cubittaudio

The fact that people continue to believe that a business listed on the NYSE would use a ‘rotation’ system for serving up search results, rather than an algorithm which focuses on matching spending buyers with appropriate, able sellers, truly baffles me. I can only assume it’s because it’s easier and less painful to blame poor performance on “rotation”.

Fantastic article @frank_d , thanks for taking the time to put it together. Here’s my recent experience, that for me 100% validates what you’re saying; About a year ago, we branched out from Voice Over, and started offering Screen Capture videos. Completed maybe 60 over the year, and made some good money out of them. 100% 5-star reviews, happy customers etc. But, they were a NIGHTMARE to convert. I think if I converted 5% of enquiries, that would be me being generous. Buyers would message about whiteboard videos, animated videos, stock footage videos, spokesperson videos, “can you make me a video just like this huge budget Slack video” etc. Or they’d want the moon on a stick, with a budget of $50. Revisions were ALWAYS needed, projects took forever to turn around, and cancellation rates were high compared with our VO gigs. On the surface, nothing was wrong - but reading this, I suspect everything was wrong. In our first call with our Success Manager, we talked about this - and I came to the conclusion that we’d lost our focus, because ALL of our gigs were suffering, and had been for a while. A few weeks back, I made the decision to pause the video gigs (temporarily, but most likely permanently), and focus only on Voice Overs again. And our VO gigs have shot off like a rocket ever since! This could only be temporary, it could even be coincidental, but it feels like our voice over gigs are on steroids at the moment, and I think it’s because Fiverr 3.0 knows that when it comes to VO, we’ll give Fiverr what they want; lots of customers who are happy to spend their money. Less friction, more sales. I’ll be implementing some of the things you’ve suggested here re gig descriptions and keywords, and let’s see where this goes!

Always nice to see a Flourishing Forum Bromance! 😂

Just to let you know, customer service is about as official as you can get. If I were you, I would except CS as very high on the Fiverr importance scale. Just saying. Hi Melissa, I think what I said has been misinterpreted a little. I never questioned the importance, or officiality of Fiverr Customer Support. But I’ve had many personal experiences over the years, of different Customer Support agents interpreting the same rule in very different ways. I’ve literally had different answers, within the space of a few hours, from different agents, and that’s happened on numerous occasions, and regarding well established practices. My comment was in reference to a CS agent promising a new seller that Promoted Gigs would be available to everyone soon. This seems to go against Fiverr’s methodology in rolling out Promoted Gigs, and certainly wouldn’t make much business sense (giving a brand new, un-vetted seller the ability to promote their gigs to page one is a recipe for disaster). All I was saying was that, until I hear that from an official channel (like a press release, an update on the relevant support page etc) that I wouldn’t guarantee on this being 100% accurate.

Remember kids, the real Pros stay online 24/7 😉

Every time I see the phrase; “So I messaged my buyer asking why they only rated me 4.7…”

Me when I see a forum post from a Buyer who clearly can afford to pay market rates, complaining that the 15 Million word article they bought for $5 turned out to be a disaster…

When a brand new, 0-Level Seller, advises another brand new, 0-Level Seller, that the trick to ‘Unlimited Sells’ is to STAY ONLINE 24/7

What does it say when you click on the blue-hyperlinked bid amount of $0.50? Your metrics would suggest that your bid might be too low to trigger. Clicking on the bid amount should show you a ‘suggested’ bid amount to help you outbid others.

Do not accept if the client requests cancellation of the order. If you cancel his order page and make a cancel request yourself, then no effect will fall on the profile. And you stay away from these clients. And you learn to work better! I’m afraid that simply isn’t true. Cancellations have an impact, whether you initiate them or the buyer initiates them. The only way they don’t have an impact, is if Customer Support cancel on your behalf, and even then it isn’t guaranteed.

All of your gigs are about digital marketing. Why don’t you apply your skills as a digital marketing expert to generate traffic for your gigs?

Like I said, all of that information is public and available to you. Have a read through the link I sent you.

It looks like you linked to your gig, which is only allowed in certain sections of the forum. Linking to your gig anywhere else is seen as spam. Someone has clearly noticed this, and flagged your post. Also, all the information about eligibility is available and public - you just need to go and read it for yourself, so no need to link your gig here.

Yes, that’s my understanding. You only pay if someone clicks on your ad, not when your ad appears in the top spot. Only clicks count. Good luck with it, I’ll be interested to see what your results are like!

We got access to it today also, albeit only for some of our gigs. I’ve signed up one, so we’ll see how it goes. We also didn’t get our $10 ‘gift’ - I clicked the link for it, but nothing was applied to our account. Maybe a glitch in the matrix. I’m not going to lose sleep over it, but annoying. Just be careful with this - my understanding is that the recommended amount is your bid amount, not your daily spend. My recommended bid for example is $0.34, and my daily cap is $5. So I can ‘afford’ about 15 clicks per day, which is the amount I’m willing to test with, until I see if this generates results. Screenshot 2020-09-07 at 11.18.091436×632 18.9 KB

Someone at HQ must have unplugged Fiverr, waited 30 seconds, gave it a quick tap on the side and then plugged it back in again. Works every time.

Same here. The site seems to be down at the moment. Some users have also said they’re having issues with the Earnings page being wrong, which we’re also seeing. Perhaps it’s some kind of reboot to fix that issue? I’m sure it will be back soon - time to make a coffee and go do something else… ☕

This is an interesting point… I’m lucky, I’ve never had a mean boss, but I totally get how draining it must be to those who do. I remind myself of the freedom I have as a freelancer, in terms of my hours and how I choose to use my time. The idea of being told “you must be at your desk by 9am” seems so alien to me now, I can’t see it as being anything other than silly. My bad days tend to be when I’m beating myself up for not having ‘done’ enough that month (not enough orders, not enough money etc). I find that taking a moment to really appreciate the massive benefit of being a freelancer, in terms of being able to decide how and when I work, really does help.

I produce music, as a side-hustle but also because I love doing it. Unless I’m too tired, that’s a good option for me. I love doing something creative with zero boundaries. Playing the PlayStation is a bit of a guilty pleasure too. I don’t do online stuff (I can’t be doing with 14-year olds destroying me at online games) but tend to go for story-driven stuff like The Last Of Us etc…

You live in Glasgow? One of my favourite cities. We were up there for a few days last year. It hammered it down with rain, but we still had a great time. We’ve done a few city breaks over the last few years, and the people in Glasgow were by far the friendliest we encountered.

Whenever I see the ‘is being online 24 hours a good idea?’ argument play out on the forums, I always think of an analogy with a bricks-and-mortar business, like a cafe. Let’s imagine you’ve opened a cafe. You’re in a busy part of town, with lots of other cafes nearby, and people are walking past your cafe each day. The odd person here and there even pops in to ask about your food/offers. But for the most part, you’re just not getting any business. Nobody is coming into your cafe to order food or drinks from you. You’re not making any money, despite being open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Would your first instinct be to say “I know what the problem is - we’re not open 24 hours! If only we were open 24 hours, we’d definitely get loads of business!”? Being open 24 hours COULD in theory, drive some business. After all, there’s a chance that at 3 in the morning, options are limited, and so people are more likely to choose you because they need something immediately, and they don’t have many choices available. But when you consider that the holy grail of any business is repeat custom, being seen as ‘the only option’ isn’t really a good way to generate that kind of business. You’re being chosen because you’re the only option, rather than because you’re the most suitable option. Plus, if we compare it to Fiverr, let’s assume you’re not the only 24 hour cafe in town anyway… So it’s not really a Unique Selling Point after all. Contrast that with a cafe that is only open during the hours of 7am to 5pm - but their focus is on amazing, unique food options that really resonate with the local community, delivering exceptional customer service and building a brand that people get excited about. Which one do you think is more likely to be a great business? Or more to the point, which business strategy do you think is more likely to generate amazing results?

Interesting. I’m always a bit skeptical when it’s from Customer Support; they tell different sellers different things about established practices like cancellations, so until it comes from somewhere more official, I wouldn’t necessarily bank on this being accurate. Certainly all the wording I’ve seen so far suggests that Fiverr will expect sellers to have some tangible experience and success on the platform before they make this available to them. But I guess we’ll see.

Where have you seen this? There has been no indication that “all sellers” will be getting this. We’re a Top Rated Seller, and we still don’t have access to it. If you’re a Level 1 or Level 0 seller, I would work on the assumption that this won’t be made available to you, and focus instead on reaching the criteria needed for it to become available.

For what it’s worth, we don’t have it - we’ve been a Top Rated Seller for about a year now, with gigs in the relevant categories. So right now, I couldn’t tell you why some are being chosen, while others aren’t. In terms of this not being open to newcomers - whilst this might be a bitter pill to swallow, the decision does make sense. Have a look at the main page of this forum, and count in a day the number of people posting “How do I make more sales?” posts. Then look at the quality of their gigs. 9 times out of 10, they are sub-par (to be polite). Now think of how many people don’t post on the forum, but still slap together some garbage gigs and assume they should be getting sales. Hundreds, if not thousands every day. Do you really think Fiverr want those gigs on their front search pages? Promoting gigs gives you the potential to be the first thing a buyer sees when they come to Fiverr, potentially a buyer who is brand new to Fiverr. Fiverr want those buyers to have a good impression of the site. So yeah, I think it makes sense to only allow sellers and gigs with a proven track record to take those spots, at least for the time being. Fiverr want to do all they can to make the experience for the buyer positive, and that benefits all of us - a rising tide lifts all boats. Is it fair? Yes, and no. No because I get that there are some amazing new sellers who would love to pay their way to the top spot, but won’t be able to. And Yes, because new members will just have to prove themselves the old-fashioned way, just like the rest of us did when we started out. It may not be like this forever - perhaps, as time goes on, they’ll open this up to more people. But right now, I think it’s the right call.

You said it perfectly! My order requirements are a bit more strong because it forces buyers to think about what they are giving me. It’s a total team effort and buyers have to take some responsibility for the outcome of the project too. I would rather have fewer buyers who I can really pay attention too, than 20 orders in my queue. The quality of your work and your buyers who love your work, will in time, be a repeat-business machine! That is what all business owners want… 80% of your sales come from 20% of your buyers. Ads will only get you poised in the right spot but you better be ready to serve as a professional. I have changed my mind on the ads. At first it seemed like things were changing on the first two pages. But like always, I was just patient and used my down time to improve my portfolio, gigs and demo. I am actually grateful for those few weeks. I see an increase in new and great buyers. So somehow they are still finding me. I already know sellers who are opting out of the Ad program after paying for ads because the results are not as organic. I am sure it’s paying off for others. I am just going to stay positive and hope the ads are successful. My TRS is golden and I appreciate Fiverr in so many ways. I was the type of child who actually had to do chores to get allowance money. Nothing is given to you on Fiverr, you have to earn it… not just by numbers and stats but there is a magical mix of buyer love and appreciation, respect for the customer service team, an inward look at yourself and answering your inquiries in the middle of the night. You build it and they will find you. LOVE this! Brilliant quote, and a great way of summarising success here. 🙂