Fiverr Case Study: Growing Your Internet Empire for $5

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fiverr-case-studyFor some reason, I clicked on a link in a spam email today. As with about 20 other emails I receive each day, the offer promised to guarantee me thousands of backlinks and top rankings in Google. When the site opened, I saw a video and recognised a familiar face. Clicking play revealed a woman giving a glowing review on the services the website offered. The site suddenly seemed far more legitimate.

Her face was familiar, because I had just paid her $5 to say the exact words “Only the coolest people use ViperChill.com” on video. In fact, I got about 10 other women to do the same thing. $5 was also enough to convince a 20-something male in the States to tell the world that his name was Barbara Streisand and that Glen Allsopp is the coolest guy in the world. Welcome to the world of Fiverr.

Fiverr

I’ve known about Fiverr for a few months now, but only recently did I decide to give the service a try. The site allows people to share what they are willing to do for $5, and then visitors pay those people to do exactly that. A vast majority of the offers are skewed towards internet marketers, which should appeal to most readers of this blog.

On the homepage right now, I’m seeing people willing to do the following:

  • “I will submit your URL to 400 Social Bookmarking Sites”
  • “I will write your name in light graffiti using glowsticks”
  • “I will provide half an hour of proofreading and editing skills”
  • “I will do keyword research for you”
  • “I will make a video testimonial for your company”

I’ve seen a few discussions about Fiverr on Cloud Living, with a few members there taking advantage of link building and other offerings. As a service I think it’s a fantastic idea, and with an Alexa rank in the 400 range, I’m certainly not the only person. The last bullet point on my list worries me a little though.

Can This Be Legal?

Going back to the example I gave in the introduction, I have to wonder whether some of these offerings are actually legal. By far the most common type of service I’ve seen on Fiverr is people offering video testimonials. As I have found in my testing, people will literally say anything you want. A dozen people happily sent me a video saying how awesome ViperChill.com is, yet I’m sure none of them have actually visited the website.

I’m sure Fiverr’s privacy policy will have their own back covered, but it seems…well…risky for the people actually creating the videos. If I hadn’t recognised the girl’s face on the link building services website, I would have definitely believed that her review of the product was real. After all, they got a real person to say how cool the service was. Until Fiverr came along, it wasn’t that easy to find someone to do such a thing, especially if they’ve never used your product or service.

You can check out GetBlogLinks.com (they don’t deserve a live link) to see the video in question.

I know it will be next to impossible for the likes of the FTC to police this kind of activity, but it does worry me that the trust associated with testimonials online is going to decline rapidly. If I can get someone to talk about my service on video and it’s a lie, why would anyone believe text?

My Own Results (Video)

In total, I paid for about 15 people to do different things on Fiverr. In the video below I have mashed a few of them together, with one of them even including a 5-year old girl (again, legal?).


(If you can’t see the video, click here to watch it on Youtube)

As you can see, the quality of the videos changes quite a lot, especially when it comes to sound. I simply wrote out a small script that I wanted people to read, and every person did so. In addition to these videos, I also had one person write me an original song (link) and a Happy Birthday video made for one of my friends.

ViperChill in Times Square

One project on the site I really did like was a girl who offered to go to Times Square and hold up a picture saying anything you want. I decided to come up with the following idea, which I thought was pretty cool.

viperchill-times-square

I posted this on the ViperChill fan page, and received some great replies. Nobody was any wiser that I had actually paid for this. Fake social proof is here.

Should You Use Fiverr?

As mentioned, I think the service is a great idea. The downside of the site, in my opinion, is that video testimonials are now going to be worth next to nothing, especially in the internet marketing niche. You can generate some fun forms of social proof (like my picture above), get some cheap (but poor quality) backlinks and even have someone create an SEO strategy for you. I really don’t think these things are worth paying for in most cases though. I would, however, happily pay $5 for:

  • Professional video introductions with your site name / logo
  • Audio introductions for things like podcasts
  • Proofreading
  • eBook Covers

All of which are available on the site.

As a service, it’s very easy to use. In fact, it’s probably too easy, as I quickly spent $100 in about 15 minutes. I was having a lot of fun to come up with what I wanted people to say for me on video. As someone who is selling services, you make $4 for every person who buys what you have to offer. I did see one person selling a very basic SEO eBook for $5 and they had well over 100 sales, so there is definitely some money to be made as a producer as well.

Do you use Fiverr? Had you heard of it before? I would love to hear your thoughts on the service.




162 Comments


  1. Azzam Sheikh says:
    February 9, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    hehehe

    this is by far the craziest experiment. You should be done for exploitation :P

    Reply
  2. Diggy says:
    February 9, 2011 at 12:41 pm

    Hey Glen,
    very cool video compilation you made.

    Fiverr is crazy I must say, I’ve done things like getting 4k views on a Youtube video for $5, getting an hour long IM consultaion on Skype for $5 and best of all, getting girls to write my blog name on their boobs :D

    If you want to see, heres a pic I got from fiverr with upgrade Reality on some nice boobs :
    http://bit.ly/e77l62

    Haha, the things people do for $5.
    Cheers!
    Diggy

    Reply
  3. Eric | My 4-Hour Workweek says:
    February 9, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    I’ve used Fiverr and enjoyed it – its use is limited obviously, but if you can find the right offering, $5 is almost always within your budget.

    Regarding your point for the legality of fake video testimonials – I’m not sure how legal they are either, but what about all the infomercials on TV? Or even some regular commercials? You see testimonial-like script all the time, but maybe it’s common knowledge that these are often paid actors. There may also be some fine print at the end of the infomercial, who knows (I don’t ever sit and watch an entire one…). All I’m saying is, this has already been a part of mainstream media, so I’m not sure exactly what the legality of it would be, especially on the internet where regulation is a lot looser.

    Anyway, good post!

    - Eric

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      February 9, 2011 at 12:47 pm

      The reason I brought it up is because the FTC is coming down hard on things like this lately. A lot of marketers have been taken to court over fake testimonials on their websites.

      Then again, I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know if it’s the video creator at fault or the person paying for it. Thanks for the comment, Eric!

      Reply
      • papalogic says:
        February 16, 2011 at 7:58 am

        People are paid for surveys and focus groups all the time.

        So rather than do a staged testimonial, you could ask 10 people ($50) to do an *honest* testimonial or review of your product.

        Hopefully, 5 of those 10 will have something good (or at least interesting for you to see). They will probably come off as more natural too.

        By paying them something and giving specific guidelines as to what questions you would like answered or aspects talked about, you can also make sure they do a relatively thorough job.

        Reply
  4. Darren says:
    February 9, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    Nice 1 Glen

    I love the video editing!

    I have used it a few times for different stuff with varying results.

    The magician guy was ace.

    Cheers matey and keep up the good work.

    Darren

    Reply
  5. Eric | My 4-Hour Workweek says:
    February 9, 2011 at 12:43 pm

    By the way, I’m shocked to see two posts from you within a few days!

    Reply
  6. Mars Dorian says:
    February 9, 2011 at 12:57 pm

    haha, you faker.

    But I have to admit Diggy beat you in this – having your site name written on well-rounded tits is more social proof than someone holding a “NY loves you” shield – although it’s probably rated R so it’s a limited release :)

    One of your best posts in the last months so far, mainly because I always favor applied creativity over everything else.

    Nicely done, Glen !

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      February 9, 2011 at 1:10 pm

      If you think my female readers want to see boobs then I guess I’m totally wrong about what my audience would like to see ;)

      Thanks :)

      Reply
      • Sarah Russell says:
        February 9, 2011 at 2:24 pm

        I can’t speak for all of your female readers, but I’ll go on the record as saying that I’m down with site names on boobs :) Can’t argue with the power of a nice rack!

        Reply
        • Glen says:
          February 9, 2011 at 2:30 pm

          Be prepared to receive a lot of emails ;)

        • Sarah Russell says:
          February 9, 2011 at 2:48 pm

          Haha – we’ll see… :)
          Meant to add earlier – thanks for testing Fiverr. I’ve blown it off in the past thinking that it was a bunch of crap offers with no value, so it’s interesting to see cases where it could be useful. I’ll have to give it a try for some of the projects you mentioned above.

  7. Darren says:
    February 9, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    Hi Glen

    I have used Fiverr for graphics mostly like headers and banners, for friends who want me to build a website but do not want to pay!!!!
    I have also have paid some people to recommend my Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/OnlineIbiza and Tweet about it. This I can say definitely did not work unless you want some Thai Strippers to join one of your pages.
    Some person said they would Tweet about my page to over 130000 people in a 24 hour period. Watching my Google Analytics I did not receive one hit from them!
    So Graphics good!! Wanting more “likes” to Fan Page bad!!
    I hope this helps
    Darren

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      February 9, 2011 at 1:11 pm

      Good tips Darren, thanks!

      Reply
    • Ralph Kooi says:
      February 10, 2011 at 11:45 pm

      Nothing wrong with Thai Strippers they need to like something in their lives…anyway.
      5 dollars to 130000 is very cheap, they charge more at “professional” services.

      Good to know that with these things is mainly some funny stuff (the Ace Card dude is pretty cool) and some simple design work, which I am crap at…

      Reply
  8. Robert Dempsey says:
    February 9, 2011 at 1:12 pm

    I’ve both bought and sold services on Fiverr and know multiple people that get a nice glass of wine and go to town on the site. Too much goodness for $5. Really what do you have to lose? Coffee costs more in some countries…

    Reply
  9. Murlu says:
    February 9, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    I’ve been lovin’ up on Fiverr lately.

    I had this one guy do a video with his puppet singing happy bday for my GF.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIJAjSqZkUg

    She really liked it – $5? Hell yeah haha.

    Reply
  10. kustiin says:
    February 9, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    Actually i thought i should use these kind of video testimonials(fiver) on my affiliate sites but after reading this article,i am thinking if it’s legal or not? anyways what do you think Glen?

    And for the people who are thinking to produce gigs,there are better sites like Zeerk.com etc which pays instantly in different denominations like $5,$10,$15 etc..hope this helps.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      February 9, 2011 at 2:06 pm

      Still waiting for some answers on that I’m afraid ;)

      I think the person making the video is more at risk than the person putting it on their site, but don’t hold me to that.

      Reply
    • Glen says:
      February 9, 2011 at 2:08 pm

      Just checked out Zeerk. The design on gig pages is very similar to Fiverr. I wonder who ripped off who?

      Reply
      • kustiin says:
        February 9, 2011 at 2:15 pm

        I believe Fiver is the first and Zeerk followed it exactly the same but with the concept of instant payments whereas fiver takes a week or so…

        Reply
    • Renate says:
      February 26, 2011 at 5:29 pm

      Well, it’s not legal in Norway, I can tell you that much!

      Reply
  11. Jeff Pohl says:
    February 9, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    I have been using Fiverr for ebook covers and headers for web sites. I have been very happy with the services I have had so far. What I have received is far better than I would have done and a lot cheaper when you consider my time. If you want another cheap social bookmarking service try MTurk through amazon. They will do stuff for nickels and dimes.

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      February 9, 2011 at 2:31 pm

      Thanks for the feedback Jeff,

      I do all of my design work myself so haven’t had any uses for that side of the service, so I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

      Reply
    • Marcus Wickes says:
      February 23, 2011 at 11:04 pm

      Agree and disagree about MTurk. If you want a bunch of tweets from India or Facebook followers from India, then use MTurk. If you just want to increase the # of YouTube views, then MTurk might be OK. Just use your head… if you are trying to “cheat” a system, is it painfully obvious? And what benefit do you really get? In other words, is it worth the possible consequences for pennies, dimes, $5, etc.?

      Reply
  12. Rhys says:
    February 9, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    Used it for link building. Works nicely – got a bunch of articles distributed for $5. :)

    Had a few alerts (the individual made sure they used my article submission name), and it worked lovely :)

    Reply
  13. rishil says:
    February 9, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    I have used Fiver – mostly for shits and giggles… spoof birthdays, videos etc etc. But its a gret site.

    Reply
  14. Jagr says:
    February 9, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    The Time Square one is class…I’m goining to go in and have a look.
    Now I know where Aaron Wall gets his seobook recommendation videos from :)

    Reply
  15. Leo says:
    February 9, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Whoa this is pretty frightening – you could just spend $500 and get dozens of bad reviews written about your competitors on sites like yelp and qype… monitoring what people are saying about your company / products on the web is becoming more and more important.

    Reply
  16. Charlotte says:
    February 9, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    What a great idea, though you’re right, the little girl is slightly disturbing. Definitely one for students to make money with though. I wonder if there’s a call for British people with our posh accents ;)

    Great blog post!

    Reply
  17. Devesh says:
    February 9, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    Great Case Study Glen.

    Fiverr is very useful site for getting things done in cheap amount. I have used it for some graphic design stuff and i think it’s very useful site to get your work outsource in just $5…

    I’ve even seen some people are willing to write ebook for just $5.

    Btw. I can’t believe diggy got that boob image for just $5. LOL :D !

    Anyways, Thanks for sharing this great article. keep rocking.

    Reply
  18. Dave says:
    February 9, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    I have come across Fiverr couple of weeks ago, but havent used any services yet. After reading all your experiences here, looks like it can be the best spent 5 bucks ever. I have tried “odesk” to get some back links to my website though. Has anyone tried it?

    Reply
  19. Marco says:
    February 9, 2011 at 4:24 pm

    I’ve used it a few times. Technical help from 2 programmers (WordPress widget and import of huge SQL-database) was really worth the 5 bucks, as I had spent for each task at least 5 hours without success.
    I had also someone design me a logo. First delivery was crappy, second delivery was great but it included a stolen picture from istockphoto. This is another point you have to watch out: I would say that you will be held responsible if you post graphics that you bought at fiverr but which were stolen.

    Reply
  20. Sean Malarkey says:
    February 9, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    Epic – so gonna use this for my wife and Valentines Day!

    Reply
  21. Ben Lang says:
    February 9, 2011 at 4:59 pm

    Nice one, it’s funny because I’m going to be publishing a post on why Fiverr sucks, haha. But those videos were quite convincing :)

    Reply
  22. Omid Sakhi says:
    February 9, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    I love this man!! Evil Marketing !! So that is where all those testimonial videos come from! 5$. hehe

    Reply
  23. Charleen Larson says:
    February 9, 2011 at 5:31 pm

    I agree that many of the traffic building (tweets, FB likes, LinkedIn connections, etc.) gigs are just crap. But Fiverr is great for catching a rising comic star like Sam Cornwell. Here’s a video he did for our Best of Fiverr blog:
    http://www.bestoffiverr.com/sam-cornwell-clown-prince-of-wales/

    Sam’s leveraged his YouTube channel with his Fiverr gigs in a way that even a jaded marketer like me can admire.

    Reply
  24. Ali Luke says:
    February 9, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    Really interesting post, Glen! I’ve been intrigued by fiverr, but haven’t seen many reviews of it. The video compilation is great (and hilarious!) Interesting points about “buying” social proof, though — this could be a disturbing trend. Perhaps we’ll see more of the (legit) sales pages linking to their testimonial’s sources?

    Reply
  25. Steve Roy says:
    February 9, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    Glen,
    I have used fiverr a number of times mostly for SEO and backlinks. From what I’ve seen the “I will tweet your message to 50k people” doesn’t work. Also the Facebook likes are a joke.

    I did find someone who offered 5 original marketing ideas that were actually quite good. His offer can be found at http://www.fiverr.com/users/mikefrankel

    Reply
  26. Eric | Office In The Cloud says:
    February 9, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    Awesome, I will try the boobs job and have some fun with my friends ;-)
    I have used Fiverr for some niche sites. Number 1&2 are great, the others was just for testing.
    1. Bookmarking Demon
    2. Great articles (use the ones with the highest rating)
    3. 20k Youtube Views – Only got 5000 views and no traffic to niche site
    4. 1000 Twitter followers, a bit black hat but gives you social proof
    5. 100 Facebook fans, low quality

    Reply
  27. Martin Bay says:
    February 9, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    Never heard about them before – guess I will try and forget they exist again.

    Reply
  28. Bryan Thompson says:
    February 9, 2011 at 7:45 pm

    Glen, darn, looks like I’m not first today. :) Will have to give Fiverr a try. Nice move there. I had never heard of it until today. Thanks for sharing. Also, I’m with the others above – nice to see multiple posts.

    Reply
  29. Debbie says:
    February 9, 2011 at 7:51 pm

    I used fiverr to spin an article using a specific article spinner that i was considering buying. It was worth the $5 to see that spinning wasn’t going to work well for my topic. It saved me $80 on a product I don’t need.
    The second fiverr didn’t complete the video I paid for so I used that money to hire a graphic artist to make me a quick banner. That $5 saved me hours of trying to do it on my own.
    I will use fiverr again for simple stuff that would just take me to long to do on my own or to try out software I might want to buy.

    Reply
  30. Keith Davis says:
    February 9, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    Hi Glen
    Great post – love the video.
    eBook Covers for $5 sounds pretty good to me.
    Still something a bit iffy, so I probably wouldn’t use it.

    Reply
  31. Chris says:
    February 9, 2011 at 7:54 pm

    I heard about fiverr not long ago and out of boredom decided to check it out one day…Its amazing! Its like being a kid in the candy shop for Marketers

    Im totally addicted to the site! specially on the potential for social proof it offers, just like the examples you gave. Right now, ive only scratched the surface and used graphic designers and video making but the potential is Mind boggling in the right hands;-)

    Reply
  32. Chris says:
    February 9, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    I have used them a number of times for SEO stuff.
    I had some links built and that was of questionable benefit, but some have shown up.
    The real time saver was for some directory submissions I needed done, and those had great results.
    Ironically Glen I found fiverr because of your recommendation to just outsource directory submissions and I didn’t see how to easily get it done on a site you had listed and I came across Fiverr and it has been very natural to use…So thanks! I have seen lots of fun things that could be done, but also saw the videos and had the immediate personal distrust popping up so I never have used those.
    The real irony is that I was thinking of writing a post on Fiverr as well!
    I actually have used it for building a few different

    Reply
  33. Ross says:
    February 9, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    Hi Glen,

    Great Video, thanks for spending the time making it. I am not sure about that young girl at the end, what’s wrong with her eye?

    I have used Fiverr before for banners (very happy), header image (very happy) and a logo (could have done better).

    @Diggy, thats so funny I came across those boobs last night! Small world.

    Someone should try this seller, nice butt! and post the results here please :) http://www.fiverr.com/users/skeros/

    Seems like a few of your female readers might now be offering boobs services on fiverr, seems like a few more than last night. haha

    Regarding Zeerk and Fiverr. Fiverr was first, and now there’s an indian company that has made a clone script for fiverr which Zeerk uses and which you can buy of the shelf.

    Search for Zeerk on flippa they have been trying to sell it five times without success. Highest bid 74k.

    Reply
  34. Umer says:
    February 9, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    Fiverr is a unique service

    Reply
  35. Q says:
    February 9, 2011 at 8:23 pm

    Ive been lucky and unlucky with Fiverr. Never try to get a logo done. I got lucky with an awesome logo but I just needed them to put the pieces together that I previously had.
    Got an awesome intro to a video for http://www.mattnokes.com/hittingsolutions and we even centered the writing of the header/logo around it. I even found a professional voice over guy with 20 years experience and an amazing talent for intro to podcasts. As for testimonials… Im the producer of http://www.braliner.com and also the spokesperson ( a one stop shop). Excellent testimonials are important…I noticed in your testimonials you could see where they lived and its usually not a good idea to see dorm rooms or run down surroundings. Portraying wealth and a professional performance will matter when someone views it. So not sure Fiverr will contribute to the decline of credible testimonials. just my two cents. :) Love your stuff Glen. Thanks.

    Reply
  36. Usman says:
    February 9, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    I have never used this service. I think it is better to promote the website through legal ways

    Reply
  37. Casual says:
    February 9, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    We’ve used them for recording a few voiceovers for a podcast we’re working on. High quality work.

    Reply
  38. Sandip says:
    February 9, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    I’ve used fiverr as a buyer on several occasions and usually had issues i.e. people not doing what you ask or delivering poor quality stuff. One guy didn’t build a single link and another sent me a logo which looked like it was created on notepad. As the gigs are cheap you end up thinking ‘ah, its just $5, forget it’.  But the cost soon builds up and you wonder what quality services you could have purchased for that $100 you just blew.  However, I think it is good for gigs where you know near enough exactly what you’ll get e.g. videos, people holding signs, etc. I actually went about setting up my own fixed price marketplace (launching soon) which aims to fix some of the fiverr drawbacks.

    As for the legality of the testimonials, I recall hearing something about Internet marketing laws being tightened up in the UK. But it’ll be a tough job to enforce!

    Thanks for the post Glen, you seem to be increasing the frequency of posts which is good news for all of us! 

    Reply
  39. Brendon says:
    February 9, 2011 at 8:59 pm

    I am embarrassed to say that this is the first time I hear of Fiverr – must be living under a rock here in South Africa… ;-) Awesome mash up video and very creative post! You certainly aren’t short on great ideas Glen…

    Reply
  40. Mike Reeves-McMillan says:
    February 9, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    Fake testimonial videos, yuck. My testimonial video is an extended one with me in the same room interviewing the client. She is an actress, but I didn’t pay her and her testimonial is genuine. But how can I prove that?

    Reply
  41. Aqif Azizan says:
    February 9, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    Seriously, this is a cool idea Glen. With $5 (I think this is cheap enough), we can create viral marketing within a few days.

    I just want to ask you one question, about the video services. Do they gave you the video files? Or they just uploaded it on their youtube account?

    Thank you Glen! :)

    Reply
  42. Ralph Kooi says:
    February 9, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    Diggy, I’ll pay 5 dollars to get the chicks number!
    Anyway the legitimacy thing….
    When starting a forum don’t a lot of people inflate interaction to get it going. I.e. fake names and comments and posts till the forum gets traction.
    This is when starting from scratch, not transferring your database / readers to a new product.

    Legal I agree with Eric, how do you know all those infomercials are real? You see the same actor for a different ad a year later. Suddenly he went from being a doctor to a plummer?? Perhaps the product wasn’t so good after all.

    Glen, nice variation of accents : Biperchill ;) (and nice variation of ladies too, not the 7 year old cause that would be creepy….)

    Reply
    • Glen says:
      February 10, 2011 at 7:37 am

      You really should have asked him that via email, Ralph ;)

      Fake forum profiles? Sure. But video testimonials saying you use a product you don’t is a little different.

      Haha, the girl in the middle (from the thumbnail) also says Biperchill. Strange.

      Reply
  43. Jackie says:
    February 10, 2011 at 1:55 am

    I’ve used Fiverr on a few occasions for graphics and such and found the people I’ve used do a great job. Would I ever utilize the service for “testimonial” type content? No way!
    Interesting exercise, and just goes to show that some people will do anything for a buck.

    Reply
  44. Alex Wideman says:
    February 10, 2011 at 5:52 am

    What is the name of the gig where the guy flips around the playing cards with a message on them? Anybody know?

    Reply
  45. Chris says:
    February 10, 2011 at 6:36 am

    You know, I have got to say. Those two blondes in the video are definitely “viperchill” material LOL. Well played Mr. Alsopp, Well played.

    Reply
  46. Oscar says:
    February 10, 2011 at 7:45 am

    So someone pointed out in hacker news that fake testimonials are illegal in Europe http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2197493

    Reply
  47. Edgar says:
    February 10, 2011 at 8:30 am

    I had heard about Fiverr a few weeks ago when Diggy mentioned it in one of his tweets, but I never got around to visit the site and give it a try.

    After your case study and seeing the possibilities, I’ll give it a try! :)

    Thanks Glen!

    Reply
  48. Jeff says:
    February 10, 2011 at 8:43 am

    That’s an awesome video!

    I haven’t used fiverr, but I came across a similar site that’s even CHEAPER than fiverr.

    It’s the sweatshop of the internet and it’s run by Amazon. Check it out if you want to waste some more money (and time) Amazon Mechanical Turk – https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome

    Reply
  49. BetterTAX says:
    February 10, 2011 at 9:31 am

    But… but… only the cool people do read ViperChilli.com – or have I been indoctrinated by some video I just watched?!

    I don’t know about the legality of fake testimonials but certainly it’s a cause for concern and one big directory here in England has very strong rules about testimonial posting. But I think our general advertising policy is more stringent than other countries also.

    Now, what can I put myself up to do for a fiverrrrrrrrrr!!! :)

    Reply
  50. Cristina says:
    February 10, 2011 at 11:41 am

    I’ve known Fiverr for a while. Just be careful. A friend of mine wanted to promote his artwork in several sites. The guy who did the promotion wrote all over the net he had been paid to tell how good artist my friend is. And the silly “marketer” sent a whole report of his activity. He was sure he had done a great job when he had actually ruined my friends reputation.

    Reply
  51. Andrew Mckay says:
    February 10, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    Used Fiverr.com for 2 ebooks I give away on my blog. Worth every penny (cent.)

    Reply
  52. TheInfoPreneur says:
    February 10, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    hah…this is pretty insightful. Thanks for the undercover operation work, detective.
    B

    Reply
  53. Chicken Raising Rita says:
    February 10, 2011 at 5:29 pm

    I’d be happy to offer one of my chickens for testimonials. They’re very cute and quite convincing! Could we make some money on fiverr?

    Reply
  54. Mitch Mitchell says:
    February 11, 2011 at 4:00 am

    Interesting and disconcerting at the same time. I have to admit that I’m one of those people who’s never believed most video testimonials unless I knew the person in them, and since that’s happened almost never I guess it shows I have a high level of skepticism. And that’s a shame in one fashion, yet has probably saved me a lot of money in another. However, I guess it can be used for legit purposes as well.

    Reply
  55. Melvin says:
    February 11, 2011 at 9:40 am

    That’s a good site and you can get things done for $5 but as always you have to be concerned with the quality.

    For instance, 5 bucks for a 150 likes in a fan page would only yield people who probably are not into your same niche which means lesser interaction and poor quality in return. I think your suggestions are correct, you want to avail services that can actually do good to your site/business. I recently just paid someone $5 to proofread something for me and i was amazed a).how quick it was returned to me and b).the quality.. I think right now not a lot of people are using it correclty so its good to take advantage of it…

    Reply
  56. Benny the Irish polyglot says:
    February 11, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    Oh man, I’m going to spend way more than $100 on this site!! And I thought odesk was good :D
    Thanks a million Glen!!

    Reply
  57. paras dahal says:
    February 11, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    Hey Glen, which software did you use to make the starting and edit this video?

    Reply
  58. Morgan says:
    February 11, 2011 at 2:35 pm

    Some of the gigs are just plain fun, and as you mentioned with the time square one, no one would be the wiser.

    I wouldn’t pay for video testimonials, though. They’re a bit sketchy. Some of the stuff on there is a little questionable, but for the most part, it’s just for fun. I provide voice over service for way cheap, but I end up getting clients for the long term from Fiverr.

    Can’t win them all on Fiverr, though. I have come across so very awful people. Just watch out and always investigate the person’s validity first. :)

    Fantastic overview!!

    Reply
  59. Property Girl says:
    February 11, 2011 at 7:43 pm

    Hello, I run a property and money saving blog and a new follower of yours. Just wanted to say that I love Fiverr it has some wicked things there that you can get for such a low price, perfect if you are like me new to the internet business and want help like videos, content etc! enjoy your blog!!

    Reply
  60. Justin Germino says:
    February 11, 2011 at 9:09 pm

    Fiverr is really no more different than MyLikes or SponsoredTweets letting people promote products/services on social media for money and even MyLikes was experimenting with a YouTube type of promotion offering. Though I think the Social Media aspects may be a bit lame, I found value in the artistic aspects and some people willing to draw logo’s, graphics, icons, pictures for $5 is a fraction of the cost of hiring even a decent amateur. I also think pictures of someone wearing a shirt, holding a sign…etc is just a promotional ad and not a testimonial so is more legit and I wouldn’t mind it. I particularly like your example for the sign at Times Square, overall I agree that people peddling kids saying stuff or doing stuff may not be legal, the site needs more regulation but some value and useful items can be found.

    Note, there are so many other micro sites just like this one cropping up from the five to ten to fifty dollar range, I know at least 12 of them spawned in the past 12 months.

    Reply
  61. Sean says:
    February 12, 2011 at 3:54 am

    I’ve been using Fiverr for about 6 months now. I bought logos for several different podcasts, with almost perfect results each time. My “Eating the Internet Elephant” show’s logo was done in 6 hours, and I think it’s as good as anything else on iTunes. Great post on the merits of Fiverr. Maybe you could check out the other low-dollar contract sites? I don’t work with them yet. $5 is still a lot to me.

    Reply
  62. Robert Casper says:
    February 13, 2011 at 2:36 am

    I’ve used Fiverr to get an actor to do a video review in a Hillbilly accent. I also used it to get a nice animated graphic to use as an outro for my youtube videos. Those were good, but I also bought an ebook about how to make money on youtube — that was so “black hat” that the info was useless.

    My brother is in a band and paid $5 to have a teenager read the lyrics to a song while smashing raw eggs on his head. Good times.

    Reply
  63. Jenn says:
    February 13, 2011 at 8:21 pm

    Re: legality of testimonials:
    In the US you cannot post testimonials where someone claims to use a product and does not. People can tell about but can’t claim results from using a product or service.
    (googling legality + testimonials should give you plenty of answers to this effect :) )

    (not a lawyer, not legal advice, etc etc)

    Reply
  64. mike says:
    February 14, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    great post. i had already posted something on my blog about using fiverr for getting backlinks (usually poor quality indeed) – but you can sometimes find some real gems if you search well enough.

    i also like using the video testimonials.. i really love what you did with the mashup. the time square one also rocks. i might have to buy the same gig.

    i do some gigs of my own, which has helped in networking, as far as web design work goes for me… i also use my fiverr income to pay for most of the gigs that i buy. so it’s almost like a trading service for me.. i dont spend too much, and i do some small tasks every now and then to pay for most things i buy. a pretty awesome all around site.

    mike

    Reply
  65. Alok says:
    February 14, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    Just wondering if my comments are being ignored or you aren’t being able to read them due to spam filters.

    Reply
  66. richpolanco says:
    February 15, 2011 at 12:37 am

    Insightful post Glen! Video testimonials are really going to become irrelevant (not that I trust half of the ones I see out there anyway already).

    People looking to make quick money, no matter what dishonest means they use, will always try to game the system. If they used fake text testimonials before, nothing will stop them from using video ones. I’d say it will become the preferred method, because video testimonials have more “punch” behind them.

    Reply
  67. Larry Lourcey says:
    February 15, 2011 at 2:36 am

    That video is hilarious. Most of the people obviously had zero idea what ViperChill even is! lol

    I’ve had very hit or miss luck with Fiverr – but for $5, its kind of an easy gamble to take. I’d just never do the testimonial thing… that’s just too weird.

    I must admit… the magician one was kind of cool!

    Larry

    Reply
  68. Alok says:
    February 15, 2011 at 7:30 am

    One more comment gobbled up.

    Anyway I just wanted to share my experience as a seller on fiverr.
    After having delivered around 600 gigs (Mostly headers & Ebook-Covers) I can safely say that fiverr has given us a reach which
    wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. I am getting my team to be ready for a day when we could be doing around 100 gigs
    a day seeing the kind of growth we are seeing on fiverr.
    (Secretly I wish for a 1000 gigs in a day and that should continue for 1000 days.
    It would make me/us the first Fivellionare Seller . It may sound crazy but I think it is possible).

    Reply
  69. Karen says:
    February 15, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    I’ve been using Fiverr for quite a while and have been quite successful with sales, though as you say, it can be easy to spend on Fiverr, but with gigs been sold, you can use the funds for purchasing gigs yourself and this is what I usually do ;)

    Reply
  70. Jen Adams says:
    February 15, 2011 at 10:57 pm

    I’ve been very pleased with my fiverr experience. I use it for transcription, not video testimonials, but did a similar test run to find an outstanding provider I now use all the time. The price is right, but even more importantly, I’ve saved hours of my own time on client book projects that were based on interviews. Would recommended fiverr to anyone, with the caveat that you need to shop around to zero in on quality providers.

    Reply
  71. wes says:
    February 17, 2011 at 2:33 am

    Gotta Love fiverr – I have used it with success for photo editing and graphics – you got to use your head and you can save a lot of time when you choose wisely – funny vid – loved it

    Reply
  72. Rosco says:
    February 17, 2011 at 8:43 am

    Regarding Video testimonials. Watch out for all these faces when you hit a sales page from now on. http://www.youtube.com/thefiverr
    Looks like all the videos from the workers on fiverr are uploaded to this channel.
    It was weird, while I was watching some of those videos of people offering there services some of the videos that one of the females had done for a client were showing up on the side bar. Like how to “get your ex husband back”. Not sure how that happens as was a total different youtube account.

    I also found one guy that has hired every serious video presenter for a testimonial for his internet marketing website. Whoa! Gotta watch out for video testimonials!

    Conclusion: fiverr is cool and here to stay. Here is a video I had done for me last night for a competition I entered. Whoa, she is talented. ADULTS ONLY: http://www.youtube.com/zilliondollardomaina

    Reply
  73. Ilir says:
    February 18, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    Awesome post! Nice video compilation. “Faked social proof is here.” LoL.

    Reply
  74. Ralph Kooi says:
    February 22, 2011 at 11:04 pm

    Awesome!
    I’ve just used Fiverr to create a logo for my new website http://www.myrun.com.au
    In the first place it was just to get some ideas on a logo but I like this one for the time being and only cost me 5 dollars. The job was completed in 3 days (if that) and got 4 different logo’s. All for 5 dollars.

    Like mentioned in earlier posts, its great for some simple design work.
    http://www.fiverr.com/users/designinc/gigs/create-4-original-vectorized-logos-logo-for-your-company?ref=glst-g-ttl if you want to check out the designer.

    Reply
  75. Veronica says:
    February 23, 2011 at 4:25 am

    I’d love to know the girl’s username with that lime-green background! Could you email me? :)

    Reply
  76. Lee says:
    February 24, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Hey Glen, another great post!
    Ive been reading your blog for over a year now and this is my first ever comment!
    i look foward to everything you write and just wanted to tell you your doing a great job.
    today im starting my first web project in about 3 years and ill be following viperchills guide all the way!

    Reply
  77. Missy says:
    February 26, 2011 at 3:51 am

    I had a young dude do a cute video for me just talking about a former site of mine. The twist? He sings it. (I think it’s sweet) Lol.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u7YBM97rEY

    It’s cute and for a $5, it can’t be beat. I use Fiverr all the time, I’ve bought handmade jewelry songs, articles, headers, postcards, Ezine article and some CSS help. I also have a gig whereby I will make a simple blog, if one sign ups with hosting through me. So far I’ve gotten a number of clients through my gig.

    Needless to say, i’m a big fan of Fiverr!

    Reply
  78. Jamie says:
    March 2, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    Looks like someone actually did this for real:
    http://facebook.wilburwoods.com/

    And his profile: http://www.fiverr.com/users/wilburwoods

    Caught in the act: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:iY7q4vyiWhcJ:www.fiverr.com/users/caliberhitter/gigs/record-a-video-of-myself-making-your-product-look-cool-jersey-shore-style+wilburwoods+inurl:fiverr.com&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.co.uk

    Reply
  79. Keith says:
    March 3, 2011 at 8:22 pm

    Hi Glen,
    Great post, I’ve invested $5 in 500 backlinks, can’t wait to see the results!
    Cheers,
    Keith

    Reply
  80. Casey says:
    March 4, 2011 at 11:04 pm

    Hey Glen – I was wondering what video editing software you used to edit this video. It’s AWESOME! Thank you for all the information.

    Reply
  81. Nishadha says:
    March 11, 2011 at 7:58 am

    I have being using fiverr for a while and I must admit I never thought about the legal implications of it. I have mostly used to for article writing services and for 5$ the results were pretty decent. I guess it is a service that you should use with a bit care :-)

    Reply
  82. Allen Sayer says:
    March 12, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    Very cool use of Fivver and a good way to use it properly for videos to create attention (instead of fake testimonials)! Got the mind buzzin’ trying to figure out where I could try this.

    Reply
  83. moo says:
    March 12, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    I was given a link to this after a discussion I recently had about changing my mind about doing video testimonials on fiverr. I’ve been on the site as a seller for four months and had a lot of success, mainly with spaghetti messages and photo montages. I was skeptical too but have sold to over 200 people without any negativity. I love being creative and it is great for that. My motivation is the wonderful feedback I’ve had so far – but I do know I would feel uncomfortable telling people that a certain website will change your life. I think people look on those testimonials with a certain disbelief anyway. I love the site though. If you want to spend $5 you can send it in my direction! http://www.fiverr.com/users/madmoo
    (I checked all the comments first before posting in case anyone had said anything about me behind my back!)
    Good post – I’m glad I had a change if mind about the video gig!
    Ang

    Reply
  84. Paul / Pay Me Or The Kitten Gets It says:
    March 17, 2011 at 1:25 am

    That video had me cracking up. By the time you get to the little girl at the end … and she’s just the icing. Legal or not, that’s some funny stuff!

    I have other Fiverr’s, but this one is by fa my favorite and the one I really hope does well. I wanted to create one that would 1. hopefully go viral. and 2. hopefully help a little … I don’t know how well this one will do – but I hope well. If it gets out into the community of experts and those who care about animal cruelty, it may do well. I’ve been tossing around the idea of creating a complete landing page for it … driving traffic that way. Anyhow – love this blog. I simply can’t believe the amount of information here. I’m actually quite taken aback by it.

    Paul aka
    “Fiverr For Fundraising”

    Reply
  85. Ros says:
    May 12, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    This person is sick. He should get done by the FTC!
    http://www.youtube.com/user/sailingification

    He or she has paid over 62 people to make fake testimonials from such sites like fiverr etc! For his websites like how to get heaps of cash in 24 hours and how to start a coin buiness ebook sites. The people are on the site even saying they are making 6000 month, thats iilegal isnt it.

    Reply
  86. Andy says:
    May 30, 2011 at 4:08 am

    I just joined Fiverr and fell helpful according to your explanation about it.
    The existing of fiverr stimulate people’s creativity even just worth only $5. :)

    So, what craziest thing you will offered on Fiver??

    Reply
  87. David Pages says:
    June 30, 2011 at 9:24 pm

    I’ve got a few gigs on Fiverr that have made fair money for the effort. I’ve probably bought more than I’ve earned though, and many have indeed been junk. The “Tweet” services stink! 4 tweets to 60k followers and only 3 clicks? Awfulness!

    Reply
  88. madmoo says:
    July 1, 2011 at 5:10 am

    Hi, I know I once commented in this thread because I get notifications of new activity, but it was a long while ago so I’ll update.
    I use fiverr a lot as a seller (now ‘top rated’) and I’m aware that there are good and bad gigs and people on there. I’d like to think I’m one of the good ones and I refuse to do video gigs because, even though that’s where you can make a load of money, I couldn’t bring myself to lie on tape for $5 ($4 actually, since fiverr take their 20% cut).
    So I stick to the fun and quirky gigs and have had nearly 600 orders in the last 7 months, with no negative feedback.
    I love the place and get regular work but you really DO need to be careful and use a bit of common sense when you buy anything.
    Please take a look at my profile there and see what I do – http://www.fverr.com/users/madmoo and I have now set up a facebook page where I can post even more information and photos – you might find it interesting and I’d love to see you there too: http://facebook.com/madmoofiverr . I will also answer any questions you have since I’m a very friendly and talkative person!

    Reply
  89. Kirsten says:
    July 5, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    I do use Fiverr and it’s great! As mentioned in the article you have to check the reviews. Fiverr has some great deals and some great scammers.

    If you’re looking for a review of your website use seller Tonnnnuk. He gave a thorough and detail review of my site with great suggestions that brought me more organic search results. I was totally impressed with the review for only $5!!!

    All the best!

    Reply
  90. Taripre$ says:
    July 29, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    Well, I havent used the site to sell anything as of yet, but I did offer to pay people to do stuff for me, to no avail….lol!! I’ll try giving away my ebooks and maybe something else for $5 and see how that goes!! Obviously there’s some strategy involved to stay atop the first page, as with every other site in the world, but we’ll see!!

    By the way, pretty good case study!

    Thanx
    Taripre$

    Reply
  91. jeff says:
    August 19, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    Great post!

    I have used fiverr and found some great offers that I have bought. One guy hands out flyers for you on his college campus and has been very effective for me. If your looking for a targeted audience you can find it on fiverr. The testimonials might not be so legit but other services are!

    Thanks
    Jeff

    Reply
  92. Christian says:
    September 2, 2011 at 12:41 am

    Yes you can use fiverr as if you will not use…lol somebody else will do. And you can use also the other few best fiverr clones from fiverrway top.

    Some of other fiverr like sites offer even more value than fiverr. I use to make videos and promote business, blogs and people. I chose carefully my clients as more of them become partners and friends

    You can do the same…. when it comes about services, people and business it is almost impossible to not find good people and bad people.

    So in my opinion fiverr and fiverr like sites worth for increasing relationship and much, much more…

    Thank you for your nice writing here and forgive my bad English.

    Christian

    Reply
  93. Bob Malloy says:
    September 22, 2011 at 12:12 am

    Ya Fiverr.com is pretty interesting. I’ve signed up with it for guerilla marketing. I’ll sidewalk chalk a domain name on the campus of the University of Montana. This is going to be my little test to see if its a good tool for me. As far as testimonials go, I think that fiverr and copycat sites will change the game for video testimonials a little. Keep up the darn good work Glen. I learn more from this site that any business class through the school.

    Reply
  94. Anders says:
    November 29, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    Do not trust fiverr.com after I sold for $198 they close my account and kept my money :(

    Reply
  95. Benzujk says:
    April 8, 2012 at 5:45 pm

    Hey Glen,
    Loved your article.
    I am an Architect. I own two blogs related to my field. Have been reading your articles for quite some time now.
    I must say that you have incredible amount of knowledge to share and teach…
    Your efforts are highly appreciated.
    Thanks!

    Benzu

    Reply
  96. Rajgopal says:
    May 31, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    Hi Glen, I am just starting my new blog.Your Expertise shows in this field.Thank U for sharing this post packed with incredible Knowledge.

    Reply
  97. Steven says:
    August 6, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    I have been using Fiverr for a few tasks and have had good and bad experiences. I have had some exceptional work done, and have kept hold of their details for future use but on the flipside I have some pretty horrendous work done also. For $5 you are always going to take a chance on the quality of the service.

    Reply
  98. Laura says:
    October 26, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Great post! I to like the NY gig, pretty good! Ive been using fiverr as well as some other alternatives as well and post my work on there for graphics etc! BUT also bough a gig similar to the one you posted on here about the girl holding a sign up in NY, it was great and well worth a fiver!
    But like you say about the video testimonials, i to think they are a bit dodgy and i personally wouldn’t use them. Its so false, and why any other company would like to falsify their claims i have no idea.

    On the happy side of things, if it wasnt for these sites i wouldnt be making much money! And for all the gig lovers there is a new site launching soon which i found that will allow you to promote all your jobs on one platform that link directly to your jobs AND they dont charge for the orders, you just pay $5 for membership (i think)…ive signed up anyway as the first 2 months are free! so thought i would share that with ya! madgig.com

    Again GREAT post and a good read Glenn

    Reply
  99. raj says:
    November 17, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    This is called the million dollar post amazing writing about fiverr case study.Its looks like live match on a blog .

    Reply

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