Get things done with just a fiver
By Aidan Mouellic, Contributor
If I’ve learnt anything from the 30 minutes of reality television I’ve watched in the past year, it’s that people will do anything for a little bit of fame and cash. In the current economy, where paid work can be tough to find, there is an ever increasing crowd of people that will find creative methods of making money. This is where the Israel-based website Fiverr.com comes into the picture. Launched in 2010, fiverr is a website where you can find individuals from around the world selling services and products for five bucks. With more than a million gigs offered, it is the go-to website for people seeking to micro-outsource work or just have some fun for a fiver.
The types of services offered on fiverr cover a lot of categories, anywhere from website design, graphic design, video production, and content writing for blogs. Payment is safe and secure thanks to PayPal. Purchasing a ‘gig’ from a seller is simple and efficient. You select what you want, click “buy,” and then you are redirected to a messaging page where you convey to the seller exactly what you need done and give them any relevant information they need. You are then kept in the loop as to when the gig is expected to be completed and how progress is going. I have used fiverr a handful of times for different services and the sellers have always been excellent and delivered what was promised. I was skeptical at first because some of the gigs on offer seemed too good to be true, but I was always left impressed and happy with what was delivered.
Finding a good seller is easy; each seller has a quality rating and the page for each gig has reviews from past clients. The seller also tells you how long it will take for them to deliver the gig. It can take anywhere from less than a day to two weeks. I’ve had sellers deliver in less than 10 hours before, so it varies a lot, but usually they deliver within 24 hours. To get the best results I would recommend using a seller who has a high rating and plenty of solid reviews—this will ensure you are getting what you pay for. Purchasing a gig from someone with no reviews and a low rating is risky. On the plus side, you usually only have five bucks on the line.
Fiverr is a great tool for saving time online by outsourcing small tasks or for just finding that unique personalized gift you have always wanted. Some of the more popular gigs are for acquiring more Twitter followers. For five dollars you can send anyone a thousand or more Twitter followers within a day. It can be quite entertaining seeing friends go mad trying to figure out how they went from 30 to 1,100 followers overnight. Be warned though, it is easy to get lost in the array of weirdness and end up spending more than anticipated—so shop wisely and have fun with it!
