How to Make Good Money on Fiverr

Fiverr (http://www.fiverr.com)is an online marketplace for services, a bit like ebay but for services and work (jobs are referred to as 'Gigs') rather than physical things (though there are quite a few physical things on here - made to order etc). The price of everything is set at $5 and there's almost anything you can imagine being offered for sale, including:

• Article writing
• Graphic design
• Proof reading
• Voiceovers
• Write your name in Smarties
• Sing you an Opera song

All of these are genuine services being offered on Fiverr. The last couple just demonstrate you can offer most things and there will be willing buyers out there!

One of the most common reasons people don't want to sell on Fiverr - and the reason I didn't go on for a long time - is that it is only $5 (and in fact you only receive $4 of that, the site takes the other dollar). This however is only the start. As you progress, you can reduce the amount of work you can do for five dollars, and you can start to add 'extras'. Here's an example:

Say you decide to offer a writing gig. 'I will write a 500 word article on a topic of your choice'. Depending on how fast you are and whether you need to do research, this might take you 30-40 minutes. Hardly worth it for $4 you might think? Well after a few weeks, you might decide to drop the word count you'll do to 400 words, 300 words, 250 words etc. Say you're on 250 words for $5. Many people at this stage will still want 500 words, as that's quite standard for a web article. So they have to buy two Gigs. Suddenly, you're getting $8 for your 30-40 minutes work and it is starting to become a bit more worth it. There are some very successful sellers on Fiver that write only 100 words for $5, so most people will be buying multiples of 100 words.

The other thing you can do is add extras (you don't get these at first, you have to have a few sales first). The most common extra is 'extra fast'. When you set up your Gig, you can specify how long you will take to complete the order. Between 3 and 7 days is the most common. You might add an extra saying you'll do it in 24 hours for an extra $10 for instance. Depending on what service you are offering, there are lots of other extras you can add.

So as you can see from a low $4 starting point, you can start earning decent money for each Gig you do. It is worth noting however that this is upfront income, not residual income like when you write on Hubpages. You will get paid initially but then not earn anything more from it after that. This won't suit everyone, but is useful if you need to earn money in the short term, or you might want to mix upfront and residual work.

How much you can make from Fiverr really depends on what services you are offering, but if you offer services that people want and are prepared to put the time in, you can quite quickly start earning a few hundred dollars a month. Some people make a living working on Fiverr, and this is certainly possible but will take a lot more work & effort. A decent part time income is something that is not difficult to achieve however.

What I've noticed is that Fiverr is incredibly popular. There are lots of sellers on there, true, but there are lots and lots of buyers wanting services and if you get a few that like your services they will keep on buying. Fiverr is also very unusual in that you can build up to decent income very quickly, unlike most other places that promise a lot but don't deliver, or will take a long time to build up to a decent income.

First things first. When you sign up, choose a decent username. It matters, as you can't change it later. While browsing the forums on the site, I came across one user Fartfighter, who was complaining bitterly as he couldn't change his username and no one was buying off him! While most sensible people wouldn't choose a silly name like that, choose a nice, unique name and it will increase the chances of people buying off you.

After you've signed up, browse the site, see what people are selling, get a feel for the place. It can be a good idea to buy a couple of Gigs, then you see how the process works from the buyers perspective, without getting stressed about delivering your work etc.

Once you are ready to get started selling you'll need to set up one or more Gigs. Choose I decent, short title and a good description of what you are offering. Fiverr also suggests you record a short video (upto 30 seconds) explaining your offering. Gigs with videos apparently sell more than double those without. When setting up your Gig, sell yourself as much as possible. Tell people what qualifications or experience you have, what work you've done before, giving examples if possible. Also, be generous in what you are offering. No buyer is likely to purchase a 100 or even 250 word article off a seller with no sales/feedback when there are lots of people offering 500 words or more. You can drop your offering later as you get some feedback but the hardest thing to start with is to get those first orders.

After that, wait for orders to come in. It may be slow at first, and you might have to tweak your Gigs, but before long they should start coming in!