smashradio

Search for "gig thumbnail" on Fiverr and find a professional designer to help you. If you're not a designer yourself, that's your best option. Regarding your thumbnails: Think about what you do when designing a website. You're combining elements to make stuff look good. Same thing here. Less is more; pick colors that match and don't hurt your eyes when looking at them. Use a professional photo of yourself (I recommend having a pro photographer do them so you get seriously professional business portraits you can use). If you go for a pro designer, you're likely getting a better thumbnail than what you can make on your own, but they need good material to work with. You're on the right track with building a brand, but you do need help with the design part of things. Your thumbnails are a bit messy when it comes to colors and they don't follow the same template. So just by fixing the colors and making a template for your brand, you can go a long way. If you want to design it yourself, have a look here for inspiration: https://www.fiverr.com/support/articles/4410883326481-Gig-image-guidelines-Making-the-most-of-your-Gig-image

Your gig titles and descriptions are clearly not written by someone fluent and/or a professional writer. You claim to be a native/bilingual English speaker on your profile. Your gig descriptions has multiple grammar and punctuation issues. You have a voice-over gig, but the gig video is you singing 5 words with a strong reverb effect. That's not voice-over and has nothing to do with being a voice over. Not to be unkind, but misrepresenting your skills on Fiverr will not land you success. I suggest revisiting your gigs. Consider if this is something you're truly good at. Identify the areas you're best at, and focus on developing your skills further.

Your buyer sounds like she qualifies for my Demandogorgon and my Scopoflayer labels all at once. See my post about 4 types of nightmare buyers below: Just being one of them is bad enough, and I would get rid of this buyer right away. But two? Based on what you're telling, you have just wasted hours upon hours of your life for a single, demanding individual, for 175 dollars. If I were you, I'd end it now. But ending it without getting paid for your work after all this would suck. So here's what I'd do: "I appreciate the oppurtunity to work on this project, and I understand that the delays on this project has been a challenge for you. For that, I'm very sorry. However, this project was never meant to be an ongoing order for 1,5 months. The frequent revision requests and your requirement to deliver this part by part, has made it difficult to complete. I believe that it's in both our best interests to complete this project as soon as possible. For that reason, I suggest the following: 1) You send me all the requirements for every preset we agreed upon. 2) I create all the presets according to those specifications and deliver them in one single delivery. 3) We set up one round of revisions after the delivery. In this round, you can provide feedback as needed. I will then complete the needed changes. 4) We complete this order. Unfortunately, this step-by-step work methodic does not work for me. Based on where we are at the moment, this is an alternative to cancellation of this order. As a note on that, I do have a policy of not continuing to work with someone if a cancellation is required. In this case, that means we won't be able to split this up into multiple orders, as that would require a cancellation in the first place, thereby hurting my account stats and standing with Fiverr. I truly thank you for understanding, and even though the decision has already been made on my part, I'm open to hearing your views on this. All the best, Sophie" P.S. Stop being afraid of ratings. You can respond to the review and explain what happened and you have the option of reviewing the buyer as well. A single negative review is better than selling your soul.

Your buyer sounds like she qualifies for my Demandogorgon and my Scopoflayer labels all at once. See my post about 4 types of nightmare buyers below: Just being one of them is bad enough, and I would get rid of this buyer right away. But two? Based on what you're telling, you have just wasted hours upon hours of your life for a single, demanding individual, for 175 dollars. If I were you, I'd end it now. But ending it without getting paid for your work after all this would suck. So here's what I'd do: "I appreciate the oppurtunity to work on this project, and I understand that the delays on this project has been a challenge for you. For that, I'm very sorry. However, this project was never meant to be an ongoing order for 1,5 months. The frequent revision requests and your requirement to deliver this part by part, has made it difficult to complete. I believe that it's in both our best interests to complete this project as soon as possible. For that reason, I suggest the following: 1) You send me all the requirements for every preset we agreed upon. 2) I create all the presets according to those specifications and deliver them in one single delivery. 3) We set up one round of revisions after the delivery. In this round, you can provide feedback as needed. I will then complete the needed changes. 4) We complete this order. Unfortunately, this step-by-step work methodic does not work for me. Based on where we are at the moment, this is an alternative to cancellation of this order. As a note on that, I do have a policy of not continuing to work with someone if a cancellation is required. In this case, that means we won't be able to split this up into multiple orders, as that would require a cancellation in the first place, thereby hurting my account stats and standing with Fiverr. I truly thank you for understanding, and even though the decision has already been made on my part, I'm open to hearing your views on this. All the best, Sophie" P.S. Stop being afraid of ratings. You can respond to the review and explain what happened and you have the option of reviewing the buyer as well. A single negative review is better than selling your soul. People on Fiverr are just too afraid of bad ratings, to the point where they let people like this take advantage of them, abuse them and treat them like a personal slave. You're not a slave. You're a professional freelancer and business owner. Demand the respect that you deserve and demand getting paid for your work.

Perhaps they misunderstood. Or you did. Or I did. Lol. Let's say I'm making a website for a customer. I would prefer that they just sent me the licence key to the plugin I would be using, instead of me charging them for it and then putting up my own credit card on an account. That could lead to trouble later on. But if support says we can't do so, I guess we can't. Better listen to them. 😉 I rarely face this challenge. But if you charge the client for purchases you have to make, remember that Fiverr takes 20%, so you need to add that on top of the total cost. To conclude: if support says something, we listen. No matter what anyone says on the forum. 😄

Oh no 😮 You're still on with them? Good lord. “When people show you who they are – believe them.”― Bianca Frazier Best to get rid of problematic individuals such as this. If you let them eat away at your passion, you'll only end up feeling like you're not good enough in the end. And that's a terrible feeling to have, especially when you know the reason is a noncompoop. Haha - thanks! Glad I can entertain and be of help! 😄

Finally! You're a freelancer and a successful Fiverr seller. You've made it. You have a steady income from happy buyers, and you're thinking: "This wasn't so hard!". Well, you'd be wrong, wouldn't you? Even though you've probably had bad buyers bogging down your dashboard occasionally, it's the big projects going wrong that hurts the most. I've written about bad buyers before. But I thought a 2022-version was in order. Honestly, I just felt like writing something other than client projects. So here we are: 4 types of nightmare buyers and how to deal with them. Since I've been watching a lot of Stranger Things lately, I'm naming my bad buyers after monsters in the series. You'll just have to excuse my nerdiness. Demandogorgon This buyer has no concept of boundaries, be it personal or professional. They expect you to respond to messages at 3 a.m., even on weekends. When you respond, they demand to know why you haven't replied to their last 16 inbox messages. They are like psychic vampires, sucking the very life out of your day. You just want to block them. How do I set boundaries with this type of buyer? To be honest, I don't. I just lock the door, and by that, I mean blocking them. If a buyer turns out to be a Demandogorgon, I will never work with them again. If you work with a Demandogorgon, you should at least get paid for it. I used to set up custom offers for "added consultations." These days, I'm lucky enough to have the option of firing a client if I don't want to work with them. Scopoflayer You're finally getting to the last phase of an order: delivery. You're proud of your work and have put a lot of time and effort into it. Five seconds later, you hear what I like to call the "my-ear just-popped" sound effect from Fiverr. "We've got news about your order…" Fine. It's probably something minor. I'll look at it right away. "There's just a couple of tiny issues we need you to look at," says the buyer. You're happy to help iron out a couple of tiny issues. *My-ear-just-popped-sound-effect*. "Oh, and could you just…." Five revision rounds later, you realize that the buyer will never stop doing this. There's no end in sight. A revision constitutes a small change. I include two revisions on all orders. When those are spent, the buyer can expect their own little "my-ear-just-popped-sound-effect." It's a custom order extra. I've made thousands over the years on Scopoflayers. I love them. If they don't wish to pay, I don't wish to work. It's that simple. Tell them so in a direct but polite manner. Stay professional. "I'm sorry, but I'm unable to take on pro-bono projects at this time, and the changes you've requested are outside the scope of the original order." Negotodog Suppose a buyer is constantly trying to negotiate your rates. In that case, you should take a step back and evaluate if you want to work with this person or not. Consider why they feel the need to negotiate. It might not be because they refuse to pay your rate. Many buyers on Fiverr expect a low price. Even though Fiverr is still a value marketplace, the time of the five-dollar gig has come and gone – thankfully. Depending on the situation, I use a couple of techniques on this type of buyer. a) I take the time to educate the buyer on the value I'll be delivering, or b) I tell them my rate and then make an "exception" to this – but only this time. In my book, this should only be an option on big projects. In case a, I won't budge because I don't need the project. I might budge a little if it's one of those "this makes my month!" projects. It makes the buyer feel like they've won. But that's not the only type of Negotodog. Another type are the ones who have no idea what it takes to complete what they're asking of you. In the writing category, I'm sure that the Negotodog thinks I'm just typing away on my keyboard at a blazing speed all day long. They don't consider the planning, research, proofreading, and editing that goes into their content. And as a voice-over actor, I often get the "but it only takes 10 seconds to record!" line from clients who don't wish to pay my minimum rate for an order. Ignorance is bliss until they meet a seller who knows their worth. I'll often go for option a with this buyer if I'm interested in the project. If not, I'll say, "Thank you for considering me for this project. However, your budget is not aligned with my rates at this time. Perhaps I can recommend one of the cheaper freelancers here on Fiverr?" The last type of Negotodog just wants you to undervalue yourself and your work because they can't afford you. They get the same response as above. Toxic Spider monster If your buyer has a bad day and takes it out on you, there's no excuse. If the buyer is generally disrespectful, there's no excuse. If they call you names or don't respect your boundaries, there's no excuse. Simply put; being a toxic spider monster is inexcusable. You need to run. Now. Don't accept this type of behavior from anyone. The longer you put up with the toxic spider monster, the more they will push your buttons. But even when you meet one, be polite (but firm). "I'm sorry, but I'm not comfortable with your behavior towards me. I expect all my buyers to treat me with the same respect I afford them. For that reason, I don't think we're going to work out. I wish you the best of luck. P.S. I wish Fiverr would replace the my-ear-just-popped-sound-effect.

No, I'm not telling you that you are wrong. I'm telling you that if customer support thinks your buyer had reason to cancel, there's not much else you can do. I've never had support cancel one of my orders unless I asked for it first. I don't know why support thought this order should be canceled, but here's the deal: Fiverr hates cancellations because it means Fiverr is missing out on revenue. That is why Fiverr has every reason not to cancel any order unless they have to. It could be because a seller didn't deliver what was agreed upon or in some way broke the agreement. The last thing Fiverr wants out of any situation is a cancellation. That's why support almost always asks the buyer/seller to fix the issue themselves. In the cases where support goes ahead with the cancellation, you'll often find that the buyer had reasonable grounds for said cancellation. Often, support will have some evidence that the seller isn't aware of, and for privacy reasons, they most likely won't tell you about it. They will just say that the order is canceled. It doesn't really matter to the buyer or support how much time you put into the project. If the buyer feels that he has reason to cancel it and support agrees with them, there's nothing you can do, no matter how annoying it is. I understand that it must make you feel bad. But that's the truth.

Lol. Yeah that sounds about right. I would just block the individual right away. Run, Lena, run.

It depends entirely on you. If you've received negative, hidden reviews, it's difficult to say. It depends on the feedback you get in the future. If your on-time delivery stat has gone down, it should take 60 days, if you deliver all orders from this point in time.

Ugh! Good on you for blocking them.

Haha - yes, of course! Some (select) level two sellers could be just as good or even better than Top Rated Sellers. The main difference, and why I usually leave your level out, is the vetting process behind TRS. Whenever you work with a level two seller, you're most likely in the hands of someone who has done this for a while, with success. But that added security of the vetting done by Fiverr helps. I promise I'll try to be more sensitive to your offendedness in the future. 🤌 I often work with both new sellers, level one sellers, and level two sellers. It depends on the importance of the project and how much I'm willing to spend. For example, I would probably stick to a TRS or Pro for anything above 500 bucks, while a level two seller with an excellent track record could get my order for smaller projects. I sometimes opt for level one or even brand new sellers with 0 reviews for my pet projects and things that don't matter to me professionally. It can be fun, and the other day I ordered an article (to use on my blog as inspiration for what I was going to write) because I was too lazy to do the research myself. I might add that the seller (a Jordanian, brand new seller) sent me a word-perfect article, over-delivered, and clearly researched the subject. It even passed Copyscape - haha. So "gambling" on new sellers can be fun, too. If they have their head screwed on right, they will over-deliver like hell to get some nice reviews under their belt. I sent the dude a hefty tip since he only charged five bucks for 1000 words (which is ridiculous in the first place), and I told him to raise his price. I'm not sure when it comes to art, but I know the current Star Trek producers had to make things "25%" different from the original Star Trek content due to rights issues.

Yes, these are scams. Never share your contact information on Fiverr or in any way communicate with buyers outside of the platform. Scammers prey on new sellers because they know that you might not be familiar with the rules and terms. If you get caught trying to communicate outside of the platform, your account is at risk. In addition, you are likely the victim of a scammer in the first place, since there is no real reason to contact buyers or sellers outside of the platform, when Fiverr has a perfectly good chat system. If/when that would become necessary, it would only be allowed to share contact information that is required to complete a gig order – for example if you need their e-mail adress to log in somewhere. If that is the case, it must be done inside an active order, and never in regular chat. The e-mail itself seems to be legit, though. You should check your spam folder in your Fiverr inbox. The message could have been filtered out as spam. In any case, it's a good practice to never click links in e-mails. If you get a notification saying you've received a message on Fiverr, go to Fiverr.com manually and check your notifications and inbox. Also, keep in mind that if a message has been flagged as spam and you respond to it or mark it as "not spam", it will count as a late response if the message was received more than 24 hours ago. It could affect your response rate/response time, so if a message has arrived in spam, you shouldn't respond to it or remove it from the spam folder if it's older than 24 hours, unless you're really sure that it's worth it.

Might your price limit be so low that you simply can't afford to hire good sellers with your current budget? If you're aiming low, you'll hit low. It's a common issue if you're working with bad sellers. This is why you should stick to Top Rated and Pro sellers and make sure to vet them before working with them. I don't know what your budget is, but in my experience, you get what you pay for.

If you have sent a request for more time and the buyer doesn't respond to that request, the order will not be canceled automatically. It will simply pull back the request and the order will continue to be "late". At this point, if you deliver the order, it will affect your on-time stats. Since it's very late at this point, the buyer can also cancel the order if they wish, but nothing will happen automatically. Keep in mind that it's a weekend. This will sometimes happen, and hopefully your buyer will be back on monday. If the request has timed out by then, you could send another request for more time. If you can't reach your buyer at all (unresponsive buyer) after multiple attempts for a solution, you could reach out to customer support. They can then cancel the order for you without it affecting your stats. Best of luck!

Perhaps the "relevant team" in this case has a lot to do, or they might think the buyer is right and you're wrong. Unfortunately, there's little we can do about it. A deciscion has been made, so the order is canceled. The best thing you can do now is to put it behind you. If you have sent your evidence to support, they might look at it or they might not. Not much more to do, I'm afraid.

Normally, a gig will receive less visibility on the platform if you've received negative private feedback, negative reviews or if your other stats have dropped. You said you had to request more time. Delays can cause negative feedback, since your buyers will be expecting the delivery by a certain date. When you push deadlines like that, your buyer might become less satisfied with your service, resulting in negative feedback.

Recently, several sellers have asked about the SEO Gig Title. This was an option that sellers had to give their gigs a separate title for search engines. Fiverr has now removed this feature for all sellers. Here's the response from Customer Support: I thought I'd make a separate topic on this, since so many of you have been asking about it lately.

It has been removed by Fiverr for all sellers.

1) Customer support wouldn't cancel an order without checking what has happened first. If they canceled the order, the buyer likely had justification. 2) Even if a buyer completes an order, they might discover that something is wrong later on. Last year, I canceled an order placed several years ago after finding out that the seller had sent me a stolen video. 3) It's normal that buyers don't leave a review. That's up to them. 4) The solution is to reach out to Fiverr support and ask why they canceled the order. That way, you can learn from your mistakes so you don't repeat them later. If you think Fiverr Support made a mistake, you could explain why, but it probably won't change anything: the order is canceled, and that's it.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to stop scammers on a platform with free access for sellers. The best way to avoid getting scammed is sticking to Top Rated Sellers and Pro Sellers. That way, you receive work from vetted talent. With that said, seller status isn't a guarantee. I've seen buyers walk away with second-grade results from both Pro and Top Rated sellers. After picking a seller, chat with them a bit to make sure it feels right.

You need to know enough about the subject. That's pretty much a no-brainer, right? If you're good at something, you'll score high. If you're not good at it, you'll score low.

No. A buyer asked me about this once. I explained that Fiverr is already charging us 20% of our earnings, and that I'm not willing to work for less than my usual rate. A buyer fee is a buyer fee, not a seller fee. It's not a me-problem and to be honest, this is a red flag. If the buyer isn't willing to pay a small fee to Fiverr, you're probably dealing with a penny-pincher. I don't work with those.

That sucks! If a buyer doesn't get back to you after repeated efforts, you can contact customer support to cancel the order. They usually do it without it affecting your completion rate. If the time window for leaving feedback is over, it's over. I would avoid talking to the buyer about feedback or reviews. It could be considered review manipulation and land you in trouble due to TOS violations. As for what you can do now: hope that you'll get some previous buyers coming along who needs orders. Having regular/returning buyers is important, since they can get you out of the swamp, so to speak. How are your stats at the moment? Are you eligible for promotion back up to level 1 soon? It happens on the 15th of every month, so you're only a few days out, if your stats fulfill the requirements. If not, your on-time delivery rate is for the last 60 days, meaning you can get promoted back up to level 1 about two months after your stats dropped. I think the stats will go back up on their own, even if you've had no orders in that time, as long as it's 60 days since it happend. So you haven't lost two years of work. But it might take some time to get back to where you were. Best of luck!

Here's his dataset: if (gig rank = down) echo "fiverr no fair";