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Do you need money now? Can you spend your weekends usually working from home (or anywhere on your laptop), and get your first clients? Do you want to start this weekend? If you can put in the effort, here is the answer!
Most of us have a computer or laptop and access to the internet. If you’re reading this post, I’m pretty sure you fall into this category. Many of us also need to earn money NOW. Or like, yesterday. I know that feeling and the position you’re in. I have been there and it’s not fun! Being in this position, searching around for a way to make money fast, it’s possible to fall for scams or sign up for the latest, greatest money making scheme which lands up being too good to be true.
Many of us also need to earn money NOW. Or like, yesterday… Click To Tweet
How many times have you read about joining a team, working from home or in your own time and earning excellent money only to find out it’s multi-level-marketing and it takes time..? In the past I’ve been so excited joining direct sales companies with awesome products that I believe in and love, only to have my hopes dashed when I realized how much time it would take to actually build teams under you and get clients to sell to etc etc. And if you’re somewhat of an introvert, this generally also wouldn’t be the “opportunity” for you!
Luckily this post does not contain such opportunities, and it all depends on YOU and how much time you put into it. You really can have your first client within a few hours. I have a lot of people ask me how I work from home and how I built up a client base so quickly. Especially when you start working on a freelancing platform and you have no reviews for example, how do you get people to hire you to get those first few reviews? It can be done!
Ok, enough of the motivational speech 🙂
I’m talking about offering your services on Fiverr. It’s simple to sign up to, simple to add your service offering and fairly simple to get your first client. If you can put aside a Saturday to work on getting yourself signed up and set up, proposing yourself to clients and tasks, you could have your first few clients on Sunday. I know it’s possible because I’ve done it! I didn’t have anyone to show me the ropes or walk me through it, nor show me how to create graphics to add to my services, what to write in the descriptions and figure out what services to offer…
I researched, found my way through and “cut my teeth” with the first few clients who decided to give me a chance – I’m thankful to them!!
Yes, of course I needed to work for a below-average fee but it was all worth it to build myself up on Fiverr, build my reviews, and even though it was not thousands and thousands of dollars, it was still money that I would never have normally had available to me to pay debts, buy groceries, pay bills and so on. And yes, I gave up my free time to work (a lot!) but what would I have been doing instead? Reading, studying, spending time with friends, watching TV… my friends are for life, so they understand if you need to forego a lunch or night out… and reading and TV could definitely wait for a time when I would be more financially stable!
Are you ready to do the work?
Ready to give up your relaxing weekends and evenings for a short time to get on the path to a profitable side hustle? It’s just temporary – so I hope you’re saying, “Yes, yes, tell me more!”
Let’s get into it then!
First things first
You need to be ok with is the fact that you will probably need to work for less than you would ideally like to, per hour, in the beginning. You’ll need to price yourself competitively in order to get your first few clients, and then do a fantastic job so that you receive 5 star reviews.
When you have built up some great reviews and have a steady influx of inquiries and orders, you can consider raising your price just a little. Remember, to get work on Fiverr, you need to be competitively priced even when you have some great reviews. It’s not called “Fiverr” for no reason!
Potential buyers go to the site to find a great deal and very often because they need the service but can’t afford to hire someone directly. So basically, you need to be ok with the fact that you will be working hard for average or below-average money, especially in the beginning, but if you want to better your financial situation, you’ve just gotta hustle down and do it – it will be worth it eventually as you’ll be able to either become an authority or go-to freelancer on Fiverr or you can branch out into bigger things.
Next
Decide what services you’ll be offering. Look at the below questions and write down the answers to get a better picture of what your service offering could be:
(On Fiverr, the productized services and tasks you’re offering are called “gigs”)
What do you do in your job on a daily basis that someone would pay for?
What do you do in your job day in and day out that you know you do well and you know someone would pay for?
Maybe you’re an admin assistant and you type documents quickly and accurately and could provide copy typing or audio typing services. This is one of the services I started out offering – audio typing and transcription. It’s super popular, but you need to type fast and have a good ear for the main accents if you’re considering this.
I’m creating a course to help people start out in transcription and get your first few clients. The only pre-requisite is that you type 45 words per minute or more. If you’d like to be kept informed of the release date, fill in your email below – it will be extremely affordable and actionable!
If you’d like to test your typing speed, here is a link to a free online test: http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
Do you proofread and correct documents for your boss before they are sent out?
You could offer proofreading and editing services.
Is there anything in your job that you do that people comment on or compliment you on?
What do people at work always ask you for help with?
What do you enjoy doing?
Is there anything else that you do within your job or that you do in your spare time and know it’s something you could charge for?
Do you love researching travel destinations and putting together travel itineraries for yourself or your friends?
Are you the friend that always organizes the entire trip from what time to arrive at the airport to where you’ll be having breakfast at 09h00 on day 7? Ok, I’m talking about myself here, but you get the idea 😉
Basically, I could charge for my travel research and planning services and those people who either hate doing it or just don’t have the time for it, will pay you to help them. I’ve come across a lot of people who either hate it or can’t do it.
Do you meal plan down to the last grain of rice for your family?
(Speaking of meal-planning, please check out this guide, it’s comprehensive and will help your food budget enormously!)
Are you a wellspring of good advice for your friends?
Do your friends always come to you for advice with something that you could talk for hours about and are really knowledgeable about? Could you be an amateur coach, offering Skype sessions for people looking for help but unable to afford an expensive coach with loads of diplomas under their belt?
What about career or job interview advice? Do you always get the jobs you apply and interview for?
People need your help!
What would you do even if you didn’t get paid?
Has anyone ever said you should charge for your talent?
Think about what you enjoy doing that someone would pay for.
For example, I have a friend who draws amazingly well and she does landscape vistas as well as portraits and gives them to her friends as gifts. She is so good at drawing and capturing her subject that people would definitely commission her for personal requests. She loves to draw and she could get paid really well to draw in her spare time. This is a perfect example of providing a service and getting paid – even if you would do it free.
Another example is writing. I love to research and write, and realised it was an in-demand service, so I began offering it. When people started to tell me I was good at it, leaving 5 star reviews and buying my writing services again, I was extremely happy. Even though I love writing, it’s still work, but the point is, it doesn’t really feel like it and I don’t mind spending my time doing this work and would much prefer to be researching and writing for a client than doing on-site admin work where I have to be at a certain place at a certain time.
As the saying goes…
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
What comes easily to you? What are you just good at?
What do you know you are good at? There are often things we love to do but experience huge frustration trying to do them. I’m not asking about the things you love to do, but rather the things that come effortlessly to you. For example, some people find learning a new software particularly difficult and they can’t get their head around it without one-on-one expert teaching, while others can pick it up effortlessly.
Is this you? Could you provide training to people in a program you know really well? Could you create mini courses on various aspects of PowerPoint, for example? What are people willing to pay for? Just as an idea, I know that many people would pay for more in-depth, tailor-made training on WordPress, so if you know this software like the back of your hand, create courses and sell them, or offer one-to-one WordPress training sessions – I’m pretty sure these would be a winner!
You should now have a brainstormed list of tasks and services you can offer to people who would pay you to help them. If you need some more ideas, ask your friends or family because very often you get another perspective that you never would have thought of.
Researching the competition
Now you are ready for the next step – researching.
Researching is important to know what services are in demand, what people are paying for, what those people are prepared to pay, how many other freelancers are offering the same service, are there any services that have less freelancers and have a load of orders in the queue? Seeing a gig with some orders in the queue is usually a good sign so you know you’re on the right track if you are creating a similar gig.
Make notes of which popular gigs match up to your list of possible services. Read the descriptions on those popular gigs and see what is being offered for the amount of money being charges. Fiverr used to just be all about gigs at $5, but they changed it to allow freelancers the opportunity to upsell, so you can have one gig that has a basic, standard and a premium option (like a bronze, silver and gold equivalent).
While you’re looking around the site, seeing what other freelancers are offering and getting your bearings, you’ll see the staggering array of different types of gigs. It’s really amazing what people will pay for and, what you as a freelancer, have the opportunity to offer. It just shows you that if you don’t have knowledge or experience in the traditional, in-demand online services like web design or transcription, you can still make great side hustle income with your own offering.
Now get up and running!
Now that you have decided what services to offer, researched competition and other similar service offerings to you, you are ready to create your profile and get those gigs up and running! I would recommend adding a minimum of three gigs and give each of them a basic and standard option to begin with. You can add a premium option later when you’re a bit more experienced with dealing with your clients, handling enquiries and managing your work and deliveries.
Get clients ASAP
Now you’re ready to start looking for tasks that fit your gigs and promoting yourself. At this point you could just close your laptop and wait for an order to come in but the likelihood of that happening quickly is slim to none. This will generally only happen once you have your first one, two or three 5 star reviews and Fiverr can see that you’re an upstanding freelancer. You’ll begin to have your profile shown higher to the top of search results the more 5 star reviews you have.
But how to get those reviews in the first place? It’s a catch-22 situation!
I’ve created a Fiverr course which walks you through signing up to Fiverr, filling out your profile to attract buyers, helps you decide what gigs to offer, shows you how to find the most in-demand gigs to provide inspiration and ideas, walks you through creating your gig graphics with PicMonkey and provides a bunch of ideas for promoting yourself to get clients and get those awesome reviews!
Visit my Side Hustle School to find out more and sign up…
Back to finding those all-important clients…
Well, you’ll need to scour the task requests and promote yourself. On your profile page or on the Fiverr home page, navigate to the “Selling” menu tab and then in the drop-down menu, click “Buyer Requests”. You’ll see a variety of buyers requesting their tasks to be completed. (You do need to have active gigs to be able to view them.)
When you submit your note along with your relevant gig, add something along the lines of, “even though I’m new to Fiverr, I’m good at what I do and guarantee that if you’re not satisfied with my work, I’ll refund you.” This helps a buyer feel more confident – even though it’s not a huge amount of money that they are “risking”, it’s still money, but also the time. They may be on a deadline and not have time to waste if they needed to find another freelancer if they weren’t happy. Keep doing this and you’ll eventually have your first client really soon after signing up and gain momentum. Just always deliver good quality work on or before the deadline and respond to messages in a timely manner, and your buyers will surely be happy…
5 Star reviews and orders flowing in – here we come!
If you’d like extra help and guidance with this whole process on Fiverr, don’t forget to check out my Fiverr course!
Any questions, drop me a line – and best of luck with your side hustle 🙂
