smashradio

We have 350 m2 (living room, kitchen, hallway, stairway, 1 en-suite master bedroom, two regular ones and one of them is my office, home theatre room, laundry room and garage + rooftop terrace (60 m2) + back yard. Sometimes I do envy people living in small apartments. Less work! Cats ❤️

Living alone clearly changes things up. In my house, I would have to have at least 6 robots. We have a big house and a baby, so that obviously adds to the workload. Your garbage situation sounds very nice, though! I envy you. Dishes: you have to put the it in the machine and take it out again. Floors - I'd need six Roombas just to vacuum and they would run constantly. Did I mention we also have three cats? Laundry - Duh! But you have to sort it, put it inside the machine, put detergent in it, then take it out, dry it (or put it in the drier) and then fold it and put it back into your closet. Garbage: That adds up to 8,6 hours per year spent on garbage. So if you spend five minutes a week on the Roomba (4,3 hours per year), 10 minutes on dishes per week (8,6 hours per year), 10 minutes on laundry (8,6 hours per year) and 10 minutes on garbage (8,6 hours per year), you're spending 30 hours on chores around the house per year. So it adds up. Lol

Per week for a familiy of three, eating four meals per day. One of us being a baby. I don't think 3 hours per week doing dishes is that unrealistic. Maybe madmoiselle could time herself doing dishes, to see how we would compare? 😄

I travel a lot and I usually stay at rather fancy hotels, since I'm a sucker for that type of luxury. You sure do feel important when working from a large chair surrounded by chandeliers and expensive golden furniture. If you're tired of your apartment, that can certainly be great for your mental health. But I prefer to work from home or the hotel room, to be honest. I get easily distracted. When it comes to having a housekeeper, I don't view it as a luxury. I view it as a sensible thing to do. The pleasure of watching someone else clean my house is one thing, but I'm actually getting more time to work, meaning I earn money from having the housekeeper here. Next step: A butler!

Could be any number of reasons. Fiverr rotates gigs around in the search results based on a lot of factors. You're not guaranteed a position in search just because you have some good ratings. It's not static and it never stays the same. It also differs based on what each buyer searches for and buys. Cancellations, warnings, drops in response time/rate, late deliveries and so on will affect your visibility on Fiverr. Another important thing to remember: Buyers are asked to leave private feedback to Fiverr after an order is completed. That's a rating only Fiverr can see, and it will affect your gig way more than your regular star ratings. A buyer may leave a five-star review because he doesn't want to hurt your feelings or look bad, and then deliver negative private feedback. People are always more honest when they know it's anonymous.

I bet you're thinking, "good lord! The man is a slob!" right about now. Hold your horses. Let me explain. How much time do you spend cleaning and on chores around the house per week? Let's draw up some examples: Cleaning floors: 30 minutes Dusting: 10 minutes Dishes: 3 hours Changing bed sheets: 10 minutes Carrying our garbage: 15 minutes Doing laundry: 15 minutes Sweeping: 10 minutes Cleaning toilets: 10 minutes That adds up to 4,5 hours per week. (I rounded it down from 4,6 for simplicity). Your mileage may vary depending on the size of your home and family, how much of a slob you are and other things. My point is: we spend a considerable amount of time per week doing chores around the house. Let's add those 4,5 hours together to see how many hours we spend per year. 4,5 x 52 = 234 hours. That's almost ten full days. Or roughly 2.7% of a year. Now let's see what you can earn if you work 234 hours more per year. Let's say you earn, on average, 25 USD per work hour. By cleaning, you've lost out on 5850 USD in revenue per year. But hey – you schlump of a couch-potato sluggard Mr Smash – you might say. If you don't clean, someone else has to do it. That's what my housekeeper...*cough*... I mean cleaning and laundry attendant... is for. Let's say this service costs you 40 USD per week. That's 2080 USD per year. That means you've earned 3770 USD per year by not cleaning your own house. So I don't. And if you earn more per hour worked than the cost of a Cleaning and laundry attendant, you shouldn't, either. Even if you earn the same as their salary, at least you don't have to clean. I don't know why I felt like writing all of this. The idea just popped into my head today while sipping on my drink, eating a steak dinner and watching my housekeeper do her thing: I no longer have to excuse my laziness. I can simply say it makes perfect financial sense. And it would be the truth*. * For my secret method of never cleaning yourself to work, steak dinner may or may not ruin the math. Your mileage may vary depending on how many asterisks you need behind "truth" for this to work.

When you want to invest in your business.

I'm not sure if you have understood how Fiverr works. Editing your gig won't automatically make you "rank" anywhere. Fiverr presents your gig to buyers if the system thinks you're one of the most relevant gigs that the buyer is likely to order from. This is based on your buyer satisfaction rate, gig optimization, all of your stats and relevancy to each buyer. In other words, if two buyers search for the same thing, that doesn't mean they will see the same gigs. You should focus on delivering high-quality work and support to your buyers, and making improvements to your gig when/if they are needed. Just like a shark, a business will die if it stops swimming. If you make smart edits to improve your gig, then sure, do it. But if you're constantly making random edits to your gig, it will only hurt your business. The idea is to make edits for improvement – not for the sake of it. I edit my gigs whenever I see something that can be improved, or if I'd like to test out something new.

Review-swapping is a thing. And it's not ok. I've even seen some top youtubers do it to make "30 days on Fiverr" videos. I'm happy to see Fiverr taking action against this sort of cheating.

Awesome to hear! I'm happy for you! I'm not afraid of mentioning Fiverr, but then again, I'm one of those mad people that don't really care much about what persnickety high-hats may feel about the way I do business. If they're afraid that we'll beat them on price and still enjoy a comfortable living, the problem isn't with us, but with them. I'm not going to hide, just because they are intimidated by the platform or its sellers. Keep at it! 😄

I can see why they would think so. If you're in an up-scale market, you don't want to be assosciated with a "cheap marketplace". But the problem with the idea is that it's wrong. Yes, you can find cheap stuff on Fiverr. REALLY cheap stuff. But we all know that 5-dollar-gigs rarely provide anything worth having. You can also find high-end services on Fiverr. I've seen gigs starting from 5000 bucks and more for a single logo design. My point is: if 5000 dollar logo designers can thrive on Fiverr and off of Fiverr, that means they aren't underselling at all, and to charge those prices, they need up-scale clients. More and more high-end clients show up on Fiverr. I've worked with MyHeritage, NordVPN, Circle K, eToro, Pfizer and Betsson to mention a few large corporations shopping on Fiverr. So the idea is based on what Fiverr used to be. Not what it is. I think your example can be elitism. If someone just thinks that Fiverr sucks, they probably tried selling on here and didn't succeed. That doesn't mean the site sucks. It means they didn't have what it takes to make it work for them. Too bad for them. You don't have to be part of the race to the bottom, just because you're on Fiverr. You set your own rates. Your value is up to you.

You speak the truth! Don LaFontaine ❤️ I never got to meet the man or see him speak in person, but he was one of my inspirations for going into the voice-over business. I've been putting my head on the block several times in these groups, mostly because I think it's a bit funny to rile up the bumptious elitists of this world. What I don't find funny is that new talent is welcomed by a gang of people with nothing but self-interest at heart when giving advice. And because the newbies don't know any better, they get fooled into spending all their hard-earned cash on coaching from the same people that don't want them to succeed. Don't get me wrong: coaching can be great, and there are many good coaches. Bill DeWees is one example. There you have it. This isn't just a voiceover industry thing. The problem is self-important snobs who don't want the "new guy" to succeed, because they are shaking in their pants. Like @newsmike said: "It is precisely what travel agencies said when Expedia launched, what record labels thought of Spotify, and what theaters chains thought of Netflix."

I have thought about it, yes! I believe becoming an expert in this field requires decades of experience. The competition is fierce in the intelligence business, but I see Fiverr has not yet entered into this untapped resource. I will surely make market research optimize gig ranking day by day up up up so you can congratulate me. 😄 As a journalist and editor-in-chief of my very own newspaper, I know all to well how opinions can color coverage. I've made it a point to always provide fact based information. But even when you provide pure facts without opinionated wording, the stories themselves can also affect bias. The stories we choose to write about matters just as much as the words we put down. That's one of the reasons why I started reading the newspapers on the other side: to find story ideas that weren't affected by my own bias. I'm a personal conservative liberalist. I apply conservative values to my own life, yet I'm not religious at all, and I'm a firm believer in personal responsibility and freedom to live your way as you see fit, as long as you don't stand in the way of other people's liberty to do the same. Whenever I see something that would make me angry or have some sort of emotional reaction, I'll always check all sides of the story I can get my hands on. I wish more people did that. Herd conformity and lack of perspective are not only counterproductive; it's dangerous. Echo-chambers will do that to you.

This is indeed a spicy topic. I love a good debate, as long as people are civil about it. I agree that minimums do make sense. Whenever I see five-dollar-VAs, I must admit I think the same as you. I have fairly low rates here on Fiverr, to say the least. I also have below market rates other places (but not as cheap as on Fiverr). That's a business model I've used for a long time, but somehow, I manage to earn more than enough while working less than before, and I still earn more per hour worked on average here on Fiverr. It's interesting. Absolutely right. I've recorded in full fledged studios. I've spent a rather large sum on my own studio as well. That "extra" is certainly something clients want and will pay for. I think it's awesome when a VA can charge 1500 for a national ad. I've charged similar sums for ads myself and still do at times. What I don't think is awesome, is the elitist attitude that anyone working differently and/or for less are bottom-feeding, are destroying the industry or is untalented. I think you encapsulate the matter perfectly here: I disagree with the sentiment that someone are less talented or aren't in a position that allows them to charge higher rates. I've actively chosen to keep my rates down, because I genuinly want to make voice overs more accessible. Just this evening, I got an e-mail from a rather massive religious organization, who specifically wanted to hire me for a project. Their budget is more than triple my usual rate. I'm not gonna say no to that, obviously, but it just goes to show that I can charge more than I do. I choose not to. Even so, I can see your point. I often tell new sellers to increase their prices because that can give the impression that you're more professional. But I'm not arrogant enough to think that there aren't people way better than me. Like with you, that encourages me to improve. On a personal note: you're the first spanish VA I've heard who doesn't sound like he's trying to lick my ear while speaking. Great gigs! (I live in the lovely Islas Canarias).

Good lord. Nothing is more annoying than spending 30 minutes chatting about a project, just to get the "Could you do it for..."-message. That's why I always get started with the price-talk as soon as possible. I hate to waste time.

Exactly. This is why I love Fiverr. In and out. There's far less time spent on fluff, like meetings, phone calls and e-mail-threads as long as the Eiffel Tower.

Thanks man! Haven't seen Frank for a couple of days, and a couple of posts of mine have been in the abyss for two days - haha. If you see him, feel free to mention it 😄

I've had my share of debates in different voice over groups on social media over the years, regarding selling on Fiverr. It seems to be a divide between the "top hats" of our industry and Fiverr talent. The elitism from these bullies will certainly make some sellers afraid of admitting to being on Fiverr. Lies like "Agents will blacklist you for selling on Fiverr!" (not true, in my experience) or blanket statements like "You earn less doing more with Fiverr" (actually, it's the opposite, as I earn more per hour worked on Fiverr than all other sources of VO work combined) are common in these groups. Just yesterday, I debated with a group admin who felt the need to repeatedly hammer in his yearly earnings to prove that he is better than us. He went on to claim that Fiverr is a "distasteful race-to-the-bottom devaluation machine that undervalues voice talent that just want to be paid fairly. If you're being paid fairly – and I don't mean what YOU think is fair, but what the MARKET has determined as fair – then more power to you." This nice fellow actually started out on Fiverr. Obviously, he didn't succeed. I challenged him on on his "market" argument by explaining that the market rate is based on supply and demand (basic economics). Clearly, I'm mistaken, because according to him the "market" price is decided by the union called SAG-Aftra. I guess we have to throw economics 101 out the window. 🤔 I also tried explaining to the gentleman that we work differently on Fiverr. Fiverr takes care of the marketing side of my business for me. I never have to audition for a job. 99% of my clients will never ask me to do a live/directed session. All of this saves me time, and ensures that I get paid for each single word I record – not just the jobs I win through auditions. After debating with the guy for a while, he decided to become a snowflake. I had used the word "elitism" to describe my thoughts about his attitude towards us. He closed the comments (the guy is a group admin) and ended the debate by saying he didn't bother reading my comment. This "Fiverr hate" going around is – in my opinion – purely about fear. Fear of not being able to charge 1500 bucks for a 20 sec recording. Fear of competition. Fear of disruption. If this guy truly believed market rates are based on what he/unions think is fair, he wouldn't have bothered complaining so much. The voice-over industry has changed, just like most other industries. Technology allows us to work from anywhere in the world. We can receive an order, record, edit, master and deliver in less than an hour, on projects that used to take a million dollar studio and a freakin' audio engineer or two to edit and record. And we do it from our closets, our 3000 dollar booths and our bedrooms. And I know I speak for many of us when I say "that's how I wanna work!". To end this "rant" about elitism in our industry: I received more than 30 messages from voice over talent in that group, who didn't dare to speak up. All of them had similar stories to tell: Fiverr changed their lives for the better. They now have financial freedom, can work from home and take care of their families doing what they love. To you I say: You're a hard-working, honest and great group of people, and I'm proud of sharing space in the search results with all of you. Never let these highbrowed, pompous people tell you otherwise. To the elitists I have only one thing to say: If charging 1500 bucks for 20 seconds means you have to trash-talk other people's living and place of business, I don't want to be one of you. (And yes, obviously I'm aware that they won't read this. After all, we're just a bunch of undervalued race-to-the-bottom-people with no respect for their golden profession. I just felt like venting.) Anyway. That's all I have for today. //Leo

You already posted about this. Why post the same thing twice?

I sometimes give fixed discounts to clients with ongoing projects. I also send out discount coupons now and then as a way to market my services. But I also see some problems with doing this: by lowering your rate for regular clients, you open yourself up to them expecting even more of a discount. By being firm about your rates all the time, you encourage a bit more respect for your time. But I'm not against discounts to good clients. But I think it should be used sparingly and only to reward loyalty.

Yeah, these buyers don't have a budget. They just want the best bargain. I get that most people come here for bargains, but come on. In my industry (voiceovers), you can easily charge 1500 bucks for a 20-second voice-over on regional tv. Yet they come to Fiverr and buy literally the same product (same quality, same experience, maybe even the same voice-over talent) for 200 bucks instead. The other day, I had a discussion where I defended this pricing model to some "industry top-hats" who like their elitist position and love to trash-talk Fiverr. I explained that I can charge less because Fiverr takes care of the marketing, CRM and I never have to audition for jobs. It's usually <*Order placed* *Record* *Order delivered*>. No directed sessions with corporate schmucks. No waiting on hold while CEOs have their foot massage before they can listen in on the recording sessions. Simply put: I can do more recording, less of all the other stuff, and I get paid for every word I record instead of auditioning for ten roles to get one. So yeah. You are already getting one hell of a bargain as it is. But they don't know that. Or perhaps they don't care. I know it's similar for a lot of industries.

I can certainly see how this can be frustrating. With a cancellation right away, you likely have a very bad order completion rate at this point, and it can make it very difficult to get any new orders. Do you have any customers/clients outside of Fiverr? If so, you could bring them over to the platform. This only helps if you have existing clients who are willing to move their business with you to Fiverr, though. Getting a few orders completed in combination with time passing, should fix your order completion rate. You had a bad start for sure. This shows how important it is to avoid cancellations, especially in the beginning. You say you got an order two days ago. But you chose to cancel it after just two days? In the future, you should try to communicate with your buyer about the requirements for as long as possible. If you still can't get through to the buyer after a week or two, I recommend getting in touch with support. They will usually help you cancel the order without hitting your order completion rate at that point. In the meantime, keep working on your gigs, profile and business. Best of luck!

"Upbringing is a talent that very few have." Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, famous Norwegian writer in the 1800s. I'll respond with something like this: Ok - let's carve this out to make sure I have fully understood your request. You want me to write X amount of words for X USD. Since my rate is XX, that means you want me to write XX number of words for free. Unfortunately, I can't take on pro bono projects at this time, due to high demand. You're welcome to reach out again if/when the budget is aligned with my rates. In the meantime, I'd be more than happy to write X% of your content, based on the percentage of my rate you wish to pay. I wouldn't have set my rates like I have, unless I thought it was "reasonable". If the client disagrees, I don't want them as my client. Update on the original post: The buyer came back after an hour or so. He told me he understood, and that he was happy to increase his budget to fit my rate. He was bold enough to ask for some free background music with his order. I obliged and gave him a royalty-free track in my production library. I also recorded two versions for the guy (I usually do). 10 minutes after delivering, I had a shining five-star review and the buyer even sent me a message thanking be, pointing out the great quality I talked about earlier, and said he would come back for more in the future. So it does help to stick to your rates! If I hadn't I could have ended up with a difficult buyer who continued to ask for free work. Instead, I probably have a repeat buyer who knows that I deliver top-notch stuff - but not for free.

Just because you've been violating Amazon terms for four years, that does not guarantee that you can keep doing so. Your gig offered Amazon Scraping services, you say? Then I suggest you take another look at the Amazon terms @lloydsolutions was so kind to look up for you. Especially this part: (Highlights are mine) In other words: you violated Amazon terms by performing data scraping on their service, and by doing so, you violated Fiverr TOS.