Fiverr
Fiver.com is a marketplace where users sell and buy services for $5.
Nothing is quite like Fiverr when it comes to outsourcing. Many people use it on a regular basis, yet it is one of the most underutilized resources we have around.
This is because a lot of people don’t know about it. However, you might be surprised to find we’re talking about one of the most popular websites in the world. According to Alexa, Fiverr is the 64th most popular site in the U.S. and the 131st most popular site globally. It can come as a bolt out of the blue to find how much you can outsource on Fiverr for a measly $5. It’s quickly becoming one of the most valuable websites for entrepreneurs online.
As you keep expanding your business over time, there will be all kinds of things you will want to include. Running an online business can be very time consuming so Fiverr is a dream come true for the small business owner. It’s a great place to get some help, especially at these prices! Fiverr is seriously cheap.
If you haven’t yet taken the leap into outsourcing, Fiverr is a great place to start.
You can get awesome value for your money.
People can get all sorts of different things done for $5. These freelancers do all kinds of gigs, everything from article writing and video editing to cartoons, logos and professional banner design.
Graphic Design
Graphic design should be one of the first things you outsource. Basic design work, such as logos, banner ads, Facebook headers, blog post images, website headers, image optimization and business card design are tasks you can get started with very affordably.
You can start branding your business with professional e-book covers and custom Twitter & YouTube backgrounds.
Flat design is clean, simple and trendy. It’s frequently expensive but you can get top notch flat design services for anything you need, including icons, logos and caricatures.
There are some AMAZING designers ready, willing, and able to create these for you.
Take caricatures for example. You’d be amazed at the quality of caricatures you can have made for just $5! You can use one of those really awesome characters of yourself for marketing purposes or whatever you like.
If you include a lot of high-resolution images throughout your blog posts, these images will drastically slow down your page load If unoptimized, This is an excellent thing to outsource on Fiverr, since your time could be better spent elsewhere, Resizing, converting and compressing 20 or 30 images is a huge time suck.
Here’s Another Type of Good Gig –
Video Editing, Video Introductions and Voiceovers.
There are some awesome voice talents on Fiverr.com from deep radio voices, to famous impressions, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
There’s really no need to pay $200 – $400 for a simple video intro if it’s just being used for your free videos, but it’s up to you. You can’t beat $10 for a simple video intro.
You can even find people on Fiverr who will provide you with FEATURE FILM quality at rock bottom prices.
Videos are a super simple way to increase your traffic and exposure.
Want to create a cool intro video for your upcoming product launch?
How about a Funny Video?
Do you want to, perhaps, lighten the mood a bit on your blog? Would you like to send something funny to one of your friends? You wouldn’t believe all the crazy things people on Fiverr do on video for $5. There are a ton of them! There’s people who will wear chicken costumes or hotdog costumes. They will even dress like zombies with face paint and everything. Maybe you can find a way to use this is your marketing when you use your imagination. People love to be entertained!
Here’a sample from Fiverr’s Video & Animation category.
Here are some more time-consuming tasks you can get gone on Fiverr:
Simple Photoshop tasks, such as photo touchups or dropping out backgrounds.
Basic web development, Google Analytics implementations, and troubleshooting.
Data entry, such as spreadsheets and virtual assistant work.
It’s Important to Clearly Communicate Exactly What You Want.
The one golden rule for successful outsourcing is – don’t outsource anything you can’t clearly articulate to the freelancer. You should have an implicit understanding of the task and explicit details on how to perform it.
You need to understand exactly what needs to be done so you can clearly communicate that to the freelancer.
If not, you’re going to get low quality work, and you’re better off hiring an agency if you don’t have a good grasp on the task you’re outsourcing to freelancers.
Every time you order a gig on Fiverr, you have the opportunity to tell the freelancer precisely what you want.
Transcription is Another Time- consuming Task
You can also transcribe content to increase your traffic and exposure. For example, if you have videos, webinars, or teleseminar recordings, you can get those transcribed and break them up into articles and reports that you can syndicate around the web.
Video transcriptions are great for You Tube SEO and even better for turning your video marketing efforts into blog posts. If you’ve ever tried transcribing a 20-minute YouTube video before then you know it’s tough work.
Generally, transcription can normally be pretty expensive. Some transcription services go for $2-$5 per minute, However, with Fiverr, you can do it quite affordably. You can find some people who will transcribe 15 minutes for only $5!
You can make your audio/video product more valuable by including an “ebook” with the package by having your content transcribed.
You can also find people to do translation, proof-reading, write headlines, write letters/emails, do research and create or modify spreadsheets.
Let’s Look at Some Best Practices to Keep in Mind When Using Fiverr.
Here’s what to do each and every time you book a gig on Fiverr.
Filter the search to show only highly rated people and always look for positive reviews, lots of positive “thumbs-up” feedback. Make sure they have at least 50 five star reviews. Run through the categories (logos, videos, etc.) and find the ‘highest rating’ gigs.
You are only spending $5 but you may end up using the source many times so it’s better to start out with as much social proof as possible.
Many of the vendors are newer and may be great, but you can usually find more experienced Fiverr vendors with plenty of feedback.
Read the testimonials on their page to see if they say something more than “outstanding experience”. The legit ones are the testimonials that are detailed and check to see if the user’s profile looks credible.
You can even do a google image search to make sure the designs in their portfolio are original creations and not rip offs from other design sources.
Next, message the seller about your project before booking a gig, never hire anyone without first reaching out! Drop the seller a message before you hire them and tell them about your specific requirements. Listen to the responses they give you to make sure they know what they are talking about.
To be cautious, consider completing a written independent contractor agreement. Most good vendors will agree. Have them sign it, scan it and send it back to you – Simple enough. Here is Fiverr’s copyright policy.
Here is a free independent contractor form you can download.
This is especially important for creative gigs like graphic design, image enhancement, article writing, logo design, etc. Again, you want to make sure they are not copying other people’s material and passing it off as their own.
Be sure to book someone who offers unlimited revisions. If the portfolio is good and the job is straight forward you can take a chance with a person offering 3 revisions as these people might be more expert.
Look for the people with gigs that are more than $5 and these are usually the pros. Sometimes, there are logo gigs that might be quite complex on Fiverr for $100 and up. So make sure you read the description carefully and find out exactly what you’re buying for your $5.
You may find someone that is providing 10 times the value for what you paying because many Fiverr gig providers are using the site as a “loss leader” to develop new business.
If you have a real need for that person’s talents, you can find them outside of Fiverr and hire them for more work. Just know that Fiverr does not allow the exchanging of emails on their internal messaging system so you need to be careful! You don’t want to get banned.
I hope these tips help you to successfully navigate this virtual marketplace.
Learn What Works And What Doesn’t
Make sure the gig seems realistic. If someone promises 50,000 backlinks for $5, that’s unlikely and probably unrealistic.
Find providers that provide a report that shows exactly what work they did, especially if you are purchasing gigs for things like social bookmarking.
(Just so you know – social bookmarking is a way for people to store, organize, search, and manage links to web pages. Social bookmarking is the practice of saving bookmarked web pages to public social bookmarking websites, storing them as a way to share the links with other Internet users, very handy down the line as you build your business.)
If they don’t reply quickly, mainly within 24 hours, you know they’re not that focused on you as a customer.
Fiverr is a Good Way to Learn Effective Outsourcing.
You can easily pick and choose simple tasks that are inexpensive to purchase. As your experience and confidence grow, you can look at bigger outsourcing firms to take over large chunks of your business. For example, perhaps you can outsource your entire backlinking operation. This is a major step, but with time and diligence, you can offload this time-consuming activity.
What if Hiring on Fiverr Doesn’t Work Out?
From time to time, yes you’re going to make a bad purchase. People can deliver late and pretty bad quality products. You can raise a ticket in Fiverr’s resolution center if you’re really unhappy.
Even though some providers can be a little flaky, don’t go around punishing people for no reason. At the same time, don’t hesitate to leave negative feedback when someone drops the ball.
Their customer service team is incredibly understanding. They can, not only see the work delivered but the messages you’ve sent and what you’ve asked for, as well. They can very quickly see if the seller hasn’t delivered. You’ll always receive a refund for any service that’s poor quality if you’re reasonable.
Outsourcing is a Learned Skill.
As your business grows, you will want to consider other sources of virtual assistance. Fiverr is a great place to learn to contact and work with these people because you can get your feet wet with only $5 at a time. Fiverr gives you the opportunity to develop your outsourcing muscles,
Over time, you may wonder why you didn’t use Fiverr sooner.
Timothy Ferriss, of The 4 Hour Work Week, is an outsourcing guru. He says, “If you spend your time, worth $20-25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $10 per hour, it’s simply a poor use of resources.”
This will free you up to do the fun part of your business that you don’t want to outsource.