5 Things I Learned After Spending over $500 on Copywriting Gigs on Fiverr.
I’m in constant need of good copy. For websites, ads, emails you name it. Good copy matters. Think, product descriptions on Amazon. At times, clients will give you the exact content they want on their website or ad that you simply tweak and then there’s times when you have to create it yourself based on what they tell you. With an increase in work this year, I decided to outsource some tasks that would help speed up my projects and free up my time. And the #1 task that came to my mind was copywriting. And so began my journey of exploring copywriting gigs on Fiverr.
Before I come to the lessons, it’s important that you see actual examples from my experiences.
When I first created a buyer’s account, I was thrilled to see the whopping number of copywriting gigs. At the time, I needed content written for a Fitness Website and I found a gig that promised “Stunning Website Content.” I went ahead with placing my order after an initial discussion with the seller. 3 days later, I received the delivery and it looked something like this:
I wasn’t exactly thrilled. From the Gig’s description, I was expecting something much better. But, I didn’t have the heart to say this to the seller. She had a lot of Gigs and great reviews from others who’d worked with her. That’s partly why I chose this gig — the reviews (more on that later). Any way, I didn’t have much time to waste and so after asking for a few revisions I approved the delivery. I also ended up giving her a good review because this was my first purchase on the platform and I was just happy to have gotten the writing cues. That’s what I decided to treat the entire document as — cues that I’d use to write something that I know would actually convert. (Not that great copy flows out of me naturally, but I happen to research a lot which is what I’d been doing before anyway). Just like most one-person agencies.
Now, the overall communication with this particular seller was great and I was satisfied with the cues so I did hire her again for writing a short product description and even though it wasn’t the best, I was just happy to receive the help because that meant I could focus on other things.
My next experience was kind of disturbing and you’ll know why when you see what I’m about to show you. I needed an article written on the topic “Luxury Travel Trends in 2021” and this time I decided to go with another seller whose Gig promised “1000 words SEO optimized article/blog post.” This seller had a 5.0 rating from 63 reviews and even though I did not expect to receive stellar copy I did have higher expectations this time. After explaining exactly what I needed the article to be about, I placed my order and this is part of what I got as the delivery:
Meh. I don’t know about you but this doesn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t make myself read till the end. If I couldn’t, there’s no way a website visitor would. I wanted to tell the seller “This makes no sense to me! I so wasn’t expecting to receive something like this specially after what we spoke!” But again, I didn’t have the heart to do that so I said something like this instead:
And the seller came back with this:
And so I did. I cancelled the order and got my money back. I couldn’t get the time back but the lessons learned would be far more valuable.
Here’s a final example before I summarize the lessons I learned so that you don’t have to learn them the hard way.
Just recently, I was working on promoting a Webinar on Ayurveda and I decided it would be a good idea to have someone else do the copywriting so that I could focus on the landing page design & advertising. I obviously needed this copy to be very compelling so more people would register. I also knew that this is a specialized topic that requires deep research specially if you’re speaking to an audience who’re already aware of it in some way (which is what we were targeting).
I set realistic expectations this time. I told myself I’m paying for the research and the cues and that I’ll modify it later. So I went with this gig that promised “stellar landing page copy” and this is part of what I received.
Nope. Just nope. I wouldn’t want to attend this webinar if that’s the first thing I read upon landing on the registration page. Now I know that this webinar is packed REAL value. I’ve attended one myself. But reading this just wouldn’t convince me. (I was fine with the second half where it described the host and Ayurveda as an alternative medicine. The seller had done research, for sure) But, the primary part is what matters most when it comes to landing pages and so I asked for a complete revision of this part. Here’s what I received after the revision:
Again, nope. Specially the part I’ve highlighted. It kinda pissed me off. Why introduce an objection that wouldn’t even occur to the reader otherwise? To be honest, no one thinks Ayurveda is outdated. I’d asked the seller to include a line that talks about it’s relevance but not introduce an objection that doesn’t even exist.
Anyway, I figured I couldn’t ask for more revisions and I approved the delivery. This time, I left no review.
After these and many more such experiences I can summarize the lessons I learned the hard way that may help you if you decide to outsource this task.
- You will get what you pay for.
I went for low-priced gigs most of the time. Except one time where I bought a higher priced gig for writing my personal bio. I ended up getting a much better delivery. The lower priced ones had great reviews which is what made me choose them but I think that’s just because, like me, the buyers were fine with what they got considering what they’d paid for it. - If you’re on a low budget, do this.
If you’re not ready to pay a lot, don’t upset yourself when you get a delivery that doesn’t meet your expectations. Simply treat it as writing cues to speed up your process. - Have a longer initial conversation with the seller.
The longer you chat, the better you’ll understand the seller’s tone and whether you want the same for your content. - Ask if they’re using Grammarly/ Plagiarism Checkers/ Keyword Trackers.
Good copy along with being persuasive must be free of Grammatical errors & plagiarism. And it helps to have it SEO optimized. Although, depending on the kind of project, you might want to place more emphasis on the storytelling rather than the SEO. Most seasoned sellers use these tools already, just make sure to ask, specially if its a new or a lower priced gig. - If you think you know the topic better, just write it yourself.
Seriously, just sit down and write it yourself. If you’re not confident about using the copy you wrote, you can always have it proofread/polished before using it.
Final Thoughts:
Fiverr, Upwork & other freelancer sites are great platforms. Both, for sellers and buyers. It’s just about making it work for our individual needs. Hope my experience helps you a little and if you have had similar experiences, I’d love to know in the comments!
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Cheers!
