Selling Your Writing Skills on Fiverr Is Easy!
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If you've researched writing online for money, then you've probably heard of Fiverr. Are you wondering what Fiverr is, how well it works and whether you can make money there? That is exactly what today's post is about! I'm going to give you the quick guide to Fiverr specifically for writers. I'll go over whether or not it is worth your time, the basics of using the site, and a few pros and cons too. |
If you are looking for a fun and easy way to earn a little extra income (or even a full-time income), read on and see whether or not Fiverr is a match for you:
What is Fiverr, and Can Anyone Work There?
Fiverr is not a revenue site. If you've come this far in your quest for online income, then you know that a revenue site is one that pays you based on ad traffic.
Instead, Fiverr is more like a job board. You post a job you are willing to do for $5, and someone else hires you to that specific task. And yes. YOU can work there!
What can you advertise? You can advertise just about anything in your "gig" (job). If you are a writer, your gig might look like this:
"I will write 300 words of quality SEO content for $5"
When you create the gig, you can add requirements to let your buyers know what you need from them (their keywords, website topic, etc.)
But gigs aren't limited to writing. People sell photography, graphic design, voice-overs, translation services and more. Creative sellers even come up with stuff like:
" I will write your name on my foot for $5"
And people buy it.
So you can absolutely do a combination of skills and come up with a wide variety of jobs to advertise.
How is the Competition?
I won't lie. There are hundreds of other writers on Fiverr. Still, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of work for everyone. With so many businesses starting up everyday, the need for content is in high demand.
It may take you a week or so to get your first order, but once you get a few sales and a few good reviews, your gig will be more visible. You can advertise your gigs on social media sites too, which increases your chances of snagging a buyer.
How Much Can You Make on Fiverr?
To begin with, you will only earn $5 per sale. You can post several gigs, and each one may attract several buyers. Within a short time, you may be getting several orders per day.
The bad news is that you don't get $5 per sale. Fiverr takes a $1 cut from your earnings, so you earn $4 per every five you make. Pay attention to that, it gets real serious here in a minute.
As well as that cut, you will pay an additional $1 each time you transfer your earnings with Paypal.
Don't sweat yet, you haven't learned about gig extras!
Making More as a Level 2 Fiverr Seller
Lets say you do really well in your first couple of weeks on Fiverr. Congratulations, you will get to move up to Level 2.
What does that mean for you?
It means you can add extras to your gigs. Extras are specifications to your original gig. You can charge for each one of them.
Now lets take your original gig and add your extras to it:
"I will write 300 words of quality SEO content for $5"
Now you can add stuff like this:
You can set the prices to what you think your time and content is worth, and you can charge for faster deliveries.
If someone buys your gig with all the extras, then you have made: $30
You have the choice of getting more sales by offering more content for a lower price, or you can charge more and deliver higher quality content than other writers.
Fiverr also has a tip feature, which allows buyers to tip you for a job that goes above and beyond.
Fiverr is not a revenue site. If you've come this far in your quest for online income, then you know that a revenue site is one that pays you based on ad traffic.
Instead, Fiverr is more like a job board. You post a job you are willing to do for $5, and someone else hires you to that specific task. And yes. YOU can work there!
What can you advertise? You can advertise just about anything in your "gig" (job). If you are a writer, your gig might look like this:
"I will write 300 words of quality SEO content for $5"
When you create the gig, you can add requirements to let your buyers know what you need from them (their keywords, website topic, etc.)
But gigs aren't limited to writing. People sell photography, graphic design, voice-overs, translation services and more. Creative sellers even come up with stuff like:
" I will write your name on my foot for $5"
And people buy it.
So you can absolutely do a combination of skills and come up with a wide variety of jobs to advertise.
How is the Competition?
I won't lie. There are hundreds of other writers on Fiverr. Still, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of work for everyone. With so many businesses starting up everyday, the need for content is in high demand.
It may take you a week or so to get your first order, but once you get a few sales and a few good reviews, your gig will be more visible. You can advertise your gigs on social media sites too, which increases your chances of snagging a buyer.
How Much Can You Make on Fiverr?
To begin with, you will only earn $5 per sale. You can post several gigs, and each one may attract several buyers. Within a short time, you may be getting several orders per day.
The bad news is that you don't get $5 per sale. Fiverr takes a $1 cut from your earnings, so you earn $4 per every five you make. Pay attention to that, it gets real serious here in a minute.
As well as that cut, you will pay an additional $1 each time you transfer your earnings with Paypal.
Don't sweat yet, you haven't learned about gig extras!
Making More as a Level 2 Fiverr Seller
Lets say you do really well in your first couple of weeks on Fiverr. Congratulations, you will get to move up to Level 2.
What does that mean for you?
It means you can add extras to your gigs. Extras are specifications to your original gig. You can charge for each one of them.
Now lets take your original gig and add your extras to it:
"I will write 300 words of quality SEO content for $5"
Now you can add stuff like this:
- "I will write 300-500 words for an extra $5
- "I will write 500-800 words for an extra $5
- "I will write 1000 words for an extra $5"
- I will deliver in 24 hours for $10 extra dollars"
You can set the prices to what you think your time and content is worth, and you can charge for faster deliveries.
If someone buys your gig with all the extras, then you have made: $30
You have the choice of getting more sales by offering more content for a lower price, or you can charge more and deliver higher quality content than other writers.
Fiverr also has a tip feature, which allows buyers to tip you for a job that goes above and beyond.
So What's the Bad News?
Remember what I said about that 20% cut? Fiverr takes $1 out of every five dollars you make. Not one dollar out of your total for the sale. So if you earn $5, you get $4. If you earn $10, you get $8. See where I'm going?
You can't get around Fiverr's cut, but you can get some relief from the Paypal fee. It will only be $1 no matter how much you earn. So wait until you have a substantial chunk in your account before you cash out.
Quick Look at the Good and Bad of Fiverr
Here are the good and bad points to consider before you decide to join Fiverr.
Good!
Bad!
Remember what I said about that 20% cut? Fiverr takes $1 out of every five dollars you make. Not one dollar out of your total for the sale. So if you earn $5, you get $4. If you earn $10, you get $8. See where I'm going?
You can't get around Fiverr's cut, but you can get some relief from the Paypal fee. It will only be $1 no matter how much you earn. So wait until you have a substantial chunk in your account before you cash out.
Quick Look at the Good and Bad of Fiverr
Here are the good and bad points to consider before you decide to join Fiverr.
Good!
- No minimum payout threshold.
- You always get paid.
- No test to join
- No waiting period before you can earn
- Doesn't take very long to make Level 2
- You can create your own jobs
- No shortage of work
- You can have several niches
- You can set your own pay scale at Level 2
- Great practice for new online writers
- You sometimes get buyers who will give you bylines on their site.
- You can gather repeat customers
- You can earn tips!
- You only have to do what you advertised in your gig. No extra work like finding photos if you don't want to.
Bad!
- Fiverr takes a big chunk of your earnings
- You have to pay the PayPal fee
- It takes two weeks for your money to clear on each order.
- You can't communicate off-site with your customers.
- You sometimes get really crappy buyers who hurt your rankings.
Why I Recommend Fiverr
Fiverr is not the place to go if you expect to make hundreds of dollars per hour, (although it may be possible with the right gigs). It is however, a great site for newcomers to the world of online writing for several reasons:
The only time I would not recommend Fiverr is if you have a very busy schedule. Gigs do come with a deadline once they have been ordered. If you get a lot of orders (which I am sure you will, once you start rollin') you may find you have little time to work on anything else.
Which isn't bad! Personally, I have whittled down my gigs to just a handful of my favorites. I can always depend on a nice trickle of orders per week.
Since I am busy with Elder Care Issues and building up this site, I only offer gigs that are fast and easy to write. They don't earn as much as they used to because of that, but I can always count on $30 - $100 per week (and sometimes more!)
(UPDATED: I am not currently writing for Fiverr, since this site and my art side business keep me too busy. There have been updates to they gig system since this article was written, and now you advertise "packages" with lots of options for extra income. You can read about gig packages on the Fiverr site.)
There is better money to be made in many ways and places around the web, but Fiverr remains one of my favorite back-up plans. When other projects slow down, I can always depend on them. And that is why I recommend Fiverr to anyone who wants to earn extra income or even build up a full-time freelance business.
Fiverr is not the place to go if you expect to make hundreds of dollars per hour, (although it may be possible with the right gigs). It is however, a great site for newcomers to the world of online writing for several reasons:
- You don't have to fool with websites or coding. You just write.
- You gain experience writing on a variety of topics.
- You don't have to pass any type of skills tasks to begin.
- You don't have to hunt for jobs and bid on them.
- You can control how much work you do, and turn it into a nice side income.
- Its legitimate. If you follow the rules, sell gigs and make happy customers--then you earn money, and Fiverr will pay you.
- It's a good way to check out your deadline self-discipline before you start running your own business.
The only time I would not recommend Fiverr is if you have a very busy schedule. Gigs do come with a deadline once they have been ordered. If you get a lot of orders (which I am sure you will, once you start rollin') you may find you have little time to work on anything else.
Which isn't bad! Personally, I have whittled down my gigs to just a handful of my favorites. I can always depend on a nice trickle of orders per week.
Since I am busy with Elder Care Issues and building up this site, I only offer gigs that are fast and easy to write. They don't earn as much as they used to because of that, but I can always count on $30 - $100 per week (and sometimes more!)
(UPDATED: I am not currently writing for Fiverr, since this site and my art side business keep me too busy. There have been updates to they gig system since this article was written, and now you advertise "packages" with lots of options for extra income. You can read about gig packages on the Fiverr site.)
There is better money to be made in many ways and places around the web, but Fiverr remains one of my favorite back-up plans. When other projects slow down, I can always depend on them. And that is why I recommend Fiverr to anyone who wants to earn extra income or even build up a full-time freelance business.
*This post may contain affiliate links. If you sign up or buy through my links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read my full disclosure here.*
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