My experiences with Fiverr after 150 assignments

Fiverr is perfect for this kind of thing. It's cheaper to outsource it through Fiverr than to hire someone in the Netherlands, for example. And it is also delivered in no time.

Since I think you too should get acquainted with Fiverr, it's high time to share with you my experiences after 150 assignments.

Ps. If you don't have a Fiverr account yet, click here to create one.

What is Fiverr?

Fiverr is a platform where freelancers offer their services. Fiverr itself describes itself as "Freelance services marketplace for businesses.

Quite simply, if you want something done that you would normally need a freelancer to do, you can outsource it through Fiverr.

To make it concrete, I'll list Fiverr's categories for you. Then you will know what is possible:

• Graphics and design
• Digital marketing
• Writing and translations
• Video and animation
• Music and audio
• Programming and technology
• Business
• Lifestyle

You can really outsource anything through Fiverr. Think about the design of your tattoo (recommended if you want to have a few designs made, if you don't know what you want), but you can also get two American ladies to record a promotional clip for you.

If you can figure it out, you can outsource it through Fiverr.

If you are curious about the possibilities on Fiverr? Then click here to go to the Fiverr website

Why I started using Fiverr

I learned about Fiverr through the book "The 4-hour workweek" by Tim Ferris. In it he mentions the platform and talks about how important it is to outsource things. I won't go further into this, you'll have to read the book for that.

If you scroll way back on my blog page, you'll see that the images looked different before.

I also got quite a few compliments on these designs (I don't quite understand why). I did this all by myself and making such an image often took me up to an hour.

Since at one point I no longer had that time and my time was becoming increasingly precious, I thought it was time for a solution.

And that was Fiverr ;).

See here an example of the image I made myself:

What can you outsource through Fiverr (And what can't)?

Things like a design, a tweak to your website, a music video or one time English lyrics can be perfectly outsourced through Fiverr.

Since there are fewer things you can't outsource through Fiverr, I'll start with that.

The people present on Fiverr mainly speak English. Should your assignment include anything Dutch, it already becomes difficult to outsource it properly. Think of your SEO texts, a translation from English to Dutch or your entire search engine optimization.

But you can outsource the rest just fine!

Fortunately, there are more and more Dutch freelancers on Fiverr. So it's just a matter of time before there's something in there for you, too.

Advantages and disadvantages of Fiverr

I really am a huge fan of Fiverr. And yes, I know we pay incredibly little in comparison. But the other side of the coin you have to be aware of, too.

Because when I pay a tenner for a 2-hour job, that could be a day's wage or a week's wage for that person.

This is a question of conscience for you to answer for yourself.

And now on to the benefits:

• Fiverr is cheap.
• People deliver the so-called gigs (that's what the jobs are called on Fiverr) quickly. Often within as little as three days
• There is an awful lot of room for feedback. They do everything they can to satisfy you.
• The platform works easily and you can pay via iDeal
• You can find hundreds / thousands of potential freelancers with one platform
• With the review system, you can see if someone has a lot of experience and is therefore doing a good job
• Clear chat feature that you get emails from. So you won't miss anything easily.
• Fiverr's website is free to use. You only pay when you outsource a job
• Fiverr is also working on Fiverr Pro. Here the freelancers are vetted by Fiverr staff and so the quality is many times higher

Now on to the cons:

• There are also many poor quality freelancers among them. At first glance they seem good, but what they produce is poor or generated by a program and not created by themselves.
• Because of the large number of freelancers, sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees
• There are stories going around that the reviews have been rigged at times.
• It is difficult to contact Fiverr directly (should you ever need to).

In my opinion, the advantages are many times more important than the disadvantages. So I will definitely continue to use it.

And since I am terribly satisfied with the designer who has already created more than 150 illustrations for me, I think it's time to put him in the spotlight.

(In case you haven't seen the illustrations yet, this is a sample of them.)

An ode to Prodesign47

By now the counter has reached 150 illustrations and during two of them I found that I have to wait a little too long. And by a little too long, I mean four days instead of two.

That was because Prodesign47 was on honeymoon what with his wife.

What my response was? "Congratulations and enjoy your journey."

Prodesign47 is a fantastic guy. He always responds within a few hours and when I have an emergency (this has happened four times now), he was able to deliver my gig within a few hours.

Fantastic.

In half the cases, I state exactly what I want. I do this in a few words or with a draft. Time after time I am satisfied with the result.

What do I do with the other 50%? Then I ask him if he can come up with something for me.

And then I am always satisfied with that as well.

Prodesign47 also nicely indicates that he likes to incorporate feedback. In the 150 jobs he has now done for me, I have given feedback 15 times.

It has happened two more times that I had multiple feedback on the same assignment.

Should you also want to work with Prodesign47, two things are important:

• It works exclusively through Fiverr
• I sometimes feel like it's several people (or some kind of agency).

6 best tips for people using or wanting to use Fiverr

Should you be convinced of the power of Fiverr, I have a few more tips for you so that your Fiverr adventure will be a success.

Tip #1: Read freelancers' reviews carefully and look especially for the bad reviews and those that are several sentences long.

Tip #2: Never stare blindly at one freelancer. Write to several freelancer to ask if they have great ideas, what it costs or if they have a lot of experience and if they have time.

Tip #3: For anything you can outsource through Fiverr, consider how much time it will cost you and put your hourly rate against that. Then determine if it's better to outsource.

Tip 4: Take a good look at the freelancer's profile and look for "Skill tests" and the "Learn from Fiverr. Here you can see if the freelancer has a certain level.

Tip 5: Be as specific as possible in your assignment. Think out every detail so you won't be disappointed.

Tip #6: Go for the long term. Build a relationship with your freelancer and don't switch constantly. If you are happy with someone, stay with that person.

And then don't hesitate to give an extra tip once ;).

This entry was written on January 3, 2020 and updated on September 20, 2022