7 Things I Learned from Freelancing on Fiverr in the Last 7 Years

When I started freelancing in 2017, I was a complete newbie. I didn't know what to expect and I didn't know how it works, but I plunged in anyway.

I first signed up on upwork and completed a few jobs before I signed up on Fiverr to see how it works.

However, after a few weeks on Fiverr, I was convinced that Fiverr was the platform I wanted to focus on. So, I did exactly that.

I've been on Fiverr for 7 years, and I've learned a few things that can help newbies navigate the platform and position themselves for success.

In this post, I'll be sharing all I've learned as a freelancer on the Fiverr platform, and hoping it helps someone out there start their freelance career the right way.

Let's get right into it.

Your Location Matters

To be honest, your location is a big deal when it comes to freelancing on Fiverr. Freelancers from Africa often find it difficult to kick start their career, as most clients are not willing to give them jobs.

The biggest reason why this happens is that many freelancers from Africa, especially Nigeria, are actually hustlers.

They offer gigs that they are not skilled in, and they often produce poor jobs. So, most clients are wary of giving jobs to freelancers from this part of the world.

However, I learned the hard way on how to navigate this problem, and I was able to land clients that trust me and even recommended my services to others.

Here are some clients’ feedback on my work:

If you want to start landing clients on fiverr just like me, then you need to start exactly the way I did.

Simply follow the next step.

Be Ready to Start Small

As a freelancer from Nigeria, nobody trusts you. So, you have to prove yourself if you want to start landing clients.

The way I did this was to lower my pricing while increasing my deliverables. So, if a particular job is offered by other freelancers at a price of between $50 to $100, I would offer a similar service for just $10.

At the start, you have to price your gigs in a way that clients are willing to take the risk with you.

Nobody knows your capability or the quality of job you can offer, so you have to give them the chance to try out your services.

When I started on fiverr, most of my gigs were priced at $5 and I over-delivered on them.

Even at $5, I often offered after sale services, which most times, included unpaid jobs to fine-tune some details.

This made clients trust me and often stick with me for the long-term.

If you check my Fiverr profile, most of my clients are repeat buyers who enjoy my low-priced but high-quality gigs.

Offer Gigs That Are Easy to Fulfill

Late deliveries on Fiverr can affect your Order Completion Rate, which is a key metric for ranking gigs on Fiverr.

Fiverr advises that freelancers offer gig services that they are competent in and able to fulfill.

But the mistake many newbies make is trying to do the impossible by offering services that they are not sufficiently skilled to fulfill.

Another mistake freelancers make is not allocating sufficient time to complete orders.

I must admit that I struggled with this a lot when I started on fiverr, but I was able to adjust, and now offer a balanced timing that is good for the client and sufficient enough for me to complete the job in reasonable time.

Never Cancel Orders

Over the years freelancing on Fiverr, I've had to cancel a few orders due to either my unavailability or not understanding a client’s requirement.

However, I've noticed that every time I cancel an order, that particular gig tends to get demoted and struggle to rank.

I've had to either create a new gig or redirect orders to demoted gigs In order to get them ranking again.

So, one of my advice to newbie freelancers on fiverr is to never cancel orders for whatever reason.

I know that it is almost impossible not to have canceled orders on Fiverr, yes. But there's a difference between completing an order which the client refuses to accept, and outrightly canceling an order because you're not able to do the job. Big difference.

My advice is, once a client has ordered a gig service and paid, do everything within your power to fulfill the service, even if it means outsourcing it.

That way, you won't suffer gig demotion like I did in the early days.

Avoid Taking Breaks

Taking breaks from freelancing is good for you, as it keeps you refreshed and ready to go again.

However, I've discovered that each time I take a break from freelancing on Fiverr by toggling the “unavailable” button on the platform, my gigs often get deranked.

And each time I come back to start work on the platform, it is always difficult to rank my gigs again and start getting clients.

One thing to keep in mind is, the competition on fiverr is real, and there are thousands of freelancers ready to take your place if you slack off.

So, I've stopped toggling the “unavailable” button on the app when I need to take a break from freelancing.

What I do instead, is assign a virtual assistant to help me respond to clients’ requests and outsource the jobs to a competent hire.

That way, my gigs stay active and ranked until I come back from taking a break.

So, I'm not saying that you should literally avoid taking breaks from freelancing, but that you should avoid taking breaks from the Fiverr platform if you want your gigs to stay ranking.

The Money is in the Trends

The first time I landed a $1,000 client on Fiverr was after I hopped on a new trend.

At first, I used generic tags for all my gigs and just focused on the niche that I was serving.

However, I started to notice some new offerings in my niche whenever I searched for keywords as a buyer.

I took the risk and created a new gig with that new trend keyword, and also used some related tags.

And you know what happened?

That particular gig helped me land new high-paying clients and is currently my best seller to date.

So, I usually advise newbie sellers on the Fiverr platform to take the time once in a while to browse their niche as a buyer.

They could either search for the keywords they are competing for or analyze the gig offerings of best sellers in their niche to get updates on new trends.

You'd be surprised that some of the best sellers on Fiverr often change their offerings to match new trends. They are rarely stagnant with their gigs, and have more than one open gigs to compete for a single keyword.

Create Room to Upsell

My biggest money maker on Fiverr is upselling repeat clients. Nothing comes close to that in terms of earnings.

The idea is, if a client already enjoys my services and trusts me enough to deliver high-quality jobs, then they'll be more willing to pay for additional or premium services.

When I get a new client on Fiverr, I always ask myself what the lifetime value of that customer is.

The lifetime value of a client could be any figure, but the onus is always on you to make them pay that value.

So, I always ask my clients if they need additional paid services that are related to the service they have already ordered.

Also, when I get a lot of orders and my schedule is tight, I charge clients a premium fee for express delivery in order to have their order jump the queue.

Most clients already want these kinds of services, so it's up to you to convince them to pay for it.

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