I was a skeptic . . . but I'm becoming an impressed skeptic!

[redleafconsult]

It took a number of years, but in June of 2014, I took the plunge and left my corporate executive job. I have a consulting business that focuses on communication and training development, as well as two smaller streams of income through sea kayak instruction and custom woodwork.



I’ve been doing voiceover work for about 10 years in varying capacities, and decided to put a gig up on Fiverr in August. My first two gigs came in within a day or so . . . and the alert emails fell into my spam folder, so I missed them and the buyers cancelled the orders. About a month later, I got serious and started logging into Fiverr every few hours.



To be honest, it didn’t take much work or time before I was seeing at least a couple of orders per day. Over the past 3 months, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m now bringing in over $1000 per month with about 90 minutes of time dedicated to delivering orders and marketing per week day. In December so far, I brought in over $500 in the first week, and my revenue stream continues to grow at that pace.



I’m shocked. The voiceover work that I do through my consulting business demands literally 20x the prices that I ask on Fiverr . . . but about 30x the amount of time and effort invested in each job. It’s actually more profitable for me per hour to do 12 $4 gigs at 100 words each via Fiverr’s platform than to market, pursue, negotiate, contract, record, deliver, re-record, and re-deliver a $1200 job that requires 30 hours of total investment, minus expenses.



I’m a one-man shop, so I have to do everything from marketing and sales through the voice talent recording, engineering, editing, delivery, AR follow-up, accounting, payroll, and . . . well . . . everything else!



Fiverr is, quite honestly, amazing. I’ll gladly give up a 20% fee for the marketing, AR, and collection services they offer.



This platform is now one of our solid streams of income. Granted, it’s only about $1000 per month, but it’s rapidly increasing and is a significant contribution to our (granted, diverse!) business model.



So . . . thank you Fiverr! It’s a pleasure!

[redleafconsult]

I should also point out that we have a full, professional, in-house sound production suite with top end mics, mixing boards, sound isolated and acoustically balanced vocal booth, DAW software, etc., and have been providing pro-level VO work to other clients through our consulting business for the past year or so.



In other words, we didn’t just pick up a USB mic, throw it on our desk with Garage Band, and start knocking out VO gigs. This is a part of what we do every day and we’ve made a significant investment in it.



The point is that, even with our seemingly higher priced venue for services through the consulting business, Fiverr’s lower priced gigs are actually more profitable when we consider all of the expenses, time, and effort that goes into both service outlets.



I doubt that would be the case if we didn’t have the equipment and experience that we do. But, as professionals, it’s proven to be a valid and valued marketplace for us!

[dukanu]

I really love Your voice.

I think You can have huge amount of sales, BUT what I dont understand is why voiceover sellers who dont have full queue waiting orders dont have 1 day deliver and also 150 words/basic gig. Lets be honest, to create a voiceover You have noting more to do then to read the script so that takes around 5 min with render time included.



I am animation creator and always looking for that 1 day deliver and minimum of 150 words/gig. I spend around $700/year for voiceovers.



All the Best,



Radu

[rachelbostwick]

Congratulations on your success. I started working through Fiverr about two and a half months ago and I have similarly had a lot of success. I’m not at $1,000/month yet but so far I’m blown away by my money-to-fun ratio 🙂

[rachelbostwick]

Congratulations on your success. I started working through Fiverr about two and a half months ago and I have similarly had a lot of success. I’m not at $1,000/month yet but so far I’m blown away by my money-to-fun ratio 🙂

[safwan]

congratulations…



yah fiverr is a great platform to make extra income. I was making $1000+ for a few months but last month and this month havent been that great… Im looking to constantly make changes to my gigs, keywords, market it twice a day now and join in the forums to attract clients.

[safwan]

congratulations…



yah fiverr is a great platform to make extra income. I was making $1000+ for a few months but last month and this month havent been that great… Im looking to constantly make changes to my gigs, keywords, market it twice a day now and join in the forums to attract clients.

[redleafconsult]

Reply to @safwan:



It is, indeed, a constant challenge to maintain gig visibility and conversions. I’m also constantly tweaking and monitoring my gigs, keywords, and marketing approaches. It’s definitely a challenge, but has been effective so far. I try to make my major updates on Monday mornings, then give them a week before I measure their effectiveness and decide whether to stay the course or revert to previous, proven approaches.

[redleafconsult]

Reply to @rachelbostwick:



Money to fun ratio is what it’s all about, isn’t it?! 🙂

[redleafconsult]

Reply to @dukanu:



Thank you for the vocal compliment, Radu!



I would suggest re-evaluating your take on voiceover work. You’re statement that it’s “Nothing more than reading the script” would be like me saying that an animation creator “just has to draw a few pictures on the computer”.



Both of those statements might be true for amateur sellers, but for those of us who offer professional-level services, there’s a lot of creativity, evaluation, experience, talent, and monetary equipment investment that goes into what we do. It’s far more than "Just reading a script!"



Not to mention that Fiverr isn’t usually a seller’s only retail outlet. In my case, you may only see 5 or 6 orders in my queue, but I might be spending the afternoon reading an audio book or long training script for a client, Fiverr or otherwise. I generally turn orders around within 36 hours and often within 24, but my Fiverr queue isn’t always an accurate representation of my workload.



I’m afraid that if you limit yourself to the providers who offer budget-rate work, you’ll also receive budget-rate levels of service and product. 150 words and 1 day or faster delivery per gig is pretty cut rate, I think.

[dukanu]

Reply to @redleafconsult:



I really understand You. My point was a bit unfair, I know. But what I try to say is most of scripts are around 150 words/60 seconds. Just few people ask for more or less (for video explainer) . So I think that will help You a lot with Your awesome voice.



Looking forward to work with You !



All the Best,



dukanu

[rachelbostwick]

Reply to @redleafconsult: Yes. Not only here but in life. 🙂