smashradio

Aaaaawhooot? A brief that worked? I don't believe it. The entire way it's set up is just stupid, in my opinion. It doesn't require anything on the part of the buyer. And the algorithm is as useless. I get translation projects in Urdu, voice over projects in belgian, and writing tasks in arabic. I'm Norwegian. But happy to hear you got a great brief and managed to land a project from it! Now Fiverr just needs to rethink the entire way this works. Then throw it out the window, fire the ones who came up with the idea, and start over. It might become something great. But I doubt it.

I find it funny that one of the biggest myths on Fiverr – sharing your gig in social media – is even repeated by Fiverr themselves. I guess the problem is that they don't clarify how or where to share it. There's a big difference between sharing your gig in a "Fiverr seller exparts"-group on Facebook and sharing it in a niche-specific area of Linkedin. If they didn't get my eternally sumptuous wisdom, then they have already failed point 1 on my list: Be great at what you do before you even consider creating a gig.

This might be my shortest post ever. But it doesn't need more. It's one bullet point. A very powerful bullet point. Here it comes.... Drumroll.... Be great at what you do before you even consider creating a gig. .

Yeah, it's no fun at all when these things happen. Just gotta learn from it and move on. Just like any other business, you will get bad buyers from time to time.

In some cases, a buyer might initiate a chargeback from Paypal. That can cause the order to get cancelled because Fiverr no longer have the money to pay you. Other times, customer support will cancel the order on behalf of the buyer. This usually happens when the buyer didn't receive what was promised. It seems you're dealing with one of these situations and a bad buyer. You can contact customer support to ask why the order was cancelled, after the seller left a positive review and published your work. Add any documentation you have as proof. You can open a ticket with support here: https://www.fiverr.com/support_tickets/ Regarding if they ever listen to sellers: yes. I've had multiple cases over the years where support helped me out against difficult buyers. So it's not true that they only listen to buyers. But it might often seem that way, since support prefers to let sellers deal with issues themselves first. Sometimes, sellers can also feel that the practice of cancelling an order like this is unfair, even though customer support can't do anything about it (for example if a chargeback happened).

It doesn't draw my attention. The furniture looks cool. But it's a bit... boring? A bit grey? I can imagine that it would easily get overlooked in the search results. Also, it doesn't say anything about what you're offering? Even though you should keep text to an absolute minimum, it might help it "pop" to add something. Just to give the buyer an instant clue about what you're offering. Right now, it's just a (very cool) chair. Disclaimer: I'm not a designer.

Indeed. I went 100% freelancer during the lockdown (in addition to owning a company). But I already had a healthy buffer and a good portfolio of investments ready by then. I consider myself lucky. If I didn't have that in order before the lockdown, I would probably have struggled a lot more. These days, I'm 100% freelance + my company, and I'm doing well. It's part luck, part strategic planning for difficult times over several years I have to thank for that.

Yes, you can get banned without warning. That's why you need to follow the rules. If it happens to you, you will get an e-mail with a short and very inconcise explanation of why it happened.

Here's the thing. You gotta take care of the basics first. Food on the table, a roof over your head, healthcare for your family and so on. If you're struggling to do that as a freelancer, you have to rethink a few things. First of all, consider if you can continue being a freelancer while covering your basics. You have a full-time job, so that's great. That should hopefully take care of things. Combining freelancing with a full-time job can be difficult if you want any sort of balance. But there is a positive side to this: you don't have to give up. You can delay. Take a step back, look at what you may be doing wrong at the moment. Spend some quality time with friends and family. Enjoy life. While you do, you can keep planning for the day you'll return to freelancing. Maybe you could improve your skills in the meantime? So there's options, beyond just "giving up". I've been there. I've done it. Another alternative is to go all in. But unless you have a buffer that can last you at least a year, preferably longer, that's super risky.

I would say it depends. Is the candidate applying for a job as a writer? Or a job that requires them to be great at writing? If so, I'd say it's a borderline case, not unlike academic work. If I was a boss, and I found out that an applicant didn't write their own CV, I would disregard the individual right then and there. That said, I believe it should be up to the applicant, not the writer. You've been hired to do a job. If the applicant chooses to use your services to misrepresent themselves, that's on them. Let's say I'm applying for a job as a receptionist. The job requires me to speak fluent English. It also requires me to have excellent customer service skills and previous experience. I have all of these things in order. What I'm lacking, is the skill of writing a great CV. The information on the CV is true. I'm not misrepresenting my skills. Yet, I never had to write a proper CV before, because my last job was given to me by my dad, who was the boss at that company. So I need some help putting it together in a way that will get the attention of this new employer. I see no ethical issues with that, whatsoever. But let's say I'm applying to a job as a job consultant at the municipality. Part of my job will be to guide job seekers on how to write effective CVs. But because I know nothing about writing a great CV, I hire you to do it for me. That's unethical.

Maybe some day 😄 But not day. Probably not tomorrow. A lot of sellers have little to no formal training. That doesn't mean you're not good at what you do. I think the issue is 18-year-old guys in certain countries who have been told that they can just make an account on Fiverr and they will get rich. There are so many "Get rich quick" guides for Fiverr out there, mostly tailored towards people in developing countries where opportunities are few and far between. They likely went to a school where they didn't have access to computers (or some Windows XP laptop shared by the entire class, at best). They come from countries where being a fully educated doctor will net you a few hundred per month. For most of their lives, they had the entire family to support them. They had programmes helping them from the international community. They are used to getting things handed to them. So they go on Fiverr, write "Am expart marketing engineer consulttint forr u pro pro pro pro", add a thumbnail they stole from some other seller who did the same before them, and sit back, waiting for the orders to come in. It's a vicious circle perpetuated by the "gurus" who promise riches online by doing as little as possible. That's your "liars". Not a sincere seller who says to herself, "Hey, I'm actually rather good at writing. Maybe I'll try putting those skills to good use!". The liar, on the other hand, has no skills. At least, no relevant skills.

Nice summary, @vickieito! I agree with most of the points on the list as being factors for the TRS badge. One thing I'd like to add. I belive consistent improvement on level two over time (increasing satisfaction rate, higher earnings and so on) could be a factor. That upward arrow might be something they look for when identifying sellers they want to look closer at. But it makes sense to see who's improving even while on level two. The ones that stay "flat" might have a harder time getting shortlisted. It's just a feeling I have. No idea if it's true. So your improvement by raising prices, earning more and over-delivering consistently, should not stagnate, just because you're "stuck" on level two. The moral is to never stop improving, no matter how stuck you feel.

I see. "Your opinion is based on the idea that the article is complex and the video is simple." Exactly. And that's my point. Every project is different. That's why I don't think we can conclude that video editing should cost more than writing or vice versa. It depends on the video and it depends on the article. I know editing can be time-consuming. I've done a lot of it over the years, just never sold that service since I've done it out of necessity at my own projects, and not because I love doing it. I think we could have a lower limit on articles as well. But naturally, some projects can generally take longer. I do understand your point, though, and right now I'm just being a nitpicking, rambling muttonhead. But like I said: I was curious. 😂

How so? If I spend four days researching, writing, re-writing, and proofing a high-quality long-form article on a difficult subject, how is that less time and effort, compared to a video edited with some transitions from stock photo that took an hour to collect? I'm not saying all projects is like this, and it's just an example. Each project is different, so I'm just curious as to how you reached that conclusion?

You can. I charge less than many other sellers in my niche, yet I am (and I don't mean to brag) one of the more professional sellers in the categories I sell in. But it can affect perceptions. It can make you look less professional. So that's something to keep in mind when you price your services. That's a fair point. I'm a good example of this. I work in the Norwegian market, but since I live in Spain, I can maintain a lower price point. This is true in all markets; you can outsource to low-cost-countries and save money. Then again, you have to consider things like language barriers, cultural differences that can affect the sellers understanding of your audience and so on. This in turn, can affect turnaround-times due to revisions or spending time explaining concepts to the seller. Time is money, so if you factor in the two added hours you spent explaining something to a seller that would be basic common sense in your own country, you've probably paid a similar price in terms of worth. My point being: Yes, you can get high quality at low cost. But it might take more time and effort to get it, identify which sellers are the right ones for you, and work around issues that might arise during the project.

Even so, you should never sell anything for five bucks. Not even if it's your first day. But charging 200 might be a bit much. Depends on the service. I just ordered a video for 60 from a seller with just one review. But they had a nice portfolio, great gig description, and clearly know what they are doing. So you can get nice orders, even if you're a new seller. But you need to take great care of your gig first and have the expertise to back it up already. You can create a gig video and showcase content from your portfolio in that video. 🙂 Exactly. The cheapskates of this world are usually rude and not very fun to work with. So if they don't like my prices, I'm happy to send them on their merry way. Tactical! I like it!

OR... Did you not do good?

What can I say. I'm a philanthropist. 🤑

Aaaw, that means a lot! 🤩 I forgive you in my awesomenessesesesss. 😄

Hahaha. Yes, indeed. 😆 Good lord. I needed a good laugh.

Have you been thinking about raising your gig price, but you’re afraid of losing buyers? Here are some good reasons to up your game with a price increase. Earn more from fewer clients If your Fiverr dashboard is filled with small orders for five bucks, you’re probably doing something wrong. Charging five dollars for anything is madness if you’re a professional. It doesn’t matter what you do. Five bucks aren’t even worth the time it takes to thank the buyer for their order. Besides, having tons of orders means you never have time to give your buyers proper attention. It might sound counterintuitive, but you should strive to get fewer orders. That way, you can deliver your best work every time and charge more for it! One order netting you 50 bucks for an hour of work is better than 5 dollars for 30 minutes. Remember: communicating with and understanding each order, chatting with buyers and responding to their requests is also work. Less drama! My favorite reason to increase your rates. Are you struggling with bad buyers who seem to have lost their manners? Demanding ignoramuses who didn’t read your gig description? Then this is for you: High-paying buyers have a tendency to be easier to work with! Offer five-dollar gigs, and you’ll get the worst buyers Fiverr has to offer. If you’ve ever read Donald Duck, you know who Scrooge McDuck is. And you wouldn’t want to work with him, right?! Buyers who know what they want and have the budget to back it up will usually never purchase the cheapest gigs. They are looking for a great blend of quality and value for money. And since they aren’t paying “pennies” for some unprofessional gig, they are more likely to take their time, research your gig, and have a chat with you before ordering. Adulting is expensive A lot of sellers on Fiverr constantly worry about money. After all, we need food on the table. Raising your prices makes it easier to pay the bills each month (if you’re good at what you do, of course). Less stress benefits your health and clients since nothing can bring you out of the zone like a big pile of unpaid bills. You should also save money as a buffer. Ideally, it would be best to have savings that could last you for a year or more. If you only earn what you need right now, you’re doing it wrong.

A PDF is not an image. You should know this, since you're marketing yourself as "Best Photo Editor and Graphics Designer". A PDF usually comes in the A4 document size, however, other sizes can be used. It depends on the project. I'm not sure about the size limitations for uploaded PDFs.

I know that used to be an issue, but I haven't had that issue for a few years.

Simply report the message as spam and move on. It's against the terms on Fiverr. Reporting a message as spam constitutes a response in the Fiverr system, meaning your response rate/time won't suffer.

Happy to be of help! To your question: I've actually had this happen to me as well. Sometimes, a project will be more complicated, requiring additional work due to unique requirements. I prefer to solve that using my gig FAQ. The chance of your buyer reading this before reaching out is very low. But you can put limitations on your gig offering by adding something like "Please contact me before making an order! All projects are unique and different." You could also limit the amount of work that goes into each page with a bulletpoint list of what's included, like: Up to 10 images on each page Up to 500 words on each page And so on. Then explain further in your FAQ that all projects are different, meaning your pricing will vary depending on the requirements of the buyer. When the buyer asks you "why 500? It's 300 on your gig page", you can say "Yes, but...." and show them your FAQ/refer to your gig description. Hope that helps! 🙂