16 Steps to make money on Fiverr for beginners

Fiverr is a great way to make money online – even in 2022. No matter what you are skilled at, you will find a buyer in this broad marketplace. Fiverr can be a source of decent side income and if you really hit it off, you can even leave your job and freelance full-time.

For that to happen, you must learn how to make money on Fiverr and scale your business. In this blog post, we will teach you just that. We will cover finer details of niche selection, gig creation, customer interaction, growth on Fiverr, and a few cool methods of earning on Fiverr that you won’t find anywhere else.

1. List Down Skills that You are Good at.

The services that you sell on Fiverr are only as good as your skills. The better and faster you do a job, the more orders and positive reviews you get. So you must pick your trade carefully. Start by listing down 10 things you are good at before you go to other steps.

At this point, do not analyze the fitness of skill for Fiverr, just list everything down. Today, the Fiverr marketplace is wide and will likely have a category relevant to your niche. Did you ever set up a Facebook account for your mom? Do well in Math? Speak and write in a rare language? They all are skills that will earn you an income.

You need not be an expert, not at least in the beginning, but you must know a bit about the skill and how you can use it to serve people.

You must also block out the opinion of other sellers online and among your friends. They might ask you to pick one of the top-paying gig categories but don’t get swayed. Trust the process – you will see it all come together by the end of this post.

If you can’t find the skill set even after hours of brainstorming, do not worry, we got you covered. Here’s how you can sell on Fiverr without any skills.

2. Trim Down the Skill List.

By now, you have a list of 10 skills that you are somewhat confident with, but you can’t get started with them all – even if they are very similar. Pick one and build authority in it before selling gigs in relevant categories.

Get rid of items from your list that you are good with, but don’t like doing. Otherwise, you will quit Fiverr even if you get tons of orders because you hate doing what you do.

Also, consider these two factors – Competition and Potential Income.

You want to pick skills that have low competition and offer high income at the same time. But today, the Fiverr marketplace is saturated with sellers. If there is any gig category that pays well, be sure that you will face intense competition in it. It becomes challenging to get the first order for beginners.

Based on the above criteria, trim down the list from 10 items to at most 5.

3. Decide on One Service that You Want to Sell – Pick a Theme

In this step, we will finally shortlist ONE Fiverr gig category to target. The way to do that is to look for a theme that ties your remaining 5 list items together. For example, if you are good at these skills:

1. Mowing gardens
2. House cleaning
3. Windows OS
4. Mobile hardware
5. Cycling

You can tie them all under the theme of blogging. Businesses relevant to these will reach out to you to create content for their website. You can also tie all the categories under website designing. 

So your primary gig category can be content writing or website designing, to begin with, and you can evolve into other broad categories with time. But for now, stick to one subject – for example, I will write your articles on cycling, which could be one of your gig titles.

4. Know Your Audience’s Pain Points

Once you know what you want to sell on Fiverr, you must figure out what your potential buyers expect from your gig. There are 2 ways to do that:

1. Study the gig title and description of top sellers.

Top sellers on Fiverr reached the place by solving some real problems of their buyers. They spent years perfecting their craft and optimizing their gigs to make them align with what the audience expects.

You can put their experience to your use by learning what problems they solve. Your Fiverr buyers’ pain points may not even be related to the actual work that goes behind the gig, but also around how sellers go about finishing the gig. 

I am not asking you to copy their gig, that’s not just immoral but also against Fiverr’s policies. But I want you to adopt best practices.

2. Study the negative reviews that top sellers get.

No seller is immune to negative reviews – even the top ones. You can go over and beyond to make the experience pleasant for your clients but all you get is an average review – in some cases.

But some rare negative reviews highlight the shortcomings in their performance. Enlist those drawbacks from at least 5 top sellers before moving to the next step.

5. Create 5 Gigs Addressing the Pain Points

By now, you know exactly what your buyers need. Now is the time to tell them how you can help and create Fiverr gigs is the first step to do that.

Use the list of drawbacks from the last step and use them in your gigs. Some major drawbacks like fast delivery can be included in the gig titles, while the finer ones like transparency and frequent communication can be covered in the gig description and the FAQ sections.

As a beginner, you must tell your buyers how you are different from thousands of other sellers in your Fiverr gig category. Share your work experience with them and also add a personal account of why this category excites you.

You must create at least 5 gigs addressing different pain points and all of them must target one gig category. This way, you will know which pain point grabs the most attention as pertinent gigs will get more impressions and orders compared to others.

Also, individual gigs will let you target multiple keywords relevant to the category. We will discuss that in detail in the next section but remember that the more keywords you rank for on Fiverr, the more money you make.

As a rule of thumb, 20% of all your gigs will generate 80% of revenue.

Create Attractive Gig Images

One of the best ways to increase the percentage of buyers who click on your gigs after seeing them, you must make high quality gig images for your gallery.

You must learn how to do that, alternatively you can use our free Fiverr gig image template and customize it to align with your niche.

6. Promote your Fiverr Gigs

You now have your gigs ready. It’s time to spread the word and show your gig to Fiverr buyers. The best way to do that is by optimizing your Fiverr gig for SEO. 

Through this process, you can make your gig visible to buyers who are actively looking to hire services that you offer. When they visit Fiverr and type the name of your gig category in the search bar, or open it from the navigation menu, they will see your gig listed on the first page if you got Fiverr SEO right.

However, you can do that only if you are very specific with selecting your gig category and high-competition gig verticals will be difficult to rank for. And that’s why I asked you not to go for high-paying gigs right now. Be very specific with your niche. That’s the key to generating revenue from Fiverr in 2022.

A first-page feature will generate high gig impressions count. If you did a good job with gig title, description, and imagery, you will get a high click-through rate and more orders.

SEO should be on the top of your mind while creating any gig. Even though it is the best way, there are many other free and paid methods of promoting the Fiverr gig. You must use all the avenues available to spread the word to make money on Fiverr.

7. Provide Stellar Customer Service

You got your gig-ready and promoted it to relevant buyers. By now, you must be getting a decent number of orders. You must aim to provide stellar services to get 5-star reviews from happy buyers.

Do your best, even if you are selling your services way too cheap – which most new sellers do to get the first order on Fiverr. You are not focusing on making money on Fiverr just yet, you’re building the base.

Customer service on Fiverr starts from the first time a buyer reaches out to you through a direct message or an order. You must be warm in your tone, quick to respond, and extremely transparent. Being helpful yet straightforward will take you places.

You must tell the buyers in your gig description what to, do and what not to expect from your services. This is an important factor in getting positive reviews.

In 2022, focus on getting customer service right to encourage repeat orders too. It’s easier to up-sell and cross-sell than customer acquisition. If people love you as much as they love your services, they will want to work more with you. So when they have a requirement again, they will pick you as their first choice.

8. Add Value to Your Fiverr Buyers

No matter what levels you reach on Fiverr, it’s always a good idea to add value to your buyers. You not only provide competitive services but do a little extra to make buyers happy. This can be extra fast delivery, extra work, suggestions to improve the gig quality – all at no cost!

The trick is to promise low and deliver high – just like Amazon. They often deliver products a day before they commit.

This is what I did as a content writer – With every blog-post order I delivered, I provided an image for free. The extra value-add got me many repeat orders that I would not have scored otherwise.

9. Reach Out to Previous Buyers

Fiverr algorithm has a habit of kicking your gig into oblivion at times. No Fiverr seller is immune from a sudden dip in orders. In such scenarios, to safeguard your income, you must reach out to previous buyers to generate more business.

The more orders you get, the more trust you develop with Fiverr and the faster your rankings restore. But this method is useful not only when you hit a rut, but also when you have the bandwidth to take up more orders.

Reach out to buyers who gave positive reviews and remind them of the work you did. Express your liking for them and convey that you are looking for work. You have a great chance of scoring an order because your outreach is not downright cold – you already have a reputation with the buyer.

I struck gold with this method once. I reached out to a buyer who bought a blog post from me and ended up getting an order for a full eBook! You stand to get so much if you only ask. Go for it.

10. Create a Portfolio

Buyers want to work with sellers with proven credentials – it’s 2022 and with opportunities available on the internet, there’s no excuse not to have a portfolio. It’s the best way for buyers to ensure that the delivery they receive is of top quality. A portfolio is a strong indicator that a seller knows the trade well. You must have a portfolio and make it easy for buyers to access it.

Ideally, you should have a portfolio even before you start selling gigs on Fiverr, but it’s wise to create one, even after you deliver a few orders. And it’s not as tough as you think it is. All your digital work can be stored in Google Drive for free and shared with buyers.

A note of caution: do not make your portfolio available in the public domain. Avoid listing it in the gig description or anywhere your competitors can see it. It’s easy for competitors to steal content from your drive and claim it as their own.

A portfolio gives you credentials required to charge higher for your services. The more money you make from each Fiverr sale, the faster you can cross over to level 1 and higher.

11. Take a Fiverr Course to Add Credibility

The more proof buyers have of your expertise, the more you sell on the marketplace, and the more money you make on Fiverr.

Even though Portfolio adds a lot of credibility, you must keep it a bit private as explained earlier. But with a Fiverr badge earned from the Fiverr Learn program, your expertise is put on display for anyone who visits your website, without having to contact you.

The Fiverr learn program has a set of certifications relevant for multiple gig categories. On completion of each training, you get a badge that is hosted on your profile page, as shown in the below image.

Buyers get an immediate positive impression when they learn that the seller has proven credentials to do the job they want to hire for.

12. Buy a Fiverr Gig for Cheap and Sell it at a Profit

This method is the most passive way to make money on Fiverr.

Essentially, you sell a gig to a buyer at a price and buy it from another seller at a cheaper price. For example, if you sell content writing gigs, you can first get an order at $50 – that’s the amount you earn, and next buy content from another seller at $20. Make the content more robust and professional and sell it to your buyer.

However, to get to this stage, you need to first build a reputation to charge $50 for a gig, which is a big deal for beginner sellers. Alternatively, you can sell these services on other platforms that pay better and buy cheap from Fiverr.

Irrespective of how you acquire high-paying clients, your quality must be up to the mark. Anyone can tell the difference between a cheap and expensive gig delivery. If you deliver value worth $20 for a $50 gig, you are bound to get low ratings. So in this step, you must invest time in improving the quality instead of creating the delivery from scratch.

13. Become a Fiverr Pro Seller

Fiverr Pro sellers are certified by the marketplace as someone who is experienced with the skill that they plan to sell. If you are already an accomplished professional, you need not start with a $5 ticket value, you can charge much higher for your expertise.

Fiverr needs to approve you before they provide the Pro badge to you. But once there, buyers who are willing to pay a premium for top-quality services will find you by clicking an icon as shown below.

Fiverr Pro lets you access premium clients and make more money on Fiverr with each sale.

14. Make money with the Fiverr Affiliate Program

When people think about making money on Fiverr, they imagine selling gigs. It sure is a great way to earn a side income, but there is another excellent and more passive way to make money on Fiverr – Fiverr Affiliate Program.

Through this channel, you can earn an income if you get new buyers to Fiverr, sell Fiverr Learn courses, bring more affiliates to the platform, and more. You can make $15-$150 per transaction that takes place through your affiliate link. This way, you make money without actually working on the gig, dealing with the buyers, or risking negative reviews.

15. Become a Teacher/instructor for Fiverr Courses

As per Ilija Sekulov, Mailbutler

Fiverr is making a name for itself in online learning with “Fiverr Learn”. While it can’t compete with juggernauts like Skillshare and Udemy, it offers helpful courses in several categories related to freelancing. Courses are available in design, Adobe, digital marketing, SEO, and more.

You must apply to become a teacher. A short three-page questionnaire will ask you about the topics you want to teach and your experience. Fiverr does not disclose the amount of teacher compensation, so it is unclear how much teachers receive per sale.

I imagine the revenue share would be 50-70% for the instructors.

16. Balance Professionalism With Personality

As per Alli Hill from FreelanceSpeak,

As a Top-Rated Fiverr Seller with more than 2,000 orders and over 1,000 5-star reviews, I firmly believe that success starts in your profile. When you’re selling in a marketplace like Fiverr and competing against thousands of freelancers selling services just like yours, the ONE thing that makes you different is YOU!

If you want to make money on Fiverr, you need to focus just as much on your personality as your professional skills. Talk about your credentials and skills, but also find your unique voice, share details about yourself, and make Buyers feel like they know you as a person.

FAQs

Can a beginner earn on fiverr?

It is possible to get rich through Fiverr. As you deliver more orders and get positive reviews, your gigs are shown more often to potential buyers. Plus, you raise your Fiverr seller level which lets you charge more for your services. Once you reach a place where you can target high-paying clients, you will make a lot of money per sale.

How much can a beginner earn on Fiverr?

Depending on their gig category, customer support, and a bit of luck, beginners can earn anywhere between $400 to $1000 with their first 10 orders. Some outliers earn even $5,000 to $10,000. But they have to get many factors right.

On an average, beginners earn anywhere between $5 to $15 per gig. It’s that low because every gig category is super-competitive. However, with more experience, completed gigs, and review under their kitty, the pay rate per gig increases many-fold.

If beginners can maintain a 4.5 star average rating, they can gradually increase their income  up to $15 a day.

What is the best way to make money on Fiverr in 2022?

Fiverr affiliate marketing is the best way to earn an income on Fiverr. It doesn’t involve hassles that come with selling services on the marketplace. Plus, you can make more than 10% in commissions with every sale. If you sell Fiverr Learn courses, you can make even more! Also, the program comes with a generous cookie period of 1-year.

Can you make a living from Fiverr in 2022?

Even though Fiverr is a decent platform for a side hustle, it can’t replace a full time income. That’s because the minimum gig pricing stays $5 since over past 10 years though inflation has increased many folds. No matter how successful you get, there will be sellers who provide services at $5 and buyer get drawn towards them. That’s because Fiverr is known to be a platform for cheap services and that’s the buyer portfolio that they invite.

Fiverr can thus be a source of income when your other Freelancing efforts are not paying off. However, if you are from a country with low cost of living, Fiverr can still be a viable option to make a living.

How does Fiverr work for Beginners?

Fiverr analyzes the gigs the beginners create, understanding what their services are about, and showing it to relevant buyers. The buyers then click on the gig and place the order. New sellers are then expected to deliver the order at the agreed date. Fiverr then pays the seller after the buyer approve the delivery. Here’s a detailed account of how Fiverr functions.

Is Fiverr good for beginners?

Fiverr works the best for those who are yet to create a portfolio, beginners can get buyers, do good work and create a repository of their deliveries in the process. They can use their portfolio to get high paying buyers outside Fiverr. Given the low pay and a hefty commission cut from Fiverr, beginners should quickly switch to better platforms.

How to freelancing on Fiverr as a complete beginner with no skills?

Many Fiverr buyers look for sellers who can take up mundane tasks that do not require special skills. Beginners can create gigs under that gig category and make money without skills. Here’s the complete list of Fiverr gigs that need no skills.

How hard is it to make money on Fiverr?

It is difficult to make money on Fiverr because of the popularity of the platform and immense competition for each gig category. However, with right support, your route to succeeding on Fiverr becomes shorter and you make fewer mistakes.