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Can't Get A Job? Want To Know Why? Let's Look At Your Perspective

emmaki

By emmaki
in Tips from Sellers

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emmaki Grand Master

emmaki

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I know it sucks. You want to make some money and be successful, but right now you’re getting no gigs and you’re starting to feel a bit panicked.

Thing is, that Fiverr is a platform which advertises your service and people may or may not order it. In that respect, it’s very much like a job center. Would you hire someone who went to a job center and grumbled that you were not getting any work? Do you think it would be effective? Worse, do you think picketing around that job center with a big sign saying “WHY WILL NOBODY HIRE ME?” and advertising your apparent unemployability will work?

Probably not–in my country (UK), you’d be sent off to the free work gulags under a zero hour contract to make billionaires more billions, failure to do so will result in a loss of your benefits (which are meager, despite what the media may well have you believe from some cherrypicked cases). Lovely how it works if you’re rich, isn’t it?

Don’t moan–work on your business. Improve your profile. Make use of the video promotion. Use attractive images. If your English isn’t that great, hire someone to write a good gig description. Promote yourself.

You are, essentially, advertising yourself as a business here on Fiverr. Be competent, and realize the onus is on YOU to make this work, not anybody else. And know that your career of freelancing is going to have busy months, OK months and dry, dry months. This isn’t good or bad: it’s simply what it is.

Think before you come to the forum with your complaint. Think how you can invest that energy into making your business work for you, how you can attract clients. Don’t be the picketer who is really only advertising your own weakness.

You’re not getting work for many reasons. Discover what those are in your market, and adjust your reaction accordingly. Used to offer an Amazon review gig? Yeah, bad idea, stop that. But you might actually be a good reviewer. Switch focus from shill reviews to, say, “I will write an indepth review for your amazon affiliate blog”. Internet marketers will feed and feast off that!

So, change your perspective. I love a good moan as much as the next person, but in business, you’d be wise to work on the whys and adjust your strategy accordingly. There’s a very low barrier for entry here, so if you still can’t find work after you’ve done everything you can, it’s time to reconsider being a freelancer.

(I will shoot anyone down in flames who inboxes me for extra help, so don’t even think about it, kiddo. Unless you want to pay me…)

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zoranfiver Newbie

zoranfiver

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Great article! I wish more sellers would read this before complaining on the forum. The world of business is harsh, you constantly need to improve and learn, which is never easy, but it pays off.

I was going to say a few more things, but I’ve realized I’d just be saying everything that Emma’s already said, so this comment is just me approving this post, I guess!

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magy1808 Rookie

magy1808

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I love reading Emmas posts. Emma one day write a book, you really have ability to hit the point and use right words and phrases for it.

As well sellers should be aware of their abilities, like it is obvious some of us really are good at what we selling, then someone thinks oh wait this is easy, I can do it, but it really isn t like that. Point of freelancing is finding what you love to do and you are good at it, plus in some fields it is required as well to work on your self, keep up with trends and technology to push yourself on a market. For all new sellers, do a research on what is selling, how is selling and which talents and knowledge you have to posses to be a concurrent on the market and beat concurrence.

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eoinfinnegan Mentor

eoinfinnegan

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But it’s so much easier to just whine about it!
Complaining that I can’t get jobs makes me feel better and also makes me think that I am working on my career.
And anyway, there is bound to be someone who will see how amazing a writer/graphic designer/internet marketer/“likes” seller I am and will therefore do my promotion work and gig improvement for me. And they should also thank me for letting them…

(Not picking on the seller types mentioned above but they are the ones I see whining most often)

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mariokluser Enthusiast

mariokluser

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This is a great post. You describe perfectly what is going on. Actually this shows a certain mentality some people have: they put something out (a gig) and when it doesn’t work out they start mourning as the problem can’t be possibly on their site. So they look for someone to blame or for someone who solves their problem for them.

Indeed everybody should read this post and stand still for a moment. Ask yourself: ‘Would I hire somebody who was mourning on the forum about not getting orders?’ I certainly wouldn’t.

Another thing to think about: if you have a problem that many people have and you have a solution for that, then you most likely have a product that sells.

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magy1808 Rookie

magy1808

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Freelancing is a challenge, you have to be a lot of a things at the same time: teacher, student, economist, talented, creative, willing to grow, learn, explore, hard worker; fact we work from bed doesn t mean it is easy; and people today are sooooo lazy it is crazy. Please do my work for me and then I will be happy by doing nothing. Seriously it feels like people just wanna sit on sun be fed by falling grapes and **** golden eggs. That would be perfect scenario.

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jamesbulls Apprentice

jamesbulls

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What I’d add to this based on my own experience is that to really make it on Fiverr you need to do external advertising and promotion. Whether you’re buying ads on Facebook or Google, doing your white-hat SEO, or self-promoting on social networks, you have to do something to stand out from the crowd. I’ve read that there are some folks who - so they say, and for whatever reason - don’t do any advertising or self promotion at all and they’re making a mint of Fiverr. Kudos to them, but I’m not one of them. If you want to make professional wages, you have to work like a professional, and that means doing the things to generate traffic. It also doesn’t hurt to be a good writer and to understand how your sales process works.

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Guest wowyou

Guest wowyou

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Awesome, awesome post @emmaki!!! It’s natural to get frustrated (I’ve had my own gripes from time-to-time) but Fiverr really is a gift that can keep on giving and giving.

It’s all about thinking strategically and working hard to get to where you want to be.

Many people sign up to Fiverr with unrealistic expectations I think. We hear all the wonderful stories about people making a killing on this platform and start getting dollar signs in our eyes. We dream of our own $30,000 month. People forget though, that those who are currently doing exceedingly well here, put in the TIME and ENERGY to get where they are. I have not read one testimonial from a seller who walked into a windfall. That’s not how it works.

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emmaki Grand Master

emmaki

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On the contrary, I signed up with low expectations (I saw it as a pocket money kind of thing), so I had no expectations, and wasn’t particularly bothered when I got 2 orders a month or whatever. It took me a while to see the potential, but when I did, I took it seriously. Probably a better way to approach any new freelance site, rather than get starry eyed by the $30,000/mo guys.

Incidentally, bragging about $30k months seems to me not to be helpful. Those guys have a team and can handle the scary amount of orders that $30k must involve. I would have to give up any semblance of a life to achieve that! A new seller can only really focus on their own business. Sure, it’s hard work, but the results down the line make it worth it.

Oh, and someone did write me over this post today… it started off with “I read your article and…[help plz]”

Guess who got shot down in flames, and deservedly so?

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Guest wowyou

Guest wowyou

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Haha, OF COURSE someone would contact you for more advice. Why wouldn’t they? You said not to so…

I would love to get a quick dose of the snarky response you fired their way. LOL!

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jamesbulls Apprentice

jamesbulls

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Yeah, it’s important to think about how much money you want to earn on Fiverr, and likewise, how much work that would entail. My goal is at least $1k/mo. (Canadian), so that means at the current exchange rate that I need to make $728/mo. (American). I’m very close to hitting this every month. If I had even more work on Fiverr, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my physical business, family life, etc. It’d be nice to be making a LOT more money on Fiverr, but realistically I don’t have the time to handle that many orders.

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mend1974 Newbie

mend1974

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I pay for order that we wanted to start quickly on the job.
Paid for that, and after payment the saller disappeared, i send alot emails and she’s not answering emails, job over time will be finish working and she didn’t do anything, what do you do in this

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