Why Fiverr is Terrible for Consulting

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Hi there!

Any consulting business is entirely dependent on it’s clients.

Let’s talk about two different consultants.

Consultant A is absolutely fantastic at their job. They add a ton of value to every client they work with. However, they are terrible at landing clients.

Consultant B is “OK” at their job. They add some value to clients, but they are absolutely fantastic at landing clients.

Consultant B will consistently make substantially more money than Consultant A.

Consultant B will also have a much better lifestyle. Since they have too many clients to work with, they will turn down work with the “bad” clients. They’ll on work with the best ones.

This is exactly why almost every question I get is about how to get clients for consulting.

So today, we’re going to talk about one of my least favorite ways to get a client: Fiverr.

That’s the focus of this week’s newsletter

What is Fiverr?

Fiverr is one of the biggest consulting/freelance marketplaces out there. They are a public company and are based off the idea of every service starts at $5.

There are “extras” clients can add, which makes prices go hire. That’s why you sometimes see stories like this:

Everytime one of these stories run, someone reaches out to me and asks for strategies for Fiverr.

My answer is always the same: don’t do it, because of the pitching model.

Their pitching model

Fiverr gives the clients complete control. Let’s say you’re a client and you want someone to build a marketing strategy for you.

On Fiverr, this is what you’d see:

UpWork & Catalant, on the other hand, are completely different. The client has to write a description of the job they need done. Then, consultants pitch on that job

What does this mean for the consultant?

These platforms are exactly inverted.

On Fiverr, a consultant markets themselves generically a client picks which consultant they want.

On UpWork, the consultant picks what projects they likes and applies for that project.

This is a completely different power dynamic, which really matters for your ability to gain clients.

Why does this matter?

There are three big reasons:

#1: Platform Risk

On Fiverr, their algo decides which consultants show up on the top. Their algo changes, and suddenly you could move from the top of the list to teh bottom.

Your revenue will fall with it.

#2: Skill Development

On UpWork, you can develop a true skill: how to pitch on projects. Once you develop this skill, you can consistently win work on any platform (like Catalant, Gun, Toptal, etc.)

That skillset is extremely valuable to develop. You don’t learn it at all on Fiverr.

#3: New Consultants have a chance

A new Fiverr account will not show up on the top of search results. They might not show up at all. You have nearly zero chance of winning work if clients never see you.

On UpWork, a new consultant can pitch on any project. That at least guarantees a client will see your pitch, and gives you a chance to get in the game!

How can I help?

I’ve helped as many people get started as I can, and both of the two people I coached exceeded, or are on pace to exceed, $500K in their first year.

If there is any questions you have or roadblocks you’re running into, please feel free to email me. I’ll help however I can!

If you reply to this email, it will come directly to me & I’ll respond as quickly as possible.