It was a muggy Saturday in March. A few days prior I got an email from my university that the rest of the students and faculty would be completing the remainder of the 2020 school year online. At this same time I knew I was about to have a whole lot of free time to do things. Before we get into that, lets go back three weeks prior.
I stopped into Dr. Thomas Tanner's office, a professor of mine, for a little chat about whatever was on my mind that day. During our conversation we talked about how I could get more experience in marketing, so when I would apply for these full time marketing positions that required 2 - 4 years of marketing, I could prove it. During this time, I was doing an internship for a local company in Bloomsburg but soon enough that would end and I still felt like there was something else I could do to help me earn the edge when applying for jobs.
Dr. Tanner mentioned doing some marketing consulting. I looked at him, not sure what to think. I wondered, well I guess I'll just start my own company then? He said of course not. Just reach out to small local businesses for some work and see if your can earn a few bucks here and there. Then he joked about a Fivver account. Of course I had heard of Fivver from the massive amounts of YouTube I have watched in my lifetime, but never thought, I, out of all people would consider opening a Fivver account.
Jumping back to present day, I created an account. Telling myself that I "just wanted to see what it is like". By that night, I had my first two "Gigs" uploaded. I was open for business. At first, my Gigs were titled "I will set up your Facebook and Instagram business pages and link them" for as little as $5. The other, "I will create Wix website pages for your business" for as little as $10.
That night I went to bed with dreams of starting my first Gig the following day. When the sun came up, I had 0 new orders and only 3 impressions. I didn't worry, I had other things to keep me busy. Continuing my certifications I had started, I learned a bit about SEO and HTML but I knew at some point I would get bored of the certifications and would want to try to learn other things in new ways.
So start the clock. Tick Tock. 44 days later I received my first order. For $5, I was to link someones Facebook and Instagram account together. Little did I know this was going to be the first of many orders.
There were a few bumps in the road when completing my clients order. It took me about 30 min to figure out what the issue was and then to link the accounts. The client was nice enough to tip me $5 (wahoo!) which made the first Gig even sweeter. As you see above I cashed out $8 (after Fivver tax) and let the world know!
Jumping to present day, I just hit the $100 revenue mark. Slowly but surely, clients have found my services and signed up. From Wix Gigs to poster design, my Gig portfolio has expanded along with my client list.
As many who work in consulting, you may know that setting up a website for someone is worth more than just $15. I aim to slowly ramp up the price as I am able to fine tune my services and be able to dedicate more time and effort to these accounts. It's the experience I am after, the money helps support my hobbies as well as current and impending car/apartment/school/insurance payments.
My advice to you, if you've made it this far, is to get your services out there. You went to school for 4 years, maybe more, and are a qualified expert. Show that to people and they will pay you. You also don't know where it may lead. You might get contracted by them monthly or you may just earn that edge in the next interview.
You can find me on Fivver here. If you have any questions or want help navigating Fivver, contact me at mattcotter3@gmail.com and we can find a time to talk.