This blog post is by Rhys Wynne of The Blogging Dojo.
Recently I’ve been a part of a great discussion on a few blogging forums where we’ve talked about Fiverr. Fiverr is a website where, for $5, you can get a variety of tasks completed. For bloggers, particularly those starting out, outsourcing some of your blog to a third party may seem to be a luxury you can ill afford. However, with Fiverr, you outsource for small tasks (known as “gigs”) to individuals.
The forum and myself have gained results, some good, some not so good, from the site. As a result, here are the five things I’ve learned from Fiverr.com.
1. Use it to test software
There is a plethora of blogging software on the market, from ebook creators to social bookmarking software. How do you know which get results? I use Fiverr.
Use the search box to search for the name of the piece of software, and you will get a list of people who will offer to run the piece of software on your behalf. I use this with various link-building pieces of software (such as directory and article submission software). If I get a stream of links back from them, then I know the software is good, and I’ll probably buy it.
Secondly if you need to do something once or twice (such as create an ebook cover from a static image), it can be more cost effective to buy the work off Fiverr than purchase the software yourself.
2. Combine “gigs” to get what you want
A good friend of mine told me about this idea. Basically, a number of Fiverr gigs (particularly an audio track or a video message) are offered on a time-limited basis. Say you want a two-minute narration of a video, but the buyer only has one-minute slots. Simply buy two one-minute gigs from them.
Most are okay with doing two minute jobs; you can also contact the seller to ask if they’ll give you a bulk discount. I’d recommend this if you are need a longer piece done—say ten minutes or so.
3. Use it for low-level social proof
Here’s something I use Fiverr for when I’m starting a new project. I usually create a Facebook fan page along with a website, then pay through Fiverr to get 25 “likes” on the fan page. Why 25? Well, if I get 25 likes, I can secure a shorter, brandable URL.
Once I have that URL, it will never be taken away from me. I don’t care if I get unliked by those 25 people. It doesn’t matter, because once I can more effectively target people who would be interested once I have my branded Facebook URL.
4. You get what you pay for
Overall, you get what you pay for. A lot of things in life seem too good to be true, and often they are. My advice is don’t expect to get written blog posts that will go viral, or graphic design that will make your blog jump out, on Fiverr. However if you keep your expectations low, you should get exactly what you want.
5. The most important skill I’ve gained from Fiverr
The most important thing I’ve learned from using Fiverr is experience in dealing with people who you are paying to do a job for you. This skill will be transferable to more highly paid people associated with your blog in the future (such as contractors or even direct employees).
While I can’t give you a definitive list for dealing with contractors, here’s what Fiverr has taught me about managing gigs on the site.
- Specify clearly what you want: Use simple language to clearly explain what you want. A good idea is to use examples of previous work that’s similar to what you want to achieve. That way, there’s no confusion.
- Analyze failures: Often you won’t get exactly what you want back. Analyze where the communication breakdown occurred, and learn from your mistakes. It’s far better to do this when you’ve lost $5, rather than $500 (or more).
- Have fun with it! Fiverr is fast becoming a guilty addiction of mine, and I use it to prank people (such a record ranting videos on my mates, or getting them “Facebook Girlfriends” for a week). It helps the day go faster!
By learning these skills for such a small amount of cash, you’ll be more effective with outsourcing later on … and that’s worth a fiverr of anybody’s money.
Fiverr.com is one of the strategies of link building discussed in the free e-book “How I Ranked Page 1 In Google For Under $50“. In it, Rhys Wynne – the writer of this blog post – discusses an SEO strategy that can help you get a site running and earning in your blog empire. Rhys Wynne is a 7 year blogger and an SEO with over 4 years commercial experience, and you can follow him on Twitter at @bloggingdojo.
Nice article! I’ve been using Fiverr for a while now with excellent results. Highly recommend!
Fiverr is the great platform for people who have less expectations and who like to spend less money. Fiverr would soon provide many advancements as the product is getting popular every day. The site usage should be limited and after the proper case study. If people lose money, it doesn’t create any loss because it is only 5 bucks.
The most attractive thing i found in Fiverr is that it has variety of categories to choose with(From Graphics to Technology). It is the most welcoming thing.
I heard about Fiverr first time. I am going to check it. actually i need a facebook fans to create a permanent URL.
Yeah,
I’ve recently been outsourcing a lot of work on sites such as Elance.
Mainly article writing and Social media work.
The simpler the work is, the easier it is to outsource it for little money.
Compared to bigger projects like site design and custom made features, I try to stay away from.
You definitely get what you pay for over there though, and I’m not sure I’d trust any substantial amount of link building to Fiverr gigs for any big clients.
I agree with the tests though, for $5 you can also get things like video intros done (if you don’t want to fool around with certain Adobe products).
Hey Rhys,
Awesome tips! Especially the first one, somehow I did not think about “testing software” this way, though it sounds bloody obvious :)
Another cool way to use Fiverr is to create “branded stuff”. Some people offer to write your website name on a cake, some will turn it into awesome illustration, maybe some pretty girl will write it on a piece of paper and say a few words of how much she loves your blog…. and yeah.. this guy with card tricks, that can write any message on his cards – he’s really awesome.
I think having so much opportunity for creating lots of awesome “branded stuff” you can easily produce a “viral” video for your blog and get some likes on Facebook and tweets on Twitter :)
Cheers,
Tim Soulo
Holy words to read. I used Fiverr for a show intro video project in my website. In some case they lack for professional competencies and may you should fix some issue by yourself, but if you consider the price, most of them are in the market for only 5$, is a worthy money website.
Thanks Fiverr
This is nice to know information. I still cannot afford it, but it is nice to know.
Another point I’d like to add is when you pay for an existing gig – make sure you’ve read the gig thoroughly. Some sellers will craft the wording of the gig to boost the perceived value, when they’re really offering junk.
I started using Fiverr a while ago but only recently really seen its power. I mean close to “He Man – Power of Greyskull” kind of awesome. I used it to find a low competion keyword phrase, get some articles written and had backlinks built. It’s pretty cool considering that doing those things used to take me a long time to do.
Number #3 is a good tip, but don’y use Fiverr, use Mechanical Turk from Amazon. I get my 25 Facebook Likes for $3.96 total.
Good article by Rhys, though it necessarily just scratches the surface of Fiverr. I go in-depth on my blog, where we feature at least 3 great Fiverr gigs every day. It’s not advertising, we’ve actually tried these gigs and give you our opinion. Sometimes we get a lemon and when that happens, we tell you.
Let me think, what are the last five things I’ve bought on Fiverr: having my jpg logo vectorized, getting organic diggs for an article, modifying a logo to make it holiday-themed, an video chat with a voiceover artist, and having a message animated in claymation.
I love Fiverr!
I like fiverr. It is one of those money making opportunities on the internet that really pays and it is not at all difficult to make money if you really possess talents
I love Fiverr, You can get many things done on fiverr including cover images for $5, though I like to give my images for creating covers as you never know about the copyright information of image used there.
Dear Rhys really you are giving brand new ideas of utilizing Fiverr
I’ve used Fiverr for advertising. Hard to tell whether the return was significant, but the whole process was fun and certainly affordable.
Hey,nice article!
Fiverr can be a great place to get things done for cheap,as long as you are able to spot the really good gigs and honest sellers.
It is also good from a seller pov as long as you can offer something valuable and original.
I’ve had good luck with fiverr both as a buyer and a seller! Click on my name if you want to see what gigs i offer there :)
I have to confess that I did not know what Fiverr actually was. To be honest I thought it was a social Site of some sort, Like twitter or stumble-upon.
I will have to go and check out the site, as it sounds like quite a reasonable set up going by some of the above comments.
Though, as far as getting the paid tasks done, I will need to weigh up the advantages first.
I’m a big fan of Fiverr. I’ve had a few disappointments but mostly it has been good. My best buy there was a banner for a blog but I’ve also gotten some other good stuff.
Nice Post, Fiverr is a Great Place for Outsourcing I tried them some time ago.
I am using to get some articles written and was able to wade though some not outstanding editors and get a team of people who really write amazing articles. It’s a good price and the quality is excellent. As a seller on Fiverr I wouldn’t recommend it. 20% commission is HUGE. I was complaining about the ~9% elance took from my money, but 20% is just not right.
I’m about to use Fiverr for the first time to get some cheap graphic work done. It may not be great but I can guarantee they will look a whole lot better than my efforts. :P
Good advice here. Like you mentioned, Fiverr is the perfect place to experiment. If a job doesn’t work, you’re not out a lot of money. And the ones that do work are well worth the effort. It is a great way to get a handle on outsourcing and outsourcers without spending a ton of money.
1) You no longer need 25 Likes to secure the vanity URL
2) Paying to get those 25 Likes means you’ll be getting people who aren’t interested in the topic of your page – they will either then mass UnLike or Block said page – which means your Edgerank will drop and you will be penalized by FB. This is the same reason why one should NEVER “give away an iPad for Likes” – social is about getting organic growth filled with interested targeted people. Not random Likes. Random Likes don’t convert.
3. You get what you pay for. Quality shows.
Great article. Used Fiverr for the very first time this weekend. This was before another friend recommended someone on there. I was not totally satisfied with the first work and now I know exactly how to articulate myself on the next go around like someone said where in a previous comment. I looked at her work and I know now that my choice will be good. Not bad for $10.
I’m hooked.
Frantastically Yours,
Frances
Fiverr is an awesome place to outsource things. I have been using Fiverr for lot of things like getting a new logo designed, directory submissions, youtube views etc. Most times their services were worth my money.
There’s this really clever blog run by a campervan company here in New Zealand that has outsourced their entire blog using Fiverr. Instead of writing about travel or campervan tips like every other company out there, they’ve paid something like $500 and every day for 100 days they post a video, piece of artwork, song or photo about Lucky Rentals (that’s the name of the company) that they’ve purchased on Fiverr.
While it would be hard for every blogger to do this, if you want a bit of funny, weird or unique content, it could be quite a good idea as Fiverr is so easy to use and cheap as.
You can see what Lucky has done with Fiverr here: http://www.luckyrentals.co.nz/blog/
I haven’t tried Fiverr yet, but I’m thinking I should give it a look. Thanks for the great info.
I use Fiverr for one-off things that it’s just not worth my time to learn how to do. For example, I needed a quick conversion of an image format to give to a printer. Could I have done it? Sure, but I wasn’t familiar with the process and it would have taken me several hours, finding free software, etc. For $5, it was perfect for Fiverr . . . and it was the type of gig where I could state very clearly what I needed.
The one thing I’ve found it’s important to do is be sure you and the seller are fluent in the same language so that there aren’t miscommunications.
I’ve done three things via Fiverr and been blown away by the results on two — the other was a waste of my money as the seller just didn’t get what I wanted (which was creativity, which is hard to express . . .).
I think it’s a cheap outsourcing option. Blog posts and quick design fixes.
I think that $5 is pretty low, but it can be a great way of sending out simple projects to test the skills of your potential freelancer – especially when there’s no way of verifying the skills or portfolio items presented to you for your project/job requirement. Yes, there’s always the adage that you get what you pay for and who knows? You may just find a diamond in the rough among the pile of rubbles.
Humm perhaps I can use Fiverr to get a blog headers made…
I’ve used Fiverr for all sorts of stuff. Mainly graphics and intros to videos that would be really time consuming to make myself. The way I look at it, you find 5 people for the same job, pick the best one and you’re only out $25. Heck you might even be able to use all 5 at some point. I think it’s a great deal.
I just built my first website and am trying to blog twice a week. I’ve looked at fiverr for link building and twitter/facebook follows. I’ve read different things about buying backlinks. Some people are saying you can be penalized for buying them, but I am not sure. If someone could give some advice on whether using fiverr for backlinks is good or bad and your experience I would appreciate it.
Thank You,
James
I have recently used fiverr for 2 gigs both for backlinking a new blog.
so far the results are good.
Hope fully i will use fiverr in the future for simple tasks but other complex ones will have to be on odesk.
well its a just a fiver or about £3.50 for me.
Fiverr is a great resource. I love it. I think I may be one of the few who hasn’t had a problem with anyone on there, although I do go by ratings. I’ve also used it to buy facebook likes, but I even bought a trinket off of it. I’ve had a logo done, which came out better than I thought it would. I do agree though you do get what you pay for (except I was really happy with my logo). But I love the idea of fiverr. Actually that’s why my friend created iwillfora it’s the same type of thing.