Thursday, May 12, 2016

5 Things Not to Do During a Fiverr Dry Spell

A dry spell in sales can be scary. Perhaps you depend on Fiverr sales (though it's never a good idea to depend on only one source of income). Perhaps your family depends on your earnings. It's frightening when there are suddenly no sales, especially if you're used to them, so some people start panicking and doing things they shouldn't do, and in the process, only harm their own business.

The short-short version of things-not-to-do can be described as begging and spamming. Let's see some examples:

1. Complaining/Begging on the Fiverr Forum

Some sellers are going to complain/cry/whine on the forum that they're not getting any sales, and beg that someone orders from them. Why is it a bad idea? Because it makes whoever is doing it look desperate and incompetent. It annoys regular forum visitors, and doesn't present the seller as someone who could do a good job. The result? Still no sales, and possibly getting banned from the forum, getting an account warning, and maybe even being banned from Fiverr.

2. Messaging Other Sellers and Begging Them to Buy

Fiverr's Terms of Service clearly state that users shouldn't send unsolicited messages to other users for the purpose of advertising their services. In other words, if Seller1 doesn't message Seller2 to ask for a service that Seller2 provides, Seller2 shouldn't message Seller1 and beg him/her to buy the said service.

Think about it: if you're busy, a message from a seller advertising services that you neither want nor need is annoying. If you're in the middle of a dry spell, and you see that someone has messaged you, you will hope that you're finally going to make a sale – and it will definitely be annoying if it turns out that it's just someone trying to take your money in exchange for something you don't want. Either way, you don't want people to message you offering you something you have no interest in, so you shouldn't do it to others, either. Not to mention that the penalty for spamming other users is having the messaging function disabled, or even getting banned from Fiverr.

3. Spamming on Social Media

Advertising on social media can be useful. However, social media are for people to socialize. It's perfectly fine to talk to other people about this and that, to offer something of value (like a useful advice/recommendations/whatever it is that you can genuinely contribute), and then, sometimes, to mention specific services that you offer. On the other hand, people who do nothing but post their ads and beg for buyers quickly get ignored/blocked by pretty much everyone, making advertising impossible.

4. Applying for a Job Without Knowing How to Do It

In the Buyer Requests section, buyers state what they need done, and sellers who provide relevant services can offer them. However, there are many sellers who apply for as many jobs as they can, regardless of whether they can actually do them. It doesn't help them get a sale, and it only puts buyers off – and, in some cases, convinces them to abandon Fiverr completely.

5. Offering Services in the Buyer Requests Section

This section is for buyers to post what they need, not for sellers to offer their services. That is why requests can only be seen by those who offer a service in the same category, making advertising there completely useless – buyers can't even see the ad, only other sellers see it, and they have no intention of buying.


So, what to do during a Fiverr dry spell? You can read some suggestions here, or visit the Fiverr Forum for more.