Has anyone else had this?

[philtabest]

So I have had potential buyers approach me asking me to write a portion of their instruction manual so they can see my writing style. I can see their scepticism, but I cannot afford to write a portion of instruction of an instruction manual just to have them not place an order at the end of it. For my first order, I was sat in front of my computer anyway, so I threw together a quick teaser of what my thoughts of how the instruction manual should be layed out. I work with the buyer in order to make sure he and I are both happy and there is alway the chance to get a refund on this website.



I have a full example on my gig and a work in progress uploaded, so people can see how I work, but because it’s not their product, they cannot see the relation. I always do my best work and I would never dream of accept a gig that I can’t deliver, because it would be my ass that gets bitten.



Has anyone got any advice on this? Also, does it get easier once you’re more established and have reviews?

[landongrace]

You could probably narrow it down to 4 or 6 types of manuals and show samples of each. I think the stock examples are the way to go. Send a dropbox folder of multiple examples.



Are your final deliveries more than $5.00? If they are, you could do a test - $5.00 gig. I will give you a 1 step, 50 word test manual for $5.00.

[philtabest]

Reply to @landongrace: My final deliveries vary depending on what the customer wants, if they want no styling, pictures or diagrams, then it’s $5. That would basically be a text document detailing what to do with the product. Then from there I have 1 add-on for layout and another for the pictures.



I am very happy, only had one gig so far and it was the max order. 🙂 So I can’t really complain at that to be honest. It’s just the amount of time I’ve spent sending what I feel to be pointless messages is taking away from that glory.



I do like that idea of offering a drop box folder with a few examples of my work in, I might have to set that up here shortly. Thank you! 🙂

[jamesbulls]

They’re just fishing for free work. Whenever I get those, “do some work for free to help me decide,” I refer them back to the preview samples of my work listed on my gigs. Not that they ever pay for work after I make it clear that I don’t work for free, but yeah… just take it as a sign that you’ve established yourself on Fiverr when the scammers come knocking.

[philtabest]

Reply to @jamesbulls: Just as I thought, I seem to be getting a bit of spam in my inbox too. Like today I got a message on here, when I try to open it I get a message that says “For privacy reasons, this user may not be contacted directly.”.



In order to view what the message actually said, I had to open it within my email and there was a link in there that directed me to an attempted Fiverr clone.



The message said - “Hi The world’s largest SEO Marketplace is looking for experts like you. Join us today! Visit - Website address Best Regards Jordan”. I wouldn’t say I no nothing about Search Engine Optimisation, but I wouldn’t even categorise myself as a beginner, because I haven’t even began to scratch the surface of that topic.

---

SEO Marketplace - SEOClerks

http://a.seoclerks.com

[landongrace]

I didn’t click on the link. It was spam. The minute the fiverr system realizes it. It is blocked. That is what the “Privacy message” is for. It’s for your privacy! 🙂

[sexygirl18]

Definitely don’t do free work. If they really wanted to see your style, $5 is a miniscule amount to pay. I’ve had these requests before and I either refer them to the samples on my gig or ask them to purchase a minimum gig to gauge my style.

[writerlisaz]

Reply to @philtabest: Ooh, I got that message today! Thanks for pointing it out as spam. I have so far just ignored it.

[philtabest]

Reply to @landongrace: I can’t tell whether that’s a really good or really bad idea. It sounds like a good way to attract people, but many of the people who have been messaging me I feel like I don’t want to deal with. Especially with being a beginner on the site, my ratings are important to me and I feel like I have to be extra careful who I accept orders from.

[steixeira]

After getting burnt once by doing some free work for a buyer who then disappeared, I always suggest that I can do some sample work for $5 for them. So far it has worked well and I have gotten larger orders from it as well. I currently have several buyers who provide large orders and repeat business so that I have to suspend my gig from time to time to be able to meet deadlines.

[waysofstyle]

It’s hard to say no to that if you are a beginner, like me:-) You don’t know the direction yet and it might be true that they need to see a sample. (In my case it’s posing with a sign. I am very clear on what I offer, but I could always accommodate requests. However, a watermark in the photo or something would be good to add.) Apart from that, don’t do stuff you wouldn’t accept in the “real” world either:-)