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Introduction to buying services on Fiverr

Buying on Fiverr is a pretty easy process.  You find what you need, pay via Paypal and then wait for the other person to get back to you with questions or the finished project. All communication is done via the Fiverr interface, which makes the process simple and painless – no lost or misplaced emails to deal with.

Don't let the simplicity fool you, though. If you're not careful you can suck up a lot of valuable time on Fiverr. Between the browsing and the hiring and the decisions on details, you can easily spend hours on the site, and since you’re outsourcing to save time, not waste it, you need to be careful.

Here are some tips for making the Fiverr hiring process as smooth as possible, from sign-up to finished product.

Sign Up For a Free Account

Start by singing up for an account. All you need is a valid email address to get started. You will be asked to confirm your account before you can order a gig. The sign-up process is quick and easy, you’re just setting up a username and password for the site.

You have the option to set up a profile for your Fiverr account including a picture and some info about yourself. Unless you’re planning on offering Gigs on the site, there’s no reason to fill out all that stuff. If you do decide to fill out your profile, it won’t hurt to use keywords, but unfortunately your description cannot contain live links.

Browse Through the Categories or Use the Search Function

Next it’s time to take a look at what some of the users on Fiverr have to offer. Start by browsing through the category that most closely matches what you need done. If you’re looking for someone to create an ebook cover for you, start with the graphics section. If you’re looking for someone to proofread your latest report, look in the writing section. It’s a lot of fun to browse categories to see what others are willing to do for $5, but that can easily turn into a huge time suck. Better to go in with a plan, so you can get in and out efficiently.

If browsing the 600,000 listings on Fiverr seems a little overwhelming, you can use the search tool instead. Whether you’re looking for an ebook cover, blog post, or singing telegram, the on-site search engine is the fastest way to find it. You can also sort the results by highest-rated, newest, whether it has a video, or offers express delivery.  

Compare Providers – Look at Feedback

Once you’ve found a few providers that are offering the gigs you’re interested in, it’s time to compare them. This is actually pretty easy since the price per gig is the same. Look at how long they’ve been a member of Fiverr, how many gigs they’ve done in the past and what kind of feedback they’ve been getting. This is one of the greatest advantages to using Fiverr – you can sample multiple service providers with small projects before you start handing them over big orders.

If you’re ordering a graphic or having some articles written, you may want to ask for samples of the service provider's work before you order. This will give you a chance to look at their style and find one that’s close to what you’re looking for.

For graphics, look for people that offer to do at least one or two revisions for you in case the end result isn’t quite what you were looking for. It's great to see example of their work as well, displayed on the offer page so you can easily see their style and abilities.

Ordering a Gig – Be Prepared

Once you’ve narrowed it down to just one person, it’s time to order the gig. You’ll be sent over to paypal to make your $5 payment. Once that’s done, you’re sent back to the Fiverr site where it’s time to give some details on the gig. Be as detailed and specific as possible here. Some service providers do a great job at asking you what exactly they need to get started, while others are a bit more vague.

The more information you can give them from the start, the sooner they get the final product to you and the more likely it is to be the result you wanted. For example, if you’re ordering an ebook graphic, be specific about size, colors used, title of the ebook, author name and anything else you would like on the cover. Spending a little time here will be well worth it in the long run and make your first fiverr gig a big success.

Also, keep in mind that you will be communicating with the service provider through the Fiverr website, and will need to log in to grab your delivered product.

Buying services on Fiverr can be a very rewarding experience. A caveat is that you should expect a few flops. Not every service provider is going to be stellar and that's to be expected. The good news is that it's only going to cost you five bucks to sort through the duds and come up with some great people you can work with again and again. If you had to go through websites and randomly surf online to find these people it would likely cost you a whole lot more time and money than you'll be spending on Fiverr. Good luck and go order a gig!

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