July 22, 2024
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Not a day goes by that I don’t find articles about freelancers making six figures annually on Fiverr. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could earn as much? This post will explore making money on Fiverr for beginners, experienced side hustlers, and people without skills.
What Is Fiverr?
Fiverr is one of the largest online marketplaces for freelancer services globally. Its primary offering is a database of sellers who provide services in various categories, such as graphic design, digital marketing, business, writing, translation, video, programming, and lifestyle. Those categories are further divided into over 200 subcategories. Fiverr is a top-visited site and is ranked in the top 500 worldwide. It trades publicly as FVRR on the NYSE.
Aspiring sellers and side hustlers can join Fiverr for free. Additionally, Fiverr segments freelancers with multiple seller levels and badges. A “gig” is the name Fiverr uses to represent a service sold in its marketplace. As you build your presence on the platform and gather reviews, you might be eligible to join Fiverr Pro and Fiverr Enterprise.
Fiverr Pro is a collection of proven and verified freelancers hand-picked by Fiverr staff. Only 1% of applicants earn pro status. Pros excel in their fields and have years of professional experience working with clients, excellent interpersonal skills, and robust project management abilities. On the other hand, Fiverr Enterprise supplies high-caliber freelancers for small business projects. It’s a B2B service designed to extend a company’s team. Customers can easily monitor project status, approve transactions, and set budgets from a single dashboard. A Personal Business Success Manager accompanies customers until project completion.
Fiverr Workplace allows you to analyze your entire business performance in a single, integrated dashboard that automatically tracks your Fiverr and non-Fiverr projects. It also provides back-office software for invoicing, task management, proposals, contracts, payments, expense tracking, time monitoring, and reporting.
Learn is Fiverr’s e-learning hub for online courses and marketing, graphic design, web development, writing, business, video, and photography programs. Fiverr has expanded its e-learning reach with its acquisition of CreativeLive. Still, they’re up against a slew of competitors.
Fiverr Logo Maker is an AI-driven logo generator. Users complete a questionnaire, select style preferences, and then get designs. Next, they can purchase the designs they like to use anywhere. A logo design package includes different formats, sizes, and colors that work across all digital assets.
How to Make Money on Fiverr
Although the conventional path to earning on Fiverr is selling gigs, there are multiple ways to generate income.
Sell Gigs/Services
Fiverr sellers offer gigs to a global audience. The first thing you can consider is what service to sell. An excellent place to start is reviewing where you excel and your skills. I recommend initially playing to your strengths and work experience. Then, you can diversify and experiment with different services later. For instance, suppose you’re good at and enjoy graphic design. You can research Fiverr’s graphics & design category and 30+ subcategories to identify opportunities and gaps on the platform.
Gig pricing ranges from $5 to $10,000, so making four to five figures monthly is possible. Even beginners on Fiverr can anticipate making hundreds monthly by providing in-demand services and optimizing their profiles for search.
How to Start Selling on Fiverr
- In the primary menu, click on “Selling.” First, add your info, including your name, profile picture or logo, and bio. Then, add your professional qualifications and details, such as your skills, education, and certifications.
- Create a service and value proposition by adding a gig title, category, subcategory, metadata, and search tags. Then, in the Scope & Pricing section, add your offer and a detailed description regarding your package. Next, add your price and extras for upsells. For example, buyers can pay $5 for extra fast delivery. Lastly, add FAQs and answers as you get them from customers.
- Add requirements that buyers must complete before you can work on their orders. For instance, you’ll need the customer’s company name before creating a company logo for him.
- To enhance your gig, add pictures, videos, and work samples. For example, some sellers feature themselves in introductory videos. A seller might say, “Hi, my name is Bobby, and I’m passionate about graphic design. I offer three packages to assist you. Please review my work samples and email me if you have any questions. Choose the best gig for your budget, and let’s get started.”
Your Sales Dashboard
Monitor your orders and messages for delivery times, updates, and revision requests. Stay on top of those items to receive excellent customer feedback and improve your standing on Fiverr.
The analytics tab displays earnings and rating details. It also shows what you must achieve to reach the next seller level, i.e., level one, two, and top-rated. Closely track your results, build upon your strengths, and improve your weaknesses.
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How to Get More Sales on Fiverr
Fiverr is a very competitive marketplace. That fact calls for a plan to increase your CTRs and sales. Here are several strategies to get more customers, starting with presale, sale, and post-sale activities.
Presale Activities
Market yourself as one-of-a-kind. First-mover advantages are rare on Fiverr because it’s been around for years. So, presenting yourself and gigs as something different and exciting is critical. Also, you’ll want to portray why you’re different than other sellers who sell similar gigs.
For example, your competitor’s gig title reads, “I will create a responsive WordPress website using Elementor Pro.” Unfortunately, that title is missing a “wow factor,” and promoting “responsive” functionality is no longer unique; customers expect it. Instead, what about, “I will create a high-converting WordPress site using Elementor” or “I will create a blazing-fast WordPress site using Elementor.” High-converting and blazing-fast indicate you possess unique skills that your competitors don’t, such as conversion rate optimization (CRO) or Core Web Vitals and page speed performance training. Both those factors are critical to site owners.
Create an excellent and straightforward profile and gig description. Instead of giving you many pointers, review the profiles and gigs of 10 to 20 bestsellers in your category for success tips. Then ask yourself:
- What do their profiles and gig descriptions have in common?
- What are their unique selling points (USPs)?
- How many characters do they use on average?
- What keywords do they use, and how many?
- Can you identify patterns or standard copywriting formulas?
- How can you improve on what they have?
- What are the apparent differences between them and newbies or unsuccessful sellers?
Don’t copy other sellers’ descriptions because the goal is to be unique and more convincing than your competitors.
Your gig description is a sales page because you’re trying to sell your services to prospective buyers. It should include these components to help you brush up on copywriting formulas to increase conversion rates.
- Identify the problem you want to solve.
- Describe how you will solve it.
- Mention your experience and expertise.
- Explain what you’ll need from the buyer to produce a successful outcome.
- Encourage buyers to contact you before they place an order (if applicable).
- Add a call-to-action, e.g., buy now, let’s get started, or purchase my gig to start the process.
Optimize your gig for search and mobile. Fiverr is a search engine for services like Google for information. URLs and keywords play a critical role in Fiverr SEO. A Gig’s first title generates its URL, which is unchangeable later. So, you’ll want to create a keyword-driven title first to get an optimal URL. Then, you can change your title to something user-friendly. Secondly, use keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner and Semrush to discover high-volume terms for your title, description, and tags. Lastly, download Fiverr’s app to review how your gig appears on smartphones and tablets.
Use high-quality images and videos. According to tennis legend Andre Agassi, “Image is everything.” That’s true, and high-quality and well-planned media can help boost sales. Of course, some people will still get this point wrong, so use your top-selling competitors as benchmarks.
Price your gigs correctly. Establishing rates that will attract a steady flow of buyers is critical to keeping your project pipeline full. Some sellers price themselves out of the market. For example, can you justify $1,300 for a logo design when another seller will do it for $10? At the very least, price your gig competitively. Alternatively, explain why and use excellent copywriting in your description if you charge premium pricing.
Combine your basic gig with extra options to offer up to three packages, diversify your offers, and satisfy customer requirements. Furthermore, Extras are additional services you can offer, and customers can purchase them at checkout.
Verify your skills. Sellers can take tests to showcase their abilities and improve buyer trust, leading to more sales. Exams are 40 minutes long and have 40 questions. After you receive your test results, you can display your score on your profile.
Promote your gig. If you join Fiverr to make a full-time income, you should implement free or low-cost marketing activities to support your goal. For instance, you could add your Fiverr profile link to your website or LinkedIn profile. Conversely, don’t worry about promoting your services if Fiverr won’t be your primary income stream or focus. Fiverr spends millions of dollars on advertising to attract new users even if you do no marketing. So, some visitors are bound to stumble upon your profile and gig.
Don’t overload yourself. If you rush to reach higher seller levels, you might take on too much work and produce unsatisfactory outcomes. That’s not a good formula for long-term success. Instead, a slow and steady approach will win the race and give you ample time to learn/improve from one sale to the next.
Sales Activities
Respond promptly to all inquiries, especially those related to sales. Most buyers care about and assess a seller’s communications because they are vital to delivering excellent work.
Upsell your extras and other gigs. Your customer may overlook your additional services at the checkout. However, right after your order starts, you can promote them. For example, “Thanks for purchasing my basic book cover design package. For an additional $10, I will provide a high-resolution cover image for social media. Separately, I also offer manuscript formatting. Here’s the link to that gig.” The worst-case scenario is the buyer takes no action. The best case is you’ll strengthen customer ties, make more money, and increase your average order value (AOV). Naturally, Fiverr wants to promote sellers with high AOVs to generate more revenue.
Meet or exceed expectations. Put the customer first, fulfill his requirements, produce fantastic work on time, and repeat. Those are the keys to growing a successful Fiverr business. Alternatively, being selfish, doing things half-assed, and producing sloppy work past the due date will lead to failure on Fiverr and anywhere else you go.
Post Sale Activities
Ask for reviews. Forty to fifty percent of buyers don’t leave reviews (Read 15 Online Review Stats Every Marketer Should Know). So, it’s an action you must prompt—moreover, state why you want your customer to leave a review. For example, “I hope you’re satisfied with my work on your project. Can you please leave me a review? Your feedback will help me improve for next time and deliver better service.” Did you notice what I did? I used an interrogative sentence (Can you please leave me a review?) rather than a declarative statement (Please leave me a review.). You can split-test your review CTAs to see which works best.
Learn from bad reviews and missteps. You’ll inevitably get bad reviews. Sometimes, it’s your fault; other times, it’s the customer’s unrealistic demands. These situations present opportunities to pause, reflect, and gain insights.
Monitor your performance. Orders and analytics tell a lot about your prospects on Fiverr. Review the data on those tabs weekly to improve your profile, gigs, pricing, descriptions, and so on. For instance, maybe the wording for your gig needs simplifying, or your thumbnail needs redesigning. A small change here or there can lead to higher conversion rates. Once you get enough page views, you can also conduct split tests.
What Are Seller Levels?
A seller level determines what a user can offer based on her monthly performance, including service, buyer satisfaction, and delivery times. There are four levels: new, level one, level two, and top-rated. Let’s review the latest and top-rated seller levels to get an idea. Learn more about Fiverr seller levels here.
New Seller
You’re automatically ranked as a New Seller when creating a Fiverr gig.
You’ll get to:
- Create up to seven active gigs
- Add two extra services per gig
- Withdraw your earnings after 14 days
The Top-Rated Seller level is the highest status you can achieve on Fiverr and recognizes your hard work. Fiverr’s editorial team manually reviews your performance for the previous 60 days and awards you this level when you meet the following requirements:
- 40 completed orders
- 20 unique clients
- $10,000+ earnings
- 9+ success score
- 90% response rate
- 4.7+ rating
- Pass manual evaluation
Then, you’ll get to:
- A top-rated badge appears on your profile
- Skip the clearing period and get paid immediately (fee applies)
- Your earnings clear in 7 days instead of 14
- Enjoy priority customer support
Earn Affiliate Commissions
Affiliate marketing involves affiliates sending people to company websites and receiving compensation for leads and sales. Marketers create content for their blogs, YouTube channels, social media accounts, and email marketing campaigns affiliate links. Those links contain unique parameters and tracking features to compensate affiliates accordingly. For example, in this post, I compare top-rated YouTube tools. If you purchase either or both apps, I’ll receive a commission (or commissions).
Fiverr has an excellent and high-paying affiliate program with multiple ways to earn. In addition, Fiverr affiliates can promote Fiver and related products, such as Business, Logo Maker, Learn, Workspace, and the program itself.
Fiverr’s cost-per-action (CPA) commission plan pays up to 100% on first orders. Then, a 10% revenue share of each purchase the buyers make in the next 12 months.
The program’s cookie duration is 30 days from the first click. So, a potential FTB must purchase a Fiverr gig/product within 30 days for you to earn a commission.
There’s a guide to help affiliates get started, and Fiverr’s affiliate marketing team offers many promotional resources to support your efforts, including ad banners, deep linking, and more. Please read my full review of Fiverr’s affiliate program for more details.
More great content:
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- 20+ Best Tools for Marketers & Businesses
Monetize How-To Content
Content creators, especially YouTubers, are pumping out videos, blogs, and social media posts about Fiverr. Fiverr’s ecosystem has so much to offer that there is an ongoing high demand for tutorials, ideas, and tips. For example, you can create content that helps sellers succeed, listicles on different services and categories, and your seller and buyer experiences.
While many creators make money as Fiverr affiliates, they also profit from ad revenue through Google AdSense. Many videos about Fiverr have gone viral and racked up millions of views on YouTube. As a result, some creators will have made hundreds to thousands in ad revenue per video and affiliate commissions from links in their video descriptions.
Case study content describes experiences and results using Fiverr. For example, Joe hires two web developers at different prices and gives them the exact requirements. Then, he shows the completed sites and discusses the pros and cons of hiring cheap and expensive freelancers in his video.
Buy and Sell Services
In the context of Fiverr, service arbitrage or “drop servicing” means to make money as an intermediary in a transaction. Suppose you’re good at marketing, sales, and getting clients. You can start a digital marketing agency that provides SEO and website design services. Then, you’ll hire one or multiple Fiverr freelancers to complete the work. Your profit will be your client’s fees minus freelancer expenses.
A digital marketing agency is only one idea. Many agency/business ideas are available because they piggyback services on Fiverr, such as an app design studio, video production house, or resume writing business.
Sell Courses (Paused?)
Learn is Fiverr’s online learning division featuring courses and programs for freelancers, marketers, and business owners.
Previously, an apply button to teach on Fiverr was visible. However, Fiverr may have temporarily removed it because of developments concerning CreativeLive. So, if you want to teach on Fiverr, it’s best to contact them. For CreativeLive, you must submit a proposal. Alternatively, Skillshare and Udemy are open to new instructors. Explore those sites to create, self-publish, and monetize online classes.
Freelance on ClearVoice
ClearVoice is a separate Fiverr entity that finds content freelancers and teams in 200+ categories. Its network and collaborative workspace connects brands with freelancers to create better content. Its network includes content strategists, editors, writers, ghostwriters, graphic designers, videographers, and photographers.
ClearVoice matches client requirements with freelancers from a database based on industry, rates, and experience. Clients receive a list of freelancers who fit their needs and then choose the talent they like best.
Start by creating an about and portfolio page with sections, headlines, images, and files to find work. Then, join the CV network, share your page, build your brand, and set your rates.
Buy Fiverr Stock
Investors with an appetite for tech stocks and a stomach for volatility may want to buy Fiverr stock with a focus on long-term growth. The freelance economy is said to be in the trillions and growing as millions of people adopt new working methods. Fiverr is at the forefront of this market and supports changing work models. It also enables companies to reduce costs and reach new markets through outsourcing.
Fiverr’s stock isn’t for the faint of heart. Before investing, you should conduct investment research and monitor its quarterly earnings.
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Fiverr Pros and Cons
Of all the ways to make money online, Fiverr is a safe bet. Still, it’s worth reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of partnering with Fiverr.
Pros
- Fiverr is a top 500 site globally and attracts millions of users.
- Fiverr spends millions on advertising and marketing to support sellers.
- Fiverr provides a complete e-commerce platform and marketplace, allowing freelancers to focus on selling and completing orders. Moreover, sellers don’t need to manage websites, hosting, security, legal, invoicing, payments, or anything else.
- Fiverr continues to expand its gig categories and offerings alongside acquiring businesses, such as CreativeLive.
- Fiverr offers a quick and easy way to start making money online. Some sellers generate sales within days of signing up.
- Running a business on Fiverr can be less expensive than running one independently.
- Fiverr has many educational resources to help sellers, freelancers, and marketers succeed, including blogs, guides, videos, and a comprehensive support center.
- Fiverr is a reputable company with a “Great” score on Trustpilot.
Cons
- Fiverr is in charge of setting the rules for users to follow. So, while it may be nice to think you’re a freelancer and self-employed, Fiverr is your boss. For instance, they can close your account without cause, leaving you with zero options.
- Sellers live and die by Fiverr’s business model, successes, and failures. For instance, if Fiverr slashes its marketing budget for your category, that can significantly impact your revenue.
- Fiverr’s marketplace is highly competitive, making it increasingly challenging to build a sustainable business.
- Fiverr and other marketplaces tend to give preferential marketing and support to their top sellers, which means you must work much harder to get customers.
- Fiverr keeps 20% of each sale. As you make more money, that may become a concern.
- Sellers don’t gain robust customer data and analytics, even if they bring users to Fiverr.
Fiverr Alternatives
Although there are many online freelancer marketplaces, only one comes close to competing with Fiverr. Upwork connects businesses with freelancers, independent talent, and agencies around the globe. Solopreneurs to Fortune 100 enterprises use its powerful platform to partner with freelancers, collaborate efficiently, and deliver excellent results. Upwork (UPWK) trades publicly on the Nasdaq.
Start Earning
The question is not, “How do you make money on Fiverr?” but “How many ways will you make money with Fiverr?” Thousands of freelancers and side hustlers gravitate toward Fiverr’s services marketplace, and rightfully so. Fiverr is a leader and disrupter, with thousands of different services and sellers on its platform.
Other promising money-making endeavors include affiliate marketing, service arbitrage, content monetization, and investing. For example, I receive regular commissions as a Fiverr affiliate. So, if you want to make money with Fiverr, your next step should be understanding the best ways to do so by evaluating your skills, desires, and income goals.
