FIVERR FOR FREELANCERS
A Rude Woman Became My Lifelong Customer
patience is the no.1 skill for any freelancer
Working as a ghostwriter is not an easy job. But your problems don’t end here.
Handling a rude client is never easy. I never thought I would come across one. My job on Fiverr was to make websites and handle ghostwriting for people who are in the self-publishing field. Most of my clients weren’t writers themselves.
The first order I got was from a wedding photographer (who was also a writer :)). She wanted me to make a website for her company.
The job was simple.
I have made tons of websites using WordPress, Django, and so on. So it was easy.
Just one thing. I was not very good at deployment. Deployment means uploading the website to the server. I didn’t know much about SEO as well and that was the main problem.
Her Website Crashed
I started making her website and the more pages/images I added, the more the website was loading slowly. I first thought maybe I had uploaded a heavy plugin. Or something isn’t installed properly. It was nighttime, and I still had a few days more to complete it. So I signed out of the hosting account (she was using Squarespace) and called the day off.
The next morning, I was ready with new energy. I wanted to complete the website fast so that I could move on with other work. You know, young stupid abrupt energy!
The next morning, when I opened my Fiverr account, my client (from Singapore) filled my window with almost 10 messages saying that I crashed her website and it’s not working anymore.
“What did you do to my website?”
I got really scared. Whenever I create something, I am always slow and focused. I love creativity because that’s the only thing that makes me happy. And I have made many websites before. So making a mistake was a total no-no from my side. But reading her messages made me scared. I had never handled a client before. In a web company, my job was only to handle the development part.
I told myself that I must have done something wrong. It’s all my fault.
I didn’t know what I did wrong but I messaged her saying I am sorry and I’d fix her website before midnight.
I went on to check my plugins and the images. There were many wedding images that needed to be uploaded to the website. Maybe I uploaded a heavy image (PNG format is heavier than JPG format), or maybe a virus?? I don’t know.
I kept looking the entire day. I searched YouTube and the tricks didn’t work out. I was scared to make any changes without her permission.
That night, I decided I would tell her that I was not eligible to work for her. I have never encountered this kind of problem before. I really don’t know what went wrong with the website. There were only 3 plugins from trusted sites. Images were optimized. The theme was lightweight and from a trusted source.
I thought I failed. I decided to tell her the next morning. I thought my first client was gone!
The next day, I opened my laptop thinking that maybe she would change her mind and look for another developer. She would leave me a bad rating. Or maybe she would be yelling on the Fiverr chat box about how much worse my service is.
But rather I was surprised when I saw her new messages.
My client apologized and even tipped me after the project was submitted
This was her message -
“I contacted the hosting company and they said that I have a basic plan. I wasn’t allowed to upload more than 500MB of images. I have upgraded my plan and now you can work. Sorry for the previous messages. I didn’t know about that before.”
God saved me.
I looked everywhere for answers but never thought to check her storage space!
If you are not into web development then let me explain.
Hosting comes with various plans. All hosting websites have normally the following plans -
- Basic — for starters with few static pages
- Professional — One-man company that wants to grow their blog or an e-commerce website
- Business — for larger entrepreneurs who have a team to work. Those who don’t want shared hosting at all.
She bought basic and could make only one website with little storage space. I don’t remember much but there was only 400 MB left. And that was creating problems.
She gave me a $17 tip
I wasn’t hoping much from her side. I simply completed my work on time and submitted her project on the scheduled date.
The next day I saw she marked the project as completed, and left a 5-star rating, and a really nice review. And even tipped me with $17. I never thought that someone could tip us on Fiverr!
She was a fiction writer herself
Now months passed and actually, and I had forgotten about her. I got busy with my other clients. And slowly I was surprised when I received a message from her again.
She wanted me to make her next website. :)
To date, I have worked with her on many projects. I won’t name her because that will reveal my niches to you. She has many websites under her name. Always keep your niches secret. :)
Conclusion
I know not all clients will be like her. Maybe you can get a worse client who would never be happy with your work. doesn’t matter how much effort you put in, some clients will never be happy, and that’s okay.
Whatever it is, be patient. always be patient. You don’t know when a rude person can become your lifelong customer.. :)
If you are interested in making money on Fiverr then do check out my ebook — How I Made Over $2K on Fiverr as a Freelancer
