Basic Skills for Sellers - Doing your Own Research

[katakatica]

Back when I was in high school, we had a few classes every year on how libraries sorted their books. 

I actually loved it, being the nerd I was! 

However, as the world becomes increasingly, well, 'technical,' I realise that we're starting to... fall behind, in a way.

If you look around on the forum, you'll see tens, if not hundreds, of the same posts, again and again, ranging from "IS THIS REAL?" to "HOW TO GET AN ORDER?" 

Now - is ASKING for advice wrong? 

Absolutely not!

But it's important for people, especially those who work online and need to be internet savvy, to know how and when to do their own research.

I'll give you a quick example (a personal one).

I'm going to Bali in less than a month, which is awesome. However, I also like to know a lot about the place I'm visiting for... anxiety reasons. 

For the past week or so, I have been RESEARCHING:

- Where to go?

- Where to sleep?

- What to eat? 

While I could have easily just asked all of these on a forum, (and I might, later!) I find it really important to also look around on my own first.

Why?

Because I need information that is unbiased AND comes from a reliable source. 

It's important to know that what you're reading is REAL. 

Another example would be a famous myth here on Fiverr:

Many people believe that staying online is all you need to get orders (though, luckily, this is debunked more and more.)

By doing a quick Google search OR even a search here in the forum, you'll find WHY that isn't the case and what you can do instead. 

If you were to post about it, it's likely that you WOULD get an answer, but it could come from unreliable sources  (for example, other new sellers who were given the wrong information. (or, the advice could come from cranky Forum veterans, like myself, who's tried to explain it thousands of times... and well, that wouldn't be great either :P)

So, to sum this up:

It's important to research. Even if you think you're an expert at something, browsing a few more sites (or books!) will only help you. 

[Kesha]

Great advice, @katakatica! I agree that it's important to invest the time needed to truly understand your domain. That alone can set you apart and give you an advantage over most! 👏

[rafiamina]

Great advice.