Becoming a Fiverr Freelancer (The Truth) – Fiverr Seller Guide

So if you've been trying to get started as a freelancer or agency owner, and it's been tough going. Perhaps you haven't been able to get leads, or you don't have a lot of credibility, a lot of proof, and you've tried getting a website, and you've tried freelancing platforms. You tried going on social media, and private messaging people to try to get clients as a freelancer.

Maybe you've tried all this, but you're not quite getting the traction that you're looking for. You're not quite getting the amount of leads that you're looking for and the amount of clients that you're looking for. Perhaps you still even have a full-time job, and you're wondering, is it even worth it? Can I get this to work? Can I get the freelancing websites to work? Is it worth it starting as a freelancer? 

Well, if you're wondering this, and you're looking for more leads, and especially on Fiverr, then this video is for you. What I'll share with you is what has been working for me and my clients since 2014. We've been using freelancing platforms as our main lead generation tool to get freelancing and agency clients. What I'm going to share with you has worked for over 1000 people so far. So, what are some new ways to get started as a freelancer on Fiverr? You don't need another trick or some little hack or get-rich-quick scheme.

What you do need is a single focus approach to doing lead generation. So don’t get distracted with having websites and trying to do social media marketing, but focus on the platforms for freelancers exclusively. This is what we do, almost exclusively, and it works fantastically well, especially if you're just getting started. 

Let's talk about Fiverr and how to get started on this platform., what are its different levels and how you can achieve them to get the best results and the best possible leads that can potentially pay you up to $10,000 per project, which sounds crazy on Fiverr. But it is true. It is possible. 

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Fiverr has just launched Fiverr Business, which is a layer on top of Fiverr. Fiverr Business allows clients to categorize freelancers better and list projects. And I think it looks like they're going to compete with Upwork, since they're adding all these new features that are similar to Upwork. Because if you look at Upwork, it’s actually doing the reverse. They're copying, you know, not really copying, but taking inspiration from Fiverr. And introducing extremely, extremely similar features on the platform. 

So the 2 platforms (Upwork, which is a freelancing platform, and Fiverr, which is like a gig freelancing platform) are starting to look much more similar than they used to be. Now, here's an interesting thing. Fiverr is much bigger than Upwork. And if you go look at the stock exchange, Upwork is well less than half the size of Fiverr as a business. So it looks like Fiverr is winning. And that's why, finally, I'm making a video about Fiverr because I've made so many about Upwork.

Let's talk about different levels and how you can use Fiverr for lead generation. Since you obviously want to be serious about building a business or freelancing, the goal should be to go on Fiverr and get those projects that are up to $10k as soon as possible. To do this, Fiverr sellers use what's called a front-end offer (that's not the official term). But on Fiverr, what you usually buy as a buyer is a relatively cheap service on the front-end. And in the back-end there's custom offers, custom deals, and such happening. That's how the really big sellers do it. 

Now, here's the thing: Fiverr is a search engine. So when you post your first gig to get those levels, which we'll talk about in a minute, what you want to do is keyword target the gigs, because there's a bunch of keywords that are available, that you can research on the platform, write in your profile, in your description, and so on. These keywords allow you to rank higher in the search engine on Fiverr, essentially, and you'll be able to get more clients like that, because Fiverr is an inbound system. It's not like Upwork, where you send proposals all the time. The easiest way to understand keyword targeting is to go look at your top-ranked, top-reviewed competitors and see which keywords they're targeting. And then emulate similar keywords. Now, don't steal or plagiarize content, of course, but the keywords are fair game. 

Now, let's talk about the Fiverr levels. This is what here for. Fiverr levels allow you to rank higher on the platform by giving you a higher level of leads, which means you get more traffic essentially. It's not just an algorithm that gets you keyword targeted traffic. It's an algorithm that weighs in your level and the higher level, the more leads you get. It really is exponential growth. 

For level one you essentially need to: 

  • Complete at least 60 days as an active seller on Fiverr.
  • Complete at least 10 individual orders (all time).
  • Earn at least $400. (Not very difficult. Almost anyone can do this if you have the right keyword targeting and the right type of service. $400 is really not that much. Even if you do $5 per order, you know, it's 100 orders, which sounds like a lot. But for a $5 order, it's very, very cheap. It's very easy to do a $5 order, it can be automated. If you do $40 orders as 10 orders, it's slightly more involved, but it's not some super complicated service. Expensive services are $2,000 to $20,000 hours, for example, on places like Upwork.) 
  • Maintain a 4.7-star rating over the course of 60 days, 
  • Maintain a 90% response rate over the course of 60 days, 
  • Maintain a 90% order completion rate over the course of 60 days
  • Maintain a 90% on-time delivery over the course of 60 days
  • Avoid receiving warnings over the course of 30 days as well. 

So read the Terms of Use of Fiverr to avoid receiving warnings, and just be super on point with the responses. Even if you have to hire like a $3/hour Filipino virtual assistant to help you with those responses. Always make sure you're responding on time, delivering on time and the communication is flawless. That's how you get these 90% scores on all of these.

Then you're going to get the following benefits: 

  • You're going to get 10 active gigs instead of fewer, I think it's 8 if you don't have this.
  • You get 4 gig extras, which can be $5, $10, $20, $40. I think more is possible as well. 
  • You also get 10 gig multiples.
  • You'll be able to send custom offers up to $5,000. Not $10,000 yet, like for Pro, for example, but $5000
  • You'll get earning clearance of 14 days, which means you get paid faster, and you get eligibility to be featured at promotional listings, which means that you get more leads essentially

Then, for level 2, which is far beyond level one, you practically get absolutely flooded with leads. I think it's times 10. (Some people have told me it depends on the industry.)

So for level 2, you need to: 

  • Complete at least 120 days as an active seller on Fiverr.
  • Complete at least 50 individual orders (all time, not in the last 60 days).
  • Earn at least $2,000, (Not that much. You know, it's 120 days, $2,000 is very little actually.) 
  • Maintain a 4.7-star rating over the course of 60 days, a 90% response rate over the course of 60 days, 90% order rate over the course of 60 days 90% on-time delivery rate over the course of 60 days (very similar to the previous one to be honest). 
  • Avoid receiving warnings or 30 days. 

A lot of similarities. Just bigger numbers, essentially, in level 2 versus level 1.  

The benefits for level 2 are: 

  • 20 active gigs, which is crazy. Keep in mind, I'll tell you a little tip: never keep gigs on the platform that are not generating new leads. But testing is fine, because you want to test stuff to see if you can rank something. But you don't want to just have 10 tests running all the time that are old, not ranked because it brings down your entire account. So be careful with that. 
  • 5 gig extras (up to $50 this time)
  • 15 gig multiple 
  • Custom offers up to $10,000. (Oh yeah, you don't need Fiverr Pro for that. You just need level 2), 
  • Priority customer support eligibility to be featured at promotional listings
  • Eligibility for Customer Success Program
  • Earning clearance, same as before, of 14 days. 

Now here's where it gets interesting. It's called Top Rated Seller. It’s kind of similar to how Upwork has operated (it even has the same name). So top-rated sellers have to follow these requirements: 

  • Complete at least 180 days as an active seller in Fiverr.
  • Complete at least 100 individual orders (all time, not just in 180 days).
  • Earn at least $20,000 (okay, it’s getting up there). 
  • Maintain a 4.7-star rating and 90%, 90%, 90% score (like before)
  • Avoid receiving warnings (like before)

So the benefits for Top Rated sellers are: 

  • 30 active gigs.
  • 6 gig extras (up to $100).
  • 20 gig multiples. 
  • Custom offers (up to $10,000).
  • VIP support.
  • Promotional listings.
  • Customer Success Program.
  • Earning clearance in 7 days (so you get paid way faster). 

There's another level that most people are not aware of for sellers, and that is Fiverr Pro. Now, getting into Fiverr Pro, which has huge benefits, is tricky and depends on the industry that you're in and on what you're selling. So for Fiverr Pro this process, as I said, varies per industry:

  1. Technical vetting: That's step 1. So do you know what you're doing? Do you want to check that?
  2. You then need professional vetting round 1
  3. Then professional vetting round 2

It depends. It depends on what industry you're in, what that exactly entails. But they're going to vet the crap out of you. Most people get disapproved. You can reapply later on but you do get disapproved usually. To get into Fiverr Pro you need to know your stuff. You need to be a very serious Freelancer with a long track record, essentially. You really need to know what you're doing, even if you're new on Fiverr. Because they're trying to attract top freelancers from all over the world, even if they haven't sold in Fiverr before. That's what Fiverr Pro is. 

So what's going to help you get top rated? 

  • A portfolio of work references/list of previous clients you've worked with. 
  • Social media profiles, etc. 
  • Education, and years of experience,

But again, I would go for Fiverr Pro after you get to level 2 at least. That's what I would do, because then you have more of a track record and it's easier to prove. However, I would also strongly imply that you will bring in outside clients that have not been using Fiverr before because that's what Fiverr is really looking to do. They're looking to get those high-end contracts for highly paid freelancers to the platform, again, I believe to compete with Upwork. 

So what are some differences between Fiverr and Upwork? I have prioritized Upwork to be honest for most projects, because it's relatively easier to get higher paid contracts on Upwork historically. However, since both platforms are starting to look more similar every single year, my suggestion is do both because, look, Upwork is a reverse auction, right? So the thing with reverse auctions is, it favors lower pricing, okay, and that's the thing about Upwork. However, you can kind of play with it and circumvent this and really get high-end projects anyway. 

Now on Fiverr, generally speaking, you have to do those cheaper projects, at least in the beginning to be able to get to more expensive projects later on. And you can charge premium dollars for sure. And Fiverr once you do charge as much as possible, because they also make more money from that. Now, the thing with that is once you have a buyer on Fiverr, and they pay you $400, for example, which is a cheap project for something, you're more likely to be able to sell them something more expensive, which also tends to happen on Upwork with a lot of leads. They kind of try you out with something cheaper before you upsell them a custom offer. 

In conclusion, what you want to do is Upwork and Fiverr. And here's a guide on how to get started in Upwork right here. So click on it right here. Take a look. I'm going to explain the algorithm of how Upwork works so you can really game it and rank higher in that search engine as well. Because Fiverr is just one of the players in town, even though it's the biggest one. Upwork is still number one for high-end expensive projects based on our data.


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Aleksander Vitkin

Aleksander Vitkin has helped over 700 people with a sincere interest in entrepreneurship and contribution, to start profitable businesses and quit their jobs.

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