Maddy Osman is a digital marketer and Fiverr Pro with 10+ years of experience in web design, social media, and blogging. She's worked as a brand ambassador for Sony and Zipcar, as a blog contributor for high-authority blogs like Search Engine Journal & Fortune 500 companies like AT&T. And that's just the beginning. Hire her for your next project or content need on Fiverr.
My history with Fiverr goes all the way back (ok, really just two years) to my first days of freelancing full-time. I found a freelancing mentor who had successfully made the jump from a similar corporate into a new industry. His secret weapon? Fiverr. Under his counseling, I set up a winning profile and a few high-converting gigs, successfully launching my freelance business without having to eat ramen for every meal (score!).
At this point in time, Fiverr doesn’t make up the majority of my freelance business, but the income I make off the platform is enough to keep me active and engaged as new orders come in. Fast forward a few years of moving up from an entry-level Fiverr community member, to a Level 2 seller, and even becoming an avid buyer for my business, The Blogsmith and an e-commerce venture, Tanks that Get Around. Perhaps because of my deep use of the platform, I was contacted by Fiverr’s team and invited to take part in their new Pro initiative.
You’ve all seen the articles or the posts on entrepreneurial Facebook groups where people refer to Fiverr as the low-quality marketplace. Of course, these things could be said of anything in life. I’ve admittedly worked with some low-quality sellers on Fiverr, and I’ve also worked with some truly amazing sellers who overdeliver on every order and get lots of repeat business from me.
To address and resolve the issues of low-quality sellers and deliverables, and to provide the perfect opportunity to recruit new high-quality sellers, Fiverr recently launched their latest feature, Fiverr Pro.
Being featured in the Fiverr Pro marketplace had a noticeable effect on my interactions with clients and prospects across all areas of the platform. Though the Pro initiative is still relatively new, here’s what I can definitively say about my participating in it so far:
In general, being on Fiverr Pro led to higher volumes and higher quality orders across all of my gigs. Instead of just ordering the base package, people who found me through my Fiverr Pro placement sprang for the more expensive and more complete versions of my gigs. In many ways, being a Fiverr Pro is like a seal of trust directly applied by the Fiverr team. It’s almost as lucrative as being a Top Rated Seller, especially in terms of the specific category you occupy as a Pro (mine is Writing & Translation).
Fiverr Pro requires you to pick a specific category to sell in. You can apply to more over time based on your credentials, but most people probably excel in one particular category. It’s interesting to note however, how a Fiverr Pro gig can boost another non-Pro gig in a related category (like my social media content creation gig).
Getting more attention is rarely all good. As the result of becoming a heavily advertised Fiverr Pro seller, I got a bunch of messages from other Fiverr sellers who wanted to know how I had become a Pro. I tried answering as many messages as I could, but the message notifications were starting to get distracting, and if I didn’t answer or mark them as spam, my response rate would be affected (which affects my ability to be a Fiverr Pro seller).
The Fiverr team must’ve been hearing about similar situations from other Fiverr Pro sellers because they contacted me and assured me that they were on top of it. Instead of me having to respond in order to maintain my response rate, they went in and marked messages as spam that fit the nature of people getting in touch with me for non-business purposes. This situation brings up another interesting aspect of being a Fiverr Pro seller.
Now that I have a Pro gig, I have a dedicated customer support person in my corner for any weird stuff that happens between me and the people who buy my gigs. It’s nice to have someone who knows me well as a seller and has my back in situations where I’m being treated unfairly. Though this support is technically for my Pro gig, it has expanded past that to my other gigs and my experience on Fiverr in general.
You might assume that people who pay more for a certain deliverable are harder to please, but I’ve found the opposite to be true. Of course, on the subject of revisions, clear communication is necessary from both parties to achieve the desired end result without an endless back and forth. As far as the types of clients I’ve worked with in Fiverr Pro, it’s a very diverse group. Some client highlights include:
I’ve really enjoyed the range of topics and companies that Fiverr Pro has put me into contact with!
Creating a Fiverr Pro gig is not so different than creating a regular Fiverr gig: there’s just an added level of approval needed before it goes live. It really starts with applying to be a Fiverr Pro. A basic Fiverr account doesn’t require you to volunteer much information to start selling, but a Fiverr Pro application is more closely associated with the concept of applying for a job. Make sure to highlight your best achievements and any social proof you can share in terms of awesome clients and other business successes.
I use Fiverr as a buyer and a seller and continue to be impressed by the strides they’ve made to create a well-rounded marketplace for new and established freelancers. If you think Fiverr is a place for shoddy work at cheap prices, I beg to differ—and I think my fellow Pro sellers would agree !Of course, the best way to understand Fiverr Pro is to check out a gig from one of the Pro sellers. Might I suggest one that involves writing an awesome blog post for your brand? ;)
%20Large.jpeg)
