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english_voice

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Posts posted by english_voice

  1. You’ve had lots of good advice about not chasing buyers for a review. I’m just writing to say that your experience of having 3 in every 4 buyers leave a review is about average and certainly nothing to worry about. Remember, not everyone wants to leave a review. We’re all asked to review so many things in life now - some people just can’t be bothered. My review rate is actually a little bit lower… about 2 in every 3 buyers review me.

    • Like 2
  2. Just this week a seller contacted me to do some work for them. However I could not send them a custom offer because they are on vacation mode until October 2021.

    However I could not send them a custom offer because they are on vacation mode until October 1921

    That’s a long way to journey back in time lol

    • Like 13
  3. I guess it would…I’ll try now…

    But it should work while vacation mode is on as well, shouldn’t it ?

    PS : I still need to be on vacation for few more days 😕

    I am on vacation mode but my old buyer wants me to work on his project and I got space for him…

    …it should work while vacation mode is on as well, shouldn’t it ?

    The whole idea of vacation mode is that buyers can’t place an order!

    • Like 12
  4. All this time should I have been treating these ‘reminders’ as warnings, and therefore ensuring that I don’t deliver orders in the final 12 hours?

    Hey @english_voice !

    Well this is just me making this assumption.

    I could be wrong, but hear me out:

    If Fiverr wants to track efficiency, and one of the platform’s main pain points is sellers missing deadlines, then this automated notification could be used as a metric.

    It tells the system the percentage of orders you complete by “cutting it close”.

    The machine isn’t that bright, so it can’t really tell if that’s OK or if your buyer didn’t get back to you on time on X, etc.

    But it can see that out of 20 orders, 12 of them were down to the wire.

    So this may tell the system that you are not that efficient, or that you are too busy at the moment.

    Or that maybe your gig is not optimized as you should add a day to your delivery window.

    Feel free to take this with a grain if salt.

    Right now I am not getting as many messages or orders as before because I had 3 Pro orders, each one taking 15 days to complete plus some of my regular gig orders were delivered within that “last 12 hours” window.

    So my belief is that it does count, not sure what the exact weight of this metric is. It’s definitely not as weighted as you missing the delivery of course.

    Sorry to resurrect a thread that’s a few days old but I thought it might be useful to quickly outline what I’ve done to try and avoid receiving the ‘12 hour’ reminder / warning.

    At the moment I’m getting more custom offer requests rather than organic orders. So, for example, in the message section I’m telling the client that ‘while I will be able to deliver your order tomorrow morning, it might just nudge over the 24 hours - hence me selecting the 48 hour delivery option’.

    I’m still working on the exact wording - but basically by adding an extra 24 hours to the delivery time, it will avoid me receiving the 12 hour warning, and I’m still very clearly managing my client’s expectations.

    @frank_d I know you said something like the 12 hour reminder message being used as a metric was just an assumption on your part, but hopefully by making the official delivery time a day longer, managing client expectations and, so far as Fiverr is concerned, delivering nearly a day early - this should safeguard my stats.

    Others might want to think about doing something similar…

    • Like 35
  5. But the system needs to be transparent, and that’s why I’m troubled by this! Maybe it was my interpretation that the ‘12 hour reminder’ was just that - a reminder.

    I could be 100% wrong about this.

    It’s based on my personal observations and I could be mistaken about most of it.

    This could very well be a simple reminder, just as well as it could be a reminder that’s also getting measured.

    But have you noticed that we got a number of notifications we didn’t use to get in the past 2 years?

    -the buyer is waiting on an update

    -you have 12 hours to deliver

    -the buyer is new to fiverr

    -this is a VID buyer

    -this is a business buyer

    -check the requirements

    -this is a Fiverr’s choice order

    Maybe this is Fiverr being as transparent as they can be with us:

    “You need to provide a great service, here’s what we need for you to do.”

    But have you noticed that we got a number of notifications we didn’t use to get in the past 2 years?

    -the buyer is waiting on an update

    -you have 12 hours to deliver

    -the buyer is new to fiverr

    -this is a VID buyer

    -this is a business buyer

    -check the requirements

    -this is a Fiverr’s choice order

    Maybe this is Fiverr being as transparent as they can be with us:

    “You need to provide a great service, here’s what we need for you to do.”

    Yes, I have noticed. Your original post makes perfect sense. Thank you.

    This thread is a perfect example of why the Fiverr forum can be so useful.

    • Like 44
  6. I completely understand what you are saying.

    Just a reminder to step back and look at the whole picture:

    This system is not in place to punish you, or restrain you, or hold you back and stop serving you with clients.

    It’s you and then there are literally thousands of sellers doing the exact same thing you are doing. (in terms of niche and end product, not level of service necessarily).

    So the system, which exists solely to make Fiverr money, needs to know when it is efficient to serve your gig, or when it’s efficient to serve someone else’s.

    My post tried to distinguish between the two main metrics that drive this decision:

    speed and relevancy.

    So when you are handling 5 orders, you are definitely able to tell if you are at capacity, or if you can pencil more orders in if you got them.

    But Fiverr doesn’t know that, so it relies on perhaps poor indicators, like when did you deliver, how long it takes you to get back to buyers, etc.

    Yes, if an order is a 24-hour one, then this calculation changes. Suddenly the last 12 hours account for 50% of the time you had to work on the order.

    My gigs have 15 day deliveries (for good reason), so in my case delivering after the “12 hour” notification is “down to the wire”.

    Hope that clarifies things.

    Regarding what I quoted… due to the nature of my work and the fact that unlike most writers here I actually don’t outsource, I deliver only within the “12 hours left” window. I don’t have any trouble ranking because of that. I noticed reviews, cancellations and late orders have a huge impact. At least in my case.

    @donnovan86 thank you for sharing.

    That actually does not disprove the existence of that marker.

    Like I said my observations may be wrong. I may be wrong about how important that is, or I may have stumbled upon only a fraction of the equation.

    If you regularly deliver within the “last 12 hours”, and you are doing just fine, then that means that this metric’s weight is not as important, or that other things are also factored in, like the average duration of your orders, how many orders you have at one time, how many out of those are under revision, and so on.

    It’s definitely a lot more complicated than my initial post may have implied.

    I just wanted to hint at the existence of those metrics, I have no way of knowing the exact formula or how they tie in with everything else.

    The ideas you shared in this thread did u try in your gig? and get orders ?

    I follow my own advice and I do get orders. But this post wasn’t made to be used as a “guide” to “get orders”.

    It’s you and then there are literally thousands of sellers doing the exact same thing you are doing. (in terms of niche and end product, not level of service necessarily).

    So the system, which exists solely to make Fiverr money, needs to know when it is efficient to serve your gig, or when it’s efficient to serve someone else’s.

    I get it and, just in case it wasn’t clear in my post, I thank you for opening my eyes.

    With hundreds of thousands of sellers in some niches, Fiverr clearly needs a way to differentiate between sellers.

    But the system needs to be transparent, and that’s why I’m troubled by this! Maybe it was my interpretation that the ‘12 hour reminder’ was just that - a reminder.

    Anyway! As I said, great post and it’s given me food for thought.

    • Like 36
    • Confused 1
  7. All this time should I have been treating these ‘reminders’ as warnings, and therefore ensuring that I don’t deliver orders in the final 12 hours?

    Hey @english_voice !

    Well this is just me making this assumption.

    I could be wrong, but hear me out:

    If Fiverr wants to track efficiency, and one of the platform’s main pain points is sellers missing deadlines, then this automated notification could be used as a metric.

    It tells the system the percentage of orders you complete by “cutting it close”.

    The machine isn’t that bright, so it can’t really tell if that’s OK or if your buyer didn’t get back to you on time on X, etc.

    But it can see that out of 20 orders, 12 of them were down to the wire.

    So this may tell the system that you are not that efficient, or that you are too busy at the moment.

    Or that maybe your gig is not optimized as you should add a day to your delivery window.

    Feel free to take this with a grain if salt.

    Right now I am not getting as many messages or orders as before because I had 3 Pro orders, each one taking 15 days to complete plus some of my regular gig orders were delivered within that “last 12 hours” window.

    So my belief is that it does count, not sure what the exact weight of this metric is. It’s definitely not as weighted as you missing the delivery of course.

    Thanks for taking the time to explain your thinking - it makes sense.

    Based on your theory, there are two types of on time delivery - one that won’t affect seller accounts, and another that will adversely affect seller accounts.

    I’m now going to rethink how I handle deadlines. As I mentioned, I haven’t had a late delivery in four or five years - because I thought I was being efficient with pencilling in work and clearly communicating to buyers when they can expect their delivery.

    However, it would appear my ‘efficiency’ might have been harming my account - despite delivering on time for 1,000+ days over several hundred orders.

    The term ‘down to the wire’ is an interesting one. Let’s take a 24 hour service for example. Although I don’t advertise a 24 hour service, I do sometimes offer my trusted clients such a service for quick jobs. In this case is delivering after 12 hours and one second making the delivery ‘down to the wire’? I would say not. It’s basically half way through the buyer / seller agreed delivery time.

    Also, in my opinion, successful and efficient freelance sellers ‘diary in’ work for completion. I’ve always thought ‘buyer beware’ if a seller is available for work immediately! Successful sellers tend to have one or two jobs on the go already. A good seller will communicate this to their buyer. Something like: “Thanks for your order. I am working on completing a job for a client this afternoon. I will be able to start work on your order in the morning and deliver by mid afternoon” - for example.

    If your theory is correct (and it makes sense), then it’s unjust that Fiverr punishes sellers for simply delivering on time (albeit within the final 12 hours). If the ‘12 hours’ message is not just a friendly reminder but in fact a warning (and one that will adversely affect seller accounts), then Fiverr needs to be upfront and communicate this. For all the above reasons - on time delivery and clear communication - I consider myself to be a good seller.

    But if Fiverr is artificially limiting my account and ability to attract new orders by taking into account the ‘12 hours’ message - then I need to know about it. I’ll adjust my business accordingly. This is one of those really frustrating (and harmful) aspects of Fiverr.

    And yes, I note that yours is a theory. But it’s a very rational and well argued theory!

    • Like 49
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  8. Hey everyone!

    A disclaimer: The following post/article is not an official Fiverr statement. It’s a summary of my personal observations over how Fiverr works and I am sharing because I noticed that more and more sellers come here, stating that they “lost their ranking”.

    This is my effort to provide them with some answers and some food for thought.

    Hold up. Fiverr 3.0?

    If Fiverr’s early days (the wild wild west days) was Fiverr 1.0 and we count the facelift in 2014 (I think?) as v2.0, then we quietly got v3.0 late last year.

    Without an official announcement, without much fanfare, the website slowly rolled out a back end update which seems to have concluded late last year.

    How do I know this?

    This is a good time to remind you to read my disclaimer.

    I have no way of actually knowing anything, no one from Fiverr shared insights with me either. This is just a gut feeling and tons of personal observation, from a seller obsessed with performance. (and figuring out how things work)

    Ranking is no more

    I started hinting about this mid-2020, then started actively talking about it.

    Talking about ranking is moot, as there are no more results pages. Well technically there are, but you’ll see what I mean in a minute.

    Fiverr transitioned from being a search engine like Google to being a match making service like Tinder.

    It no longer serves users (buyers) with pages filled with search results, ranked according to how well they are “performing”.

    Fiverr also no longer counts on buyers clicking on verticals to find what they need.

    It’s all about the search function.

    Fiverr’s new engine tries to match a buyer with a potential seller that will be as close to a 100% ideal match as possible, as soon as possible.

    A great match is when:

    A) a seller offers something relative to what the buyer is searching for

    and

    B) a seller has great “performance”

    It’s all about reducing risk for Fiverr.

    Risk that the buyer won’t find someone to hire and therefore won’t spent their money.

    Or risk that the buyer will not get a great service and ask for a refund, never to return again on the platform.

    What is this “performance” you keep going on about?

    Here comes the good stuff.

    There are two kinds of performance that Fiverr keeps track of:

    A) performance as a seller (converting prospects into buyers)

    B) performance as a vendor (satisfying buyers, successfully completing orders)

    THAT’S IT.

    Fiverr doesn’t care if you are the best designer, video editor, animator, writer, what have you.

    All it cares is that you can make people spend and then making sure that said people don’t ask their money back. (And therefore stay on the platform to spend some more)

    I am oversimplifying things, as the system actually keeps track of a bunch of interesting metrics when serving buyers with sellers.

    Which is why searching for your gig, or your competition on Fiverr, even using incognito or clearing cookies and what not, will NEVER show you anything useful.

    The new engine qualifies buyers and knows a lot about them, before serving your gig their way:

    -their purchase intent

    -buying history

    -browsing habits (I mean on site)

    -how they respond to custom offers

    -when they spend

    -how they spend

    The list is long, and I am sure that even if I am right on some of the stuff I think I understand, there are hundreds more variables that only Fiverr’s coders know.

    OK, let’s say you are right. What now?

    Well just like every change in life, it is always met with resistance.

    The new “engine” is here to stay apparently, since its sole purpose is making the platform more money.

    What should we do?

    Why are people losing their “rankings” out of the blue?

    This is where I will try to sound less like a lunatic and actually try to form all the observations into some -hopefully- actionable advice.

    When people start noticing that their gigs are losing impressions, or that messages stop coming in, etc, it’s usually because their performance has deteriorated.

    They dropped the ball somehow.

    I know it always seems like it’s out of the blue, but there are indicators.

    Here are some things to keep in mind.

    The new system values speed and relevance over anything else.

    It’s all RELEVANT: (performance A)

    So performance A (being a good closer) has everything to do with how your gig is set up.

    If you still think about SEO, and keywords, and ranking, you already lost the game.

    Focus on your gig’s title, don’t try to capture everyone, don’t use pretty adjectives, focus on who you want to find your gig.

    You need to be focused on your niche.

    Relevance is key. You need to make sure that only the people you can help will find you, and that will make Fiverr LOVE your gig.

    Don’t use the same keywords as what you used as a gig title. Trust me.

    Fiverr 3.0 hates that.

    Your tags need to be complimentary to your title. Not repeating what you say you will do.

    Again: relevance.

    If your gig’s description is written with “SEO” in mind, and is “keyword-rich”, you will once again underperform. Fiverr 3.0 no longer crawls for keywords, it rewards descriptions that answer questions and help convert.

    The need for SPEED: (performance B)

    Fiverr 3.0 loves speed.

    The quicker you can respond to inquiries the better.

    The sooner you get that custom offer accepted, the better.

    Other factors that may show Fiverr you are rocking it:

    -Delivering fast

    -Buyers accepting their delivery relatively quickly

    -Not getting lots of revision requests

    -Not leaving order updates unanswered for too long (the “buyer has posted an update for X amount of hours” notification)

    -Delivering before the “you have 12 hours to deliver” notification

    -Avoiding cancellations

    -Avoiding time extensions

    Oh, one more thing:

    Relevance and speed are just two faces of a multi-faced die, that calculates one very important thing.

    Fiverr 3.0 is all about having satisfied buyers.

    The platform no longer just focuses on making revenue and having gigs purchased.

    The updated engine focuses solely on having happy buyers.

    Which leads me to my last point for this article, to whoever wants to hear it:

    Your reviews no longer matter as much. You can keep getting all 5-star reviews, and you will still experience lulls and droughts.

    Because the system no longer takes public reviews into consideration, using the same weight as Fiverr 2.0.

    They still count, but not as much.

    And can you blame them? The majority of sellers on the platform can be phoning it in and still get a higher than 4.7 average.

    The system has too many 5-star sellers for that metric to indicate anything.

    If everyone is 5-stars, then no one is 5-stars. (to paraphrase something I keep saying for TRS badges.)

    So unfortunately, and maybe even people gaming the system with fake reviews had something to do with this, public reviews no longer mean as much to the platform, when it calculates how happy our buyers are.

    It’s a long and complex formula, but I simplified it to this for now:

    Performance A + Performance B + Buyer satisfaction = Actual seller rating

    I still think that “gig rotation” is not a thing. It does exist, but it would never tank successful sellers and truly valuable gigs.

    So to sum up:

    -When you search for your gig and find it, that’s a skewed POV, that’s not telling you the whole story. You should stop doing that.

    -When your gig is served to buyers, it’s because Fiverr actually believes you can score.

    -The gigs that are also presented along your offering, are also very carefully selected based on their performance. There is no “ranking”.

    -When you notice a drop in sales/enquiries/impressions, start thinking about your overall performance. More often than not, there is definitely some indicator that “told” Fiverr that you were dropping the proverbial ball.

    The bad news is that this will take some getting used to and sellers are once again asked to either adapt or “perish”.

    The good news is that this new system is actually a lot more forgiving than the old “SEO/rank” system. Even if you drop the ball performance wise, all it takes is just a tiny spark to get things going again.

    As I write this, and gave it a quick read I understand that I may have oversimplified things, or that I haven’t spelled it out as much as I could.

    Please forgive me, as I have a birthday cake to attend to. 🙂

    As always I will be here to answer any questions and discuss things in detail with you all.

    Thank you!

    -Delivering before the “you have 12 hours to deliver” notification

    I had never stopped to think that this could be a metric - and a negative one at that.

    I can’t recall when I last delivered an order late, but it will be several years ago.

    However, I have had plenty of these ‘12 hours’ reminders - because I diary in my work and tell clients when they can expect their finished job. I’ll often receive the ‘12 hours’ notification overnight knowing that that client’s job is pencilled in for first thing in the morning.

    All this time should I have been treating these ‘reminders’ as warnings, and therefore ensuring that I don’t deliver orders in the final 12 hours?

    PS. Very informative post. Thank you.

    • Like 45
    • Up 1
  9. I’ve written about this before, so apologies to the regulars - but it might be useful to hear.

    Whenever I’ve used Out of Office mode (usually a couple of times a year), I’ve found it can take two or three weeks each time for my account to start to recover in terms of volume of orders and messages. But recover it does. However, the peace of mind that comes with OoO is that it is like shutting the front door behind you. People can’t hassle you and expect replies.

    I have also paused gigs in the past, and in my opinion the effect of pausing gigs is a little more unpredictable. I’ve had gigs spring back into life the moment I’ve un-paused them and I’ve also had once successful gigs (100+ orders) never do anything again. However, pausing gigs won’t stop existing and previous clients from messaging you.

    A half way house would be to extend your delivery times, this way your gigs stay in the search but buyers will hopefully be put off ordering because you’re stating 20 days for a one hour service for example. However, you will still need to service your account by responding to messages etc. In other words it doesn’t allow you to switch off from Fiverr.

    I wish you a speedy recovery. If you’re likely to be out of action for a few days, then consider extending delivery times - if you’re likely to be out of action for a couple of weeks or more then I personally would opt to use OoO mode.

    • Like 6
  10. Although I understand the valid points made by @vickiespencer and @vibronx (two forum users I respect the views of), I don’t like the concept of private reviews. It allows for the possibility of double-standards - either maliciously or through individuals not having the guts to publicly say what they are thinking. Either way, it’s not good.

    I’ll openly declare that some of my favourite forum threads are from sellers who are moaning about receiving a 4.7 star review from a buyer. Usually the accompanying review is something like “The buyer did an okay job but their communication was poor and I had to explain myself several times to be understood. I won’t use them again because of this.”

    What a lovely honest review! The buyer did an okay job but their communication was poor. That’s all Fiverr, the seller and future buyers need to know. Why the need for secrecy and private reviews? If people don’t have the balls to say what they think (so long as it is an honestly held view) then they shouldn’t leave a review at all.

    • Like 29
  11. Hey! There’s already been so much great, thorough advice given here.

    I know when I started becoming serious about voiceover, I found it to be pretty overwhelming because of the sheer volume of STUFF, so hopefully this will be a really easy starting point, where you can get an idea of some good starter mics depending on your budget.

    For room treatment, consider acoustic panels. If you google “diy acoustic panels booth junkie”, Booth Junkie on YouTube has a great tutorial for making acoustic panels (and is a great resource for voice over in general). These are amazing for cheap sound treatment, and I’ve used them myself. Way cheaper than something you can buy online, and leaps and bounds more effective that those typical foam stick on tile things you can get.

    Then, I’d recommend getting a Focusrite Scarlett Solo interface (second hand is fine), and one of these XLR mics, depending on your budget. I would say that the price reflects the quality, but all of these mics would be a fine starter mic:

    • $​75: MXL 770
    • $​100: Audio Technica AT2020
    • $​130: Audio Technica AT2035
    • $​200: Blue Spark
    • $270: Rode NT-1
    • $​300: Warm Audio WA47jr
    • $​400: Shure SM7B

    A lot of these have decent resale value too, so if your husband decides it’s not for him, or wants to upgrade later on, you shouldn’t have too much trouble reselling them. And buying second hand is often a fine option too as long as the equipment has been treated with care!

    Edit: Just want to add that these are just recommendations based on what I’m familiar with - there are plenty of other great audio interfaces and mics out there at similar price points to what I’ve listed, and starting with a good quality USB mic like the $​90 Samson C01U for example would also be totally acceptable. I started with a USB mic myself, but you will get better quality with XLR most of the time

    Audio Technica AT2035

    As someone who misses the industry, this is a pet love of mine - hence the copious posts from me! I can vouch for the AT2035. I’ve used one before and they offer great value / audio quality for the price. Also, the SM7B is generally regarded as a bit of a classic - but to my mind it’s definitely at the upper end of the beginner market.

    Generally speaking the more you pay for a mic, the better the audio quality. But doubling your budget for example, doesn’t mean double the audio quality. It instead tends to result in a very modest improvement that can (and again, audio purists will reel back in horror at my suggestion) to a certain degree be replicated using a cheaper mic with careful audio processing.

    To be clear, my budget suggestions aren’t aimed at someone looking to do commercial grade recordings. But they will be perfectly good enough for someone finding their feet and wanting to try their hand at a few low end voice over jobs through Fiverr for YouTube videos and whiteboard animations in order to discover if they have a talent for this.

    • Like 11
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  12. Absolutely not going to argue against what english_voice recommends. If you are just testing the waters, there’s absolutely no need to invest an immense amount of money and DIY effort to create a “professional grade” setup.

    Truthfully, many “professionals” simply choose the same equipment that they see other “professionals” use, and that eventually creates the “professional standard.” Now, if you ever happen to work with “professionals,” they very likely WILL be particular because they are so accustomed to hearing audio generated in meticulously treated booths with Sennheiser’s, Neumann’s, Manley’s and Rode’s.

    A closet full of clothing, a small portable Zoom recorder, and a mic of your choosing may be all you really need to start off.

    Yes, USB mics have a bit of a bad reputation behind them, but they have indeed made improvements especially over the last decade. The biggest advantage of USB mics are their price point, no need for an amp or DAC, or XLR cables. There is a definite difference in quality, but a serviceable mic is better than having no mic at all.

    Oh, if you do plan to go the XLR microphone route, do not cheap out on the XLR cables. An audio chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and if you have cheapo depot cables, they have a bad habit of introducing interference, hiss, crackling, pops, and other unpleasantness into the final product.

    —This thread is basically becoming a “So you want to be a voice actor” information pamphlet.

    And I can’t argue against what you’ve written. I used to have a home studio set up with a Neumann condenser mic. I bought it second hand off a colleague - and even then the mic cost me the equivalent of $700 (and that was a bargain!). Back in the day I had an analogue desk (an Alice Soundtech series A, which was very popular in Britain in the 90s and early 2000s) and I used CoolEdit Pro which went on to become Adobe Audition. I say this not to show off - but to demonstrate I do have some understanding of the market, rather than being some random person chucking in their thoughts!

    However, I had all that kit because I was working in the industry and making my living from it - big difference from simply giving it a go, never having had any experience before (like the op’s husband). Back then, voiceovers tended to be only for radio ads, company phone systems, documentaries and corporate videos - where quality very much mattered and clients were prepared to pay a decent rate. Nowadays the voice over industry has fragmented to the point where the majority of opportunities are very much at the low end and sadly expectations are much lower as well.

    To put things in perspective, I know of a couple of colleagues who use their iPhones to record voice over demos on the go, while another uses a plug in mic via a lightning connector to record (voice track) radio shows. That’s how cheap the industry has become, as domestic kit is (in some cases) good enough for professional purposes.

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  13. You’ve had some excellent ‘pro’ advice but I’m going to offer a slightly different perspective. Assuming that your husband doesn’t have lots of money to burn, before he goes investing hundreds or thousands of dollars in kit, I would advise that he tests the water first with a cheap (but acceptable) set up. Why?..

    By far the majority of voice over jobs you get through online platforms like Fiverr are for YouTube videos / whiteboard animations / business presentations / voicemail messages, etc. These jobs require ‘okay’ audio quality and tend to pay quite low rates (by traditional voice over standards anyway). In other words, it would take a long time to recoup any investment in proper top end kit.

    There are two things that really influence the technical quality of a recording. One is the acoustics of the room, and the other is the mic.

    Once your husband is on his way to becoming a voice pro - then he can invest in expensive acoustic grade panels for the wall. But until then, a cluttered room with some curtains or blankets hanging from the wall and any large windows will do. Basically, anything that will stop the voice bouncing of walls. This can be at no cost. A definite winner when you’re testing the water.

    When it comes to choosing a microphone, while the advice about not going for a USB one is generally quite sound, actually when you’re testing the water they are generally good enough for the majority of low cost jobs you get on platforms like Fiverr. They win on price and simplicity (because they eliminate the need for a costly separate audio interface and / or mixer). For example a new Blue Yeti mic can be had for around $100. Is this going to win your husband ‘voice of God’ cinema trailer jobs? No, absolutely not - nowhere near good enough quality. But it’s fine for the majority of lower-end jobs I listed above.

    Now before others tell me I’m crazy (audio pros hate stuff like I’ve mentioned), if your husband has never done voice overs before, it does actually take some time to ‘find your voice’. Some people never do. Think of investing in voice over kit as like putting a learner driver behind the wheel of a new Tesla - the learner driver is never going to drive far enough or fast enough in the first year or so to benefit from the expensive technology. They might even prang their car a couple of times - or never pass their test.

    As for software, I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Audacity. It’s been around for years, it’s still very much actively developed, it has a massive user base, there are some fantastic online tutorials, and best of all - it’s free. It can’t fully compete with the likes of Adobe Audition, but it chops up audio and allows you to save it, plus it has some useful features including audio processing (an important and sometimes controversial aspect of home voice overs).

    Too many people try to run before they can walk with voice overs by over investing in kit that never recoups its initial outlay. Am I qualified to offer the above thoughts and advice? Yeah, I think so. I spent many years in the world of broadcasting and commercial production, and up until a few years ago I used to dabble in home voice overs myself (hence my Fiverr username).

    To the audio pros reading what I’ve written, I know you’ll hate me - but seriously, we are offering advice to someone who has never done voice overs before (maybe has never even listened back to their own voice before?), and who is looking to sell on Fiverr where the majority of voice jobs are low end. If the op’s husband finds they have a talent for voice overs and is getting work, then they can upgrade - but I know of so many people who have invested in decent kit and it sits gathering dust.

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  14. I agree with the comments so far. Your basic voice is pleasant, and your intonation is good - but your pronunciation of some words is odd. For example, the word ‘decisions’ sounded like ‘de-see-ons’ (I heard this twice). Your pronunciation of this word can’t even be explained by different dialects - it is just wrong, no matter where in the world you are. Such a basic error would be enough to upset buyers.

    There were a few other words that weren’t quite right. You might get away with mispronunciations on some voiceover jobs (such as that YouTube video which only exists to generate clicks regardless of the content), but you will also have clients who won’t accept such mispronunciations.

    The problem you’ve got is identifying which words you’re getting wrong. You could copy and paste your script into a speech synthesiser and listen to the output - this could potentially highlight words that you thought were pronounced differently. But equally, such a process could introduce further mistakes.

    At the end of the day, you are trying to offer a service that only a native speaker can get 100% right. You might for example achieve 95%, but in my experience people who order voice overs want perfection.

    • Like 1
  15. I was joking. I often used Safari on my iPad, iPhone and MacBook. 😉

    I get a bit defensive about my use of Apple products! I genuinely enjoy the user experience and interface of macOS (and the associated software) - but unlike some pretentious protagonists, I’m definitely a low-end Apple user. My 10 year old MacBook Pro still does everything I want it to.

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  16. This is not the point here. “The offer described what i do and what i delivery”… he accepted, so i presume that he read the offer. He even liked it and i know that he will use the layout.

    Or i should presume that he accept the offer without read? If this is the case, how he knows about the price for to pay? How he knows the delivery time?

    “You mention that i should cancel in the first moment when i received it”, but i don’t let the buyers purchase without know what i do… they even don’t purchase without knowing what i delivery.

    Several experienced sellers have shared their views - but you don’t like what you read.

    Regardless of whether the buyer read your description or not, you chose to invest several days of your time on a service that did not match the gig description. That’s why I suggested you should have cancelled from the very start.

    Recognise the warning signs of a bad buyer. If a buyer can’t even order the correct service, then I wouldn’t even bother trying to work with them. As I said, it was only ever likely to end in tears. You can’t only blame the buyer here.

    • Like 7
  17. I think you and some of the other posters are missing a key point here.

    You spent several days working on an order for a service that you don’t even offer. In your own words ‘I make layout design, not development’ and ‘I spend days working on the project’. This was only ever likely to end in tears.

    I don’t say this to be horrible, but in my opinion you were just as much at fault as the buyer. In my opinion, what you should have done is cancelled the order the moment you received it. This way you would still take the hit of having a cancelled order, but you wouldn’t have wasted several days of your time.

    You say it’s ‘not my fault’ - but it partly is.

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  18. Safari is only for rich people - it should be banned. I’d say Internet Explorer used to be the best, and now there is no good browser. It’s a shame. I browse this Forum using a pigeon carrier.

    Safari is not only for rich people! I use a 2011 MacBack Pro. Current value, about $175.

    I use the free Apple office applications - Pages, Numbers and Keynote. If ever I need to ensure 100% compatibility, then I use the free Microsoft Office online applications - but this is rare. Maybe for about 1 in every 50 jobs.

    I much prefer the clean look of macOS and the rugged feel of the MacBook. Plus the native applications have a very clean and uncluttered look which I find helps with my productivity. When you rely on a computer day in day out for your work, you’ve got to feel comfortable with it - I just don’t like Windows. The interface is too cluttered for me.

    • Like 11
  19. Your buyer chose you for their job - they must therefore have liked your style.

    Your client gets you to do double the original amount of work that they paid for.

    Then after getting you to do twice as much work - they want half their money back?

    And you call them “amazing”? Totally ridiculous.

    The buyer has to accept some responsibility here. They should have carried out due diligence to make sure you were the right seller to work with. They should have ordered two or three sample images to start with - not 24, which then turned into 48.

    Your buyer is not “amazing” - they are awful. Why are you letting them walk all over you?

    • Like 12
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