A little while ago, I received an email from a new student of mine from my digital course program Fiverr With Focus, what I considered being the TOP 10 mistakes that I see sellers make on Fiverr that hinders their success.
I thought that this was such a great question that I decided to make an article out of the initial email I sent her.
So, let’s dive straight into the ten things that I keep seeing that new and already experienced (but not successful) Fiverr sellers and often times Freelancers on different platforms make on a regular basis.
1) Focus on a fast turn-around rather than a quality delivery of services.
Some sellers want again want to find the easy way out. They get on Fiverr with the silent hope that it is going to substitute right away the income of their dreaded job or that they can sell services on Fiverr that they think are relatively easy but well, that no one needs.
Or, they sell services on Fiverr that are fast but that they are not even good at. What follows is frustrated reviews from buyers, cancelled orders or being stuck selling basic $5 gigs.
Facit: If you can’t provide something, don’t freaking do it. You hurt your own reputation with not only it but also the reputation of Fiverr overall!
2) Don’t communicate with a buyer like a human being.
This one always surprises me. I am especially surprised by the flood of sellers who do this. Most of them treat messages they get from potential buyers like robots. They write back in a non-personal way, don’t even answer all the questions that a customer asked or respond in a taciturn fashion.
Facit: One of the biggest points that I continuously touch on in my course and that I want my students to take away from is to focus on proper communication. Communication is even more important when you can not see, smell or hear the person. As a result, they have to work extra hard sometimes to endear a potential new buyer to them and make him/her trust them.
3) Too much time wasted on unethical buyers.
Now, this one is a bit controversial because it goes against what I said in the previous point. But hear me out.
Some sellers can take communications too far. Believe it or not. And I think that most of this…desperation to get a sale can result for some sellers on Fiverr that they need the money.
Now, most of you know that just focusing on making a purchase or getting a new client without actually taking a closer look at the job or the person that wants to buy from you, can result in hours and hours of frustrating verbal ping pong.
Not only that, you can run into a buyer that is unethical him-/her-self and as a result, you end up getting lots of complaints from him/her and demands for further revisions of the work you have already delivered.
Because you might really need the money, you continue to stay in this toxic relationship with a demanding buyer.
Facit: I guess that one of the main reasons why you went on Fiverr is not only to be able to make money online or build up a second income but because you wanted to get a feeling for what it means to be your own boss. So, treat your Fiverr account like a business and if there is a customer messaging you that you think would not be a GOOD FIT for you and the services you can offer him/her, do not enter a buying-selling relationship with that person. Save yourself a headache. It’s as simple as that.
4) Don’t treat their Fiverr account as a business.
I have already touched on this point throughout my previous one. A lot of new Fiverr sellers do not operate their Fiverr account as a ‘business’.
Instead, they are waiting for someone to tell them what they can or can not do; or they forget to fulfill an order once confirmed that they can do it; or they say they can communicate in a particular language only that it turns out later that they do not understand what the buyer wants from them, etc.
Facit: There are two things that are important here:
a ) Fiverr is a global marketplace. As a result, be aware of cultural differences as well as possible language barriers. If you keep this in mind and then, decide accordingly to take on a gig or not and communicate clearly, you won’t have any problems.
b ) If someone buys a gig from you, then it is your responsibility to deliver that service and order. The tricky thing is that if someone just sees Fiverr as a ‘hobby’ to just play around a bit, he/she is making Fiverr sellers bad for someone else who decided to purchase a service from a hobbyist. Do you see the difference? Please, don’t be irresponsible but see it as your mini-business and a chance to build your name as an expert in a certain field.
5) Not following through with the delivery of a client’s order.
Yep! If you decide to become a Fiverr seller, and you put up gigs for purchase, then it is your responsibility to deliver.
If you do not think that you can deliver an order, if the buyer has not ordered the appropriate extras, whatever it is, communicate and make the customer aware of it.
Facit: Don’t accept a purchase and then, not deliver. It will look bad on all Fiverr sellers, and it will hurt your account because you will get a negative review and/or a cancellation and slowly potential buyers won’t have any trust in you and your account anymore.
6) Dismissing the importance of capturing your service offerings with video.
Video has become truly an essential marketing element – and not only on Fiverr.
A video is an excellent way to directly speak to your potential clients and customers!
It gives them a chance to see who they are working with and to get to know them a little bit.
Not only that, it will set you apart from your competition because there is essentially no one like you. You are unique, and a video directly gives you a way to prove that.
Facit: Not taking your account seriously on Fiverr and doing just the minimum to sell potentially your gigs on Fiverr will also just get you that – a mediocre outcome.
Side Note: If you feel like you don't know how to take cool and professional-looking home videos, this article might help you: https://corneliapauline.com/2018/03/17/5-simple-yet-effective-ways-to-create-professional-videos-from-home/
7) Uploading low-quality images to account that don’t fit the sizing requirements.
This point goes back to not treating Fiverr as your business.
Think about it. Nowadays, would you purchase anything from a site that features absolutely shitty and distorted images?
Probably not. You would be like, “I think I’ll pass on this one.”
And not only that. You would probably be wondering why that person did not take the time to upload excellent high-quality images, correct?
Facit: With all the technology out there nowadays there is really no excuse for you to use randomly any image that you have on your desktop. Instead, truly think about it what impression it is that you want to give your future buyers. Is it an impression of unprofessionalism, or do you want them to see that you know what you are doing and that you are meticulous?
8) Lack of social media promotons of one’s gigs.
Unless you were one of the very first sellers on Fiverr (and I’m guessing since you’re reading this you are not), you can not open up an account and put up a few gigs and think that you are going to get a lot of purchases.
I talk about this in my course Fiverr With Focus over and over again that, especially when you first start out, you have to build up your account first by getting reviews and starting to make a name for yourself.
Furthermore, you have to take the initiative. It is truly like with any other business, for your business – or your Fiverr account – to become successful, you want people to find out about you.
A really great way to do that is through sharing your account, gigs, work you have delivered, etc.on your social media accounts.
Make it know that you are on Fiverr and what it is that you are selling on there.
Facit: Don’t just lean back after opening up your account and create a few gigs and expect that magic is going to happen. It is like with everything in life; you have to take ACTION and put yourself out there.
9) Lacking a clear description of their services.
This one is mostly true for sellers from different countries and whose English is not up to par with what you would expect from an international seller on Fiverr.
However, often, I see very poorly written gig descriptions a lot of the times from American Fiverr sellers as well.
This ties in with having low-quality images displayed on your gig’s site. It almost makes us as a potential buyer think, that you are not taking this seriously.
After all, you wouldn’t send out a resume to a potential employer with lots of grammar mistakes, correct? So why not proofread a few times your account and gig descriptions?
Facit: Descriptions full of mistakes or in broken English will have a drastic impact on your sales or will result in no sales at all. If you are having troubles with this, you can always hire an experienced editor off of Fiverr ;).
10) Secretly, believing success on Fiverr to be impossible for whatever reason.
Or, in other words, not believing in yourself.
It is truly sad for me to see but there are always a few new Fiverr sellers who have the secret hope for something to change in their lives, who had some motivation to open up their account and create a few gigs, but then it is almost like they are blocking themselves.
They think negatively about everything (instead of strategic and logical like a business person), and start sabotaging themselves not only with their attitude but by almost attracting dishonest or difficult clients, or being afraid to ask for more money for their services because they can not see the worth in their skills.
Facit: If this is you and you are struggling with this, I recommend to check out the book Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. I continue to tell my students about it as well (and particularly the ones fighting to get their Fiverr account rolling), because a lot of the times it is really you who has to change. And not only by the actions you take but also by the thoughts you think.
I hope that this was helpful. Let me know in the comments section down below! If you’re an existing successful Fiverr seller and think I forgot about a mistake you see that other not-so-successful Fiverr sellers make, please let me know as well in the comments down below.
P.s. If you like to download my FREE 10-step roadmap to freelancer success on Fiverr, click here: https://fiverrwithfocus.com/welcomefwf
COMMENTS