For many travelers, freelancing is a popular choice to earn an income. There are a lot of websites that offer a platform for freelancers and buyers to come together.
Fiverr is a common one, offering a huge variety of services, often at very reasonable prices. There are musicians, graphic designers, writers, editors and so many other freelance professionals offering their talents and skills on the platform. There are even some more unusual ones like voice actors, astrology readers, genealogy researchers, meme writers, bikini models, and so much more.
We tried Fiverr when we first started looking into ways to make extra money. But how easy is it to get started on Fiverr now? Can you actually earn an income to go travel the world?
Well, that depends a lot on what you have to offer. For the more saturated niches like graphic design and editing, it’s going to be pretty challenging, especially at first. It takes time to start getting business and build up a reliable clientele, and the competition is fierce.
When I still worked full time, I listed a gig offering basic proofreading and editing. Here’s what I learned and what I wish I had known when I was getting started.
Setting up your gig is very easy.
Registering for Fiverr is as straightforward as it gets! You will have to add your tax information, as this is a way of making extra income. If you make enough money throughout the year, it will be subject to the tax laws in your country. (Even if you don’t, you should still report the money you make on your annual income. But be sure to consult an accountant or tax lawyer if you aren’t sure. We can’t give actual legal advice!)
Make sure you set up your profile and your service, or “gig”, completely! Add photos and videos, when possible, and give your gig a catchy title. Anything to help you seem more professional, unique, and creative will help you stand out from the masses. Once Fiverr approves your gig, you’re ready to get started!
You never know when you’ll get your first buyer.
That said, no matter how much work you put into your listing, you may not get any attention for a while. I started my gig on Fiverr and it was a couple of months before I got my first buyer. This is where a catchy title may help. Try to think about what buyers will be searching for when they look for your service. You may think it goes without saying, but proper grammar and spelling throughout your listing is important, too! You’d be surprised how many sellers overlook this detail. In the end though, it just takes time to find that buyer who’s willing to try out a new seller.
Be careful what you ask for, you may just get more than you bargained for.
Once I got my first buyer, I got three. And then two more in the same week! I’m not sure how the Fiverr algorithm works for listing new sellers, but it sure seemed like my account was featured, out of the blue! All of a sudden, I had more orders coming in than I could manage with a full time job. That week quickly turned into what I now refer to as the Fiverr Fiasco of 2018! Patience is a virtue, but so is pacing! Luckily, there are settings you can change to make sure the site won’t give you more than you can handle.
You can set buyer limits to avoid being overbooked and burnt out.
First, I wish I’d known is that you can place a maximum number of orders in your queue. If you don’t want more than one order sitting on your digital desk at a time, that’s perfectly fine!
Also, even if you have a max order set, buyers who have a direct active link to your gig through the messaging system can still place an order. To prevent this, you have to disable the “Keep direct link active” feature. If you are starting on Fiverr while you are still working a regular job make sure you have these boundaries set up before you activate your gig! If you don’t, you’ll eventually wish you had!
At first, you’ll be working well below minimum wage.
Chances are, when you start out, you’ll be working at a rate that’s well below what your time is worth. Especially if you are in a high competition niche, you’ll have to start your prices at the minimum ($5, hence the name!). On top of that, Fiverr keeps 20% of your earnings as their commission. So that project you spent an hour on making sure it was just perfect for your buyer, is really only going to net you $4…before taxes. Don’t spend it all in one place!
As you build experience you’ll not only be able to raise your prices, but you’ll be able to complete your gigs more quickly as you become more comfortable with the service you’re offering. Fiverr now has a rating system for sellers based on overall sales, ratings, etc. So you may have a difficult time if you raise your prices before reaching at least a Level One seller rank. When I raised my prices as a new seller, the number of sales I had decreased drastically. Pausing your gig, even for short periods of time, can cause a drop in sales, too.
Keeping your review up and your response time down is key to your success.
Again, competition is fierce on Fiverr. The more you can do to keep your ratings as close to five stars, the better off you will be.
In the age of instant gratification, people also want to know that you are going to work on their project as quickly as possible. Be sure to reply to all inquiries as soon as you possibly can. Typically, you will have 24 hours to complete a gig. Buyers will often ask if you can complete them on a shorter timeline. If you aren’t sure you can make the earlier deadline, be honest with the prospective buyer. It’s better to lose a sale than it is to hurt your ratings.
Cashing earnings on Fiverr is easy!
When you’re ready to cashout, and you’ve earned at least $25, Fiverr gives you a couple of options. You can either receiving direct deposit to your bank, Paypal, or Fiverr credit. Fiverr only charges 20% as their fee. Depending on the method of payment you choose, more fees may be assessed, though. I cashed out with Paypal, and there was an additional $1 fee out of my hard earned money for using the service. Just read the fine print.
Professionalism isn’t a guarantee working with buyers or even other sellers on Fiverr.
In my experience with both buyers and sellers on Fiverr, professionalism is more of an exception rather than the rule. Don’t be surprised if buyers ask for things that aren’t listed on your gig. Or if they give you very unclear instructions about what they are looking for. Just do your best and don’t stress. 99% of the time it will be fine. If I couldn’t get clarity on what a buyer was asking I would just do it the best I could. I would ask them to just let me know in the messages if it wasn’t what they were looking for before leaving a negative review. I never had any issues with unhappy clients, but it was very frustrating to work with at times.
One of the sellers I purchased a service from immediately asked for a tip and hadn’t even delivered all of the items promised in her gig. She had decent reviews, but just wasn’t very professional about her business. Remember that while you may not have a boss hovering over your shoulder, you really need to treat it like a business to succeed. Underpromise and overdeliver!
So is Fiverr still worth it?
Fiverr is great for what it is. It connects freelancers and buyers, typically at very low rates. That said, it can be challenging for new sellers to really make much money off of the site. However, with enough luck, hard work, and creativity, you can make it work, especially if you have a unique skill to offer.
It’s definitely not a get rich quick option. It takes a lot of time and effort early on to set up a successful business on Fiverr. I eventually decided it wasn’t something I really wanted to dedicate my time to building up. At least not with the highly competitive services I was offering. Building it up to a full time sustainable income is possible, but it will take a lot of patience and determination. However, if you’re looking for a little extra money here and there, and you have some free time, Fiverr might just be exactly what you’re looking for!
Do you want to try freelancing on Fiverr?
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