Alveena Ahmad
Hello, I am Hisham Sarwar. I started freelancing accidentally. I was laid off from my job and was struggling to find a new one. Being a good graphic designer, I would create nice pencil sketches that people would love to put in their living rooms, a friend advised me to start offering my skill on the freelance marketplace called Elance.com.
In 1998, I tried my luck on Elance but soon realized, I am unable to make a breakthrough. I then tried my luck on different marketplaces, RentACoder, Freelancer.com, and ITMoonLighter to name a few. Somehow, I started to get a positive response from ITMoonLighter. Within a year, they changed their name to Guru.com and the rest is history. Not only I made over one million dollars selling my services but I was also showcased on their home page, not once, but twice!
I have been self-employed for over 2 decades now. Some days have been kind, and some, well I’ve struggled but never given up. It is because of freelancing, I am able to explore multiple avenues for making money on the internet. Rozgar Pakistan is, Pakistan’s first freelance marketplace.
About Fiverr:
Fiverr was introduced as a twist to the concept of freelance marketplaces. Generally, on traditional marketplaces, clients post a project, and freelancers bid but in the case of Fiverr, it’s the other way around. Freelancers post their service for sale called “Gig” and buyers buy that particular Gig by placing orders directly.
For those who don’t know, Fiverr is a marketplace that connects aspiring freelancers with buyers who are looking for specific services. Fiverr has a wide range of categories, they’ve covered almost every service you could ask for. Many talented freelancers from all over the world offer their Gigs in those categories.
After studying the Fiverr model in detail. My personal opinion is, there is no single secret sauce to success on Fiverr. You can try some basics but by no means, it is a guarantee of success.
The irony is, by following the same guide on how to get orders on Fiverr, some have made thousands by selling their Gigs and some freelancers are still waiting to even get started, unable to sell a single order.
The main categories in demand are Writing & Translation and Graphic designing. Both are central categories on the platform, aligned with services many freelancers want to offer.
Creating a Gig:
Initially, after creating a Gig, you will have to undercut yourself. There is no surprise to it. The name Fiverr comes from “Five – Aka 5”. It means, most of the Gigs start from Five dollars. An idea that skyrocketed Fiverr’s success because many freelancers, who struggled to win good projects on websites like Upwork and Guru were able to get started by selling a service for Five dollars only.
I must clarify, $5 is not the only price offered on Fiverr, the price of the Gig depends on the service being offered with a lot to account for — such as value proposition, nature of the task, time involved, etc.
It seems like, Fiverr somehow encourages you to sell your services in low increments. No surprise, the name says it all.
One thing I have observed with Fiverr is, it is extremely difficult to make consistent money if you are a newcomer. For seasoned and established freelancers with a lot of orders under their belt, they are better destined to get more orders on Fiverr.
This is how the model works, if you have a Gig with lots of orders, good response rate to the buyer’s requests and messages, you are promoted. Period!
Payment Process:
Also Fiverr somehow has a long and annoying payment process because depending on your seller level, it typically takes around 14 days to access the funds.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. Fiverr owns your clients and there is no hidden secret about it. They deactivate your account for any suspicious activity because contacting people outside of Fiverr is now allowed.
As I mentioned above, to be the best on Fiverr, you have got to generate a lot of reviews to get orders in the beginning and one “unethical” way of doing it is by buying fake reviews. It works in some cases, however, truth be told, this is unethical and really does not make any sense to beat the honest competition by false means.
For me, Fiverr sadly hasn’t worked out great. It requires you to work for small money, and short deadlines, and needs your full-time involvement to respond to the messages.
The Bright Side:
There are many freelancers from all over the world who have become extremely successful on Fiverr and have made good money, some in millions too. I know this aspiring young freelancer from Lahore, Pakistan named Aaliyaan Chaudhary He is a Fiverr super seller and is making good money.
If you are a new freelancer. I would suggest, creating a profile on Fiverr, creating a GIG, and following some basics.
The bright side is, you have a better chance of winning an order for the keyword that has less competition.
Good Luck!
