Fiverr started out as a freelance website where freelancers could list their “gigs” starting at $5 and in increments of $5. As the platform has grown over the years, gigs are now posted for hundreds and even thousands of dollars from professional freelancers of all kinds.

No doubt that Fiverr is a great place to market your skills and make some extra cash, but how do you start and can you really make any money? I started selling my freelance expertise on fiverr, and went from $0 per month to over $1,000 per month in just 4 months time. Here's my approach and how I'm growing my income with just a couple of hours of extra work each week.

From $0 to $1,000+ Per Month In 120 Days On Fiverr.com

I started out posting writing gigs on Fiverr in hopes of making some extra cash online. After all, I have a few blogs I write for and have gained some decent writing skills, and I have extensive experience in finance, investing, banking, insurance, etc. “I'm sure there are some people in need of quality writers in those industries…” I thought.

After setting up my first gig as a freelance writer, I targeted people and companies in need of content for finance related articles. I created a basic gig profile picture with Canva.com explaining what my offer was, created a basic description and named my price at what I thought I was worth.

After a couple weeks of no activity, I got my first order and received a 5 star review on my work. Since then, I have grown my Fiverr freelance business to do over $1,000+ per month with just a few hours of work per week. Here's how I achieved this, and some lessons I learned in the process as a freelance writer and digital marketer.

5 Proven Strategies To Make More Money on Fiverr

Focus on these 5 tips for your freelance gigs whether you're just starting, or looking to improve, and chances are your orders will skyrocket!

1. Your gig profile pic is the first impression

When buyers search for a freelance worker, they decide whether to click on your gig or not based on their impression of your gig offer and gig profile pic. It still surprises me at how many gigs promote their work with sloppy and unprofessional looking pictures.

The good thing about this surprising truth is that it means your competition to get noticed shouldn't be too hard to beat. Your gig profile picture should be simple, yet relevant to your freelance work. I found it to be much higher converting when my profile pics have a relevant picture, with some large and easy to read text explaining the gig, followed a few keywords such as “8+ years experience” or even a list of some example categories you specialize in.

By having a great first impression with an well organized gig profile pic, you not only look more professional, but you also enable potential buyers to get a quick snapshot of your gig that explains briefly what you do, and as a result you will attract a very targeted audience ready to buy.

2. Don't play the price war with competition

Most new freelancers may think that price is what will attract new buyers. While it's true that we all want to pay less rather than more, it's also true that lower price closely parallels cheap work that lacks quality. My advice, is to do a real honest analysis of what you think you are really worth on an hourly basis. Determine how many hours your gig will take to complete, and use that as your starting point.

This doesn't mean you should clearly overprice your gigs because you think you're the cream of the crop. But an honest look at the time you're investing, and how your work compares to the competition should give you an idea of an average price starting point.

Having a well set price combined with a well designed profile pic, and an accurate explanation of the type of work you are good at will attract quality buyers that will buy from you time and time again.

3. Get to the next level as a seller as fast as possible

Fiverr ranks sellers based on their reviews, their orders completed on time, their response rates to messages, and your overall seniority of how long you've been selling on Fiverr. The higher your seller level is, the more proof you have to buyers that you are good at what you do.

To ensure your meeting Fiverr's minimum standards, download the Fiverr app and enable notifications on your phone. Every time a new potential buyer messages you, you can respond quickly and get higher ratings and real time updates of how you're doing to level up. If you're a new seller, getting to a level 1 seller as fast as you can should be a top priority to build a solid foundation to your future growth.

4. Include unlimited revisions in your gigs

Buyers want the assurance that they aren't going to get ripped off. One way of showing your sincerity to them that your work is solid, is by offering unlimited revisions. Why is this important?

First of all, not many sellers have the confidence of offering unlimited revisions so it clearly sets you apart from your competition. Second, the chances of a buyer actually becoming a huge liability and requesting revision after revision after revision (and so on) are slim to none. Sure you'll get a buyer every once in a while that requests multiple revisions, but trust me it's just as frustrating to them as it is to you.

Lastly, it paves the way for you to create a great experience for the occasional order that doesn't turn out just how you wanted. Sure, we all have our on and off days, and if it's an off day and the buyer isn't happy with the order, kindly accept the feedback and thank them for notifying you of the requested changes. Then grit your teeth and update the order exactly as they requested. It will create an overall great experience as the buyer see's your sincerity, and can turn a potential 3 or 4 star rating into a 5 star rating with the comment “I would have given him a 6/5 if possible, excellent customer service!”

5. Create multiple gigs with different explanations

Sometimes it takes a little trial and error to find out what attracts more buyers. If you're a freelance writer and want to attract new buyers, consider creating multiple gigs offering writing services with slightly different profile pics and gig descriptions.

Chances are that one of them will start to get noticed and take off with orders. Once that happens, you've found the winner and can delete the others that aren't getting noticed.

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Furthermore, if you have different skills, be sure to focus on your best skill first. Use this strategy until you start getting some orders rolling in consistently. Once you've got a good foundation of positive reviews and a steady income from one skill, start the process again for your next gig and improve upon it based on what you've learned thus far. The idea is to go “deep and then wide”, in other words, become a master at one skill, then diversify into others.

6. BONUS TIP: Increase your skill credentials

Fiverr has developed a growing educational platform called Learn. This has tutorials in different popular freelance skills like writing, digital marketing, creative skills, etc. As you take these courses, you can display on your fiver gigs your certification of completion which will further your trust and credibility to potential buyers.

Fiverr also has skill tests that appear on your seller profile and are free to take. If you're a financial professional, one of their tests is on financial concepts. If you pass, you will get a rating out of 10 and you will be ranked in comparison to everyone else that has taken that test. For example, you may have passed the financial professional test and got a score “in the top 10%”. This will then be displayed on your seller profile as an added credential to your talent.

Is Freelance Work The Future Of Employment?

It's no doubt that freelance work is growing in popularity. Aside from the fact that major trends on sites like Google, Twitter and many job posting sites indicate that more and more companies are seeking “remote” or “contracted” work, I can also attest that a large percentage of my clientele on Fiverr are large companies I never thought I'd be working for.

Freelance work allows you to post your true skills, and then prove that you're good at it as your credentials and past work reviews grow. As this grows, so will your online reputation, creating a bright future for you as the remote, contract and freelance employment work trends upward.