On September 20, 2018, I sat in the back of a classroom at Georgetown University. I was in my senior year, and I had just read an article about a writer who made 6-figures annually on a freelancing website called Fiverr.

Intrigued, I typed “Fiverr” into my browser and began to peruse the website. Could I monetize any skills I had? I certainly wasn’t looking for a 6-figure salary. I already had two jobs at that point as a full-time student. In truth, all I wanted was a little extra beer money for The Tombs (my favorite college bar).

At this point, I was still clicking through the website and thinking absent-mindedly. It couldn’t hurt, right? Inspired by the article, I put up a profile for blog writing services at $5 for 500 words while sitting in that class and promptly forgot about it.

Time to deliver

Four days later, I opened my email to a surprise message from Fiverr: “You have less than 12 hours to deliver.” What? Deliver? Someone booked my gig? My confusion soon turned to terror. I could do this, right?

I had always been a skilled writer, but I had never sold my writing before. Then, as I looked at the topic of my first blog-writing assignment, fear turned to uncertainty. The topic was “Judaica.” What on Earth was that?

Now I really had my doubts. With a quick Google search, I found that Judaica was Jewish ceremonial art, and my very first customer was relying on me to write a blog about it.

I spent an hour or two laboring over this piece, reading and rereading what I had written, making sure everything was to the buyer’s specifications and that it aligned with blog concepts outlined on Google.

And when I finally finished, I was sure I had messed it up. In fact, when the buyer accepted the order (without requesting revisions) and posted feedback, I couldn’t even bring myself to look at it for days.

Finally, only to end the misery, I snuck a glimpse at the rating I had received. I figured that, at the very worst, I could just log out of Fiverr forever and forget the bad experience.

…5 stars popped up on my screen. My heart jumped. I couldn’t believe it. I had expected a 3-star rating at most.

Even as a gig economy novice, I knew that a 5-star profile bought you status, and I had just earned an opportunity to make more money. This was only the beginning.

A stranger’s faith

After that, it didn’t take long for messages and orders to start rolling in. At that stage, I was a 5-star blogger charging $5 for my services. I was practically giving away my time, but it didn’t matter. What I really wanted were the ratings. As a consumer myself, I knew that 5-star ratings didn’t mean anything if you only had 2 or 3…I knew I needed 50+ 5-star ratings to bolster and legitimize my profile.

I had gotten my start because of a stranger’s faith in my profile with zero reviews, but the only way to keep my momentum was to work tirelessly for my next 50+ clients. So, for the next few months, I wrote once again about Judaica and then travel, finance, business, hair, parenting, technology, the environment, fashion, fitness, nutrition, and so much more. Each time, I over-delivered and held my breath as a rating appeared on my dashboard.

Before I even hit 50 reviews in November 2018, I achieved Level One Seller status on Fiverr. While this didn’t change my hustle, it added another accolade to my account. I was starting to stand out among other novice freelances, and business was pouring in.

So, when my demand grew, I raised my prices. Did business really work this way? Was it just like my college economics class said?

November turned into December, January, and February. That’s when I hit Level Two Seller status. I was still in utter disbelief that a job I had started accidentally was now making me more money each month than my work-study job would all semester. In April 2018 alone, I worked nonstop and made over $4,000. I had never personally made so much money so quickly in my life, and it was all because a stranger had put their faith in my profile. It all started because of that first gig.

Reflections: two-and-a-half years later

When I started my senior year at Georgetown, I had never heard of Fiverr and never knew it would become such a significant part of my life during my final year or after graduation.

Pictured above: Graduating from Georgetown University (May 2019) 8 months after starting on Fiverr

Upon graduating, I had earned more on Fiverr than both my other jobs combined. I had risen up the ranks from “Seller” to “Level One” to “Level Two.” While I was still working on becoming a “Top-Rated Seller” (achieved October 2020), it gave me something to push toward. I had completed 410 orders from September to May and earned $13,746.40 that I wouldn’t have had if I had never created a profile. After April, I knew that the profits were out there, I just had to be savvy enough to find them.

Fiverr launched my career as a freelance writer and allowed me to travel to 45 countries from May 2019 to March 2020 (the start of the COVID-19 pandemic). It’s provided a stable income and a remote work-friendly job upon my return to the United States. I couldn’t have known the impact of my decisions that day in the back of that classroom and my very first client couldn’t have known the effect of his, but I often think about where I’d be if those two events had never taken place.

Visit my Fiverr Profile here.