How to succeed on Fiverr - advice from a frequent buyer

Every time a new (or not so new) person posts that they need money as soon as possible, fellow warriors (me included) are quick to advise providing services, especially through Fiverr. Usually what happens though is someone posts their one gig on Fiverr and gets a couple of orders and then nothing, and even those buyers do not come back.

I have bought a lot of services on Fiverr over the last year. Basically I outsource almost my entire business through it. It is doable. But sometimes it feels like going through piles of trash in order to find a rare gem.

This will be my point of view on how to succeed in there. Nothing groundbreaking, but sometimes people forget these simple truths.

1. Make sure you always communicate. A little, non-automatic message that you have received the order and are on it makes you stand out right there as a person who cares. An estimate when you'll be finished is even better.

I can't stress this enough - little communication with your buyer will set you miles above the competition, and you need that, especially in the beginning. You can't imagine how many people just reply with the finished order (and that is the good case scenario).

I understand that working on Fiverr is working on a tight margin, and I'm not saying you should talk with one buyer all the time, but even one simple personalized message will really make you stand out.

2. Description is very important. I mean, it is obvious, right? In these couple of sentences you get to sell who you are and what you're doing, so this should be the most important thing to get right, wouldn't you say so?

All of these go right out the window: writers who have language errors in their description, linkbuilders who don't have any idea what they're talking about, and so on.

Description is the one thing to get right in order to get gigs on Fiverr. It is your only chance to persuade the buyer to go with you, so don't screw it up. Go see the successful gigs, learn from them. Do not copy 1:1, but try to understand what makes them successful.

Usually however the reason behind their success is dead simple and that is because they

3. Provide lots of value. And I don't mean you should work at a loss. Value is, most of the time, a perceived thing.

I'm buying services on Fiverr to save my own time. I know how to do these things myself, most of them anyway. I'm paying to save me some time, and I suspect that's the reason behind most of the buyers. So if you are clear right from the start when you will finish your work, and make good on that promise - you get a big fat + in my outsourcers spreadsheet and you can be sure there will be more business flying your way. Make me waste my time with you - that's it, you'll never hear from me again.


This turned out a bit longer than I expected it would, but I think if we, warriors are so quick to advise earning some money on Fiverr, these simple things will help people to stand out between the huge competition there is.