How to Make Money as a New Freelance Writer on Fiverr

I get asked often about how I started out as a freelance writer. The truth is I started long before Fiverr was even a thing, but I still worked on a job board in the same vein.

These days there are a lot of guides on how to get started on Fiverr. It sounds great, right? No barrier to entry. Get up and running in minutes. And, as a beginner, you can get that vital experience so you can get hired elsewhere.

It’s true, Fiverr can be a great way to start up a side hustle. However, there are a number of downsides to using the platform.

My advice is you should use it to get a start and if you encounter a client who treats you like a human being and a valued contractor, get them off the platform as soon as you can.

So how can you succeed as a new freelance writer on Fiverr?

Understand What Fiverr is and Set Your Expectations

The big frustration newer writers have is nobody will hire them for anything but slave wages. Sadly, it’s something we all have to go through if we have no experience.

Fiverr may have no barriers to entry, but that also means quality standards are low and clients are picky, except at the highest levels of the tree. This is not about getting a full-time job and building a relationship. It’s essentially mercenary writing where you’re a gunslinger for hire.

You write anything for your basic $5.

Yes, you can up your earnings — which I’ll talk about in the next section — but most people aren’t going to make big money here.

Fiverr is about gaining experience so you can transition into creating a fully-fledged side hustle with confidence.

The Key to Making Money is Upselling

It’s often hard for people to believe that someone is making a decent side hustle from $5 projects. That’s because they’re not selling $5 projects.

You’ll see on every seller’s page that they have a range of packages. Once you get a decent number of reviews, you start to offer packages with bonuses like more revisions and more words. You can even offer packages for specialised types of writing.

The key is to discourage potential buyers from purchasing that basic $5 package.

So, yes, you can make a decent amount of money. The problem is you have to spend months building up a large pool of reviews before the bigger buyers will take a chance on you.

In my humble opinion, it’s not worth taking Fiverr that seriously. Gain the experience, net some regulars, then get the hell out of there as fast as possible.

Accepting the Right Projects

Just because someone wants to purchase a project from you doesn’t mean you have to go through with it. You’re earning pennies.

Yet a lot of these buyers expect the next great American novel for nothing. This is why working on Fiverr is so frustrating because people will want to pay you nothing for great work.

And trying to take it on is only going to waste your time. Plus, if you give up halfway through you get nothing. Fiverr will always side with the buyer, even if they’re an unreasonable prick.

Freelancers need to know that Fiverr will never be on your side. Like all other similar websites, the buyer is always right.

Declining an order on Fiverr is possible if you know what you’re doing. You need to go to the resolution centre and state your reason for wanting to cancel the project. It won’t impact your rating if the buyer accepts the cancellation.

You just need to word it correctly as the buyer will see that reason. Saying that you’re snowed under with work or that you’re out of the office for a few days will likely be okay.

But calling the buyer a moron or saying that you think the project is unethical is never going to work. They can reject the request and then it hurts your ratings.

There are a thousand-and-one ways for entitled buyers to be extremely malicious and vindictive on Fiverr, so you do need to tread carefully.

Sadly, Fiverr doesn’t allow you to accept or decline the project before the client pays.

That’s why you need to be extremely detailed when writing out your project description. Clarity is key to preventing the wrong type of people from trying to work with you.

Can You Make a Full-Time Income on Fiverr?

Yes, it’s possible but unlikely. There is a selection of writers who make thousands of dollars every month. However, these are the writers who have become a mainstay on the platform over the years.

The average writer is not going to transform Fiverr into a full-time income. What Fiverr does serve as is a launching pad for future business. It’s a chance to build your brand.

The smartest writers are not looking to write on Fiverr they’re looking to find clients they can take off Fiverr.

I did just that with the old Freelancer job board when I first started. I left when I managed to find around three regular clients. It makes sense because then you don’t have to pay the platform a cut of your takings.

From there, I never looked back and never returned to the website again.

I’m not saying it has to be that way with Fiverr, but what I am saying is your priority should be to build up your business away from Fiverr. You want to own your platform and your clients, not to pay someone else for your hard work.

How did you get started in freelance writing?