AI-washing

[emmaki]

So does GPT! Ask it to write something, then use the clipboard and copy it somewhere. The markdown doesn't convert. If you just copy and paste with your mouse, the markdown does appear, but you get that giveaway black text. 

[emmaki]

Just now, smashradio said:

But yes, it's actually not bad as a joke. I could easily use that for a sock website!

That will be $1,252 please. 🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

[smashradio]

Scary stuff going on in Indonesia now. Ruang just had an eruption a couple of hours ago. 

Indonesia issues tsunami alert as volcano erupts | Indonesia | The Guardian

[donnovan86]

41 minutes ago, emmaki said:

IDK Donnovan, seems to me like a lot of these staff consults end up with nothing much happening at all. 

 

I agree

Right now I am sad because I just got a 1.3 star review from a person that I went overboard and tried to help her, redid the work 2 times, and she left a pretty bad public review, I can only assume that comes in a pack with a bad negative one too. And the boxes checked.. they seem like a slap in the face. Language barrier from a person that had grammar issues in their messages, along with a lack of briefing. Lack of effort takes the cake, when the person specifically said in their review that I helped with revisions. I was forced to figure out topics, and really went the extra mile, that's why it does hurt pretty bad to see such a review. 

What I learned from this:

• Don't work with someone that doesn't even bother to share a link to their website, and which doesn't even share the topics for an article.
• Even if someone says that your content is ok, they might suddenly try to add a lot of extra stuff or make you work overtime for free. 
• No matter how professional you are and how exemplary your behavior is, they will still call you unprofessional. I really went the extra mile here, and I feel very sad to see that review message they left. 
• Request to Order might be of assistance, but then again, people try to make things seem very general at first. And then this person started asking for research studies, after studies after studies. Obviously if I knew beforehand, I would not work on this. But the person only asked me for lots of studies and extra research done after they agreed to the more general topics I provided. 

Overall, feeling very disappointed now, and not in my work, because I know that for what we agreed upon after I shared my ideas, I delivered and even more so... 

Edited April 17 by donnovan86

[emmaki]

That is a tough double whammy of bad news to follow up on!

[smashradio]

3 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

 

Overall, feeling very disappointed now, and not in my work, because I know that for what we agreed upon after I shared my ideas, I delivered and even more so... 

Sorry to hear that! That's why I only work with buyers who know exactly what they want and can clearly explain it before I make my offer. With your 18k five-star reviews, I wouldn't sweat it too much though. You'll bounce back. If I were you, I'd increase my rates tenfold though. That usually weeds out those buyers pretty fast. It's better to write one article for a good client and make $100 than to crank out ten articles for bad clients at the same rate.

[emmaki]

I can't find the review. Is that "we hide your worst review for X time" thing still in place? Anyway, D, put your prices up. $10 is just asking for these clients. It's not going to hurt you *at all* to put them up. Less work, more money, and more importantly, less people like this buyer. 

 

[smashradio]

Just now, emmaki said:

I can't find the review. Is that "we hide your worst review for X time" thing still in place? Anyway, D, put your prices up. $10 is just asking for these clients. It's not going to hurt you *at all* to put them up. Less work, more money, and more importantly, less people like this buyer. 

 

I found it by filtering for most recent. But it doesn't show up with the default "Relevant" filter. So most buyers won't see it. 

[smashradio]

Yeah, 

1 minute ago, emmaki said:

Less work, more money, and more importantly, less people like this buyer. 

 

Totally agree. And I actually became a better writer when I did the same, because now I have more time to focus on each project.

[emmaki]

Man, I always forget that filter. 

[emmaki]

"professional oomph factory"

That is all. 

 

[emmaki]

(also, looking at the Indonesian story, it looks like it's "bad-but-manageable" for now, but will be really bad if the mountain collapses into the sea?)

[smashradio]

1 minute ago, emmaki said:

(also, looking at the Indonesian story, it looks like it's "bad-but-manageable" for now, but will be really bad if the mountain collapses into the sea?)

I'm more worried about pyroclastic clouds if this keeps up. According to a geologist friend of mine, there have been some harmonic tremors after the initial eruption. That’s apparently bad news, but don’t ask me why because I have no idea. Apparently, lots of people are on the shore of the neighboring island taking pictures, and if a powerful pyroclastic flow comes along, they’ll be slammed with both a tsunami and burning ash. I'm only nerding this because we had an eruption on La Palma in 2021, and it was raining ash when my son was born. 

[donnovan86]

52 minutes ago, smashradio said:

I found it by filtering for most recent. But it doesn't show up with the default "Relevant" filter. So most buyers won't see it. 

It's a new, fresh review. Fiverr has a preference when it comes to highlighting bad reviews, so I am sure it will be the first Relevant review tomorrow or in a few days. 

I just feel sad because I had a good number of weeks with new clients, then sales tanked and I was just getting back on the groove. And then this.. Well, I guess it sums up the Fiverr experience, things can go sideways at any moment.

53 minutes ago, emmaki said:

Less work, more money, and more importantly, less people like this buyer. 

 

I guess I need to try some extra income sources, because the only reason why I kept this low is because I had consistency. But with AI, things are way more inconsistent. So even the lower price doesn't help anymore.  Seeing such a review is the deathblow when it comes to motivation, at least for me. Knowing this will be highlighted for months, and that it comes an elegant private review to match.. that really kills all the motivation I have. 

Edited April 17 by donnovan86

[donnovan86]

1 hour ago, smashradio said:

With your 18k five-star reviews, I wouldn't sweat it too much though. You'll bounce back. If I were you, I'd increase my rates tenfold though.

Not sure what kind of message I send if I suddenly increase my prices after a bad review. But I guess I should, I just relied on Fiverr too much over the years and due to AI in particular, the last year and a half was very rough for me. I still managed to push through.. yet as I said earlier, reviews like these drain the motivation out of you.. 

[emmaki]

8 hours ago, smashradio said:

Apparently, lots of people are on the shore of the neighboring island taking pictures, and if a powerful pyroclastic flow comes along,

Ah yes, pyroclastic flows - that's what happened to Pompeii and also what preserved it perfectly for modern-day tourists. People do like to gawp when natural disasters happen. A few years ago, there was a massive fire near where I live in the middle of summer. An entire mountain was on fire and my village had a cinematic view of it (it did look very impressive). The tourists where all snapping pictures, eating at restaurants, drinking at bars, and gawping at the spectacle. The business owners were working and looking with increasing panic over the fire, and we were trying to figure out whether to stay or go (we were a more refined class of dumb people). The fire did get put out eventually (and the wind was in our favor), but I've never forgotten how unconcerned the tourists were, nor the heat of the fire from a good few kilometers away over the summer heat. 

Your harmonic thingies are, according to ChatGPT, dangerous because unlike the regular shudder of an earthquake, these are smooth, rhythmic, and continuous, with a "musical quality". Anyway, scientists like to watch these because they mean a volcano is going to do bad things. 

8 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

I guess I need to try some extra income sources, because the only reason why I kept this low is because I had consistency.

Between Fiverr's AI madness and ongoing inability to protect freelancers from bad buyers, other income sources are increasingly a better option. Motivation's a tough one though. I find taking a break for a few days and not doing anything work-y helps to bring it back. Recharges the batteries, puts time and distance between you and whatever the demotivating thing was.

 

 

 

Edited April 18 by emmaki

[markp]

10 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

I agree

Right now I am sad because I just got a 1.3 star review from a person that I went overboard and tried to help her, redid the work 2 times, and she left a pretty bad public review, I can only assume that comes in a pack with a bad negative one too. And the boxes checked.. they seem like a slap in the face. Language barrier from a person that had grammar issues in their messages, along with a lack of briefing. Lack of effort takes the cake, when the person specifically said in their review that I helped with revisions. I was forced to figure out topics, and really went the extra mile, that's why it does hurt pretty bad to see such a review. 

What I learned from this:

• Don't work with someone that doesn't even bother to share a link to their website, and which doesn't even share the topics for an article.
• Even if someone says that your content is ok, they might suddenly try to add a lot of extra stuff or make you work overtime for free. 
• No matter how professional you are and how exemplary your behavior is, they will still call you unprofessional. I really went the extra mile here, and I feel very sad to see that review message they left. 
• Request to Order might be of assistance, but then again, people try to make things seem very general at first. And then this person started asking for research studies, after studies after studies. Obviously if I knew beforehand, I would not work on this. But the person only asked me for lots of studies and extra research done after they agreed to the more general topics I provided. 

Overall, feeling very disappointed now, and not in my work, because I know that for what we agreed upon after I shared my ideas, I delivered and even more so... 

I've sent customers your way. You don't know it, but I've sent quite a few recently. You need to raise your prices substantially. Your prices are tire kicker prices for people who have no perception of value or who just want quick content, and ironically, the people who leave feedback like this will be those who can barely string a sentence together and need ChatGPT to communicate. The bigger problem now is that people are deciding between using chatGPT to generate content or ordering low-cost writers to do it, and many see low-cost writing services as just throwaway services. If they aren't happy with or do not understand what they receive, they may leave poor feedback or no feedback and will go and use ChatGPT or other LLMs to generate content instead. That is how they are working. This isn't idle speculation. This is how some customers and businesses now operate, and they have told me this is how they now operate to save time and reduce costs. Businesses have created SOP's which include this process. Someone paying 100$ for an article is more likely to discuss their requirements before ordering and communicate any issues than someone who pays 10$ and says, "Meh, whatever," when they get their order.  I can't tell you how to set up your gigs, but RTO would eliminate most of these, and so would raising prices. I would also suggest giving people a questionnaire before ordering or asking substantial questions to ensure you are on the same page and there are terms of reference and, in the case of people like this, on the same planet.

[donnovan86]

1 hour ago, markp said:

I've sent customers your way. You don't know it, but I've sent quite a few recently.

Thank you Mark, I appreciate that. 

And you are right. I will wait a little bit to accumulate more positive reviews and get past this one, and most likely I will increase prices. 

1 hour ago, markp said:

I would also suggest giving people a questionnaire before ordering or asking substantial questions to ensure you are on the same page and there are terms of reference and, in the case of people like this, on the same planet.

I already ask for requirements, but people can easily say X in there and skip it, then force you to ask them obviously. I should have seen this coming with the order in question but I went onward and tried to help anyway. The thing is, that client said it's all good and only some slight changes might be needed. Then, the requirements changed to focus solely on their products and not include other stuff, then add a lot of studies from Pubmed and other stuff like that. I agree, RTO is good when you want to have more control, but at lower prices, it certainly pushes people away. I will still need to figure out pricing on my side, but increasing prices with RTO might be an answer. And this happened right when I wanted to cancel or at least stick with the regular Seller Plus.. Well. 

[emmaki]

15 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

And this happened right when I wanted to cancel or at least stick with the regular Seller Plus.. Well. 

It's definitely a dilemma...

[smashradio]

21 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

It's a new, fresh review. Fiverr has a preference when it comes to highlighting bad reviews, so I am sure it will be the first Relevant review tomorrow or in a few days. 

I just feel sad because I had a good number of weeks with new clients, then sales tanked and I was just getting back on the groove. And then this.. Well, I guess it sums up the Fiverr experience, things can go sideways at any moment.

I guess I need to try some extra income sources, because the only reason why I kept this low is because I had consistency. But with AI, things are way more inconsistent. So even the lower price doesn't help anymore.  Seeing such a review is the deathblow when it comes to motivation, at least for me. Knowing this will be highlighted for months, and that it comes an elegant private review to match.. that really kills all the motivation I have. 

I'm sure you have your reasons, but for me, it was fear. I was worried about losing business. However, that didn’t happen when I doubled my rates the first time, or the second time.

Consistency is great, but charging too little attracts people who think they can push you around.

With AI, there’s even more reason to bump up your rates. The $10 price point is probably what customers who are also thinking about using AI for low-quality output are looking for, so you’re competing against AI, not professional writers.

Give yourself some credit and raise those rates. I think you won't regret it. But that's just my experience. 

 

10 hours ago, markp said:

The bigger problem now is that people are deciding between using chatGPT to generate content or ordering low-cost writers to do it

^ this. 

Also: with 10 bucks a pop it's too easy to order. I can just place an order and leave you to it and all I'm risking is the price of a venti with a double pump of vanilla. I hardly ever have orders without the buyer contacting me first. It really helps. 

Edited April 18 by smashradio

[smashradio]

13 hours ago, emmaki said:

Ah yes, pyroclastic flows - that's what happened to Pompeii and also what preserved it perfectly for modern-day tourists. People do like to gawp when natural disasters happen. A few years ago, there was a massive fire near where I live in the middle of summer. An entire mountain was on fire and my village had a cinematic view of it (it did look very impressive). The tourists where all snapping pictures, eating at restaurants, drinking at bars, and gawping at the spectacle. The business owners were working and looking with increasing panic over the fire, and we were trying to figure out whether to stay or go (we were a more refined class of dumb people). The fire did get put out eventually (and the wind was in our favor), but I've never forgotten how unconcerned the tourists were, nor the heat of the fire from a good few kilometers away over the summer heat. 

Your harmonic thingies are, according to ChatGPT, dangerous because unlike the regular shudder of an earthquake, these are smooth, rhythmic, and continuous, with a "musical quality". Anyway, scientists like to watch these because they mean a volcano is going to do bad things. 

Between Fiverr's AI madness and ongoing inability to protect freelancers from bad buyers, other income sources are increasingly a better option. Motivation's a tough one though. I find taking a break for a few days and not doing anything work-y helps to bring it back. Recharges the batteries, puts time and distance between you and whatever the demotivating thing was.

 

Yes, I'm familiar with pyroclastic flows, those are scary as hell. I remember when we had the eruption here. Given that I own a newspaper in the islands, we had to send people over there to report on what was going on. It was a much less explosive eruption than the one in Indonesia, but still impressive. 

^ Ash covered large parts of the island. 

Our journalist, Ole Lie: 

Reporting on it, this was the only time I cried in 2021: 

Joselyn lost her unborn baby, then her house, and had to live in a container for 2 years while the local government dragged their feet. That was difficult to digest. 

Edited April 18 by smashradio

[donnovan86]

1 hour ago, smashradio said:

Give yourself some credit and raise those rates. I think you won't regret it. But that's just my experience. 

 

I will. I think pricing is the main reason why I am not TRS anyway. I will try to accumulate more reviews, ensure this one goes away and I will most likely double my price. It will be a bold move but I think you are right in the long run. 

[smashradio]

2 minutes ago, donnovan86 said:

I will. I think pricing is the main reason why I am not TRS anyway. I will try to accumulate more reviews, ensure this one goes away and I will most likely double my price. It will be a bold move but I think you are right in the long run. 

I don’t think doubling your rate is bold; I think it’s just smart business. In fact, more than doubling it would make sense, in my opinion. If you get 10 orders at $10 each and spend 6 hours writing, or one order at $100 and spend the same six hours on that single article, which one will turn out better? And you'll still get the same amount of money. 😁

[donnovan86]

11 hours ago, smashradio said:

And you'll still get the same amount of money. 😁

True, the only problem is that you can't jump to $100 right away, you have to do it gradually. But it's definitely something to consider, especially with AI being very prevalent on the writing market. I mean, as @emmakisaid, there are Pro sellers using AI for creating the content and they just change it a bit. So me.. writing only manually, I should charge more than them.

[priyank_mod]

11 hours ago, donnovan86 said:

I will. I think pricing is the main reason why I am not TRS anyway. I will try to accumulate more reviews, ensure this one goes away and I will most likely double my price. It will be a bold move but I think you are right in the long run. 

I'm not sure if you would find this relatable but one number I always have on top-of-my-mind is "Average Selling Price" on the analytics page.  

Besides increasing the prices as everyone has advised - you can pursue a personal goal to boost your average selling price from current x to let's say 1.2X or something like that over the next one year or so. It will help you increase your throughput and overall numbers in the long term. 

We all tend to get so lost in micro-management on a daily basis, that it is common for each of us to forego or lose sight of macro-goals.