How to get fastest start?

[elenafaith]

As a 10 year-old, I do not have an extensive portfolio or my own website. However, I have an excellent work ethic and parents who are incredibly supportive. I want to do voiceovers for various projects that people have. I am wondering what I can do to speed-up the process of gaining customers when you first join fiverr. I would like to get a promoted gig, but from what I have read, this is not available to everyone yet. Correct? So… what suggestions do you have that will steer potential clients to the person on fiverr who has no fiverr experience yet? (I’m looking for advice that is not already in the fiverr academy.) Thanks so much!

[jonbaas]

Unfortunately, as a 10-year-old, you are not allowed to sell services on Fiverr. You must be 13 years of age or older, as noted in Fiverr’s Terms of Service:

“This Site is offered and available to users who are 13 years of age or older. If you are under 13 you may not use this Site or the Fiverr services.”

[writer99025]

Focus on school. This is not the time to be on Fiverr.

[elenafaith]

Fortunately, Elena has parents who are doing this with her. We manage the account, and she uses her voice.

[elenafaith]

Learning how to run an online business is part of her schooling. It’s more important than making art projects with pipe cleaners-- don’t you think?

[elenafaith]

So far, I admit that we’re a bit disappointed in the forum. We heard about this site and saw an opportunity for our kids to learn a lot about running a small business. We helped to write a post on the forum to ask for rookie help, but all we have so far is two negative comments. Please show us that there are some kind people on here who are willing to help. Thanks!

[homeestates]

I’d suggest a little more detail on the profile page. The header image is blurred and the skills part doesn’t say a great deal.

Buyer requests is a great way to look for wok in your category and pitch for it, but your offering is quite unique. I think that either people will have a need for it or not.

Don’t let others put you off.

[eoinfinnegan]

Hi Elena & Parents,
Welcome to Fiverr. Firstly, let me say well done parents for assisting your daughter in exploring the world of business. It will help her learn responsibility, the value of money:time and a lot about how the world of business works. I often encourage teens to try out Fiverr and other things as a way to get experience of how the world works. There will be ups and downs, times when it doesnt seem worthwhile (to her and you) and there will be times when you get a project you really enjoy working on together. Take it all as a learning experience, building for the future. I do suggest that you make it a little clearer in the gigs that you are involved and completely overseeing this with her. It will encourage good buyers who want to know the work will be done as well as discouraging the type of contacts you don’t want.
Now to your query of how to get sales: the most common question for all new sellers. Unfortunately the first learning experience may have to be patience! There are a lot of sellers here and competition is strong in every area.

Firstly I would split your gig into a couple of gigs. Keep the one you have created and make some variations of it. All gigs are to be different but I suggest you offer things like “I will do a voiceover for your children’s book”, “I will do a voiceover for your video/advertisement etc”. This is to focus more on being seen by people. Buyers often search for exactly what they are looking for and having multiple gigs will increase your potential to be seen for these “exact searches”.

Next, I would consider another type of gig. Do you like to write/draw/sing etc? Offer one or more of these or something else. Having a couple of different types of gig allows you to market yourself more and often you will find people who want a kid to do a voiceover may need/want/get the idea of getting you to do other things that will help them.

Create a portfolio and upload it to soundcloud or similar. When buyers send a message, you can respond with the link to show it to them. Also explain that you will never respond to messages outside of Fiverr when you send the link.

Finally, when you do get an inquiry, do your absolute best to get the job. Even if it means doing more work for less money than you would like. The reason is simple. Your gigs are new and so they will be shown more prominently for a couple of weeks. It is vital to get orders and 5 star reviews in that time. This shows Fiverr that you are good at what you do and (I believe, although its not advertised) they will continue to keep you higher in the rankings as a result.

Hope this helps and best of luck Elena - enjoy it!
My post about my first 6 weeks on Fiverr may be useful too.
Fiverr Forum http://forum.fiverr.com//images/default-apple-touch-icon.png

How I Completed 50 Orders, Made Over $500 and $200 (4 orders) Pending in 6 Weeks

First off, I know this is not the MOST successful a Fiverr seller has ever been but I think its a reasonable return, particularly as it has been my FIRST 6 weeks as a seller. (I started in mid September, had to stop for the first 3 weeks in October...

Reading time: 2 mins ? Likes: 14 ❤

[emmaki]

Eoin, as usual, has the best advice.

I think 10 is a bit too young to be doing this, however, and you’re reacting rather defensively to two posters who’ve made some perfectly salient points regarding the legality (I note you have a Facebook account linked to this–FB also doesn’t “allow” accounts for those under 13) and schooling. There’s plenty of merit to be had “playing” with pipe cleaners and encouraging creativity.

Still, maybe this is the 21st century equivalent of the lemonade stand. Given that you’re ostensibly running the business for her, what is her input regarding learning about the business side of things? You are clearly dealing with customer support and finances and even customer outreach, so if all she’s doing is simply reading out (e.g.) a script, where is the value? Will she be mastering the audio or whatever else is involved?

When you invariably get an awful client, will she be dealing with them–or will you do it for her? In some small way, you’ll be teaching her that if things go wrong, her parents will fix it for her. Learning about online business isn’t all sunshine and roses, and I think in your desire to move away from childish school projects that do have meaning outside of building the worker ant of tomorrow, you’re forgetting to consider some of the potential consequences.

Anyway, I’ve seen a few other kids (a little older–12-14) on Fiverr who appear to be going it alone, so its not unheard of. But frankly, I find the whole set-up here a bit dubious for the reasons I’ve outlined above. Just wait a few years. She’ll only be a kid for a short while more. Besides, what about when she hits the dreaded rebellious teen years? lol.

[carrioncutie]

I think that this is the perfect opportunity for you to begin building all types of skills! One of my main suggestions is subtracting the delivery time. I understand that you need time to do things; as a writer, who is going through school, I wish I could have days to deliver my own work! However, people are impatient!

If you offer 24 hour express delivery (I imagine you won’t be able to, but it’s just a suggestion!), then I believe that you’ll see an influx in views and clicks. There’s a special option to find “24 hour delivery” for the more impatient customers, which I am sure outnumber the more patient ones. If 24 hours is unquestionable, then consider bumping it down as much as you can!

Also, there’s an option called “buyer’s request” (Look around for it in your menu.), which you can utilize to your advantage. I’m not sure about the voice-over market, but I can confidently say that at least 20-30 people a day need something written on the requests, if not more. Utilize your 10 requests wisely, and you’ll get a sale in no time.

Finally, I’d suggest using a bit of SEO in your description. It’s well written, but the keyword density (keywords being “voiceover”, “voice”, “video”, etc.) is low. Bump up the density by utilizing your keywords more often. Like @eoinfinnegan said, you can make your services more specific and utilize THOSE keywords as well.

Good luck!

[jonbaas]

The rules of Fiverr still reign supreme. Sellers on this site must be over the age of 13. I admire your goals to teach Elena business skills, but that still doesn’t permit her to break the rules of this site. If Elena is the seller, then she is not abiding by the Fiverr Terms of Service. If you – her parents – are managing the page for her, then you’re going to have to remove her voice from the gigs and YOU are the seller, with her helping you.

Rules are rules. None of us are allowed to break them just because we are doing something well-intentioned.

[jonbaas]

We are being kind. We have informed you of the rules of this site, and are encouraging you not to break them. Fiverr is known for removing and/or deleting the accounts of those who break the rules.

I have been a moderator on these forums. I’ve seen it happen first-hand.

[eoinfinnegan]

I think the fact that the parents are managing the account, are clearly involved etc makes it ok. My reading of the ToS would say that they are the ones who are entering a binding contract, not their daughter, so I don’t think they are doing anything wrong.
Why would they have to remove her voice? Essentially, they got her to do a voiceover for them which they are now using for advertising the service. At the most, a little playing around with words would be enough to make it “acceptable” but it is hardly required.
Probably would be an idea for the parents to contact Customer Service just to let them know they are involved etc, as a precaution against an over-zealous CS agent.

[jonbaas]

I agree. If the parents are managing the account, it would be best to let Fiverr know, so that Fiverr (who may think otherwise when they see Elana’s account promoting her as the seller) doesn’t delete the account for, what would appear to be the breaking of site rules.

[elenafaith]

Thanks. I am re-wording it to make it clear that this is a parent-led business with a daughter who is doing voice work & will be kind of like an apprentice with the business end. I plan to teach her how to do more and more as we go through the years until she is able to take over the whole business when she is old enough… years down the line. Thanks for the warning!

[eoinfinnegan]

PS: I forgot to mention that the lesson you have already taught her about asking for advice from those with more experience is absolutely invaluable. Kudos!

[joeyperezwest]

3 more years are needed for the kid to work on Fiverr. If you are still determined to get your kid working, do it for real, if you live in a major city, get your kid an entertainment work permit, a real talent agent and use the voice over connections. Your kid will make a ton of money booking national commercials.

Its not a matter of IF your account will end up being suspended or limited, its now a matter of when. Fiverr is based in Israel, not the USA so you have to follow their laws and their terms of service in regards to child labor laws.

Keep in mind your kid will have to file income taxes too.

[eoinfinnegan]

I usually agree with what you say Joey but I disagree with almost everything you mentioned in this comment.
I mentioned above how it is ok for them to be doing this on Fiverr. The aim here is not to get the kid working but to get them learning something valuable outside of school. Your suggestion about “doing it for real” is missing the point of what the parents are trying to do which is teach the kid some business basics through being involved in a Fiverr account. She is not going to get any of that if an agent just calls them up and says “be here at x time, say this, go home, check in post”. Also, I am sure most Fiverr sellers would take offence at the idea of their work not being “for real”. There are tons of parents everywhere trying to make money from their kids in v/o, modeling, acting, singing, sports etc, why do you think it is better to join them rather than working on Fiverr?

Child labor laws? Firstly, sellers are not employed by Fiverr so labor laws of any type are irrelevant. Otherwise all sellers would be earning a minimum of Israel’s minimum wage - which is not the case.
A very successful, child voiceover on Fiverr - what could they expect to earn per year? a couple of hundred dollars? Maybe $1000 if they do really well? I don’t know US tax law but in my country this would not be taxable.

[misscrystal]

Hello,
That’s an impressive looking recording studio you have. What was bothering me a little was the first person way this question was written as if your ten year old was writing it, but it was obviously written by an adult.

I don’t have a problem at all with this. I don’t have anything to offer about how new sellers get clients. It’s a long road to developing some good reviews and usually takes time.

[umbrellaa]

Hi we can help each other?

[joeyperezwest]

As reading above, their question was getting more work faster and building their portfolio, I think you went into the “educational business value perspective of it” in the later comments?

If its for business learning, then I totally agree with you, but if its a career as an voice over actor, sure you can do stuff here, not saying its not professional but at this moment I haven’t heard anything in regards to studios using fiverr, I meant it more in that fashion. As a matter of fact I’m an advocate trying to bridge this gap with the marketing director at fiverr. Never got too far I got busy with other stuff. I would say they can do both of course but I would say start them off traditionally, that is what I do, I do both and I love working on Fiverr don’t get me wrong. I’m an advocate for Fiverr big time.

I take offense when I tell people in the entertainment industry I use fiverr and they ask me why I do that if I’m doing the normal entertainment industry stuff, I know what you mean, there is even people who are fighting against fiverr who are complaining that their wages are being lowered because of it, I’ve seen voice over actors on facebook post about this very topic. I wish I could say “do it for real” means that you are working on professional work here, but I have not booked a national commercial from Fiverr yet and I’m still waiting for that. It’s like when youtube just started. I can’t not say that for every industry since fiverr covers a lot of different industries.

I started acting as a child, you do learn about business as well, because you have to put yourself out there as a product.

Buddy, every country is different you are right, but one thing is for sure you pay taxes. That is one thing for sure in life.

You are not paying taxes in Ireland for being on Fiverr? According to what I briefly just read, you are suppose to being paying 20% of those 400 orders you got on fiverr. I’m not an expert for your country but I would double check my friend.

[joeyperezwest]

Don’t take things to the heart here in the Forum, everyone has their opinions, I have 3 kids too, all have done work on projects, baby gap, leap frog, target, to name a few. If its about running a small business that’s totally cool and I would have started with that type of conversation starter… but above you asked how to get more clients on Fiverr, most people on the forum get asked this everyday. Yours was no different when asked.

The best thing to do like I did with my kids is read to them every night from a marketing book, seriously, talking about basic marketing topics and focus on competitive edge.

Keep in mind your question is the holy grail of questions. People starting in business all the way up to even multi-billion dollar companies ask this over and over again. Its not a matter of how, its a matter of trying and with a unique product that question can not be completely answered unless people get to know the product really well. The more specific you can be the better it can be for people to help you.

For example bring up the topic about your title, different ones you tried, would like to try, then asking for advice based on that. The more specific you can be the better and take it in steps, but always keep moving forward with your steps.

You can teach your child only so many techniques in business up until you reach the point where you must let them frame their unexpected expectations as a challenge to keep them stimulated to solve a problem they are experience in their business.

The point of teaching your child business at such a young age is not to make money, you as a parent and provider have all those basic needs covered, you teach them what it means to be in the higher rung of the ladder, so they don’t conclude they will never make it as a business owner, but seeing it as a challenge that they will win at the end through self-confidence.

I’ve mentioned this before in the forum I think but… When I speak to my children on webcam, because they live in another state with my x-wife, on webcam, I always asked them, so what did you fail in today? They tell me they tried this they tried that, why because I’m teaching them to try.

That should be the point then… of bringing them on board Fiverr then, not the money, but to try and growing up they will always remember their papa and mama repeatedly telling these things and remembering how they developed a reservoir as a child of past victories over hurdles. Where they will look back as a kid and say, I’ve overcome stuff like this in my past, I will do so again at this time.

Asking on how to get your kid to make more money faster on fiverr is rushing the process of dealing with the unexpected, they must find out that they will not have a solution to a problem right away.

[fonthaunt]

@umbrellaa What are you trying to ask here? The OP appears to be a parent who wrote on behalf of her 10 year old girl though pretending to be the child. What do you think this child can help you with?

@elenafaith. To the OP group, parents and kiddo, if anyone contacts you by inbox about anything other than buying a legitimate gig, you can report them to Customer Support. Your business attempt here has some flaws as-is and it may not work, but if you start over with an understanding of the Terms of Service it’s not impossible. Fiverr is global and highly competitive, so watch out for buyers or sellers that may try to take advantage of you.

[eoinfinnegan]

Thanks for clarifying.
Regarding the taxes point, I was speaking about a 10 year old earning $1000 over a year - I am sure it would not be taxable here. Of course I pay taxes for my own income as I am neither 10 nor do I earn under $1000/year 😃

On the “for real” issue, I don’t think the standard for being a professional is whether or not someone has done national commercials or their industry’s equivalent. I have done work for clients on Fiverr regarding large international organizations, although they were not the client directly. I think “real work” is the type of work that engages the vast majority of people, not the .01% who get to do big prestigious one-offs.
I agree that many people in various industries have issues with Fiverr and try to put it down, saying it is cheapening the profession etc. These people need to learn something about economics as setting prices is generally something that individuals/companies are free to do themselves as they see fit. The level of professionalism is a separate issue. I am sure I could pay top dollar for a voiceover/translation/etc and end up with a poor standard of work while I could also pay very low prices and get what I need. Price and quality can certainly be related but neither is a guarantee of the other.

[eng_yasmeen]

if your work is best you are allowed