Here’s How To Get The Help You Need With The Uber For Freelancers
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced trying to grow different businesses is skill shortages.
Operating a business requires a range of different skills that often fall outside the scope of myself or my team.
In the past week alone, I’ve struggled with the following challenges:
• Creating a lead magnet for a website -> I don’t have the necessary design skills.
• Creating a customer survey -> I don’t have the IT skills to connect our customer survey software with our email software.
• Improving our website’s speed – I don’t have any coding/javascript skills.
• Creating a sales video for a marketing campaign – I don’t have video editing skills.
Every other day, I face new roadblocks trying to push my company forward.
These roadblocks are cause for many frustrating moments, lost opportunities and costly mistakes.
• Can’t create a lead magnet = Missing marketing & sales opportunities
• Can’t integrate software = slow response time to new leads, which creates lost sales, and we have to pay staff to do this manually.
• Website is too slow = low ranking on google, lower website traffic, potentially lost leads.
• Sales video poor quality = wrong first impression of a business and lost sales.
A few years ago, when I’d face these roadblocks, I’d use my Dad’s favourite saying, “F*** it”, give up and move on. Now I use a platform called Fiverr.
Taking from Mastercard, “There are some jobs we can do ourselves. For everything else, there’s Fiverr”
FIVERR
Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance service providers. They can help you find a freelance contractor to complete virtually any task you can think of.
‘Fiverr’s mission is to change how the world works together.”
Fiverr connects businesses with freelancers offering digital services in 300+ categories.
Fiverr gives you access to top talent from all around the world with just a few clicks of your mouse. The freelancers often work in low-value economies, so their services are very affordable.
I like Fiverr for many reasons; here are a few;
• Cheap access to highly competent people
• High level of customer service
• A user-Friendly platform that is very intuitive
• On-demand problem solvers available whenever you need
Sounds good, yeah?
I’ll walk you through setting up an account for the rest of this article and booking your first ‘gig’.
1. CREATE AN ACCOUNT
First, you need to create an account. Head to Fiverr’s website here and click ‘Join’ (circled in blue below).
You can sign up using several different verification methods. I used my email address, which is the easiest option, especially if you want to give others access to your account later on.
If you used an email address, you’d need to verify your email address before proceeding. Head to your inbox and open the email from Fiverr; select ‘activate your account.’
Your account is now confirmed, and you’ll be taken back to Fiverr’s home page. Now you need to give it a name.
Click the ‘edit your profile’ button on the green banner at the top of your screen, as shown below (A). Or you can navigate to settings manually by selecting your account menu (B), then click settings (C) from the dropdown menu.
1. Activation confirmation – Click “edit your profile” to begin setting up an account.
2. Profile Menu – Click here to show the dropdown menu.
3. Settings – Click this button to access account settings.
I use my full name, but you can use whichever you wish. Once you’ve added a name, click “save changes.”
2. FINDING A SERVICE PROVIDER
Now that you have an account set up, you’re ready to book your first ‘gig.’
I’ll walk you through this for a job I’m working on at the moment.
First, you need to define what job you’re trying to complete.
I am trying to ‘improve the speed of my gym website’ – www.worldfitness.co.nz
Head to the search bar at the top of your Fiverr home screen and enter your search term.
You can see below that Fiverr also suggests similar search terms. As long as your search term keywords roughly relate to the job you’re trying to complete, Fiverr will point you in the right direction.
Once you’ve entered your ‘search term,’ press ‘enter’ or click ‘search.’ You’ll be redirected to Fiverr’s service page.
You can see a list (B)(screenshot below) of service providers available to complete the specific job you need help with.
First, you want to use their ‘filters’ tool (A)(screenshot below) to refine your search to meet your specific requirements.
I am looking for someone to speed up my website. But I also have the following requirements;
1. I want this job completed in the next seven days.
2. I need to work with someone who speaks English.
3. I need someone who knows how to use Squarespace.
4. I want someone who has good references.
Using their filter tool, I can include these requirements in my search. I also adjusted my search term to “Squarespace speed.” This produced the following results.
Now I need to choose my service provider. I use the same criteria for every job.
1. The seller needs to have 5+ ratings. (not 5+ stars, just more than five ratings).
• This helps me avoid any potential scams/frauds.
2. The seller needs to have proof of work completed.
3. Seller reviews should imply previous work completed has met buyers’ expectations.
You can see this information by clicking on a job listing.
I individually review each seller listing to see if they meet my criteria. From my search results above, only ‘sharifshimanta’ has more than five reviews.
So I clicked this listing to investigate further.
Each job listing page has five different sections, which you can see below. A line break separates each.
1. Job evidence – the first part of the profile will show a picture of the service provider, their overall rating, and screenshots of other attachments of completed work.
• I review evidence of completed work to see if it meets my expectations.
2. Gig Description – As you scroll down, you’ll see the next section of their profile that provides more detailed information about the gig.
• I quickly read through this info to make sure the ‘gig’ matches my ‘job.’
3. About the Seller – This section provides a little more detail about the seller.
• I don’t pay too much attention to this section. Sometimes I check ‘response time’ and ‘last delivery’ to ensure the seller is still active.
4. FAQ – not all sellers provide an FAQ but worth checking if they do
• I always quickly read the FAQ. Often they alert me to potential issues about my job that I haven’t thought of.
5. Reviews – Here, you can find any reviews left for the seller
• I always read through these and look for red flags such as slow response times, rude behaviour, poor communication, etc.
• ‘sharifshimanta’ didn’t meet my criteria; however, I found ‘Mypoint’,double-check whose profile I’ve used below.
I like to contact a seller before booking a gig, just to double check.
The easiest way to contact the seller is by scrolling to their ‘profile section’ and selecting the “contact me” button (see below).
Once you’ve clicked “contact me,” you’ll be redirected to your Fiverr inbox where a message screen appears.
I like to send the seller a quick message to confirm that they can do the job I need them to do. If I have any further questions, I’ll also ask these now.
Type your message and hit the ‘enter key. Your message is now,, sent; you just need to wait for the seller to reply.
• Good to note, most service providers work in different time zones for you.
I was satisfied with Mypoints response, so I proceeded to book the gig.
3. PLACING AN ORDER
To place an order, head back to the gig listing and select ‘continue’ (as circled in blue below)
Often a seller has multiple service level options available instead of one (Shown below). These range from ‘Basic’ to ‘Premium.’ Each service level offers more features and costs more. I always choose the minimum level of service that will meet my requirements.
For this job I choose ‘Basic’.
Next you’re taken to the booking sequence. The first part of this sequence requires you to confirm your order details (see below).
1. Extra’s -> Some sellers provide extra options such as ‘faster delivery’ or an add-on service. If you wish to include any of these in your order, check the checkbox.
2. Order Sequence -> Ordering a gig requires you to complete three steps. ‘Order details,’ ‘confirm & pay’ and ‘Submit Requirements’
3. Once you are ready to order, select ‘order now.’
Select ‘order now’ to proceed to the payment section.
For your first order, you’ll be asked for billing details. I use a company credit card.
Enter your billing details and check your order confirmation details before proceeding.
When you reach the payment page, you’ll see your booking confirmation information on the right-hand side.
1. Gig price = Cost of completing the service.
2. Promo Code = Enter one here if you have one.
3. Service Fee = This is Fiverr’s fee for using their platform.
4. Total Cost = Total price you will be charged.
Click “Confirm & pay.”
Once your payment is accepted/processed, you’ll move to the last step of order confirmation.
Here you will be requested to submit your order requirements (see below). The seller will ask you a bunch of questions to help them complete your order correctly.
1. Submit Requirements Page
2. Information required to complete an order
3. Checkbox to confirm the information provided is correct and legal
4. Button to confirm your order.
• Some orders will require login information for your accounts, such as google analytics or your website etc. I’ve never had any problems here. Fingers crossed.
Submit the information requested for your order and click “start order.” You have now placed and confirmed your order.
4. MANAGING YOUR ORDER
After placing an order, I like to track my order progress and often ask the seller for updates, etc.
To access and manage your order navigate to the home page, then select “order” from the top menu. When you click on ‘orders,’ a drop-down menu will appear, showing all your orders to date. Select the order you wish to manage to proceed.
1. Fiverr Button – Click this to navigate to the homepage/dashboard.
2. Orders button – Click this to show a dropdown of current orders.
3. Current Order – Click here to open the order management page.
Your order management page is where you can access information related to your order. Communicate with the seller and track delivery status etc. You can use the submenu on the order page to navigate to different components of your order.
1. Activity Page – Running history of your order, actions completed, communications, etc.
2. Order Details – Financial summary of order details, including a tax invoice
3. Requirements – Summary of order requirements
4. Delivery – Summary of delivery details once the order is complete.
5. Order Summary – Order summary details
Scroll down the ‘activity page’ to the message box if you want to message the seller.
1. Message Box – Communicate with your service provider here.
2. Order Status – View the status of your order
Simple orders don’t require much communication, such as creating a business card. A complex order like designing a new website will require constant contact.
• I’ve found it better to over-communicate on Fiverr.
5. ORDER DELIVERY
When your order is complete, you will receive a message from the service provider to confirm delivery.
You know when you’ve received a message as the ‘messages’ button will show a little red dot just above the button (see below ‘A’)
Once your order is delivered, you will be asked to review the order and confirm you are happy with the delivery. I.e., the order has met your expectations.
1. Messages Menu – Click this button to view messages received.
2. Notifications Menu – When an order is completed, you’ll see a notification here to confirm delivery
3. Notification – You can click and view delivery details by selecting the delivery confirmation notification.
And you’re finished.
The first time booking a gig may be tedious, but you’ll get the hang of the platform pretty quickly.
• It took me <20 minutes to book the website optimisation gig while taking screenshots to walk you through the process and another 10 minutes, in the end, to confirm the order and leave a review.
If you get stuck or want to learn more about the platform, Fiverr offers a comprehensive knowledge base with both written and video instructions here – https://buyers.fiverr.com/en/.
USING FIVERR TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY
Fiverr service providers are super affordable. So I use Fiverr to leverage mine and my team’s time by computing a time/cost tradeoff for work that needs doing.
Here’s how.
1. Identify and define the task. You need to know the job is that needs completing to be able to use Fiverr.
2. Assess the value of the task. Once I know there is a job that needs to be completed, and I understand the requirements. I assess what it would cost either myself or one of my team members to complete.
• How many hours will it take to complete, and what is that time worth.
3. I then research service providers on Fiverr and learn what the cost of outsourcing the task would be.
If the task will cost a similar amount to outsource on Fiverr and my team has time available. I’ll request my team to complete the work.
If you need help getting started or using the platform, please reach out; I’m happy to help.
Comments: 2
Fiverr has come a long way since launch and is now a serious option for certainly smaller business development. Its great to read a concise explanation of how it can now be used professionally. Thanks for sharing
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