A key part of my new web design marketing and pricing strategy for 2024 is to make use of the Fiverr platform. I recently drafted gigs on User Friendly Website Design, Quick Website Checkups, and Smart Online Business Plans, due to launch on Fiverr before the end of January 2024.
See below my analysis of what Fiverr is all about, why it makes sense for a solopreneur, and the pros and cons of the platform.
What is Fiverr?
Fiverr is an online platorm designed to connect buyers and sellers of a wide variety of digital services, ranging from web design and digital marketing to accounting and event planning. Fiverr is one of the largest, most secure and well known of the online free-lancing platforms, competing with Upwork that caters to larger, more complex and expensive projects.
Fiverr Sellers fill out a profile and then provide brief information on specific tasks or “gigs” that they can perform, typically over a few days or weeks. All project communication, analytics, ordering and payments are done on the Fiverr platform. It is up to buyers to search for and order gigs, and sellers are only paid upon gig completion and satisfaction of the buyer. Competition is worldwide and fixed pricing tends to be low. Fiverr is free for a seller to join, but the company takes a 20% commision off of each sale.
Here are two Youtube videos from an outside reviewer, Mike Nardi, that give feedback on Fiverr: The Truth About Starting on Fiverr in 2023, and How to Make Money on Fiverr.
My Solopreneur Rationale for Fiverr
My key reasons to start using Fiverr follow:
- Fiverr opens up a broad new market to both small business and non-profits for my web design services.
- Filling out the profile and gig forms also disciplines me to sharpen task or gig descriptions, and get realistic about deliverable timing and fulfillment.
- Researching my web design competition on Fiverr has helped me arrive at new pricing for my entry-level services in 2024, starting as low as $100 for a new WordPress.Com site, $50 for a Website Checkup, and $200 for business planning.
- While it is common for consultants to use more than one freelancing platform (for example, Fiverr and Upwork), I have chosen to first focus on learning and addressing client demand on Fiverr.
- Preparing content for Fiverr has also induced me to “up” my marketing by preparing short videos on CapCut, new banner images on Canva, and short, punchy text to promote my gigs.
In general, website design is a highly competitive space, with Wix, GoDaddy, Squarespace and others constantly promoting the low cost, ease and speed for users to launch a website. While web design is not as easy or quick as these ads promise, this is where buyers “are at”, and the Fiverr platform does well is giving me a marketplace to engage many first-time buyers, and a possible entry point for longer term projects and customer relationships.
As a last point, in recent months I have had a favorable experience in using two other, pro bono platforms to carry out half a dozen quick Website Checkups for non-profits: Taproot Plus and CatchaFire. While not generally useful in marketing paid consulting, using these services has shown me the virtues of online platforms in locating and connecting with online clients.
Here are my general Pros and Cons of Using Fiver
Pro:
- Fiverr has an enormous marketplace (over 4 million total buyers!) for marketing my web design services, and is well worth the commission price.
- Researching the profiles and gigs of other Web Designers or Business Planners on Fiverr has given me a better idea of my competition, and tips on how I might better market and price my services.
- I expect that my own use of the platform and experience with Buyers will help reality-check and fine-tune the scope and pricing of my services in future.
- Fiverr enables and encourages seller links on Social Media, esp Quora, and my hope is that Fiverr will help boost my broader online marketing.
- Lastly, in preparing text, FAQs and Milestones for my gigs, Fiverr has also inspired my production of other marketing collateral such as a hard copy brochure using a VistaPrint template.
Con:
- Fiverr has a bias toward low priced, quick delivery of digital services which is not always appropriate for complex, labor-intensive web design. However, it does allow for expanding Gig offerings in differently priced packages of Basic/Standard/Premium, as well as follow-on short projects in the form of “Gig Extras” or “Custom Gigs”.
- The platform charges a hefty 20% commision on the Seller and a smaller, 5% fee on Buyers. However, membership as a Seller is free.
- It takes some time to fill out profile and gig content for Fiverr, and accomodate it to the text and size limitations on the platform. Be mindful that all your communications, ordering, payments and customer feedback are confined to Fiverr.
- Lastly, there is a strong incentive to follow through on Buyer Orders. While a Seller can Cancel an Order, this is not encouraged. Moreover, Sellers are rated at various “levels” on the platform based on customer satisfaction.
In sum, my hope is that Fiverr will prove to be a worthwhile online component in my new promotional approach for 2024, in addition to my continued local marketing and referrals through membership in the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce (GGCC), and my outside WordPress website Demos and Presentations in the DC area and beyond for the New Year (see my updated Presentations list for 2024).
Others’ comments or questions about this article on Fiverr, or your experience with other online gig platforms such as Upwork are very welcome!
DC Web Revolution 