Upwork vs Fiverr – A Genuine Website Review
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Introduction To Upwork vs Fiverr
Recently, a new and simple idea has dramatically changed our world. We began to feel it after the COVID-19 pandemic seriously. In 2019, in order not to be killed by a tiny virus, you needed to stay home and avoid going out.
It was OK living for a couple of weeks like that. However, everything got nasty when people realized they have to do this for months, even years. Then, the economy of the world started to embrace freelancing to save people from starvation.
The idea of freelancing means working for an employer differently than we used to do it. Before this, we got used to working in the morning and coming back in the afternoon every day. We must have stayed in the office do some work and get paid with a fixed amount of money at the end of the month. The employer also needed to cover health insurance, maintenance fees, and many other things to have you in his/her office. None of these exist with freelancing.
In fact, freelancing happens when you decide to work for different companies and clients. Obviously, health care insurance, fixed salary, working from the office, working from 8 am to 5 pm don’t exist anymore because you are not fully attached to anybody or any companies.
Benefits Of Freelancing
- First of all, freelancing makes you able to have complete control of your day. You can do the job at night, or in the morning, or whenever you feel. There is no walking about very soon and getting stuck in the afternoon involved.
- You can also start to build your own brand with freelancing when you become famous as a trustable employee, new projects flood to you. All the credit for the delivered project goes to you, not your employer.
- More importantly, you can work at home and accordingly spend more time with your family. Who likes to stay in the rush hour when you can sit behind your desk and deliver the job.
- You don’t get stuck in the present with freelancing. Maybe, it used to satisfy you to work every day and get paid at the end of the month. It felt secure, right? However, this is not true with freelancing. The atmosphere is so competitive. Therefore, you have to keep learning and go higher.
Freelance Websites
Well, freelancing is great! Where can we start freelancing? The answer is straightforward! Thanks to the explosion of online technologies, we can do freelancing on websites. There are many websites on which freelancers and clients can go and interact. There are millions of jobs available on these websites. So, sooner or later, you are going to build your name there if you are good enough.
These websites give you too many options for both clients and freelancers. For some, you need to pay if you want to apply for jobs. Some others, however, are free and limit you otherwise. Here, in this article, we are going to review two of these most popular freelance websites. Yes, we are going to talk about Fiverr and Upwork. They are not free from challenges and limitations. So, let see what Fiverr and Upwork are.
Fiverr
As you might know, Fiverr is an international online marketplace. Freelancers can go and offer their services there. The Fiverr website is available in seven different languages, including English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, and German. Fiverr was established by Shai Winiger in 2010.
You can buy 5 to thousands of dollars' services on Fiverr. There are practically millions of services that are called gigs available for buyers. Freelance contractors provide these gigs or services. Amazingly, Fiverr earned nearly 107 million dollars!
>>>click here to sign up for Fiverr<<<
Benefits Of Fiverr From a Buyer's Perspective
There are many positive points associated with Fiverr for freelancers. Here are some of the most prominent ones:
- Nowadays, most people have a full-time job. At the same time, they might run an online business to make more money. Fiverr is one of the best platforms because they can easily and cheaply outsource whatever tasks they don’t have time for. There are many freelancers with different abilities waiting for your project.
- You can get the benefit of the exchange rate! What do I mean? For example, five dollars might not be a lot for a designer in the US. However, you can find freelancers in other countries. For them, five dollars might be a lot! So, they will accept your project for less money.
- Buyers are highly protected on Fiverr. It means that if they don’t like the final result of their project, they will ask for several rounds of reviews. They don’t need to pay unless they are happy with the outcome. Having said that, you will rarely need revisions because your projects are taken care of by professionals. Also, if you don’t like the final result, even the revisions, you have to cancel the project.
What do you need to know before joining Fiverr?
You have to make some points if you want people to get attracted by your profile on Fiverr. Here, I'm going to review four of them.
- The first thing you need to have is something called social proof. It means that you have to very competitive if you are selling your services on Fiverr. For example, you have to propose the lowest price and deliver the project as fast as possible.
- The next thing freelancers need to know is the ability to submit offers. What will happen if your offer as a freelancer matches the request from a buyer? Well, you will get the job! Fiverr says that this option is not available to everyone. So, it might have something to do with the social proof we talked about. However, you should not overuse this option. If you start advertising yourself in an out-of-control way, you might get disabled.
- Fiverr has an affiliate program. Basically, you can get money from inviting buyers to the website. There are three ways in which you can join an affiliate program. One of them is Fiverr CPA. With this one, you can earn nearly 15 to 50 dollars per month. It depends on what services buyers are purchasing. Another way to do this is the Fiverr hybrid. You can pay either a fixed 10 dollars CPA or 10% RevShare. The third way is Fiverr Pro, and you could get 150 dollars CPA. There are two more options, namely, Learn and AND CO. there is one limitation with the affiliate program. It only applies to first-time buyers.
What are the categories on Fiverr?
Eight classes are covering many different services on Fiverr. They include graphics & design, digital marketing, writing & translation, video & animation, music & audio, programming & tech, business, and lifestyle. The nice thing about the categories is that there are many subclasses for each class.
For example, in the graphics & design category, you have thousands of subclasses whether you like to receive logo design, game art, poster design, storyboard, packaging design, cartoons & comics, photoshop editing, tattoo design, and many more exciting services.
Or, concerning writing & translation service, you can ask for articles & blog posts, proofreading & editing, cover letter, resume writing, press releases, speechwriting, transcripts, and research & summaries. It's amazing to see how specific these subclasses are.
Other classes are less exciting! You can literally find whatever you want. Video editing, short video ads, animated GIFs, logo animation, intros & outros, spokespersons videos, visual effects, subtitles & captions, book trailers, and many more are available for buys on video & animation class. The same is true with all other classes.
Also, Fiverr is constantly updating its services. Every after a few months, they add new services to their classes. For example, sound design, remixing & mashups, synth presents, and beat making are new services under Music & audio class. Or, under programming & tech, online coding lessons, development for streamers, and QA & review are new updates.
What Should Sellers Do In Order Sell Very Fast
It might annoy you when you sign up on Fiverr and publish a gig, but you cannot make your first sale. In fact, you have to follow simple steps to sell faster. Here are some quick points:
Your job description must be descriptive
Try to maximize your gig description. You need to know how to come up with a practical title. The downfall for the first sellers is that they don’t bake the description very well. In fact, the description of your gigs might not be descriptive enough. The more text you put, the more likely you will be shown up in the buyers' search.
Use Fiverr's offerings.
- Try to implement and use all the services Fiverr offers.
- It would be better for you to have samples for the buyers.
- Also, Fiverr allows you to use the frequently asked section. You can exploit this section to flash out your name and category.
- Creating videos for your gigs is an efficient way! Videos, by their nature, are the most engaging content on the internet. So, you have to use it to show yourself. Be careful. Your gig videos must be to the point. This is probably the first interaction between you and the buyers. Also, don’t forget to appear on the camera. Show yourself and let the buyers see your face.
Upwork
Upwork is a public freelancing platform based in the United States. This platform was founded as Elance, oDesk, Elance-oDesk, and finally Upwork in 1999, 2003, 2013, and 2015, respectively. The revenue of this website in 2019 was nearly 300 million dollars.
Upwork provides a better way of working remotely. It gives businesses and employers access to a larger pool of excellent talent. Also, freelancers have the freedom and flexibility to use their specialty to earn money. The website is very dependent on the latest technology, providing millions of job opportunities. There are basically more than 70 classes and subclasses of projects and jobs. In total, there are as high as 5 thousand skills on the Upwork.
Upwork categorization
There are six classes on the website, including development & IT, design & creative, sales & marketing, writing & translation, admin & customer support, and finance & accounting. Under each category, you will see how many contracts and skills are available. Also, some of the most prominent services are shown.
For example, there have been over 211 thousand contracts and 1665 skills in the development & IT class. Moreover, you will see the most demanding and popular subclasses. Under the development & IT category, you can Java, PHP, iOS, and SQL developers. Also, QA and infrastructure engineers and data scientists are available for businesses to outsource their projects.
Reviews are great for everyone.
Both clients and talents can write a review. Clients will review the freelancers who have worked for them. Also, freelancers can express their idea of employers, businesses, or companies. These reviews create a nice competitive atmosphere on the website, pushing both clients and talents to maximize their effort for a better result.
Pros And Cons Of Working On Upwork
Lauren Melnick is one of the top-rated sellers on Upwork. She has greatly reviewed the pros and cons associated with working on Upwork. Here, we are going to mention them briefly.
Money
There are pros and cons associated with Upwork concerning the money. When you sign up to the website and start accepting projects, you will need to pay a 20% fee to the Upwork. You should continue this until you made 500 dollars. After that, this fee goes down as much as a 10% fee. In the next level, when you make 10 thousand dollars, you only need to pay a 5% fee.
Compared with Upwork, platforms like Freelancer.com and Guru charge you only 10% from the beginning. So, in this point of view, Upwork might not be the best option. All in all, Upwork is a bit more expensive than other platforms. However, there is a way to get it around to incorporate the fee into your rate. It means that you have to charge your clients a bit more, so they will pay the fee, not you.
Protection Fee
Sometimes, you do all the work and deliver the project very nicely. However, your client might stop talking to you and never reply. If you are in this situation, you don’t need to be worried about anything. Under these situations, if you have done everything correctly, Upwork will pay you instead of the client. So, your time and effort are not going to be wasted.
Low-Paying Clients
Freelancers on Upwork are always complaining that there are too many clients on Upwork. However, they just want to receive a service without paying fairly. Is that true? Well, this is not an easy question. The answer is yes and no at the same time. We can say there are both low-paying as well as high-paying clients.
However, the way you advertise yourself on Upwork will probably determine what type of clients you will work with. The point is the more famous you become as a freelancer, the more probably you are going to receive a project. Therefore, don’t limit yourself to just one freelance website. Go and develop your skills outside of Upwork, and you will definitely see the result.
Paying to Upwork
Several years ago, you didn't have to pay to get the project. However, it has changed now. Currently, you have to pay nearly 15 dollars per month to get scores and find jobs. So, if you don’t want to pay at the beginning of your freelancing career, don’t go for Upwork.
Too Many Freelancers? Too Much Competition?
Yes! Competition is everywhere! Upwork is not an exception! Some too many talented freelancers are willing to do the same project with less money. There is a solution for that on Upwork. If you pay on Upwork, you will be able to bid on projects which could separate you from every other freelancer.
How To Become A Top-Rated Freelancer On Upwork?
First things first! It is crucial to get many reviews. For example, imagine that there are too many small projects on Upwork. The money is not very good! However, if you finish them, you will get reviews instead. This is something you can do at the beginning of your career.
The second thing to do on Upwork is to optimize your profile. Even the smallest things matter in your profile. The profile must be optimized for search. Consider your profile a chance to get seen by potential clients. Include your name and important keywords into it. Things like photos and videos can greatly boost it too.
Changing rates wisely
Perhaps, at the beginning of your career on Upwork, you have chosen a meagre rate to get too many bids. However, when you establish yourself as a professional freelancer, you will have to protect your dignity. Face the truth that you are a very well-experienced freelancer, and clients must pay more if they benefit from you. If you don’t face the truth, the clients won't as well!
The Negative Side Of Upwork
Many experts have started feeling negative about Upwork. What are their reasons? What do some people avoid Upwork? Here, we are going to review three main reasons for avoiding Upwork.
Fees
As we said before, Upwork is one of the most expensive platforms on the internet. Although it might have long-term benefits, some people cannot afford to start to work on Upwork. Also, Freelancer and Guru platforms allow freelancers to apply 10 and 8 times without charging you with no money.
However, Upwork doesn’t allow you to apply freely, even for one project. If the project is big and provides you with a lot of money, you need to pay more to get the job. Therefore, there is no fixed rate! Guru and Freelancer, on the other hand, have fixed rates.
Competitive
Sometimes, the atmosphere is not normal! It's hyper-competitive. Especially with the first projects and jobs, you are going to get. Unusually, Upwork puts you in a place that attracts nobody! So, clients just don’t find you in the search.
Client First Policy
Upwork takes care of clients more than you as a freelancer. Upwork usually takes the side of the clients. So, if there are any disputes, 99% of the time, you will lose! The best thing to do on Upwork is to accept a project that pays you per hour.
Conclusion
Freelance websites are a significant part of the economy across the world. They allow people to be free from the traditional limitations of old jobs and make more money efficiently. It would be a win-win situation for both employers and employees.
Now, it is definitely going to cost less more employers to hire experts and professionals. Employers outsource their jobs to people who are not officially part of their company. They don’t need to think about extra costs, including health insurance, liability issues, buying office equipment, etc.
It's also handy for freelancers too. They can work according to their potential and capabilities. You can work for more than one company at the same time. Also, you can build your own brand on the internet.
All these interactions among employers/clients and freelancers/workers are going to happen on freelance websites. Two of the most famous freelance websites are Fiverr and Upwork.
They are both great and let you access millions of jobs and projects. Whether you are an employer or freelancer, you can join these two websites. In general, Upwork is a bit more expensive than Fiverr. Also, it is a bit easier to find jobs and projects on Fiverr.
There are countless reviews on YouTube about Fiverr and Upwork. If you are interested in knowing more, just visit these nice reviews. I hope you find this article helpful. We will come back with more freelance website reviews. Take care.
JeannetteZ
I would love to hear from you. Please leave me your questions, experiences, remarks, and/or suggestions about this Upwork vs Fiverr review in the comments section below or email me at Jeannette@WorkFromAnywhereInTheWorld.com.
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