Get Something Done for Five Dollars

Normally I am a pure do-it-yourselfer in the things that I do online. 

• My blog has over 1,000 searchable entries.
•  I have learned to create Ebooks which I sell or give away as tool to build my mailing list.
• I often teach through teleseminars which I do myself.
•  I’ve even created my own membership course about book proposals. And I've even launched a product where you can learn to create your own membership course.

You may have noticed I have a number of websites. Unlike some of my friends, I do not outsource the building and related tasks to others. I’ve chosen to do it myself.

Like many new projects, I’m always learning something and at times I make a few mistakes in the process—nothing severe but some minor goofs. It is one of the results of doing the work yourself.

Yet every now and then I get stuck. There is something that I need like a banner or a header or something that I can’t make myself. I do reach out and get help in these situations. For any entrepreneur, the trick when you do hire someone else is to do it economically and make it cost effective.

Notice I call myself an entrepreneur? I believe every author should gain a bit of entrepreneurial spirit. That bent toward business will help you in your publishing life.

Recently I was stuck. I needed a graphic artist to make a minor modification to four different images. I knew exactly what I wanted to change but I’m not skilled to use graphic programs like Photoshop. I had to hire someone to move forward with my forthcoming project.

I learned about Fiverr.com. It’s a site where people offer to do a particular task for Five Dollars. Other people had told me about the site but I had never used it.

You can look around Fiverr.com without registering. I planned to use it so I “joined” the site and created a username and password.

I was searching for a graphic artist. Looking at the feedback, I selected four artists who looked like they could accomplish the job I needed. Also I selected people in the United States.

Fiverr has a system where you can send a message to the prospective graphic artist about your task. I used the system to write a simple email to four different people. 

In my email, I described what I needed done and asked if they could handle this task. Within 30 minutes, I heard from one of the emails that this artist could do my work. Two other artists responded that they could also handle it and I never heard from the fourth person.

I hired the first person and paid my $5 through paypal. The site holds the funds until the job has been completed to my satisfaction.

In the internal email to the artist, Fiverr only allows one attachment. I had to bundle my four images into a single zip file and attach them for the artist. In my instructions, I was specific about what I needed done.

Under the guidelines, the artist promised to complete the task within three days. 

I received the completed work in less than an hour after sending it. I looked at my files and they were exactly what I need. I released my funds to the artist with my positive feedback. I found the process amazing that I could get something done quickly and for a low price.

There are several keys to notice:

1. I had a specific task and had specific directions about what I wanted done.

2.If I had not been as specific, the results could have been poor.

3. I selected several different possibilities and gave the task to the first person who responded.

Have some of you used Fiverr.com? What type of experiences have you had with it?