Selling on Fiverr vs Selling On Your Own
Every week I share tips and strategies of succeeding in the gig economy space, especially on a marketplace like Fiverr. Thank you for checking out this week’s publication!
For the last 5+ years I have been observing various approaches to running an agency both on and off Fiverr. When I decided to leave the platform in 2020 and run an agency on my own I noticed something very interesting…
Running an agency on your own requires you to establish several fundamental parts: backend operations, a communication channel, funnels and traffic. When such a system is not set up, failure for independent agencies is almost inevitable: they rush to get their first client, but are not prepared for the mess that comes after receiving the first payment. No matter in which field you offer your services, customer experience should always come first. But it’s important to keep it simple.
After working with over 12,000 customers in the last few years, I noticed that 70% of success comes from communicating with customers. Even if expected results weren’t achieved in the end, customers would still be extremely happy if they were regularly updated and provided with valuable tips.
I’d like to share an example from a current service I offer.
Back in 2018-2019 I could grow a client Instagram account from 600 to a 1000 new people per month. But right now the growth rate is only from 100 to 300 new people per month. However I am charging way more than what I used to charge back in 2018. So why I am still getting awesome feedback?
The answer is very simple…I provide extra tips and strategies for each client account. I do this by recording a video and by giving actionable tips on how to fix the mistakes they might have. Also in the middle of the order I share a few pre-recorded videos with small tips for the customer. They absolutely love it!
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of selling on Fiverr.
SELLING ON FIVERR
PROS:
If your gigs are highly ranked, you will constantly get traffic and sales.
It’s much easier to keep communication in 1 place. You can quickly reach out to most of the buyers as they have a mobile app installed.
You don’t get disturbed by buyers outside of Fiverr. That makes it safer to use social media and protects your privacy there.
Fiverr grows year by year and constantly launches new features which will eventually help you scale your business on Fiverr.
The competition is not too high (probably because many people are underestimating the power of selling on Fiverr) and thus it becomes easier to get ranked on the first page (if you have an optimized description, gig picture, gig video and FAQ sections filled in).
CONS:
Fiverr always takes a 20% commission from you on any order that the buyer places (this includes tips as well).
If you break any rules on the platform, your entire account can be taken down in a matter of minutes.
The gig ranking can be unpredictable and stressful at times. Sometimes your gig can be ranked at the top and then suddenly disappear shortly.
You don’t have any direct contact with your customers (no emails, no phone numbers).
When you start hiring people for your team, you will end up sharing your entire Fiverr account, therefore anyone in your team will be able to see all of your information (including earnings).
If you are just getting started, I do think Fiverr is a wonderful place to test your services and get feedback from customers. This platform also helped me become more disciplined with my work because of its eligibility scores (order completion rate, response time, delivering orders on time, feedback from customers). Keeping these scores high can be challenging at first, but eventually that pushes you to deliver the best quality service.
Selling your services outside of Fiverr means entering a completely different world though…Let’s look at the pros and cons of running an agency on your own.
SELLING ON YOUR WEBSITE
PROS:
You always keep 100% of the payment (minus the payment processing fees) and you have full access to contacting your customer (email, phone number). This helps you run retargeting ads and build a look-a-like audience in the future.
You set your own rules and systems. You can build an entire customer experience journey the way you want it to look like.
You are better protected when hiring team members because you can choose to share only certain parts of your business.
You can build a better relationship with your customers, thus inclining them to stay for several months or years longer (setting up recurring payments).
CONS:
It might take a long time to set up a whole system and infrastructure (picking the backend platform, creating a funnel, choosing a communication channel).
You always need to have active ad campaigns running in order to get more customers (a/b test ads, funnels).
You might end up spending more money than what you would actually make in return.
Some aspiring entrepreneurs don’t even consider listing their services on a freelancing platform like Fiverr. It could be that they are underestimating the potential of being there. But you can check out my previous post to see in numbers (!) what I got out of my experience on the platform .
Thank you very much for your time and for reading this publication! 🙂 Have an amazing start of the week and stay tuned for a new publication next week 😃