as I know, it's uncommon for buyers to comment on the profile photo of a male seller (though it does happen, I remember that one copywriter was called fat by a client); some might comment on the looks of a female seller. However, being questioned about your profile image by clients is not the issue here. If someone thinks that your profile photo is unprofessional (or that it doesn't inspire trust, or whatever), the problem isn't that they're going to say something about it. The problem is, they might not contact you (or order from you) at all.

[grayprogrammerz]

37 minutes ago, catwriter said:

As far as I know, it's uncommon for buyers to comment on the profile photo of a male seller (though it does happen, I remember that one copywriter was called fat by a client); some might comment on the looks of a female seller. However, being questioned about your profile image by clients is not the issue here. If someone thinks that your profile photo is unprofessional (or that it doesn't inspire trust, or whatever), the problem isn't that they're going to say something about it. The problem is, they might not contact you (or order from you) at all.

My concerns are:

- how a client will say a seller is professional by seeing profile image ?
- and a seller is trustable by seeing profile image ?

There's several sellers using fake images already. I'm not sure how a profile image will make difference here.

 

I don't know others, but I'm confident about my business... I can run without face...

client don't care region, religion... or even if you are cat or dog... they just need their work to be done fast, in anyway

I can easily find PROs having family profiles, some body builders, some selfie guys... If client pay attention to those in that way, none would have contacted and they wouldn't get orders at all

 

some did asked questions about profile, but profile image, no one yet

[moikchap]

On the topic of AI Tools and Zoom being the workaround... It would be nice if Fiverr similarly made some kind of "time lapse" feature for artists. Artists I've been using have either changed their workflow or their mask slipped and some of the recent deliveries have obviously been through Stable Diffusion. The platforms my market use have banned AI, mainly in response to the negativity the market has about AI. I can't use those deliveries. The online detection tools I've been using throw up very high rates of false positives so I can't use those to vet things myself. The only way for me to know a workflow is legit is to actually see it. Probably a lot of sellers think it's entirely fine to switch to AI due to the encouraging messaging from Fiverr around it.

[vickieito]

41 minutes ago, moikchap said:

Probably a lot of sellers think it's entirely fine to switch to AI due to the encouraging messaging from Fiverr around it.

Fiverr is planning on having one webinar per vertical within the next two months to encourage and show them how to use AI. They already had a webinar for the Writing & Translation field (covering how to use AI tools properly to improve writing workflows ...with a pitch for writers to become experts in being AI-generated content writers). Fiverr definitely wants sellers to start using these AI tools more.

Edited August 11, 2023 by vickieito

[vickieito]

4 hours ago, rabihumakhan said:

it was hard for me to juxtapose my true identity. However, I taught to myself that I am not doing the business in my valley, it's an international platform and I must unveil myself in order to encourage my clients to start believing in me, to know that I'm an actual human being; hence you can see me now. 

I can definitely relate to your feelings of having to "unveil yourself" to encourage clients to believe in you. I felt that when we still had Buyer Requests and buyers would say "Don't even apply if you aren't in the US!" Many buyers would send me messages in the inbox questioning my English abilities when I was living in Japan. And then when I moved back to the US, it got worse because so many sellers were copying/pasting AI-generated text into their writing. That's one of the reasons why I decided to add Zoom calls - I had to give up some of my privacy to gain their trust.

4 hours ago, rabihumakhan said:

One of the vital points that I fail to understand is that,  I have been one of the most successful sellers on another platform, yet I still search for regular gigs here on. Perhaps, I must adapt to new updates and should learn fiverr's organizational behavior. 

And I've failed at other businesses (but do really well on Fiverr).

Fiverr is way different from any other business that I've done ... but it really fits well with my personality and strengths. 

I'm glad you are gaining traction now!

[smashradio]

7 hours ago, vickieito said:

So what are your thoughts about the recent changes on Fiverr's platform?

📈 Have you felt the need to change, as I have?

🏃Are you pursuing things that you wouldn't have, but now are, because of the new announcements that were made?

💗 And what new hopes or apprehensions do you have for your business?

I've certainly had to shift aspects of my business to keep pace with not just Fiverr's changes, but broader shifts too.

With AI increasingly influencing our daily lives, I see genuine human talent and experience as our ace in the hole.

While many businesses will embrace AI, I firmly believe that the survivors will be those who adapt faster than their clients.

By the time they get there, I intend to have a stronghold in all my niches. When companies go "We need that authentic human touch, a premium service, top-tier expertise with years under their belt to genuinely resonate with our clients," I want my name to be top of mind.

I'm not jostling for a spot against AI; I want to be the go-to when AI falls short.

Because I want to be the "crème de la crème" solution, I've upped my rates, gone Pro (well ahead of the Pro relaunch), and I always look for ways to offer more human value.

I've also expanded my skill set with things like video editing, which while not directly related, helps me better understand my client's needs. 

[vickieito]

1 hour ago, grayprogrammerz said:

client don't care region, religion... or even if you are cat or dog... they just need their work to be done fast, in anyway

2 hours ago, catwriter said:

Profile image does matter.

It really does depend on what type of client you are targeting - Many buyers don't care. However, I don't target the buyer that wants work done fast.

I prefer sellers who want quality over speed and and are willing to pay for it. So for me, my profile image does matter. I charge prices that are often higher than TRS or Pros in my category ...and since I'm neither, I have to have as many things as possible working for me to support my price. A professional profile picture is just one of many little things that work together to communicate that I'm a premium seller who commands premium prices.

[rabihumakhan]

9 hours ago, grayprogrammerz said:

mprovement.

But I humbly disagree with this, i mean so far in past 2 year, i was never been questioned about profile image by clients (even not a single time)

Profile image doesn't matters(unless you are model or similar...).

Look, there's many TRS/PRO sellers without face. Then how they build trust ? offcourse reviews...

I humbly request to reread my message again. 

 

It was an improvement on my part. I personally felt I'm doing something beyond the mundane rut for my business. 

 

Second, profile photo does matter. I wouldn't want to work with someone who's not open and brave enough to have their true identity. 

Several fellow sellers and clients believed I might be a fake person. I have worked with clients who had to trust on me with their court documents, divorce papers, child custody materials, snaps and stuff of their family members etc. 

One of my American clients had to file a case to take back the custody of his granddaughter. He first asked if I'm like a real adult woman as my profile photo looked uncomfortable. 

Would you, in your right mind, give your case details, or financial information to someone who you cannot even confirm to be a real person? 

 

[zeus777]

Well, I'm not going to sound intelligent at ALL here, but to answer your question...

Nah~~, I haven't made a single change, I haven't done anything, zero, zip, nada.
I was at first a bit worried with the whole AI thingy, but I still get a decent amount of translation orders so I guess I'm good. For now, at least.
If anyone wants to have a zoom call, no problem. So far I haven't had anyone ask for one. I did have a seller asking me to record myself speaking in both
languages, and that was enough for him to trust me. (my cat decided to join the recording in the middle and apparently he liked that)

[grayprogrammerz]

3 hours ago, rabihumakhan said:

Second, profile photo does matter. I wouldn't want to work with someone who's not open and brave enough to have their true identity. 

Several fellow sellers and clients believed I might be a fake person. I have worked with clients who had to trust on me with their court documents, divorce papers, child custody materials, snaps and stuff of their family members etc. 

One of my American clients had to file a case to take back the custody of his granddaughter. He first asked if I'm like a real adult woman as my profile photo looked uncomfortable. 

Would you, in your right mind, give your case details, or financial information to someone who you cannot even confirm to be a real person?

Yes now that's make more sense. I got it.

[vickieito]

3 hours ago, zeus777 said:

Nah~~, I haven't made a single change, I haven't done anything, zero, zip, nada.

I think that's pretty awesome that you haven't had to make a single change since 2010! (How did you do that?!)

It helps that you are unique and offer something that no one else does (both chibi drawings AND Japanese-English translations) - so you don't have any competition. 😊 I saw that there are only 6 TRS in Japanese translations and of the 7 results that popped up in search for me, 2 of them were yours (and there were only 4 total sellers displayed). You also have the Fiverr's Choice badge, too, so that's great!

[newsmike]

19 hours ago, catwriter said:

Profile image does matter. You can use a logo if you're a business, or if you're offering logo design. If you're an illustrator, you might use an illustration of yourself. But if you're not in those categories, using a photo of yourself might be a good idea.

Cat, I'm trying to choose a realtor to list my villa on Lake Como, can you help me choose?  I can't decide.

[donnovan86]

17 hours ago, vickieito said:

They already had a webinar for the Writing & Translation field (covering how to use AI tools properly to improve writing workflows ...with a pitch for writers to become experts in being AI-generated content writers). Fiverr definitely wants sellers to start using these AI tools more.

I think you would expect that, but I attended that webinar. Honestly, the main presentation was from a website owner's perspective, so it did very little for me in terms of actually learning something as a freelancer. But I am still attending all of these webinars, even if I rarely learn new things. That's the downside of being very active on the forum/website and learning stuff quicker than others.

[catwriter]

40 minutes ago, newsmike said:

Cat, I'm trying to choose a realtor to list my villa on Lake Como, can you help me choose?  I can't decide.

Ooh, I will totally trust a random cartoon to help me sell a $20,000,000 luxury property...

[zeus777]

7 hours ago, vickieito said:

you haven't had to make a single change since 2010! (How did you do that?!)

Well I have made several changes over the years, like my prices, descriptions, revision policies etc, but I think the last changes I've made were yeaaaaars ago.
Maybe I haven't changed anything for 5 years or so now?? Now that my hair is longer I thought of changing my profile image and maybe adding color, but I don't think that is going to change anything at this point. Having that said, it might be fun to change it.

[sabinespoems]

On 8/11/2023 at 4:33 PM, vickieito said:

❔So the question is, with all of these changes on Fiverr's platform over the last year, are you also changing? Or are you just watching on the sidelines as your business is getting left behind?

This is basically what I'm doing 🙈 It's not because I'm lazy or think that I'm so amazing things will turn around on their own, I just don't know how to turn it around. I think I lack the entrepreneurial 'spidey senses' to actually run my account as a business. The only reason I'm not stressing about it is because it's not my main source of income.

On 8/11/2023 at 4:33 PM, vickieito said:

📈 Have you felt the need to change, as I have?

🏃Are you pursuing things that you wouldn't have, but now are, because of the new announcements that were made?

💗 And what new hopes or apprehensions do you have for your business?

📈 So I've definitely felt the need to change! The basics included some gallery images I altered and I've lowered my prices (with only $5 but still). I ponder a lot about what I can do in order to fix this drought. Nothing groundbreaking has come to mind unfortunately though.  

🏃 This I haven't done, because I feel like the new announcements weren't things I could play into with my niche. Others will probably say there's always an angle, my brain just can't think of it 😅

💗 Like everybody, I hope I'll be able to help people again by writing poems for them and making some money during the process! 

[vickieito]

2 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

I just don't know how to turn it around. 

Oh, poetry's a tough one because that's really been impacted by AI. However, I have yet to see AI bring buyers to tears, which is what your poetry can do. Your last review was wonderful. 😊

AI can't write anything deep, moving, and meaningful - so when it comes to writing things from the heart, AI's not going to cut it. Buyers are going to feel much more comfortable working with someone compassionate like you, who can "sense" their needs beyond what they may send you in a brief. I know you mentioned that is a gift you have (and is something that AI can't compete with).

3 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

The only reason I'm not stressing about it is because it's not my main source of income.

That does make a difference. Living in Hawaii ended up being much more expensive than I thought, especially with a tween and high-school teenager, and somehow my Fiverr income has to cover all of our expenses and have enough to spare for emergencies. So I think about my Earnings a lot more than I'd like.

3 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

I ponder a lot about what I can do in order to fix this drought. Nothing groundbreaking has come to mind unfortunately though.  

3 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

This I haven't done, because I feel like the new announcements weren't things I could play into with my niche.

I see Fiverr placing more emphasis on Business clients and businesses (I'm also trying to find ways to cater more to businesses because resumes focus on individuals). So maybe you could start offering your poetry to professionals and businesses:

• Poetry for Daily Motivation or Morning Motivation Email Campaigns - these clients are in the mental health/health & wellness category and these orders are usually in the form of a 2-week or 21-day challenge. You would need to write 14-21 poems, one for each day, ranging from 50-150 words a piece. 
• Poetry for Product Descriptions - jewelry and other items meant to be given as gifts often need poetry to really capture the heart of the giver and drive that message into the heart of the receiver.
• Poetry for Professionals - Like the email challenge, professionals may want to subscribe to a set of poems (personalized or profession-based) to keep them grounded, motivated, and high-performing. Think "Poetry for Leaders," "Poetry for Freelancers," or "Success Mindset." Some may need poetry to help them think outside of the box. You could send them poems weekly or monthly.

Other ideas:

• Life Coaching gig - serve as an accountability partner, supporter, and friend in the order chats, and then you can send them a personalized poem in the finalized delivery. Charge them for your time (1-hour chat) and the cost of the poem.
• Writing Advice gig - review others' poetry and provide advice on how they can improve it (may also do as a Proofreading/editing gig).
• AI-Generated Content Editing gig - review AI-generated poetry and add a human element to it.

4 hours ago, sabinespoems said:

I hope I'll be able to help people again by writing poems for them and making some money during the process! 

I'd really love to see this happening, too! 😍

[seo_nasirbd]

as per fiverr update I need to change myself