eoinfinnegan

No, it’s a great idea. I don’t know how long you’ve been on Fiverr, I’ve been here since 2013. In the good old days, people got demoted for JUSTIFIED REASONS, such as “Order cancelled. Seller failed to deliver on time.” Too many of those justify a demotion. 4.7 does not. I agree with you on that - the 4.8 rating does seem high considering getting 14/15 stars on every single order would mean a 4.7. My suggestion/ideal would be that TRS would be manually demoted as well as promoted, that there would be some consideration given for circumstances. I also think a two-strike system might be fairer, as in if you miss two requirements then it is demotion.

How about letting you keep your level after you earned it? “If I earn $100/week then it makes no difference after the first 2 weeks.” It makes a huge difference when Fiverr is your only source of income and you want to keep your credit card balances low. So immunity from demotion? Don’t you see how bad an idea that would be/has been? Even when the warning was there for the past two+ months, approx half of level 2 sellers and 25% of TRS could not keep to those stat requirements - can you imagine what those seller stats were before this was announced? You have my sympathy (like that is worth anything, but still), but it is a one week delay on your money compared to what it was.

I’ve worked in the real world, we usually get paid biweekly, every other week. Maybe it’s different for teachers? Doesn’t matter, even if my motives are selfish, everyone would benefit from a 7-day delivery. Just because you’re used to something doesn’t make it right. There are amazing sellers who haven’t earned TRS, even when they sell more than me! So why will I have a chance to earn it back? Fiverr doesn’t care, they have ZERO loyalty towards long time sellers like me. I have clients who operate on a 60 day payment basis. Most agencies operate on an end of month and/or 30 days. 14 days is pretty good from how I see it. Besides, if you are earning each week then it only makes a difference once. If I earn $100/week then it makes no difference after the first 2 weeks. What would loyalty to you look like? Immunity from demotion? Artificially boosted rankings? A free car every year?

I think you should make that clear in your gig description and probably say it with your delivery then as unlimited can mean so many different things. To me, it should finish when the order is completed but I remember a forum post where someone was doing revisions even months later and when they went to CS they said “but you offer unlimited revisions”. Sounds crazy/stupid but you need to clarify exactly what you offer to save yourself from this type of thing.

I think it is interesting that you are asking for a way to stop people asking for more revisions even though your gigs offer “Unlimited Revisions”. I think you might find that if you refuse to revise even after the 30 days then CS might agree with a buyer who complains that you are refusing to do what you said you would do. If you want to stop people making unreasonable requests then stop giving them unreasonable offers. PS. Could the deleting of comments on the thread please stop - it is disruptive to discussion

Been using Payoneer for 18 months, had one issue with a payment not coming through. Contacted support and they asked me to wait 5 days “to be sure”. After that, they sorted it out within 48 hours. Aside from that, I have not had any issues and the $50 sign-up bonus they gave me initially has covered the $3 per withdrawal fee for me up until last month. All in all, has been great - I guess people like me don’t go to SiteJabber to rant about how good the experience has been…

For sure. Check this post by @braden10collins who is a little younger than you Fiverr Forum Got Level 2, Now To Keep PushingHere's a little bit of an update for you guys. The other day I got Level 2 Seller!? It was a huge surprise to me. All I could think of when I got the notification on my laptop was, "Wow, I've already sold 50 orders? It seems like just yesterday I... Reading time: 3 mins ? Likes: 113 ❤ Or this one from @jonathanmaes564 Fiverr Forum Fiverr Story: 15 years old and traveling EuropeHello everyone! I’m Jonathan Maes, 15 years old and I love traveling! - I wanted to share my Fiverr story. I’ve been active on Fiverr for 1 year now and I have earned $3000. It’s awesome! It allowed me to travel all over Europe with my... Reading time: 2 mins ? Likes: 4 ❤ These two have had success here but they are not one-offs. There are quite a few teens on Fiverr, some are less vocal about it than these two but I remember their posts well. I know of 5 or 6 others who have had good starts and made good money here. It must be said that it is not easy but it can happen if you are committed to it. Check out some of the pinned tip posts in the Tips For Sellers categories and when you have a question to ask, do a quick forum search to see if it has been answered and if not, create a topic yourself. Best of luck! Edit: I have bought from 5 or 6 teens on Fiverr for different projects and I am generally impressed by the level of professionalism shown. One - not so much, but you can’t all be perfect I guess. Clear communication and just simply doing what you say you will do counts a lot here!

Yes, I probably over-think things quite a bit too but the reality is that freelancing is not easy but all the blogs, courses, advertisements make it sound like it is just a matter of signing up to make money and that is simply not the case. For new sellers, unless they are VERY lucky and get a first page rank for a considerable time (like a year+) they are going to struggle if they are financially dependent on Fiverr/other platforms. For some sellers, the ones we hear about in promos etc, they have been fortunate, got in at the right time and/or worked damn hard to get their success but the hard work element is generally mentioned in a throwaway line and the reality of it is not emphasized in the same way that their “6/7-figure-income” is bandied about. Don’t undersell yourself and your achievements. You work exceptionally hard to maintain your buyers and deliver as much as you do at the price you do. For many, working the hours you do is just not feasible and so other methods and strategies must be implemented. Also, your current income rate probably didn’t start at that 3 years ago and as much as a TRS badge is not a guarantee of continued success, it definitely helps to a point. I actually find it comforting to know that my success is in my own hands and not reliant on a company I have no real relationship with and so should other/new sellers. They don’t have to just take a ticket and hope for the best, unless that is all they are prepared to do.

At least it is an original tip! Not sure if it has been mentioned on the forum before 😃 Why do you think that is?

I want to tell readers about my current situation to encourage people to implement the ideas I have shared throughout the UPYOUR SERIES. In March I had a fairly self inflicted fall in sales as I was working on something else and also because I had an exceptionally busy December (double my average sales) and January (triple) and needed a break. During this time I began looking at ways to ensure my income was sustainable and aimed to increase it. Yes, that’s right - I had just had exceptional months and it was then that I began looking at what more I could do! I didn’t decide that I had “made it”, I didn’t sit back and wait for the orders to keep rolling - I worked on doing more. This is because I know from experience that EVERY BUSINESS will experience good times and bad - your responsibility as a business owner is to make the most of the good and find ways to smooth out the bad. Little did I know that Fiverr was about to do something that would have affected me extremely badly, had I not been working to ensure that I did not rely on Fiverr for sales. If you sell on Fiverr, then you need to know that it is still your own responsibility to make your own success. In April, I had a fall in new clients and could not really be found in search, but because of work I had done, I still made my monthly target. This work was mainly those tips and ideas I share in this series of posts. This month I hit my target after 18 days with just my usual gigs. Another one of my gigs landed on the first page of results for a great keyword and I have had a huge upturn in sales for that gig. That is on top of my other sales. Now, I don’t know why the gig has hit the first page and I don’t know how long it will last. I could sit back and rub my hands with glee but I know that this could be another short lived great period so I will continue to implement my methods and think up more as I go along. You see, I don’t know how that gig landed there, it could be because of my great service, the fact it is a bit unique in that niche, it could be because of various off site things I have done etc - I simply do not and can not know how. As a business owner, I refuse to rely on something I cannot control. It makes no sense and if I did, I would live in constant fear of collapse due to the possibility of Fiverr/other people’s actions. It’s hard work Implementing the methods I have has taken time and effort, it has been a consistent period of plugging away and focusing my energy. Every time I see a post about “no sales” or “success comes if you do this one thing” I shudder. There is no “one thing” that will guarantee success on Fiverr but there is many ways to give you the best chance of success - and most of them have all been written long before I started writing on the forum. If you want to get somewhere on this platform, it will take effort - if you are just sitting there hoping for a lucky fix then perhaps you should play the lottery instead. The disappointment is only once per week then, rather than all those minutes sitting watching for a notification from Fiverr. What do you do for a living? If your answer is “I am a Fiverr seller” then you need to reassess what you are doing and your mindset. Your government sees you as a self employed person or a small business. That is what you are taxed as. You need to see yourself in the same way. Fiverr (or the other platforms) do not employ any of us, nor do they guarantee sales or an income. That is your responsibility and nobody else’s. Fiverr is a platform on which you can sell. It is like a busy high street where you are a store. If you don’t make the effort to be a successful store then the clients will pass you by for the others who are more professional and seem to know what they are doing. You could be the best logo designer in the world yet not be successful here. It takes more than your ability to do what you sell.

Following a comment from @jamesbulls a couple of days ago regarding communicating value to buyers I have spent some time thinking on this extremely important topic. It is something that we have all heard people say to us "You must explain your value" “Don’t focus on price, focus on value” “If you don’t value yourself then neither will buyers”. All very self explanatory and it is difficult to argue with these statements but what does it actually mean - Value? Here is a basic definition of the word: Most of us would have come up with something like that I think but in business terms and specifically in the Buyer/Seller scenario, this definition doesn’t really go far enough. When I think of value in terms of Buyer/Seller, this is how I would define it: That’s nice and neat and I think it clarifies what we are talking about. What it also does is that it brings up the relationship between cost and usefulness (or utility in economics) which is a FUNDAMENTAL element of business itself. If something has no usefulness, who will buy it? If something is cheap enough, the buyer may value it highly! If something is excellent quality but costs more than it is worth then the buyer will not value that highly, and vice-versa. And so it goes on, the more useful something is, the more it should cost in comparison to its competitors. This is definitely an over simplification of how costing a product works BUT it is definitely a major part and is the focus of this post. For advice on the other elements of pricing and how to adjust your pricing, check out this other post in the series - How to up your prices sensibly and sustainably I believe communicating value on Fiverr should be simple. If you keep it simple, then you will not need to repeat things to buyers and they will grasp it quickly as well as being able to quickly compare the different offers they get from different sellers. Here is a great example of keeping value simple: Too often we believe that we should come up with huge explanations and complex USPs while ignoring the primary factor - the reason a buyer wants to buy. You may say what you will do in your gig description but we know a lot of buyers simply don’t read them. This establishes the base value of your product. Next, I want you to do a little exercise if you will - Write down 3-5 things that you include with your gig. If you write, do you proofread it before delivery, come up with a title (or multiple titles), do you include comments/reasons for what you have written, do you do research, etc. Have a look through your messages with buyers, both within the order page and the Inbox, those who bought and didn’t buy. Check how often you mentioned these 3-5 things that you do for every buyer. Now ask yourself why you have not mentioned them with EVERY buyer and inquiry you have had? At the very least you should be mentioning these aspects along with your delivery. The (fake) delivery message I sent to Fonthant clearly defines what went into the order. This emphasizes the value of the delivery they have received. As I said, this is the MINIMUM you should be doing to emphasize your value. If you do more than that, you will see the benefits. Here is how I communicate my value to clients:When: In the beginning, when they first contact me. I have a variety of prewritten answers for different types of inquiries which I personalize according to the client and the query. I spend quite a bit of time on these and update them with new info or create new ones as required. What: In these answers, I lay out the options available to the buyer as well as EXACTLY what I will do in the gig. BUT, here is the clincher - I always edit the what I do part to include or potentially include what they are looking for (within reason). 70+% of my orders are custom offers and so I have the freedom to redefine what the gig actually covers and that means I can delete some things and add new things to it! "But Eoin, my clients all just order without contacting me!" Never fear - In this scenario, you should simply send the prewritten message with a “thanks for your order” message. Emphasizing what you do and perhaps even asking if they have something particular in mind can bring great results. It can lead to extras/upsells, clear communication, etc. Doesnt work with everyone of course but at the very least, when they do look at the order, they will see your responsiveness etc and that alone has value. You would be amazed how few sellers actually acknowledge an order and with a seller I have not used before, I find this extremely irritating - I see it as a basic courtesy if the delivery time is longer than 1 day. (Yes, I value good communication extremely highly and am prepared to pay more for it - I am not alone in this). Ok, Moving On!Having established that defining and communicating exactly what you do is how to express the value of your service, I want to focus on price and its effect on value/the perception of value. $5 sales is what this site was built on. It is however, not what the site is focused on any more. Regardless of that, price is still a key reason for why people come to Fiverr and for why people choose particular sellers. I want to point out that I am discussing Price separately to Value, because they are two different things and the buyers who choose to buy based on one of these can be very different to each other. If the price is the absolute most important thing to a buyer then what they are actually doing is valuing price over value. HUH? This buyer has a fixed budget and will not be moved on it. So how do you sell to them? First of all, IMO, these buyers have a bad reputation on Fiverr which is unfair. Some are absolutely awful, and I have spoken about this before but that is generally those who will not pay more than $5 for anything. Here I’m talking about those with limited budgets such as those who want something worth $150 for $100 etc. This type of buyer can actually be ok to deal with but it is up to you to define how the order will go. To have a successful transaction with this type, you must: Establish what is being offeredDefine exactly what is being done AND what is not being done as a result of the lower price being agreed.To do this, you will need to negotiate or discuss what the buyer doesn’t need and/or what you are not prepared to include at that price. Defining this can mean that A. you do less work. B. your buyer knows what they are getting. C. If there is a problem, you can show this to CS. So, what do you see as valuable in your gig? What do other people offer that may add value to yours? Is it worth it? How are you going to express this to Buyers? If you do nothing else with what I have written in this post, I suggest you create prewritten messages about your services which you can customize. Send them when Buyers message you, on receiving an Order and/or when sending a delivery - Honestly, from both sides of Buying and Selling, I can see the use in doing this. The Buyer’s perception of your gig’s value is defined by you so make sure you are saying it clearly!This post is one of a series of posts I am doing which are aimed at helping sellers to Up Their Game and begin to earn more from their work, gain new clients and make the most of being a freelancer. The posts will mainly be based on This Poll which is still open so if you haven’t made your voice heard, please do so as the more that vote on an issue in that poll, the more likely I am to post about that issue. To see all posts in the series, Click Here

Google/Alphabet was founded on the principle that if the product is good enough we will find a way to make money from it - Now worth $100bn These guys try to set up on the principle that if someone else is making money on something then I can too - Future worth $TBC. It remains to be seen which philosophy will be more successful.

I have to say, I love these kind of questions, they make me laugh. Why don’t people asking this say what it is they really want? “Has anyone got a lamp with a genie inside who can give me untold wealth for little to no work?”

I agree with @misscrystal, website designers could do very well but they need to find a way to develop a visual portfolio. Most of the ones I see tend to have stock images of websites or take them from places like Weebly and Wix. Those images completely turn me off.

I agree, this is still an issue that should be fixed - considering it affects almost all services, it really needs to be sorted out. In the meantime, you can try what I have done which is give instructions on how long an order will take when they order. Some buyers don’t understand the delivery time/countdown and so they assume that I will just deliver in the timeframe that I have specified. In these cases, and any case, I can then easily explain this and request an extension to the delivery time with the reason. It doesn’t happen often now that I have specified the delivery times and max words per package but even when it does, it has never been an issue for them to increase it.

My all time review percentage is 72%. In the beginning I used to request reviews and tried various methods but I haven’t done that in a long time. My review percentage has stayed consistent throughout and from other sellers I think somewhere between 60-80% is the average.

There is no better advertising for a seller than a recommendation from a happy customer. This is especially true in the case of Fiverr and social media. As your followers and friends are likely to be some way interested in what you do, they are likely to check out the people you have used when they need to get a similar service done. Have you ever seen a gardener or painter who gets a job in an area and they are then used by everyone in the street? It’s the same concept. As @writer99025 mentions, it is important to be careful what you share but even saying you got x,y,z done by the seller and including the link is likely to draw clicks. I’d say do it if you are happy to. It will not be bad for the seller, that’s for sure.

Absolutely, leisure time, vegging out, catching up on Netflix series and gaming or whatever are all worth doing and things that I regularly spend time on. I have never needed encouragement to do them though and find that too much does have a negative effect on me. This post was not to suggest people don’t take a break but rather to suggest options and ideas that they could try IF they find themselves bored. Online courses are often poor but sometimes can be useful enough to make the tedious videos worthwhile. It’s a case of whether the end result will be worth it or not, otherwise time could be better spent on some Call of Duty or House of Cards. Volunteering is a great way to learn things, experience more of the world and meet people. There are potential financial benefits to it too which I won’t focus on, not everything needs to be about money. Helping people is known to have a positive effect on the helper, as well as the helpee. Yes, I have done volunteer work. As youth work is something I have done I mainly volunteer with groups for teenagers - underprivileged backgrounds, refugees, those in temporary accommodation etc. It is a nice change from my normal work, gets me out of the house and yes, it makes me feel good when I help people or make their day better. As for the healthy attractive looking homeless people, perhaps they are simply able to stay healthy and clean because of places like the one you volunteered in and because of the people volunteering. Homelessness has skyrocketed in Ireland in the last year as rent has jumped hugely, 50% in some cases, many are homeless simply because they can’t afford the rent and can’t find anywhere else to go. Most of those “new homeless” want to try and stay normal and will try to keep up appearances. Different opinions are always welcome, I am not trying to set an example for people to follow, just suggestions that people can take, leave or criticize as they wish.

Cheers. Just asking about your SEO gigs. From what I understand, you say you guarantee first page of Google for 15 keywords for $100 and delivered in 6 days? Have you ever had a client come back and say it didn’t work?

Exactly, a lot more useful and productive than endless posting on the forum titled “no sales, what do I do?”.

I imagine the vowel/consonant ratio is what sold my parents on the name too. Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl was just a little too late for me - son loved it though.

Excellent plan, I fear you are right. I think it may be worse this year; not just because of my typical Irish pessimism but because there seems to have been a general slide lately.

Thanks Maddie, must look at Nanowrimo, looks interesting.

Will be watching out for it, letting us all know will not be plugging it but informing friends of an achievement!

Be warned! That’s what I was hoping to do last year - it didn’t happen 😃