Don't go "Negative Nelly" on Fiverr!

We all have our negative side. It's a part of being human. But thinking negatively, and communicating negativism, gets us nowhere...on Fiverr or anywhere else. It's time to rally the positive side of our nature and squelch the temptation to become "negative Nellies!"

Like Weeds in a Garden

Negativity is a lot like garden weeds. If your soil is full of weed seeds, those little buggers will pop up everywhere. On Fiverr, negativity can sprout up in your attitude toward buyers, toward Buyer Request listings, toward the work you receive and what you're paid for it, in bitterness that your gigs aren't performing as well as they should, toward yourself for not being better at what you do, and toward others when their feedback reinforces your doubts about your own abilities. Well, STOP IT!

"Easy for you to say, Dane." I know, and you're right. I have my negative thoughts and feelings just like anyone else. But I have to push through them and get past them. I have to be better than them and rise above them. If I don't, negativity will get the better of everything I try to do, and keep me from succeeding.

Just as negativity is an acquired habit, so is positivity. The Debby Downers and Negative Nellies of the world are all capable of self-rehabilitation. I think part of the solution is in learning to "catch ourselves in the act" of negativity. When we feel ourselves going negative, we need to literally make the effort to brighten up and look for what's positive. When we catch ourselves reacting negatively to a communication from a buyer, or from our current situation on Fiverr (or elsewhere), we need to take a step away from the situation and try and get a broader perspective on it...looking beyond that tiny momentary disagreement or difficulty and focusing instead on the prospects of turning the customer positive by our reaction to them. Some of my best customers are people I've "turned," so to speak.

A Good First Impression

I'm not breaking any new ground when I talk about how important a good first impression is in initiating communications with new clientele, On Fiverr, the very beginning of that is in the impression we give through our gig listing, When I first started on Fiverr, I made a point of doing some searches and viewing the gigs of people who seemed like they were getting some orders, to see what I could learn from them. One thing I hadn't expected to learn was a lesson in negativity.

As I read through the gig descriptions of some regular sellers, I was surprised by how negative they had gone. While they all started out their gig descriptions with glowing comments on the quality their own service, the text quickly devolved into a discussion of everything they wouldn't do, and the limitations on what they will do for how much, etc. I could tell from the wording that a lot of it was due to previous experiences with buyers and what they felt they needed to protect themselves against. I get it. But in the end, the impact was a narrative that sounded very guarded, and almost antagonistic.

Reduce Sentry Duty to a Minimum

While we need to protect ourselves, we need to find ways to limit our disclaimers to the absolute minimum, keep them as brief as we can, and find ways to state them that don't make the buyer sound like the enemy. For example, I personally feel the need to protect myself against the danger of meticulously narrating a 4000 word voiceover and having the client come back to me afterwards and ask for it to all be done again, faster, or slower, or with more energy or whatever. It's just too much work, and to aggravating, to have to re-voice the whole thing again, and I can't deal with it. It'd be easy for that to be expressed negatively, but I arrived at the following brief passage in my description:

"One FREE style revision on any script of 300 words or less. For longer scripts, add one day so I can send you a free style read for pre-approval."

By saying it like that, it becomes a positive. I'm going to find out exactly what they'd like in advance, which saves them disappointment at receiving something that's not right the first time, and saves me the grief of doing it again. Result? Buyers actually thank me, instead of cursing me, for my policy. So look for ways to turn things positive when you need to mention limitations.

You're on the Same Side!

Speaking more generally, it's healthy to keep reminding ourselves that the buyer is not the enemy. He or she is your partner, someone you get to work with toward a common goal. If we you look at it like that, it becomes a different ballgame altogether. If they voice a concern or objection, rather than putting up your guard and becoming defensive, step over the wall and ask them how you can work together., proposing a solution that will be a win for both of you. When the buyer sees you're on their side, or at least not bearing arms against them, you'll likely win them over.

Going From Weeds to Magnets

Let's switch metaphors and talk about magnets for a moment, because the analogy is irresistible The fact is, everybody has both positive and negative poles like a magnet. None of us can spend all our time at one pole or the other...but the more we can swing toward positive, the better off we'll be. But going positive is a choice and a decision. It's an action...and it doesn't necessarily come naturally at all. We have to check our negativity at each new interaction and look for ways we can turn each experience into a positive one,

Not Just Mumbo Jumbo

I've never been big into philosophy, so try not to brush this off as nothing more than high-falutin jargon. Going positive IS a win. It helps you with your own peace of mind, and has been a big part of what has helped me to succeed in various things in life. It's not too late in the year for one...more...excellent...resolution, and this is one that's a total win. Go positive.

Update!

Interestingly, while typing this, I was interrupted at intervals to carry on a negotiation with a company in Isreal that is interested in using my voice with their client's educational software product. The timing was fascinating, since it allowed me to apply the exact principles I was writing about in one window, with the conversation I was having in the other window. That's going to have to be my next blog post. Since the crucial conversation I was having was between my positive and negative selves, I'll call the post, "A Conversation With Myself." Next time!

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!

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