Damiano is going to make $250,000 on Fiverr this year.
In just 3 years, Damiano transformed his freelance gigs on Fiverr into a full-time business which employs 35 remote workers. Damiano is the founder and CEO of Startup Slang, an eCommerce agency that was born out of Fiverr in 2017.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Additional Links:
About the show:
✨ Freedom Lifestyle is an online community and podcast series that empowers the movement towards flexible work. Sam Laliberte interviews remote workers, digital nomads and self-employed people who've pursued a lifestyle that allows them to work from anywhere. Sam discovers their version of the Freedom Lifestyle, learn how they got there and reflect on the impact its had. ✨
Damiano is going to make $250,000 on Fiverr this year.
In just 3 years, Damiano transformed his freelance gigs on Fiverr into a full-time business which employs 35 remote workers. Damiano is the founder and CEO of Startup Slang, an eCommerce agency that was born out of Fiverr in 2017.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Additional Links:
About the show:
✨ Freedom Lifestyle is an online community and podcast series that empowers the movement towards flexible work. Sam Laliberte interviews remote workers, digital nomads and self-employed people who've pursued a lifestyle that allows them to work from anywhere. Sam discovers their version of the Freedom Lifestyle, learn how they got there and reflect on the impact its had. ✨
it took me about three months before I started making about double what I was making at my full time job. my full time job at the time was pay me about$3,000 a month. and by month three on Fiverr, I was making well over 7,000
you're listening to episode 52 of the freedom lifestyle podcast series. So amazing to be back in your ears again, this week, this episode is brought to you with support from Fiverr. The world's largest marketplace for freelancers, but the brand is so much more than that for me. Fun fact, about two years ago, I messaged someone via LinkedIn who worked at fiber. I totally cold pitch them. I knew no one at the company two years ago. I just told them about freedom, lifestyle, what it was all about, why they should care. And I asked to work together. I wanted them to come on as a sponsor for the podcast. We hopped on a call. They connected me with the right person on the team and they decided to come on as my very first brand sponsor for the freedom lifestyle podcast. This was one small collaboration. And since then, over the last two years, I have truly made friends and contacts for life. People who work at this company, people I've met because of this company. It has truly reminded me how one relationship can completely change the game for you. If you treat it with care. And this is how I live my life, because you just never know when one small opportunity can ripple into something so much bigger. If you bring that energy and optimism and care and possibility into that. From that very first interaction with fiber, they have since invited me to sell my podcasting course on five or learn I'm the exclusive podcast instructor for fiber. A couple of weeks ago, they had a virtual summit with 15,000 people who registered. They invited me to be one of the speakers. When they came to Toronto about a year ago, they were shooting a video for doers across the world. They invited me to be featured in it and I'm in their video. I've spoken on half a dozen panels and webinars for them over the last several months. You never know where relationship can go. And in 2020 and beyond. It is less about what you know, and more about who, you know, that is a mantra that I've kept in mind throughout my career. And it is truly built my career and my freedom lifestyle. It's a privilege to know today's guest someone. I now consider a true friend, but also an absolute inspiration. Damiano is the founder and CEO of startup slang. It's an e-commerce agency that was born out of fiber in 2017. And just three years. Damiano transformed his freelance gigs that were on Fiverr into a full time business, which now employs 35 remote workers that support him and his agency. He's on track to make a quarter of a million dollars this year, just from Fiverr's platform. It all started with a gig that he priced at$30. I really wanted to interview Damiano because one, this is an amazing, inspiring story of you can truly make it with a skill that you taught yourself did not go to school for. At all. You'll hear more about that but two more importantly is I feel like a lot of freedom seekers that I've spoken to. Haven't had this experience on Fiverr. They tried it for a bit, but it didn't really work or they didn't have the success that they thought they would have. So they gave up or they saw that everything on the platform had to be sold for$5 fiver. And so they just never tried. This episode is here to debunk a lot of these misconceptions while also providing pro tips and insider secrets on how you can make it on Fiverr by understanding the algorithm and knowing how to spend your first 60 days on the platform. Don't worry if you're already on the platform that 60 day window that we're going to talk about in this episode, it actually is based on your previous 60 days on the platform. So they're regularly evaluating you and deciding whether they should feature your gig and where they should put you based on the algorithm. So don't fret if you've already launched and you're just not having the results you want on Fiverr and you want to step it up. You're totally okay. And that was a question that I had along with a ton of others. Before we hop into this epic episode that honestly i think i should have charged you for it is seriously that good. Let's hear for one of our very own freedom seekers Has COVID got you and your partner separated. Well, we have the solution just for you. Hey, freedom seekers. This is Jared coauthor of the LDR activity book. The world's first fun and interactive experience specifically tailored for couples in long distance relationships. Visit LDR activities.com to benefit from free worldwide shipping and learn how you and your partner can get closer together. Even if you're miles apart.
Sam Laliberte:do you want to get a free ad for your business on season four of the freedom lifestyle podcast while I've totally got you in an effort to support more small businesses during COVID-19 I'm offering a new free podcast ad stimulus. Program simply go to what's. Your free.com/free ad and upload a 22nd audio ad for your business. You may just hear it on next week's episode. Damiano. Welcome to the freedom lifestyle podcast. Thank
Damiano Raveenthiran:you so much for having me. So I'm excited to be here
Sam Laliberte:so excited that you said yes to this interview. And then you're on the show. You have such an amazing story. And you're taking this call from Toronto. Is that where you spend most of your time?
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, pretty much. So we are based here in Toronto. We're going to be opening a second office in September and mantra ALS. We are expanding to another province.
Sam Laliberte:Okay. And you speak French. I think I saw that as one of your gigs is you can do translation. Are you originally from Montreal?
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah. I pretty much grew up in Montreal. and then I moved to Toronto three years ago. mostly for the freelancer community here and, wanting to meet other people that. Had made it, cause at the time I was still working a full time job
Sam Laliberte:and what people don't know is that you and I actually originally met as part of Fiverrs community team, which has been a great experience prior to COVID. We were working together to plan an event in Toronto every single month. And since Covitz happened, it's kind of been on pause. You've done some online events, but that's, that's how we originally know each other and met.
Damiano Raveenthiran:we haven't missed a single month. Right. Like we've always had programming coming out, so yeah, that's been really awesome.
Sam Laliberte:Yeah. There's teams all over the world, but I think the Toronto team is probably the best. I feel like we're pretty into it. What's your favorite part about attending one of our Fiverr events in Toronto?
Damiano Raveenthiran:I would say the people like, honestly just, having the opportunity to bring together entrepreneurs, freelancers, and just people who. Wants to take a hold of their finances, learn to make money online and kind of, live the freedom lifestyle. Like you say. that's been definitely the most rewarding part for sure.
Sam Laliberte:We have been involved with Fiverr for, I think like six months on this team, maybe even more, but they have these chapters all around the world and they're always looking for more volunteers like us to help put on events and help get people to know about Fiverr in your local community. If you want to sign up and learn more, you can go to events.fiverr.com and you can apply under the get involved section at the bottom of the page. So let's hop into the interview because we've got lots of questions for you today. Damiano, my first one is of course we just highlighted where you're at right now. Okay. Present time, super successful. Living your best life entrepreneur employing people. Making your own money on your own terms, but there was a journey before that helped you get to where you are when you reflect on when you were a child or a younger, what did you originally think your career would look like?
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, like to be honest, when I. I think I got my first computer when I was like nine or 10. and ever since I've just been, really into technology. So I've always wanted to do something related to computers and technology. unfortunately I was a very bad student. Like I definitely never had the grades to get into like a computer science program or, something like that. So I actually ended up, my educational path has nothing to do with tech. I have a. Degree in political science, whatever that means. and, and just really over time, I kept on hitting roadblock after roadblock of, of trying to get into the tech industry and just not being able to do it, until I kind of decided to take, things into my own hands and just do it on my own, even though I didn't really have a background in it.
Sam Laliberte:What do you think it was about the education system that you just in that traditional way of success that you just didn't Excel at? Because you're on paper you're very successful today. What was it about the school system that you just couldn't get those grades and be successful in that way? Have you thought about that?
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, I think it's, it's, it's the way I learned. Like I'm a person that learns by doing it's really hard for me to learn, even from a book, contrary to popular belief, just because you love information doesn't mean that you love reading. I've never been that type of person that likes to read a lot. honestly, my mind is all over the place most of the time. So I can't just sit down and do it. Just one thing was that, that, and so I think just the format of what school was demanding in terms of how we had to learn was my biggest downfall. And I've never been like an ARB student. I was always like a C to F student and yeah, got my degree, but crawled all the way. So the, to the finish line that's yeah.
Sam Laliberte:And did you aspire to be an entrepreneur? Was that something in your vision or did you always think you'd have a nine to five? And did you have a nine to five?
Damiano Raveenthiran:honestly, I didn't think that I was going to be an entrepreneur. I didn't think I would have it in me. It is a scary jump to make. Right. I started working when I was 16, like most people, and after I finished school, I did have a nine to five, so I had. Two 95 is actually, one of them was really rewarding. It was for a nonprofit organization. unfortunately it didn't pay a lot of money, but the job was definitely rewarding. the second one, so after I did that, I decided to test out a real nine to five and went to work for an insurance company. I lasted like six weeks there. they didn't couldn't do it. it was just, no way, like I just couldn't couldn't live that life.
Sam Laliberte:why wasn't it for you?
Damiano Raveenthiran:there's just a lot of rules that I have a hard time following. Like for example, I am not somebody that can follow a schedule. that was my main thing. I need to work when I can work. And like a lot of the work that I do, even though it might not look like it, it is, it is creative. and so I'm, I, you kind of asked me to be creative from nine to six. Too difficult. and obviously like an insurance company there's a certain way you have to talk, there's a certain way you have to dress. There's a, all of these things that come with it, which I, I appreciate it a lot more now that I have people that I I'm managing, but at the time it was really suffocating. And so, that kind of drove me towards wanting to make money online and my research into eCommerce and Fiverr and all of that.
Sam Laliberte:I love that you mentioned there's a certain way to dress like that doesn't come up enough in terms of the reason why I can't do nine to five. That was totally my reason. Yeah. And like, I like to be stylish. I like to wear crop tops. I like to just be trendy and trendy. Isn't, a dress shirt and like a pencil skirt and heels this high. I hated that part of it. And that was a big reason for me. So I love that you said that. How do you like to dress Quicksilver? T-shirts
Damiano Raveenthiran:yeah, pretty much pretty casual. yeah, like, I mean, I work from home now because that's the reality of things. And so, yeah, sometimes it's just in my pajamas, to be honest,
Sam Laliberte:do you have a dress code in your office because some of your employees are in this same city as you, but then most of them are remote,
Damiano Raveenthiran:right? No. So everyone is remote, but we do have an office and people have the choice to come to the office if they want to. It's totally up to them. So what we do is we usually get people, we work membership and we work has locations pretty much all over the world. And so because of that, they can work in any location they want. So if they decide to get together with a team that are on a project that they're working on specifically, they can choose to do that. And if they don't. That's their choice.
Sam Laliberte:It sounds like you took a lot of that flexibility that you were seeking in a job and made sure that those values showed up when you had the opportunity to pay it forward and employ people as well.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Absolutely. Like, one of the things that I realized is every time that I quit a job, it was always because I had a problem with the management or the way that things were run. And so when I started my own company, I told myself that I don't want to give that feeling to someone. and so I make that very clear whenever I hire someone it's that I I'm their friend first and foremost, they can come to me for anything. If they think that things could be I'm better. and I. Don't technically what I tell people is that there should be no reason for them to ever leave, start applying other than starting their own business.
Sam Laliberte:I love that. Cool. Okay. Let's talk about Fiverr because it sounds like your journey with Fiverr has been pretty significant in your entrepreneurial journey and it happened pretty quickly. So in your bio, I read that you started on Fiverr in 2006. 17. Were you still working at a nine to five at that insurance company or for someone else at that time? Or what did your life look like then?
Damiano Raveenthiran:at that time I had just left a mantra out and moved to Toronto. And when I moved to Toronto, I had$400 in my pocket after I paid my rent, I really needed to find the jobs super quick. And, I remember, Because of the experience that I had with the insurance company. Like I can't do that. I need to do something a little bit more social. Maybe I'll just go apply at a retail store. And I remember walking into a pharmacy and applying for a job and I'm offering me$10 an hour and doing the calculations and being like, that's not enough to live in downtown Toronto. And I, and just being, feeling super defeated after that interview. And one of the things I did was I actually, went to staples, printed a bunch of my resumes and just walked down, queen street into every single retailer, giving my resume, asking them if they will. I wanted someone to build their eCommerce store because at the time I had been looking into Shopify, cause I had this dream in the back of my mind. That I will be able to learn e-commerce and actually run my own eCommerce operation. but from that exercise, I actually did end up getting a job, an eCommerce retailer here in Toronto. And that was the first job in eCommerce that I ever got. And through that experience, eventually I decided that, I didn't have enough experience to do that job and I needed to get the experience somewhere. And since I couldn't learn from a book I had to learn by doing, and that's really where Fiverr came into play. I was looking for a place where I can learn e-commerce by doing. And I figured that if I can help other eCommerce companies with their operations, I will be able to take everything that I learned and then hopefully bring it back to my full time job. I never thought that Fiverr would become a full time gig at the beginning. It was always a side hustle.
Sam Laliberte:That's pretty bold that you just took on jobs that you, so you didn't really know how to do them, but you just said you could. And then you figured if people gave you money, that would be enough motivation to figure it out.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, pretty much. And so I would go to my job and spend eight hours a day there and then come home and spend another six, five to six hours just learning what I had to do the next day, which was crazy, but I didn't have anything to lose, so I just kind of went with it and it worked out.
Sam Laliberte:Do you remember how you heard about Fiverr or was there someone on the platform, like, did you have a mentor or someone that was living this lifestyle you wanted? Or how did this even come about?
Damiano Raveenthiran:No, honestly, it's not like, so the way that I heard it, what about Fiverr was because I was, when I was in school, I was so bad at it that I was hiring people on the platform to write a lot of my papers. And so I kind of knew about five ever because of that, obviously guys that was like early days, Fiverr, that's not a thing anymore. You can't do that. Definitely do not condone that. I'll do it. but because of that, I always had it in, but in the back of my mind that like all of these people that I had to be working with and all of these sellers that I've been hiring. On Fiverr while I was in school and not just for our papers, but also for flyers and all sorts of stuff, they were just normal people. Like you are like you and I, right. And so eventually just, it just popped into my head. And I was like, what if I started a gig on Fiverr to build people's Shopify stores? And my first gig was for$30, which I it's it's insane. but yeah, I got, I got the sales from it and. It definitely was the best choice I made.
Sam Laliberte:I like it. How quickly did you get your first sale? Like walk us through you posted the gig. When did you get notified? What did that feel like? Would you remember the client.
Damiano Raveenthiran:I don't remember the client. but I, I remember that my entire first month nothing happened. and it's because I just didn't know what Fiverr was or how to use the property as a seller. and I think that's usually what happens in a lot of cases, people just kind of give up in that first month. Cause they're like, I don't know how to do this. But then in the second month, that's when I got my first order. And that whole month I got three orders, made about$120 or something like that. and it was pretty awesome. Like the first time I got that$30, I remember being so in shock, And being like, Whoa, somebody wants me to build their website for them. Like I'm not a technical founder. I don't really, I've never done this professionally, but I'll give it my best. And I did it. Client was happy and, and I did it again and again, and yeah, like that, that first month, because I had only made about$120, I thought that this would be just an extra hundred bucks every month that I can have to maybe pay for my groceries or something like that.
Sam Laliberte:So it was still a side hustle at the very beginning. It was also just a paid way to learn how to do your full time job so that you don't get fired. Right.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Pretty much. Exactly. Yeah. And, like during that time, I remember thinking that I didn't really care about Fiverr as a platform at that point because I really, I never thought that it will become a full time income. So it was like, I've never started this with that intention. It's just kind of what happened.
Sam Laliberte:And how quickly did things take off? Because now you have over a dozen gigs, over 700 reviews on the platform. What was that momentum period like month one, zero, zero sales are customers month, two, three. What happens next?
Damiano Raveenthiran:So it took me about three months before I started making about double what I was making at my full time job. So my full time job at the time was pay me about$3,000 a month. and by month three on Fiverr, I was making well over 7,000. and I would say that the reason for that and now, but at the beginning I did it. It's really because of how the Fiverr algorithm is set up for sellers. So a lot of people don't know this when they start off as a seller, but there is things, these things called the seller levels. And so usually sellers have four main levels. There's zero level one level two, inc. And according to how you interact with the algorithm, you'll be able to rank yourself on a certain level and. you can basically get more traffic and more exposure, as you kind of go up to level systems. So it's really like a game. And at first I didn't really understand it, but what basically ends up of happening on Fiverr when you join is that Fiverr is basically testing you out. Now, keep in, keep in mind that there is no platform in the world that will just give you leads for free. Like usually you have to pay for your customers on any platform that you use, but Fiverr does that. Right. And so, because they give you leads for free. They clearly want to make sure that the leads are taken care of. Right. So they look at things like your response rate, like how fast are you getting back to your appliance and what kind of quality of service are you offering and is that quality worth five stars? Right. So I would say the first 60 days on Fiverr is really about you proving to the platform that you can offer a high quality service and that people are leaving your five stars that they're coming back. That they're happy with you. What I usually tell people is the best metaphor for this is that you have to think of Fiverr like a country. And when you start off as a seller, it's like, you're moving to a new country and you don't know anyone there and you're starting a business. So let's say that you started a business like a restaurant, for example, are certain things that you've got. You're gonna want to make sure, sure. To make sure that your restaurant is successful, that the food is good. that the atmosphere is great, but the service is awesome that the location is perfect. And all of these things are going to line up. To make it so that people want to come back to your restaurant and they want to tell their friends. So the first 60 days is really going to be about that. You have to show that quality and if you do everything right, then you go to level one and level one, it's Fiverrs, second level of testing. Now they're going to test if you can take a larger volume of orders. And so that's where I jumped from$120 a month to$7,000 a month because they gave me way more orders. And I was like, well, okay. I can actually. Make this work. And once I prove to them that I can take way more orders than by the time you get to level two, you're basically making a full time income on Fiverr. I've never met a level two seller. That's not full time on Fiverr. so there is a, there's a structure and an actual, like, Kind of like a gamification aspect to the, to the platform that if you know, well you're doing from the start, you can actually succeed on a pretty high level. And one of the things that I've realized is that most of the people that I know that gave up on becoming five or sellers, they gave up during that crucial 60 day period at the beginning. So they never really gave it a chance.
Sam Laliberte:let's say you're someone who created a profile. You created a gig, but you weren't ready to double down on it. And it's now three months later and you're ready. Is that going to affect the algorithm? Should you create an entirely new account or how does that work in terms of the first 60 days?
Damiano Raveenthiran:from what I know, Fiverr usually takes your statistics and your performance from the last 60 days. So even if you screw up, let's say you got a cancellation and maybe you got a refund. The client's not happy with your work or something like that. You can always pick yourself back up because it's always the last 60 days. So you can always do a better job with your next clients. and so that usually helps.
Sam Laliberte:how did you figure all of these algorithm hacks out? Was it just by noticing and paying attention or again, like, did you have someone helping you out with this process?
Damiano Raveenthiran:I didn't know. So it was purely just by noticing, changing things around, looking at it, other gigs and other sellers, and also meeting people. one of the great things that I was able to do during my first year on Fiverr is just connecting with other sellers who were more successful than I was on the platform, asking them for advice. and so everything I needed was really within Fiverr. and from that experience, I learned that it's not enough to just make a gig and leave it there. Like you have to. Constantly upgraded and make it look better and change around the wording and the pricing and all of these things. And that's a constant process that you should never stop on basically.
Sam Laliberte:And three years later, you're still tweaking your original gigs.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, 100%. We have people here full time that have just that job. Virtual rate optimization specialists.
Sam Laliberte:Let's check in on where we're at in your journey. You talked about months. Three is when you really started to see that volume. So was there a milestone where you felt confident, quitting your job? Did you get fired? What happened? How did you leave this in person eCommerce store and go all in on Fiverr?
Damiano Raveenthiran:the thing didn't quit my job right away, just because I didn't know if I was going to be steady. and so I kept on going back to my job and spending 10 to 12 hours a day there. But at the same time, then I would come home and I would do my favorite clients. and I would work on those projects. And if that will be another six hours a day, so I would work like crazy about all the time. and eventually I noticed that that just wasn't sustainable. At first, what I did is I teamed up with a friend of mine who was a developer and he would actually take care of a lot of the orders while I was on my full time job. And I would deal with the customer service and the project management. And I would say that that was like my first kind of, it was like the first time that I. Did something like that, like outsourcing work to another person. Like, I didn't, I didn't like it was out of necessity. I never thought that I would build an agency out of it. and so I just like teamed up with somebody else and I started doing that and I only quit my job after my first year on Fiverr. So I made about$60,000 my first year on Fiverr. And then after I did that, I was like, okay, I kind of feel comfortable with it. Yes. I know. I know what it takes. And then 2018, I quit my full time job.
Sam Laliberte:Can I ask what your personal life was like at this time? Because it sounds like you're working a full time job coming home, working another job job. I know you're married.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah. So I guess by the time I got on Fiverr, I had spent a good year at that point, just looking into ways for me to make money on my own and to have that flexibility I always wanted to be able to travel without worrying about money. And that has always been my main thing. It's like, if I could just travel and are worried about it, I know that I'm living a good life. and so. I saw Fiverr as a way for that to happen, at the beginning. And so, because of that, I. Really tried to like double down on Fiverr during that first year. And so, I mean like my wife was my girlfriend at the time also was working on nine to five jobs. So our schedules were pretty much the same. And then when I would come home, we tried to figure out ways to kind of make it work together. at some point she started a Fiverr account sheet. It doesn't have one anymore, but, we, we were kind of trying to make this work together, but then if I were worked so well that after awhile, it was, it just became about buying back my time and automating processes. because my main issue at that point was that I was working 12 to 16 hours a day. And that just is, I mean, at the time it was crazy. Now I do that cause I want to do that. But at the time I was like, well, I gotta, I gotta find a way to buy my time back.
Sam Laliberte:Well, it's amazing that you had that support system because that's something I hear a lot from the freedom seekers on my podcast or people who are aspiring to live this life, where their partner doesn't support them, or they're giving them a hard time for working so hard or there may be risk adverse and they don't feel comfortable with them taking a career risk. So I think that's really amazing that the two of you were in it together and you had that period, and it sounds like it's really paid off. How hands on. Are you now given that you have all of these employees supporting the gigs and the business?
Damiano Raveenthiran:I would say that as of this year, we've actually reached a pretty good level of automation. So I would say like 99% of my company is automated now. So technically if I wanted to go on vacation for two weeks, things are not just gonna fall apart. Like things are still going to keep going. How hands on am I, I mean, I'm not, I don't talk to clients anymore. so that was one big thing that happened this year. my role now within the company is mostly, closing larger deals. so in the six and seven figure range, would, these are longer sales cycles and also, vision and, the things that relate to where the company is going to be in the longterm and partnerships and things like that, which is what a CEO is supposed to do.
Sam Laliberte:Amazing growing the business, not being in the business is what they always tell you. Okay. When I first heard about Fiverr in 2012, I too was a buyer at the beginning. I was working a nine to five and we were like outsourcing logo design. I'm pretty sure we were going through a rebrand if I recall. And all the gigs were$5. The term Fiverr was the perception I had will as. Anything for$5 and$5, just how much you could make. A lot of people still have that perception of the platform. Is that still valid? Can you make money on Fiverr? Obviously you can, but talk us through that perception of the$5 and what the reality actually is.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, definitely. when people find it, I, that I made my first money on Fiverr. They can't believe it. And that's because Fiverr, like you said, really started off as a place where you can get digital services for as low as$5. And that obviously translates and sellers selling those services for$5 that is not necessary the case anymore. Fiverr has been around forever 10 years guys. So like, I think that's something that a lot of people forget that a company can grow a lot in 10 years, when Fiverr started and it was a small startup, I think in Tel Aviv, Israel, And today, it's a massive, massive company. I think that valuation was something like one point$8 billion. They're publicly traded they're in multiple countries. and when you look at the freelancing marketplace, ecosystem today, Fiverr is actually the biggest one in the world. So they're bigger than Upwork. They're bigger than freelancer.com. they are the biggest freelancing platform out there. with that came a ton of opportunities, right? So sellers like me, I don't have a single, order that. It's$5. everything I sell is way more than that. Fiverr now also has the Fiverr pro marketplace, where if you are an experienced freelancer, you can register for, and you can get clients that can pay a lot more money, and bigger projects that last a longer time. And so, I think that, the perception of Fiverr being a cheap. low level marketplace is no longer relevant today. if people like me can make it and I didn't have any background in the service that I sell today, I think that anyone can make it.
Sam Laliberte:How much are you differentiating gigs on price, on a platform like Fiverr, I know you have a website, I'm sure you've got lots of customers from your website or from other channels having those experiences question one is, do you need to compete on price? On Fiverr in order to be successful. And then question two is, how much of your income is still coming from Fiverr, whether you want to share percentage or your monthly revenue associated with Fiverr since you told us at the beginning?
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, for sure. this year we are projecting to make probably about a quarter million dollars on Fiverr. and in terms of the pricing, Obviously, as you get more notoriety on the platform, I mean, like, keep, keep in mind. It is like moving to a new country and not knowing anyone. So the more people you work with, the more people are going to know you and then the higher your price can go. Right. and so in a lot of cases, it's good. When you start at level zero to kind of have a price that is like your base price, right. She was that you can make it just to go up that level of system and to get those initial customers to come through your, your Fiverr profile. and then eventually you could kind of bring up your pricing and with the value that you are. One of the things that I realized is that whether you want to compete on price or not, those are strategies that sellers have to kind of, Decide on themselves and how they want to run their business. I personally never competed on price. I know what we offer and I know that the price that it costs and I know the customer that is willing to pay for that. So what I usually say is that my customers want to work with me. usually when there's a customer that comes to me and is like shopping around with other, or trying to find other, freelancers and trying to find a better deal. I tell them that I don't go in that. we. No, what we're capable of. And so if they do want to work with us, they can come work with us, whenever they decide to. at the end of the day, it's like any business, any business is about building your customer base and that's what you're doing on Fiverr.
Sam Laliberte:What about someone who isn't on Fiverr yet? Given how popular and large the platform is? There is a ton of demand, but there's also a ton of supply. There's a lot of freelancers on there who are aspiring to do it. You've done. So now that there's all these success stories, of course comes more people wanting to do it. Damiano dead. Do you think if someone's just starting out, is it still possible for them to turn their freelance gigs into a five figure monthly revenue stream?
Damiano Raveenthiran:Yeah, 100%. And I actually, everything that I'm saying now, I actually S have a consultation gig on my Fiverr account where people can actually hire me for an hour and I will teach them all of this stuff. it is totally doable. And I have seen people who have taken my consultations, freelancers that wanted to grow their own agencies. They want it to use Fiverr as a lead generation channel for their business. And I've seen them do it. So it is a repeatable model. I think that even though there are more sellers coming into the market, there's also more buyers. And so things do end up, balancing themselves out. I have also noticed certain sneaky things that Fiverr has been doing, like adding different languages and stuff. and so I think that over time, we're going to start seeing maybe Fiverr in Spanish and French and German and a whole bunch of other languages. And that's going to help us, open up the market to a whole bunch of new sellers and a whole bunch of new buyers. and so I think the future for Fiverr is really bright. And if you just look at their stock, you can kind of see the growth and it's good to kind of align yourself with that growth.
Sam Laliberte:you've given us some insights in terms of how to be successful on the platform. how important those previous 60 days are, having gigs that are priced fairly and talk about your quality of work. Are there other tips that you can provide on how to. Stand out knowing that there is a lot of supply on the platform and you are competing with other freelancers and you don't want to be competing on price.
Damiano Raveenthiran:definitely. if you don't want to be competing on price, you have to compete on quality, right? Cause that's what people are going to come to you for. And so building a really solid social proof system within your pro Fiverr profile is the ideal thing. One of the tips that I usually give to people is to definitely take five or learning courses. these courses are great, but the other great thing that a lot of people don't know. Is that if you finish a course, it'll actually add a badge on your profile and your gigs will rank better in that a specific category. and yeah, a lot of sellers take that for granted, but the Fiverr courses that are actually really important because it's another way that sellers have to basically tell Fiverr that they're going out of their way to make Fiverr a better place for everyone.
Sam Laliberte:I love that. And I have a course on five or learn we'll plug that, how to launch a podcast and you have an upcoming course on five or learn any timeline on one. Yours is expected to launch.
Damiano Raveenthiran:We're hoping by the end of the summer. So it's going to be a series of courses about Shopify and e-commerce, that's coming. We're actually in the process of filming those right now.
Sam Laliberte:What are some mistakes you've seen a five or sellers make on the platform when they first start out? You think we should avoid, you mentioned the quitting too early and giving up. Is there anything else that you've maybe learned the hard way or you've heard from these consults that you've been doing with people who want to be successful on Fiverr and you've making that a revenue stream for yourself?
Damiano Raveenthiran:I would say lack of consistency. like one of the important things is, if you think of Fiverr buyer journey, in a lot of cases, these people are coming to the platform because they want to talk to somebody. Now. And so when they're sending you a message, what they're hoping for is that you will get back to them right away. your response rate is really important. And so if I were actually has the Fiverr mobile app, which is great, you can get your messages just as, as you would get any messages on Facebook or as, as a text message. And at the same time, I like to always keep the Fiverr tab open so that it shows that you're online and people that are looking for your services. I want to talk to you right now. They will be there for that. And also keep in mind that even if at the beginning, you're not getting that many messages. Fiber is just testing you out. Those few people that are going to come through your gig, they're going to land on your gig. They're going to be looking at who you are, how much you charge and all of these things. And if you've set up everything correctly, technically they should be getting in touch with you. And at that point, when they got in touch with you, that's when you can build a connection with them, you can build a working relationship with them and they can be come part of your client database. which is the important part.
Sam Laliberte:This is gold. These are amazing tips. I want to stop asking because I think people should just go find your gig now and I'll make sure I include a link in the show notes and in the blog post for a link to Damiano's Fiverr profile. So you can book him and properly pay for his time because you have really, really, really great insight. I want to ask you one more question before we do. Speed round. This is a question I like to ask a lot of people on my podcast, which is, do you consider yourself unemployable now? Are you hooked on entrepreneurship? Could you go back to a nine to five? What, what is your thoughts on that?
Damiano Raveenthiran:I probably am unemployable now. I think I will be an entrepreneur for the rest of my life, at the end of the day. I think that entrepreneurs have an art and their art is business. And when you build a really solid company, it's kind of like, When an artist paints at the end of the painting, you kind of step back and you look at the whole thing and you can feel really proud about it. And that's, that's what I've been in for. Is that feeling, I
Sam Laliberte:love that. That's amazing. Okay, we're going to end this interview with a speed round. no right or wrong answer this or that. You just kind of say the first thing that comes to mind. You feel good about
Damiano Raveenthiran:that? Alright. In one word
Sam Laliberte:in one word. Well, for the most part, okay. Mac or PC
Damiano Raveenthiran:Mac,
Sam Laliberte:iPhone or Android,
Damiano Raveenthiran:Android.
Sam Laliberte:Uber or Lyft,
Damiano Raveenthiran:Lyft,
Sam Laliberte:your weekday bedtime,
Damiano Raveenthiran:Probably 2:00 AM.
Sam Laliberte:What is your favorite morning ritual?
Damiano Raveenthiran:I'm feeding my cat
Sam Laliberte:something you wish you knew more about.
Damiano Raveenthiran:how to build a billion dollar business.
Sam Laliberte:Big dogs or small dogs,
Damiano Raveenthiran:big dogs,
Sam Laliberte:West coast or East coast.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Oh, that's a tough one. Oh my God. That's a tough one. I love Canada. I'm just going to say Canada,
Sam Laliberte:the whole country, the whole thing. All right. We'll let that slide beach or mountains,
Damiano Raveenthiran:mountains.
Sam Laliberte:Someone you'd love to have lunch with.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Hmm. Elon Musk.
Sam Laliberte:Something's still on your bucket
Damiano Raveenthiran:list. I've never parachuted it from an airplane yet. That's definitely up there.
Sam Laliberte:Last one. Favorite podcast other than mine.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Favorite podcasts other than yours. so I recently got into this one podcast called the trailblazers guide to careers, which is all about how people use Salesforce in the same way that I use Shopify to build their careers. And so that's, I find that stuff really interesting.
Sam Laliberte:Awesome. Well, Damiano, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and uncovering what it takes to be successful and go full time on a platform like Fiverr. It's very amazing. And this episode was filled with great nuggets. I'll make sure I include lots of links where people can find you. And yeah, I just want to say thank you again for spending this hour or so with me tonight.
Damiano Raveenthiran:Thank you so much for having me Simon. It's been a pleasure.
Sam Laliberte:that's it for episode 52, just one more episode after this, until I take a much needed mid season break producing weekly episodes is a lot of work and I want to take August to create some new courses and paid offers that I'm feeling really ready to release. If you want to be in the know when those go live, make sure you're in our Facebook group or on our email list. You can join at what's your free.com. If you have seven in your life who wants to be a freelancer or who tried to make it work on Fiverr, but did not have success. Please send this episode. They're way. I'm on a mission to liberate more lives through flexible work and fibers platform is so set out for this. If you made it this far in the episode, I am sure you agree. so great to be back in your ears until next time enjoy your freedom