Fiverr Focus
How to Build Momentum as a Fiverr Seller
Level up on Fiverr using these tips I discovered
Having experienced pain and frustration due to some of the mistakes I made in my early days on Fiverr, this post is my attempt at helping you avoid similar pitfalls.
As a Fiverr Level 2 Seller, I’ve had the opportunity to work on interesting projects for my clients around the world. I am grateful for the amazing opportunities being on Fiverr has provided for me professionally.
Whether you are new to the Fiverr platform or looking to level up, I’m sharing these 8 tips I found to be most impactful on my growth and momentum on the platform.
1/ Involve your community
Fiverr makes it easy to share your new gig and your Fiverr profile on your social media platforms. This a great strategy to quickly increase your potential reach and let others know what you’re doing.
If you’re like me and that’s a bit too public for you, I took a personal approach and shared about my work on Fiverr in one-on-one conversations with friends and acquaintances. When I started, this was a side hustle idea that I wanted to try so I could afford to take a more gradual approach. However, I realize that not everyone has the luxury of a gradual approach. In that case, consider the first strategy.
Good reviews are crucial on Fiverr. Another way to have friends and family support you is through purchasing your gigs when they need a service or product you provide. Then they can leave a review based on the work completed. This method provides a relatively safe space to get started. It also allowed me to familiarize myself with the Fiverr platform and selling process with people I knew before expanding to work with clients I did not know.
2/ Offer Special Promotions
This point is quite self-explanatory. Everyone loves discounts and specials so incorporating these in your gigs can help generate interest and potentially convert to sales.
I created a special for one of my gigs and within 15 minutes of updating the gig, I received a message regarding the offer.
Also, one of the analytics Fiverr tracks is repeat clients. I’ve found that offering special rates for clients, for example related to specific seasons has helped me to increase my repeat buyer score.
3/ Consider taking Fiverr Courses
Have a look at completing a Learn from Fiverr course. If you are on a budget, there is a free course offered (at the time of writing). I encourage all new sellers to complete this course for two reasons. First, the course is informative and provides general tips to help you set yourself up for success on the platform. Also, you receive a badge for completing the course that is displayed on your Fiverr profile. This helps add to your expertise and credibility on the platform.
4/ When unsure, reach out to Fiverr support
This has been my most painful lesson to date on the platform. I reached a point on Fiverr where I was receiving consistent orders for one of my gigs. I was excited about the momentum that I was experiencing. This quickly came to a screeching halt with one order and a subsequent cancellation.
The order I received was an express order for a task that did not seem to be in line with Fiverr’s terms & conditions. Given that I had limited time, I reached out to the client and requested a cancellation of the order as I could not in good conscience complete the work requested. The client agreed and confirmed the cancellation.
I quickly realized that the order cancellation caused my analytics to plummet. It was like crashing into a brick wall. All the momentum I’d been enjoying disappeared.
I reached out to Fiverr support after I saw the drop in my analytics. I explained about the order and what I noticed with my analytics. The agent shared that I had been penalized by the algorithm and unfortunately, this could not be undone.
I spent the next few months experiencing low visibility on the platform. This was a heavy blow for me as I had been excited to see my analytics start to climb so well earlier in the year.
Now, if I receive requests that seem even slightly suspicious, I reach out to Fiverr Support FIRST to make them aware of the issue and receive clarification on how best to proceed.
5/ Divide projects into smaller orders
Chunking is a term I learnt about in User Experience (UX) and it’s when you break a large number into smaller manageable portions which makes it easier to read or understand. Think of the way we write telephone numbers or credit card numbers with hyphens or spaces to separate the list of digits and you’ll understand what I mean.
This is my standard strategy on Fiverr and it helps me avoid the feeling of overwhelm. I usually have my client highlight their top priorities from the tasks mentioned and we start there. Then we work our way through the full list of tasks.
With smaller tasks and timeframes, clients are able to see visible progress quickly. Also, should any adjustment or correction be required, it’s typically caught at an earlier stage compared to a project with a longer timeline.
This strategy also results in your client becoming a repeat buyer as you work to complete each phase of the project. This can boost your repeat business score in the Fiverr analytics and provide consistency with orders.
6/ Avoid vacation mode
As great as it sounds to be able to set vacation mode on your Fiverr seller account, it often has negative consequences when you return from said vacation ready to start work again.
Active gigs on Fiverr are shown to potential clients, however, when you are in Vacation Mode, your gig is not shown to users over the period. Being in vacation mode for a couple of weeks, I certainly noticed the fall in my analytics when I exited as I did not start from where I left off. I then had to start building up impressions and other analytics again from a lower level.
An alternative could be to temporarily increase your rates and let this price increase discourage persons from ordering from you. This strategy doesn’t guarantee that you won’t receive any orders but it should be sufficient to decrease this likelihood.
You can also supplement this by adding a note in your gig description asking potential clients to message you before ordering. This way, you can have an opportunity to respond and suggest re-scheduling the task depending on the timelines.
7/ View Fiverr as a buyer
It’s easy to stay in Seller mode on Fiverr if this is your primary use of the platform. However, I am intentional about periodically reviewing the platform as a buyer. It gives some insights into buyer demand on the platform and also trends that are developing.
For example in the screenshot above, under Lifestyle, Fiverr has added new niches such as Wellness and Dance Lessons. I see each new addition as a positive sign. Given that Fiverr has chosen to give a new niche its own section, it shows that there is interest in this area.
I therefore look for new niches that have been added to see if there is overlap with my skillset and I consider what new opportunities may be available to me in the new space.
8/ Periodically check your Fiverr analytics
When I first started on Fiverr as a seller, I was quite diligent about checking my gig analytics as I learnt the platform. However, as things became busier, I stopped doing this regularly.
In one case, when I checked after a few months, I realized that the gig performance analytics for one of my gigs had dropped to zero. Fiverr had made an update to a section of the gig and information that I had added previously no longer fit the new criteria. Unfortunately, I did not receive a notification about this and due to that change, it caused my analytics to tank.
Once I fixed this minor change (it took less than 2 minutes to do), my gig analytics started to move upwards again. Again, I learnt my lesson in hindsight and now I regularly check my analytics to ensure that everything is looking as it should.
This is a simple way to measure the performance of your gigs and make you aware of any issues. It’s also been helpful to me in better understanding how the Fiverr algorithm works and how different actions influence the data.
NOTE: Fiverr has Seller Plus which provides Advanced analytics (it requires paid access). However, the gig performance analytics I mentioned above can be seen with the standard Seller account.
I hope the tips above help you grow as a Fiverr seller in a less painful and dramatic fashion than I did.
Always remember: Take time to celebrate the small wins along the way.
I wish you the best on your Fiverr journey.
