My 5 Tips for Having Fun and NOT Running Your Gigs Like A Business

[timbrewolf]

Hey everyone, I’ve been on Fiverr as a buyer for about three years. I started selling just a few months ago, and I’ve had a blast. I haven’t been doing a great job being involved with the community, so I figured I’d throw my hat in with a set of tips that are probably similar, but not done from the generic “business model”.



I started to write a few points to counter some other stuff I read, but I figured I’d make my first post with some content and start a discussion. While a typical business model approach would be, discover market, find product/service to sell, develop pricepoint, gain market share, then repeat while increasing cost and lowering quality or delivery as market share increases…



My Fiverr method is more along the lines of “connect with customer, develop your brand as yourself, develop your gigs as your personality, and have fun!”.

1. Communicate.
   
   More important than timely delivering, price, or scope, keeping a buyer informed of the status and any issues ahead of time is the absolutely most important thing. Ever. Any issue can be resolved with good communication, and you can actually have a horrible experience, fail to deliver, and STILL get a good review if you keep your customer informed.
   
   
2. Dedicate Yourself.
   
   I haven’t earned a fortune on Fiverr, but I’ve noticed one thing about those who DO: If you come to Fiverr for a quick buck, you’re approaching this marketplace entirely wrong. There’s an irony that everyone thinks “You can’t make money on $5 gigs!”. And that’s true. Hence why you shouldn’t come for a quick buck. However, those who are dedicated to what they do, and how they do it, can far surpass any day job income, really… You have to be in for the long haul. But start with your first sell, like it’s your thousandth, and be professional.
   
   
   
3. Take Pride in your work.
   
   Again, Fiverr belies its “low cost marketplace” appearance, with a deeper, ongoing community. Your customers will grow with you. But if you don’t even spellcheck your gig description, or if you don’t take the time to make sure your message is accurate, you are not taking pride in your work. And that means your customers are going to feel you don’t care about them, etc. I could probably come up with better examples, but the bottom line is - literally the golden rule - if you treat every gig as a showcase that is going to highlight your portfolio, your customers will notice.
   
   
   
4. Treat Each Gig as Unique!
   
   Obviously, uniqueness is the key to GETTING customers on Fiverr. But the way of expanding your empire, is to make sure each customer feels they received attention and understanding. For example, I do a video of a molten-metal 3D logo based off a template. But when I started selling, I tagged on a little “end title” for the logo and customized it up a bit. Then, each sale I’ve had, I do what I can to make each of them unique. It takes very little extra time, but allows me to be creative, and my customers love it. 🙂 Not saying you need to make changes to each gig’s delivery, but find some way to make your buyer feel they are being treated like a person, not like a factory line order.
   
   
   
5. Have Fun!
   
   This is probably my weirdest suggestion, because it has to be tempered with the previous stuff. Misspelling things, not communicating, and poor quality is not having fun. The reason I even mention this is because I come from a background in Consulting (Enterprise level servers, etc.) As a consultant, especially for a large company, your customers may like you, you may be the pinnacle of success and knowledge in your field, but it all comes with this stuffy-tie, white shirt, corporate branded BS approach.
   
   
   
   Fiverr offers a marketplace that is not only unique, but filled with a lot of fun stuff, a lot of awesome people, and a community that may be the best, if inconsistent, at a lot of weird things. 🙂
   
   
   
   And to that end, I’ve had a blast with my customers here. Find a way to be professional, but have personality, and you will have a lot more fun regardless of what you’re doing! I do my best to check in as soon as an order is placed and I always try to let them know what’s up, if I notice an issue, and I try my best to find something to tell them how excited I am about it (e.g.,
   
   “Your logo looks great and will work perfect for this!”, or “I can make the car blue to match your website!”)
   
   
   
   Sometimes I may mention something in common, like if it’s a gaming community or guild, I’ll mention that I’m a gamer too, or ask why class they like to play, etc. It’s important to be sincere. But I’ve had the most awesome conversations - often not even related to the gigs - with my customers. From learning about people’s companies, or projects, to all kinds of weird things. It’s not always gonna work, but if you’re selling gigs that you’re interested in, then people buying gigs are likely interested too.
   
   
   
   I also do my best to break out of the old collared shirt. Even if I’m working with someone on web analytics or boring stuff, at Fiverr, I don’t send messages like "In reference to your previous inquiry about the degrading scope of widgets…"
   
   
   
   I find myself connecting with buyers like I’m helping a friend. I say things like “I’m gonna do everything I can to make this awesome!” or whatever comes more naturally.
   
   
   
   Tying all these things together is what makes a great seller, and a great seller is what makes a successful gig. I guess the bottom line is finding a way to connect with your buyers so they know you’re working for them. Being able to communicate and deliver a professional product, without it seeming like a corporate cog, is what will make you stand out.
   
   
   
   Oh, also, don’t worry about money. If you do things right, if you play your cards well, and you develop a connection with your customers, it’s going to be obvious to everyone that sees your gigs, reviews, portfolio. And you’re gonna be like Jerry Maguire when people look over your gig and say "I wanna be treated like that!"
   
   
   
   timbrewolf