Can I Make an Honest Living on Fiverr?

One important part of succeeding on any platform, or indeed, at anything in life, is doing your homework, so I've taken the time to study up on Fiverr through courses, YouTube videos, Facebook groups, etc. I've learned quite a bit, and am always picking up new tidbits. But one thing that has kind of astounded me from the start is the almost universal assumption, that you can't get ahead on the platform without somehow "cheating the system."

Cheaters are Rampant

The first full course I took was riddled with ways to burrow under fences, or climb over them, or shortcut them. On YouTube, I've seen videos from people who proudly proclaim great success on Fiverr, and when I watched them, they were loaded with cheats and cloak-and-dagger techniques. And when they spoke about their sales numbers, frankly, they weren't really all that impressive.

Facebook has many Fiverr groups, and, I am sad to say, many of them are dedicated to things like "gig swaps," "review exchanges," and similar efforts, all intended to bolster gig rankings by artificially increasing the participants' statistics on the platform. The swap groups are by far the largest Fiverr groups on Facebook, with tens of thousands of members, all scrambling to "make it" on Fiverr through artificial means.

The dishonesty extends to the actual selling of accounts, where somebody who has achieved a certain level on Fiverr will put their gig up for bids as if they were selling a business. This is totally dishonest, because the account's rankings were based on the abilities of the person who built it up, and anyone who trusts those rankings and buys from the new gig's "owner" will likely be disappointed by what they get from them. Or, the account reached its present status though the same efforts to bloat statistics as I mentioned above.

I admit I was roped in by some of the early people I learned from when I first started on Fiverr; whose pitch was that many of the workarounds were tacitly approved by Fiverr because they increased their income along with ours. But I eventually learned that was not the case, that Fiverr meant business when it came to their rules...and that it truly isn't worth the risk. Not only that, but it doesn't feel very good, trying to get ahead through tricks to contravene the system. In the end, I decided to keep my nose clean and see if I could make a success of Fiverr by just playing by the rules.

So, Can it be Done?

Yup! I'm making a nice living on Fiverr at this point, despite working at it only about half time. Without sneaky tricks, and playing strictly by the rules, I went from ground zero to Top Rated Seller in eight months, and had my first $10,000+ sales month in less than a year. So far this year alone (it's August 2020) I've done sales of about $75,000, and by the end of this year, I'll have racked up total overall sales (since I started on the platform) of about a quarter million ($250,000). How? By developing my skills, providing the best product I can, and by setting up my gigs to be: found, then noticed, then visited, then ordered from.

What Will Hold You Back?

There are two things that, in my opinion, hold people back on Fiverr more than any others. First, lack of ability, You can't sell what you don't have. If your skill level is poor, your results will be poor, no matter how clever you are about marketing yourself. The second is marketing. If you don't understand the process you need to go through on Fiverr which leads to initial sales numbers, nor know how to set up your gig to be found and ordered from (that's a large part of what Gig Doctor Checkups are about), you won't succeed, no matter how talented you are,

So you need both things, When it comes to skill, you're on your own. If you have talent in the area you want to pursue, develop it and keep getting better at it all the time. And as for getting eyes on your gig, and sales, that's where I can help a lot. Contact me. Those who have done so already can tell you they've learned a lot that has helped them!

There's so much you and I can do together to improve your gig's performance. Schedule your Gig Doctor appointment by hitting the Gig Checkup link at the top of this page for an inexpensive personalized checkup and consultation!