Any Suggestions?

[Guest jlgoff]

Hi, I am a beginner here at Fiverr. I am familiar with the various writing, stages before writing, and editing structures and processes, but don’t know how to make a gig that sounds good to other people. I have a list of questions, and if you guys could take the time to answer them, that would be great for me.



Questions:



What should I do to make my gig sound amazing?

What should I charge as a noob on the scene?

What should I say in the description?

What should I put in the instructions?

How do I define my target audience?

How do I persuade people to choose me over many others?

How do I get people interested into my gig?



Note: I would like to thank everybody who answers in advance, as I will take suggestions from everybody.



Just so everybody knows, my username and my pseudonym is the same as my real name: they are not separate, so please don’t ask where I came up with such a, “fake name,” my name is German from my German mother who adopted me after marrying my biological mom. I was born as Jacob L. Morin, and now my name is legally Jacob L. Goff. If you look hard enough, you’ll find my original pseudonym from when I was published was my middle name first, then my first name as the middle name, and then Goff: Levi J. Goff. I then had many others because I didn’t want to confuse the readers about what they were reading based on having my name attached to it, and I since learned that people don’t care, so I contacted the agencies who published my work and they put my real name, and they also listed an “aka” section from when I wrote under different names for their submissions. I am a frequent submitter to many newspapers, newsletters, and have a high G.P.A in college, and almost nailed a 4.0 in high school, and I have close to my high school G.P.A right now in college.



I am taking English 101 this fall because I am trying to get a degree currently, as I am chasing after my dream of having a 4 year English degree, and then I am going to head off to another 2 years of college to gain more experience in the academic world and get a Master’s Degree.



For all of you who read my other 2 postings, I am trying to adjust to a world I’m really not all that familiar with in the aspects of the same world that I came from in terms of the formalities that it holds.



Sheriff’s Note: Posting very personal information on the public Fiverr forum is generally not required or recommended. You may want to edit out these details as Fiverr is not the type of site where this information is necessary.

[fonthaunt]

Hello,

I’ll give a shot at your questions. You’ll find a lot of answers already here when you keep reading, so keep that in mind. A post I wrote with links is here: http://forum.fiverr.com/discussion/72631/tip-for-sellers-who-want-help-with-gigs-expanded

*What should I do to make my gig sound amazing?

First thing - you really, really need a good gig image and preferably a video as well.

A lot of people wonder about including videos for writing/editing gigs and I was one of them when I started. There are a few reasons, but the top one for me was that you tend to get more preference in Fiverr search as well as general SEO when you have a video. It can be very simple - you talking about what you do on a phone or laptop video. If you don’t want to be on camera, you can make a nice PowerPoint slide video. Or, you can hire one of many great Fiverr sellers who can create explainer videos or testimonial videos for you.

Right now your gig image seems to be a white canvas with your name. You need an image that inspires people to click and read. Again, you can make your own image by taking basic photos, you can use a nicely done logo on an interesting background, or you can hire someone to create you a logo and/or photo.

*What should I charge as a noob on the scene?

My personal answer to this is that you need ratings and reviews badly in the beginning, so you want to do as much as you can for as little as you can. Look at successful people selling gigs like yours. Many charge by the word. Since you are new, offer quite a bit more than they do for only a $5 gig. It doesn’t matter if you need to spend an hour or even hours on those first gigs. You can raise your price later.

What should I say in the description?

Again, I would take inspiration for successful sellers in your category. Read their gig description. Don’t copy/paste it but write your own using what appeals to you. What would make you want to buy? Your gig description should be about what your buyer wants, not what you want to say about yourself. And, of course, instructions are important as you said.

What should I put in the instructions?

This is where you want to make things very plain for your buyer. How much work will you do for $X.XX? Do you include revisions and if so, how many? Are revisions based on whether or not you make an error, or do you include revisions for any reason at all? How much does it cost if they want extra modifications?

How do I define my target audience?

I had to learn the hard way about the target audience. I still value the experience greatly, though. I had an editing gig early on but I also did a lot of ghostwriting. I started out accepted nearly any kind of written work to edit and almost any topic for writing. It was beneficial because I got my first 10-15 sales and reviews quickly. However, I discovered quickly that editing writing that I didn’t enjoy reading was tedious. Writing on topics I had no interest in took me forever and made me dislike looking at my orders each day. So, gradually I narrowed my target audience to include what I enjoyed working on. I don’t like editing work at all, even on my own writing! So, I discontinued that gig and I still sometimes hire other editors to help me with my personal writing projects.

How do I persuade people to choose me over many others?

If possible, be unique in some way. Whether that is by having a flashy video or image that just draws them in, or it’s something special about your gig - try for something unique. Other than that, buyers on Fiverr are hungry for native English speakers/writers to do editing and writing. There are so many fakes that pretend they are native but can’t really do the job that it frustrates buyers. Write some things yourself (or get them from friends) with errors in them. Then edit them very well. Put those up as samples of your work.

How do I get people interested into my gig?

When you are new, your gig shows up in the New category on the main page. Utilize that time wisely by making your gig stand out in the ways described above plus by applying other tips you find on the forums and the Fiverr Academy. Once you get them hooked, your gold is in repeat buyers.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

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[emmaki]

Mr Goff!

Listen to the sheriff. I come from an insular world too. It doesn’t matter. Deal with it and get on with it and don’t splurge your personal info. And nobody cares about how you “almost nailed” something. I know I’m being harsh but you need to hear this sooner rather than later [hey, did they tell you how that displayed your strength? Bollocks]. Sort out your profile and professional details, build up a portfolio and focus on the client. Even if the client is three shades of screaming shit. (though I’d probably tell them where to go at that point).

Listen to the sheriff, and don’t get angry. PM me if you’d like to talk further. I don’t bite all that much. But quit with these post immediately. They are NOT helping you.