I started writing on Fiverr about six months ago as a way to make some income while I build my blogging revenue on my other sites. Once upon a time, I graduated from college with a B.A. in English, worked at print newspapers, and freelanced articles for magazines and websites. This is my experience, as a former journalist and writer based in New York City.

Overall, I have had a positive experience writing on Fiverr, and have been pleasantly surprised by my earning potential on the platform. That said, it isn’t all flowers and sunshine, and I will share the pros and cons as well as offer my tips for making money on Fiverr here. I wouldn’t recommend Fiverr as a full-time income source in general, but as a supplementary income, it is a good option.

As a small business owner with a dog with medical issues and NYC rent to keep up with, I have appreciated the opportunity to earn side income on Fiverr while I continue to “pivot” my business from events to blogging full-time.

Starting Out Writing on Fiverr

One of the most difficult parts of writing on Fiverr is just getting started and landing your first gigs. First, you need to set up your account and profile and write an engaging yet brief description of your services. I found that Fiverr has useful templates for creating writing gigs, with many options spelled out so you can just fill in the word count, revisions, etc, that a client will get when making an order. Using the suggested Fiverr gig templates, I made three versions of each of my gigs to include a premium option for longer articles with more keywords.

One of the drawbacks of writing on Fiverr and participating in the gig economy is, of course, low prices, especially starting out. I tried listing my writing services on Fiverr a few years ago starting at $100 and had no buyers.

This time, I listed my writing gigs for significantly less, with the intention of building positive reviews and getting experience, and little expectations for initial profits. So, I listed my lowest rates at $10 for a 250-word, short article. I ended up getting some buyers for 500-word articles, and then 1,000-word articles, and I was in business.

SEO Writing Vs. Regular Writing

As a former journalist, I had to adjust to SEO writing styles and learn to write for websites that are not news-based. I have a lot of experience with writing Lifestyle content (as a former Lifestyle editor and health writer), and this was helpful for writing on topics ranging from food to travel. For me, and probably many writers, covering a wide range of topics is not too difficult, with the great research tool of the Internet always within reach.

Keyword writing can be more formulaic than journalistic writing, but overall, I found it pretty easy to pick up. During the early months of covid, I took some Moz SEO classes and have since used keyword research for my own blogs, which proved to be very helpful for my SEO writing on Fiverr.

If you’re a new writer, I encourage you to start a blog to get experience with blog writing and SEO if this is a service you want to offer on Fiverr. You can also check out my top SEO tips for a quick overview of some basic SEO techniques and principles.

Getting Repeat Clients on Fiverr

After my first two weeks of completing gigs writing on Fiverr, my freelance business grew pretty quickly on the platform. I found that I got a lot of repeat clients who were happy with my work and needed more articles. Fiverr has a system that encourages reviews and I was able to get positive reviews pretty quickly.

After the first few weeks on Fiverr, I raised my rates incrementally, every two weeks. I did eventually lose all of my first clients as I raised my rates but we parted on good terms, with them leaving positive reviews and me thanking them for the experience. In general, prompt replies and quick turnaround on Fiverr can make a big difference in your client satisfaction, so I encourage new sellers on Fiverr to pay attention to customer service and also choose a service that you can do relatively easily and quickly.

My Fiverr Income

I started writing on Fiverr almost 6 months ago and it has become a good part-time income. I honestly did not have high expectations for the site at first as I did a lot of research and read about the average earnings on the platform. According to research on the gig economy, the average person makes $103 a month on Fiverr, which would probably barely cover a utility bill where I live, in New York City.

But, always the optimist and entrepreneur, I also had hope from listening to the Side Hustle Nation podcast (which I love!) featuring a writer who made over $500K from her Fiverr account. She had helpful tips for getting started and I decided to give it a try.

So far I have made $7,083 on Fiverr in 6 months, which is about $1,200 a month. When I started out with lower prices, I made less than that and did a higher volume of work. Now I charge $100 for a 1,000-word SEO article (of which Fiverr takes 20 percent, so I make $80 per article). I have options for upgrades with more words or additional keywords for an added fee. This allows me to deliver high-quality writing and still have time to work on my own business endeavors.

While my Fiverr revenue is not a full-time income for living in New York, it is a great part-time revenue source to supplement my blog writing income. And I have met some really great clients and also learned more about SEO and blogging in the process.

Overall, I love writing and I have made a good part-time income writing on Fiverr. While there can be challenges and fluctuations, I think it is a worthwhile side gig for writers who want to make extra income. We will see how the future of writing on Fiverr goes now that they have a new AI Services section, but for now, I have some awesome repeat clients and good part-time revenue from the platform.

I recommend Fiverr over Medium (you can read more about my Medium earnings and experience here) and I have found it better than Upwork for landing freelance gigs and attracting new clients without having to do extensive interviews or send endless proposals.

Too Good to Be True?

Writing on Fiverr allows me to work from home and set my own hours, and it’s a great gig for a flexible part-time income. I usually get my writing done in the mornings after exercising with my dog, and then can work on my own projects in the afternoons and evenings. Fiverr also takes payment from clients up front so you never have to worry about getting paid or chasing people down.

That said, there have been some challenges on FIvver, including unpredictable workflow (sometimes I have been swamped with articles and other times have had days with no orders), and a rating system that can heavily penalize writers with the loss of even one star in a rating.

For instance, I had one client in the tech sector who sent me very dense, technical writing and had vague instructions. In any case, due to some miscommunications, he rated me with 4 stars for one area of the order, giving me an average of 4.5. This is so far (knock on wood!) my only rating less than 5 stars, and it hurt my business for over a month afterward, as my orders slowed down and I did not get new buyers. It is very frustrating that one 4.5-star rating could have that much influence after completing dozens of orders with all 5-star reviews. In any case, I eventually built my ratings up on that gig but it still shows 4.8 overall and gets fewer orders than my other gigs.

The other area I have had issues with on Fiverr is with a new client who accused me of using a bot to write a 1,000-word travel article based on a city I’d lived in. I put extensive research and references in the article and also used a lot of my own knowledge based on experience. But this vague accusation of me using a bot was used to cancel the order and I did not receive payment and he got a free article. I sent the issue to Fiverr, with proof of original writing (a 100 percent Copyscape score). Fiverr said I could have contested this order to still get paid. But this person would have left me a horrible, defamatory review which would have lost me much more business than one order. So I took a hit and didn’t get paid for the order and now I am very careful about accepting new clients and checking out their past ratings with freelancers.

In general, I recommend that writers have conversations with new potential clients and try to get a good understanding of their goals and mission. Then you know that you can deliver the best service. If someone approaches you with a project you’re not comfortable with, politely decline the business. It’s better to focus on the many great customers than to get sucked into drama with unscrupulous people.

Pros and Cons of Writing on Fiverr

Here are some of the pros and cons of writing on Fiverr:

Pros

Flexible schedule - you determine your own hours
Set your own rates
Gain experience
You do not necessarily need credentials if you have experience blogging or writing
No marketing costs
A large reach of potential clients
Many repeat clients
Predictable payment - no chasing clients down to get paid
Opportunity to get more clients/income by becoming a Fiverr Pro seller

Cons

The rating system heavily penalizes anything less than 5 stars
A lot of competition, especially starting out
You will need to lower your rates to build reviews starting out
Unpredictable workflow (but in general the slow times seem to be the holidays and in August)

Overall, I recommend writing on Fiverr if you are looking for a way to make a side income and grow your writing portfolio. If you love writing and have expertise on certain topics, focus on those niches. If you are looking for a full-time income, Fiverr may be somewhat unpredictable.

However, there are people who have made Fiverr their full-time job. In my case, I didn’t make the maximum amount of gigs or try very hard to get new clients but just focus on the ones I have and I am happy with my current clients and workflow. If you want to make money on Fiverr, I recommend researching as much as you can on how people make revenue on Fiverr. Also, post the maximum number of gigs to expand your potential client base. Apply for the Fiverr Pro program for the opportunity to reach more business clients. You can apply for this as a new seller (I did this and it takes a few weeks so it’s never too early to apply).

Have you tried writing on Fiverr? Comment below with your experience or tips. Happy writing to you, and good luck! 🍀

Marnie Kunz is a writer and marketing professional based in Brooklyn, New York. She has a background in small business, journalism, and digital marketing, and is the founder of Runstreet and the Book of Dog.

My Experience Writing on Fiverr