Alex Fasulo: How To Make 6-Figures on Fiverr

All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Alex Fasulo with us. She is a 6-figure digital nomad and full-time copywriter and copy editor with Fiverr.com where she works with individuals, brands, and companies throughout the world. So welcome to the show.

Hi Tyler, thank you for having me. I'm happy to be on the Business Blast Podcast.

Of course, I'm pumped to have you on. So, um, Alex, the first one we ask on this show is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Oh, that, that— these are deep. These are—

yeah.

Um, oh, that's tough.

Okay, it's all right.

We got a lot of little things like that happen to me, and I'm, I'm actually— I'm one of those crazy, like, philosophical people where I'm always trying to find the meaning and everything. So This one's like blowing my mind because there's, there's too many things.

You could say a couple if you want.

Uh, let's see. Okay, so something that had an underlying meaning. Um, I guess I, I don't know if this is coming to my mind or whatever, but yeah, I don't know if this one would even count. I don't know, whenever I was little, I always used to say like, don't judge a book by its cover. That always used to be like my favorite saying. I don't know why, it was just something like I always thought it had so much more meaning to it, or I don't know, it's just something my mom, like, I always used to say, like, running around as a 5-year-old, I'd be like, don't judge a book by its cover or something. Yeah, um, I guess that kind of like foreshadowed my life because, um, no one really knew what I was up to the last 4 years alone in my house with my laptop, and I think everyone thought I was twiddling my thumbs and looking at Facebook. And little did they know, I was up to a lot of things. And I think when the CNBC article broke this summer, I think that, that had a lot of more meaning to my life because I thought they had written me off. It's just like, oh, she's gonna go be a writer, like, poor starving, you know. And it definitely blew a lot of people's minds. So I guess I am the don't judge a book by its cover. I don't know.

Yeah, no, no, I love it. I'm sure that article did, and it's kind of similar, you know, with me. Like, I dropped out of school and people were like, yo, he's going down a bad path.

Like, yeah, you know what, I feel like it's every entrepreneur's story, honestly, because yeah, can't do it, don't understand it, and so you feel silly for a while until like you, you do what you wanted to do all along, and then you're like, okay, I feel good now.

Yeah, absolutely. So, so let's dive in a little bit more to like the, the article and stuff. Like, well, Well, first, how did you even come up with this? Like, tell us like the beginning, like how did you think like— Yeah, like I'm gonna get on Fiverr, like—

You know, so I always tell my mom, because I was working a state job in upstate New York, writing, editing, doing a lot of what I do now. And I have just always been the classic like, oh, I'm bored type, like, come on, what, you know, what else can I do? I feel like I'm— there's more I could be doing type of person. So, so is my mom's the same way. So she messaged me one day while I was at work and said, hey, you know, check out this platform, my friend's on it. I guess you can make $5 offering digital services, might be fun. I was like, all right, Mom, I'll check it out. And I went on, I didn't take it really seriously at first. I just offered editing for $5, and I was, you know, way undervalued, like, what I was doing. But I was happy with it. I was 22, I think, um, and I was like, oh cool, I can buy a new shirt or whatever. Yeah, like that's all I was thinking about. And then everything changed when I moved to New York City when I was 22 going on 23. I got down there for a job. I will not name the place or any of the people at the place, but I just imploded at it. I couldn't do it. I hated it so much. It was just like, I was like crying at my desk. And if anyone knows me, I do not cry. So it was just, it was not good. And after 4 weeks, I just straight up quit. Like I was supposed to go into work that Monday and I, physically could not. Like, I left some of my things there. It sounds really dramatic. I'm like actually not a dramatic person. Like, I was just like, I can't go in. So I sent an email and I quit. And then I had like my first, my midlife crisis basically. So I just went to like 4 different museums that day and just stared at art. I don't know why. I went home that night and I was thinking to myself, I have to do something or I'm going to be that failure small town girl who moved to New York City to chase her dreams and failed and came home and everyone's gonna laugh at me type of thing. So I was like, I gotta figure it out right now. And I had the tab of Fiverr open on my laptop and it was like a little like light bulb went off and I was like, well, you know, I've never tried actually offering copywriting. Like I just edit, but surely, you know, people might need things written and I can write things, I think. So that's kind of how it all started. And in just a few weeks I opened up more gigs, they're called, with the services you offer on there are for your gig. I opened up a few more gigs and really within a month it was already on its way to being sufficient and that was, the rest is history.

Yeah, that's wild. So, okay, so then the rest is history. So like, when was there like a pivotal point where things just started to like take off? Like when was that, you know?

Like when did it? Yes, so let's see. So I quit on like December 3rd or something like that. And I vaguely remember, it seems like a lifetime ago now, I vaguely remember by February I knew I was going to be able to stay in New York City and at least cover my rent and food. So really less than 2 months I knew I was going to be able to be, I was going to be okay. Not to say I wasn't working 14 hours a day for no money.

Yeah, I was going to ask like how much?

Yeah, well, yeah, like I was, this is the first time I start, I never like when I was growing up I didn't say I'm going to be an entrepreneur. I've always been into politics which we're not going to get into I'm actually not anymore, but okay, I saw myself as like a business owner. That wasn't my like identity when I was 8. I thought I was like, I'm gonna be the president. Like, that's what I told everyone. And I know possible, I know, right? Oh, I don't know. Um, we're not going there. Um, and I never really— I'm gonna be an entrepreneur, like blah blah blah. And then once this just kind of— it just kind of like found me. I don't know, it's weird. It just— this lifestyle found me. And then within like the first month, I was so like almost addicted to it that there was no ceiling anymore. Like the ceiling was what I wanted it to be. I realized like this is what I've always— like this is what I should be doing, and I will be doing this the rest of my life. I just knew it. Like I was so much happier. I didn't care I was working 14 hours as long as I was working for myself. It's all good. But for other people, I'm not that great of an employee. I have, you know, I talk back and that type of thing, but The more I've read about it, I'm just like a classic, uh, like solo entrepreneur type. So I totally—

yeah, I can relate. Well, and you don't show up on Mondays, and that's not good for a place.

Um, like, don't quit things. I, I like was just like holding my face like this writing that email.

I was like, yeah. So, okay, so if somebody like— I think they're, you know, times are shifting, right? I think more and more people are realizing that like maybe being an employee is not like safer than starting your own consulting business or something. So like, what's your best piece of advice for somebody that wants to get started on Fiverr now? Like, has it— is it a lot harder than it used to be 4 years ago?

You know, and I'll have to be honest, like Instagram and every other thing, it definitely— I'm sure the barrier to entry is harder now than for— I started 4 years ago now, so for sure it's more saturated. I can't say that like the fairy tale— I don't know if it's still there, it probably still is, but um I would say it is definitely still possible though, and like I've written an ebook now and I've had a bunch of people tell me that they are starting to gain traction, so I do have heard from people it is possible, but I guess my best piece of advice would be be patient with it because it's a review-based platform, so you will not— it doesn't make sense, like you won't get 20 people to try a brand new gig out and just cross their fingers with no reviews on it that night, like you are gonna have to and wait for— you will encounter those people who do start taking chances on you. But I always say, like, keep in mind, I was amassing reviews very slowly for a full year before I launched on it type of thing. So I tell people, you know, like, if you just quit your job and you have no money and you think you're going to get evicted, it is not going to save you in a month or two. Like, you have to put time into it, but it will pay off if you do that.

Okay, yeah, so quick question too, because like I would think if it was me, right, I would— I think reviews are like one of the most important things. So like, are you, are you able to like offer discount or like even free service on there just to get reviews at first? That's what I would do.

Yeah, so the Fiverr customer service department is, uh, very strict, and I think, I mean, if they caught you doing that, they would not be happy about it. So, okay.

Yeah, I wasn't sure. I mean I mean, as long as Fiverr still gets their cut and everything and all that's like, you know, good. I just mean like highly discounted at first because it's the same thing almost with like books.

So yeah, yeah. So like starting out, yeah, no one— you're not gonna be able to charge a lot for your services. Like I started out charging nothing for a very long time. I charge a lot now because I can, but yeah, totally. Like you're whoever— like you are gonna have to start out charging a little, little money for what you're doing. But yeah, I always tell people You know, if it's— if this is what you're supposed to be doing, if what you're going to offer is your passion, if whatever, then it shouldn't matter. Like, for me, like, I loved every second of earning $5, you know? Like, it just was meant to be type of thing. So if you're just doing this to do it, like, I don't know, a lot goes into it. Like, you need to want to do it, or you need to— it's not going to be easy along the way. So I always tell people, like, if you're just doing this for the sake of doing it because you hate your job, that's not the right motive going into it. You need to be doing it because you either love what you're offering or you love the new lifestyle it's going to afford you because you are not going to make a lot of money right away. But like anything, the payoff is totally still there. It's just— but it's there.

Yeah, I was just wondering if there was a way because like I always tell people with like what I do, I help people with books and stuff. So like one of the things I say with books is like, you know, start out, you can do a free Kindle launch or like 99 cents, do a discount and get a bunch of reviews on your book. And then somebody who has never heard of you comes across your book on Amazon, like the trust is built because the reviews are there.

Totally.

And same thing with like your website. Like if you're going to offer a service, doesn't have to be through a platform, just do it for free or discounted at first, get testimonials, and then it's a lot easier to sell your stuff. So I didn't, I didn't know Fiverr had something where you could like do that.

No, I should have people approach me a lot on Fiverr and offer to pay me to write a review on their Amazon product listing, and Fiverr shuts their account down like immediately. I don't know, it's just, you know, the Fiverr—

Oh yeah, yeah, you can't do that. Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah, no, but discounted for sure. Like, yeah, no, I offer— I offered discounted rates for a while to get people to stack up. Reviews are gold on there, basically.

So yeah, so, so if you're able to share, like, how many reviews do you like have? Like, what's a lot of reviews?

I think I have 4,000 at this point.

That's a lot.

That's not comparable to someone who would be building apps or websites because I turn around 10 pieces of content in a day. It's just a quick volume what I do. But if you're a website designer, it might take you 3 weeks to do one website. You know, if you have 100 reviews, that's good. Like it's relative to what you're doing. But I have— I looked the other day, I've completed 6,200 different orders on there. And many of those orders were more than one piece of content at once. So a lot of typing and about, I think maybe it's like 3,800 or something 5-star reviews and then probably like 2,300 not 5-star reviews under it. You can't please everyone but is the, you know, the law of averages or whatever about after a while if you're doing a good enough job, like don't let that one bad review get you down because if you end up with 3,800 5-star reviews, a 1-star review does absolutely nothing to the average.

Oh yeah, for sure. I've seen that's still a lot. I've actually seen some on there for like, some have like 40,000 reviews or something crazy.

Probably the people who do all small gig stuff.

Yeah, they do small stuff. Like sometimes there's ones that do, again, goes back to the book stuff, like they'll like promote to their Twitter account or something.

Influencer people on there. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So they're just like popping $5. Like, oh my gosh, it's crazy.

All they got to do is just like click, click, click. Yeah.

Yeah.

It's nuts.

That's so nuts. Yeah.

$5 adds up after a while.

It does.

And like, that was, you know, and that was my mentality going into it. And people had seen something to say about it at first. Fiverr gets a rep sometimes for being like the bargain freelancing platform, and that's why they released Fiverr Pro, which I'm on now, which is the better quality writing or whatever they say. It's just, it's their hand-vetted talent. Like, they had to approve it. Yeah. And yeah, like, for a while when I was writing for $5, like, some people had some things to say, you know, like, oh, her writing must not be that good, or all this other stuff. And I'm like, no, I was just willing to do what it takes to make a living. And I, I don't— I'm not too good for that. And I still am not too good for a $5 gig. So yeah, not a good mentality in my opinion to be too good for stuff.

I love that. I agree with you. And I mean, that's how I think Fiverr kind of did start. The whole reason was $5. Like, that's so— but I, I have seen that. So can you explain a little bit deeper? Unless— I mean, you kind of explained it really well, but The Fiverr Pro. So there's now layers to Fiverr.

So yeah, so, and I understand some people say when they first get on it, it's a confusing website now because there is a lot happening on it. So I totally get that. But so Fiverr Pro is the top 1% of people on the platform according to Fiverr. So their team has to review you and approve you and that type of thing. So that tells buyers that you are the top 1% of what Fiverr has to offer, which is why you can charge a lot of money. So I no longer charge just $5 for my services because I have that nice little badge on my gigs, which tells people basically I don't need to prove myself to you for 4 days to tell you how good my writing is going to be or whatever. You should just— you can see I'm the top 1% or that type of thing. And they— Fiverr allows people to apply all the time. They reached out to me when they launched it because I was in New York City and they wanted me to be in the commercial, so they contacted me about it because people always ask me this. So I never applied for it, but they have that. It's very easy to find, like you just look, apply to Fiverr Pro, and it's an application. And they review it all the time for people who think that they want to grab that or whatever. It's available. Yeah.

Okay, so, and then, uh, just to clarify too, what are all the different gigs you, you offer so we know like what it really takes? So you did 6,200 jobs, I think you said. And then, and you do copy editing and copywriting?

Yeah, those are the two things I offer. I just have one editing gig and it has different layers to it because the editing gets confusing for what, you know, book edit, whatever. And then, so most of my everything comes through the actual original writing. So my most popular gig is I will write a blog for you, it's called. And that's my most popular one because everyone, you know, knows that the blogs are important now. So I have stuff come through that every single day. Then I also write website content, product descriptions, Amazon product descriptions, crowdfunding campaigns, press releases, and I think that's all of it.

Okay, no, that's—

I make new gigs a lot and I test them out, and, um, don't really work, or if I don't really like doing it, I'll close them. So like, I did an email copy one and I discovered I hate writing them. I just hate it. I just, I just can't. So I just, I closed it.

No, no, it makes sense. And yeah, I could see the blogs one probably being very popular.

And that's like the easiest form of writing for me because I'm definitely not, I'm not a technical writer, but I'm also not a, I'm not going to write, you know, very lofty language or any of that. I'm a very like business succinct, like let's get the message out type of writer, which just translates to blogs well. For people. Yeah.

Awesome.

All right.

Well, I think that, okay, I'm very clear now on how this all happened. So, thank you. So, my next one for you, if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Oh, I think, I guess I could probably wish I could tell my younger self, like my 16-year-old self, that I was destined to be an entrepreneur and a boss or every other thing because I think I would have gotten way more of a jump start on it, even though you would argue like getting started at 22 is still young. But I am a very like time is money person. And I guess actually that would be the other piece of advice is I tell myself to be more patient, which I still need to listen to. So sometimes I get myself in trouble because I am impatient. I will not lie about it. So I belong in New York City basically.

Yeah, yeah, no, things move quick there, so I feel you. Um, so then Kind of going down a little bit of a different path here. In your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

Oh my gosh, you're like, you, this is like what I am at when I'm at a bar every Friday night. My poor friends have to listen to me after I have a glass of wine. Like, this is the stuff I talk about. Literally.

Oh, this is great though. This is good.

Oh, I explore this topic all the time. So my most recent, like, discussion of happiness is I think, and especially our generation, I think we're way too serious as a generation. I do. Like, when I make jokes generally in a room of people, the first people to either be offended or not like my joke are people our age. It's not people older than us. It's not old people. It's people our age. So I think the key to happiness is loosening up and not taking everything so seriously. Including everything, your job, you know, what your politician said that you hate, what someone on social media wrote that got you so mad. Like, I think the key to happiness is just not being a sponge of all of it and just doing what you love and not taking everything so seriously. Like, it's okay if your project didn't get approved or, you know, it's okay that your governor didn't get elected. Like, take a deep breath and just laugh it off. I don't know, I was always like, just laugh it off, it's all good.

Yeah, I agree.

Serious, you know, and I don't know, I just see so many people, my— so many of my friends, everything is so serious. And it's like, whenever I'm around people that just have more fun, like, it's, it's okay. Like, don't get mad on Facebook. Engage in the Facebook argument, you're gonna lose 2 hours of your life and you're gonna hate the person when you're done. Just step away and go play a video game or something. Just be less serious. I don't know. That's my way. That's my life. There's like so many things that go into it, but that's the latest.

So Okay, no, I'm with— so wait, have you ever heard of this guy Alan Watts? You ever heard of him?

No.

Okay, yeah, that's fine. So after, after the, after the interview, I'm going to send you some stuff on him because I think, I think you'll like him. Um, so normally I don't ask this question, but now you've intrigued me and, and that you're open to these things. Um, so like, what, what is the meaning of life? What do you think the meaning of life is?

Okay, so I always try and tiptoe around stuff like this because I don't want to freak anyone out or make anyone uncomfortable, but I'm a super spiritual person.

Okay, I feel you.

And I, you know, I go to church every week and I'm very active in that stuff. So cool. Really, I would tell you what's the meaning of, you know, the meaning of life is a, like, my belief, Christian beliefs, but I won't, I won't go there on people. So, um, I would say the meaning of life is to lift other people up with you because life isn't easy for everyone, anyone. And even if it looks like it's easy for someone, it's not. They might just have a facade on or whatever. And I guess, I don't know, I think the meaning of life is like while we're here sharing this earth with other life forms. I'm trying to make it non-Christian, sharing the earth.

It could be whatever you want.

You know, like we're sharing the same resources and energy pools as everyone around us. So I think the meaning of life is, is, I don't know, lifting everyone else up with you and You know, obviously, like, oh, leaving a good legacy. Yeah, sure, like, you'll have a good legacy if you do that, but it's— I think it's about more than just yourself. I think it's about, I don't know, making the world a better place for other people and how and the way you know how to do that. Yeah.

Yeah, I think— I mean, I think we're all connected, right? So, um, so, um, next one is what is the best book that you've read and what's the number one thing you learned from it?

Oh, um, let's see. I've been reading a lot of faith books this year, so I'm gonna try to think of another one.

Um, no, you can mention one of those.

I read are like not good to mention in this.

All right, I think it's fine. I accept all beliefs. It's fine with me.

You know what? Okay, so I'll just preface this. So this was long before Donald Trump was elected president and every other thing. My mom used to read us his books when we were growing up, like Really? Entrepreneur. So she was, she would literally read us about his business books when I was like 8.

So it's, this is good stuff right here.

No wonder I am the way I am. When I look back on it, it's kind of funny. But, um, so I, let's see, a few years ago before the president, like before all of this, when he was just still a businessman, I read pretty much all of his books and their titles start to blend together in my head. Like How to Get Rich, The Art of the Deal, like all of them, or Get Rich Quick, or what was the other one? Like The titles, I'm bad at remembering them. They all blend together. But I read one of them. And it's honestly like my business Bible. I think of, I hear him like all the time from all of his books that I read. And they're like my guidance in working every day. And what he, what his books have helped me with is as, and I don't like wake up every day and focus on like, oh, I'm a woman, I'm not a man type. But there are times when my womanly nature will tell me not to be aggressive or not to offend someone or whatever. And then I'll just kind of hear him from these books say like, who cares if you're like, you need to treat this business deal just like a man. You need to not feel bad that that happened. You know, you need to hold your ground firm because no one would say anything if it was a man doing it. And that's like, I hear that all the time from his books. Like, yeah, you're a woman. Like, yeah, you're starting to feel emotional or sensitive about something because you can't help it. But like, You're all like, who cares if you're a man or a woman, like just be your own business entity and be firm and who cares, you know. Can I swear on this? Wait.

Yeah, you can swear.

Oh, it's like, you know, it's hard for women. You don't want to come off as a bitch, basically. But then there's times when I just hear from these books him saying like, who cares if you're a bitch, like you're doing what you need to do. And I don't know, that's just like what I take from it every day and it like pumps me up to keep chugging.

Yeah, no, I think it's important. So another one, not to ramble off all these names, but do you know Jordan Peterson? Have you ever heard of Jordan Peterson?

I'm so bad. I know, I'm like—

no, no, it's fine. So he's— no, no, it's fine. Um, I was just curious. So he speaks about where it's like, uh, typically like men are, are more disagreeable and women are more agreeable, typically.

Um, so biologically, probably.

Yeah, yeah, biologically. So that's kind of one of the reasons why like at least entrepreneurs entrepreneurially, because a man will kind of just go and like not agree. He won't take shit, like he'll just go, right? Where it's like you're saying the emotions come up and you'll kind of let maybe— I'm not saying you particular, this is not generalizing. I'm just saying like sometimes like it's more likely that a woman will, rather than have a conflict, she will just kind of accept what's going on and agree. So it's good that you're like aware of that. You feel the emotion and then you're like, no, like this isn't— I'm not gonna allow this.

Yeah, right, because it's like in his point on Tony Robbins stuff, like all these guys, they don't, you know, like one instance in the last year or two that happened with me was I was not like covering up my success per se for people that I was collaborating with, but I was just keeping it to myself. Like I didn't think, you know, people get weird when money gets involved with stuff, you know, like it's just weird to some people. And I kind of like, you know, that article came out, I was exposed a little bit of what I was up to. My nature was to like feel ashamed by it, which is really stupid. Like, and I would sit there and think like, would Tony Robbins feel ashamed about this article? No, he would think it's sick. And he would own it. And I was like, and I hear like, I have to tell myself that every day, like, yeah, own it. Like you need to move past your nature of, you know, womanly nature to please or whatever it is. But for sure, I have, you know, I It exists in me for sure. But anyway, yeah, those Trump business books, I'm not gonna lie, they, I hear, like I hear the quotes in them saying like, no, make this film, like it's all about filmmaking.

So, what's the, so my next one is what's your favorite quote?

What's my favorite quote? Like I should know this because I'm a writer. I probably can't.

It doesn't have to be word for word either. It's okay.

All right, well, this one, I guess, see, this is like I'm all over the place with different topics here, but I really love that quote from Alice in Wonderland. This is so random. I think, I don't know if it's the Mad Hatter who it is saying to her, like, don't be— or something like, don't be sad that you're mad, Alice, like all the best people are, or something, or the world's not mad, like we're— I don't— you do you know the quote I'm trying to say? I've got to look it up right now.

No, it's fine. I think I know actually what you are talking about.

Whenever I read it, I'm like I love it. It's basically saying like, if the world's making you feel mad, like, that's not— you're not mad, like, the world's mad. I don't know, it's like— I just love that quote whenever I see it, but as you can tell, it's weird. I write a lot and I have a really hard time remembering titles and quotes and authors. I don't know why. I'm also really bad at remembering names. I'm really terrible at it.

I think I won't test you here. It's Tyler Wagner, though, just in case.

No, I remember. No, at least if I'm gonna do shows, I have to— Say your name out loud. I'm not kidding, before I go on, because so I like— I have—

but you know, you know why it might be though, is because you're writing like so many different things with so many different people every day. Like, you've literally encountered more than 6,200 different—

so I mean, I'm like fried, you know, when people are like, oh, name your favorite book. It's like, I can see my favorite book, but I cannot remember the author. And it's just silly because here I am wanting to be one. So yeah. I think.

Got it.

Yeah.

Um, well, listen, yeah, thank you so much for coming on. I think this is going to help a lot of people, especially if they're, you know, starting out and stuff and they want to use Fiverr. So like, I think a couple different things. One, you know, where can people connect with you online? And then two, if somebody's looking for your services and stuff, you know, what's your Fiverr name? Is that what it's called?

Yeah, so my Fiverr name is funny. And now here's another piece of advice: make your Fiverr name something professional because they don't let you change it. So, oh wow, so you can find me at fiverr.com/faswaldo is my username, which is like my last name, F-A-S-W-A-L-D-O, like Where's Waldo. And very professional, professional reasons. Yeah, I love Instagram. I love taking photos in my spare time. And I pretty— you can find me on there for fun stuff. And I offer up like tips of advice. Like I posted yesterday about how I wasn't taking posture seriously as a freelancer, now my back's all messed up, and you can find all that good stuff on my Instagram. And that's just my full name, which is long and annoying, so it's @alexandrafasulo, which is spelled F-A-S-U-L-O. It's a weird name. Yeah, while you're cooking pasta, it'll sound better.

Perfect. Thank you again for coming on.

I appreciate it, Tyler. This is great. Thank you.