If you’re wondering how to make money on Fiverr, you probably fall into one of two groups. Either you’ve set up your account, created a gig, and haven’t seen the income you’d expected – OR – you’re brand new to this and don’t know where to start.
If you are new to Fiverr, the first thing to do is to set up your account. You can find full instructions on how to do this here. You’ll need to set up a seller account by hitting the “Start Selling” option in the Dashboard. Once your seller account has been verified you can start creating your first gig…and that’s when it gets exciting!
There are two things to consider when trying to make money on Fiverr. The first is what your gig will offer, while the second is getting it in front of enough people to ensure there is enough interest.
Choosing What to Offer in Your Fiverr Gig
There are many different categories on Fiverr, but if you approach your gig with an attitude of “I will do whatever makes the most money” you could be badly disappointed. The first key to making money on Fiverr is being able to complete an order – if you choose to offer a gig that you will struggle to complete, you’ll potentially receive a poor rating and never get another order again.
Because there are so many opportunities, you can most likely find something that sits within your wheelhouse – categories include everything from graphic design to freelance writing to programming to making videos…the list goes on.
If you can write or debug Javascript, you’ll find something to do in the web programming section. Alternatively, if you can write well, create an article writing gig in the writing section. Are you good at speaking? What about recording a voice-over?
Generally, you’ll need to be creative to create a gig, but with programming and digital marketing gigs on offer, you can also make money on Fiverr if you are more technically inclined.
So, remember, choose something you can do, not what seems to make the most money.
Creating a Gig Title
There are several things you need to do to get your gig noticed, and creating a gig title is right up there. This is the second key to making money on Fiverr – creating a gig title that will convert.
There are two aspects to this. You need to be found via the search function, and you need to attract buyers. Every gig title starts with “I will…” so it is difficult to stand out (more on standing out in a moment) but it is easy to build trust.
Trust can be built by writing your title in plain English and stating exactly what you will do. “I will play your song on my radio station and podcast” or “I will write a 400-word article” are clear and to the point. If you can, include keywords in the title, but don’t force it. For example, “I will review your podcast on Apple podcasts” or “I will write a 400-word article about climate change” will attract a specific audience who may be searching for “Apple podcast” or “climate change”.
Make it specific to what you do, but remember that in the search or browsing results, only the first few characters may be seen. It’s great to say “I will advertise and promote your ….” but it would be better if you could say what you are advertising!
Creating a Gig Description
Take your time. Fully describe what you will do, and do not just repeat the gig title. If you will make a video reviewing a product, say how you will do it. Will it be with professional equipment? Indoors or outdoors? Will you appear on-screen or will it be a voice-over with an animated video? What info will you need to get started? How long does it normally take? What kind of voice do you have?
The more details you include, the better. It helps with the search function, and it informs your buyers as to whether you’ll be a suitable match for their needs. However, keep in mind that many Fiverr buyers won’t read it!
They will base their judgment on what you do purely on your title, and they may even misread that. This is why simplicity and clarity are important – it’s not that people won’t understand, but they might be in a rush or not paying full attention.
Choose Great Images
This is the third key to making money on Fiverr. An image can set the tone of your gig – are you fun, deadly serious, technical, goofy? It’s your chance to stand out. Plain text in Times New Roman won’t cut it, you’ll be lost in all the headshots, brightly colored backgrounds, and infographics.
Look at similar gigs and see what they are doing. And then make an important decision – do you want to follow the accepted standards of your gig community, or do you want to flip them on their head? If every podcast-related gig has a microphone as the primary image, adding a similar image to your gig will show what you do. However, a background image of an explosion with the word “PODCAST!” in bubble letters might draw attention to your gig as it is visually different.
If you are just starting out, it can be worth creating a few similar gigs with different images to see which resonates, or just create one gig and change the image every few days to see which works best.
Whatever you choose, ensure it’s a good image – high resolution, modern, clear. The better the image, the more it will catch the eye. If you have a pixelated image that is hard to see what is happening, the chances are that you’ll only draw attention for the wrong reasons.
Pick the Right Price
In the early days, it is easy to think that the cheapest gig will sell more easily than an expensive gig, but that simply isn’t so. If you promise the world for $5, people aren’t stupid – they’ll realize that you are over-promising and potentially under-delivering, which is a great reason to give a bad review.
If the task you are offering is very simple, then $5 is fine, but if it requires skill, talent, or a significant amount of time to complete, you need to charge more. You need people to feel confident that you can complete the task, and $5 simply isn’t enough. Plus, the more you charge, the better for you!
But in simple terms, if your car breaks down and needs a whole new engine, you probably expect to pay a mechanic more than $5 to do the work. They might be a good friend, but they won’t be able to get a replacement engine, remove the old one, and fit the new one for only $5 unless they are cheating in some significant way.
Review the market, look for other gigs offering a similar service to your own. Find out what the average cost is – is it $5 to edit a one-hour video, or more like $500?
Price your own gig accordingly, and remember it isn’t always the cheapest gig that sells. You will have the opportunity within the gig to offer three levels of service, and to provide add-ons. Make use of these, and give your buyer options.
Getting Customers
If you’ve followed everything so far, you’re just about ready to post your gig. Once it is up and running you can follow your stats from the gigs page on the Fiverr website, and you’ll see how many people have viewed and clicked your gig.
If you are lucky, you’ll get your first sale within a short space of time. Of course, it may not be immediately – the gig may take up to 48 hours to be fully viewable in the search results, so don’t expect sales within the first ten minutes. It’s possible but unlikely!
The more sales you get and the better you perform (good ratings and reviews), the more likely you are to get more orders. Fiverr has also recently rolled out “promoted gigs” wherein you can pay to appear sooner in the search results.
If that first order remains elusive, don’t forget to promote yourself through social media, including YouTube and Twitter – you never know who may be looking for something.
If all else fails, it may be time to reconsider your gig title and images. This is the first thing to look at – do not immediately consider dropping your prices, as the first thing people see will be the main gig image. An unappealing image will turn people away.
Managing Your Time – Limiting Orders on Fiverr
You will see on your gig page there is an option to limit the number of orders in your queue. If you activate this, you can enter a number, and would rightly assume that your orders would stop coming in while you caught up on the work you already had.
Wrong! It just removes you from the search results. If people already have the link to your gig, they can still buy – it’s not a massive problem, but something to be aware of.
Conclusion
There are many people on Fiverr making a full-time living from the gig economy. Try making money on Fiverr – you’ve got nothing to lose, and perhaps a new career to gain.