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.

5 Things to Do During a Fiverr Dry Spell

Experienced freelancers know that sales are never guaranteed, and that they come and go. However, that doesn't mean that the the time you spend not making sales is wasted, not if you use it wisely.

The short-short version of using the time wisely would be self-improvement. How? There are many things that you can do, and what you choose is solely up to you. Here are some suggestions (basically, things that I've tried and that worked for me):

1. Improve Your Skills

No matter how good you are, there's always room for improvement – plus, the better you become, the bigger the demand for your services will be. Go to a course related to your niche, learn from tutorials and books, watch what the experts are doing and think about how to apply it to your own work. Once you start selling again, your service will improve, meaning happy clients, recommendations, and the possibility to charge more.

2. Learn New Skills

Is there something you could add to your services, if only you were familiar with (insert another skill here)? Learn it! Maybe it's working with a new software, or learning another writing technique, or expanding into another niche. Whatever it is, use the idle time to learn it – the time will pass faster that way, and you will have more to offer.

Or, you could learn something completely new and unrelated to your current services, and offer that. With prices starting at $5, Fiverr is great for that kind of experiment – someone will try you out, and you will see whether it works for you or not.

3. Learn About Marketing

Whether your services are related to marketing or not, you need to advertise your business, and you need to know how to do it efficiently. Perhaps what you offer is awesome, but only a few people know about it? Advertising will take care of that. There are plenty of books, websites and tutorials on the topic, so find something that you're comfortable with, and use that knowledge.

4. Read for Pleasure

Quiet periods can also be great to relax a bit and recharge your batteries. Read books, watch movies, listen to music, take on some hobbies... Enjoy yourself! It will not only help you rest, it could also give you some new ideas, help you broaden your horizons, and give you a fresh perspective.

5. Play with Your Gigs

Can you improve your gig description and make it more clear? Can you make it more attractive? How about changing your title a bit, playing with keywords, maybe adding another extra? Adding a new photo, or an example of what you can do? If you're not getting sales anyway, it could be time for experimenting with your gigs, until you find something that works.

If you're offering a genuine, useful service, sooner or later, the sales will come – and in the meantime, you can work on yourself, take care of yourself, and have a good time doing it.

Coming Back From the Fiverr Vacation Is Scary

During the holiday season (in my country, it starts with the New Year, because our Christmas is two weeks later than in the Western world), I have turned the Vacation Mode on Fiverr on, so I could relax during the holidays. It's a scary thing to do: when I come back, will I get any orders? Where will my gigs position in the search? Will my business be ruined? It's been less than 24 hours after turning the Vacation Mode off, I have no orders, and I'm worried a bit.

It's scary. Then again, being a freelancer can be scary. And fun. And great.

I've already used the Vacation Mode in September 2014, when I spent some time with my family in another country. That's how I know that sales can be slow after coming back. It's normal. Knowing it's normal doesn't make it any less scary, though, not when you also know that nothing in the freelancing work is certain (although, there's no true safety with the 9-to-5 job, either). The best a freelancer can do is be patient, try not to feel too scared, and be active.

Being active, or advertising, whichever way you want to look at it. No matter how you call it, it may include blogging (in my case here, and possibly a mention someplace else), social media activity, forum activity, possibly changing the Fiverr gigs a bit (keywords, new extras, description change) or adding new ones... Advertising experts would tell you all about targeted marketing, too, but I'm no marketing expert, I'm just a storyteller. What I can tell you is that, whatever you do, you shouldn't spam; spamming is rude, annoying, and harms your business.

If my previous experience with the Fiverr Vacation Mode means anything, it takes some time for the sales to start again after coming back, but they do start again. Old clients seek the freelancers they were satisfied with, and the new clients come, too, as long as the ratings are good and the work is of good quality.

It takes some (scary!) time, but the sales definitely come back.