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Your one-stop swap shop for skills and talents – Metro US

Your one-stop swap shop for skills and talents

A website anonymously pairing people looking to have tasks out of their realm completed quickly and inexpensively with those able to offer such resources for the nominal, unwavering fee of five dollars, Fiverr.com is one of the world’s fastest-growing serviced-based networking sites.

“Finding outsourced or freelanced minor tasks that are monumental and time consuming for the novice but simple for the experienced. That’s what this site is,” notes Micha Kaufman, co-founder of Fiverr.com about his creation.

“The idea of Fiverr is to capture this notion that everyone is a micro-entrepreneur and can turn a profit from it.”

Utilized by homemakers, students, amateurs and professionals alike, a quick glimpse of Fiverr.com unveils offers of everything from the outlandish (emailing pets/writing gag songs) to practical (designing Flash logos for businesses) in an effort to allow capitalization on one’s particular speciality.

Today, thousands of people buy and sell expertise or kitsch through the strictly-online service which allows person-to-person, person-to-business and business-to-business employ by simply placing an order through the website. Enrolled participants may purchase from other Fiverrs or post their own offers, with solicitations sent via email. Upon completion of the task, payment is rendered via the entrepreneur’s PayPal account with a percentage going to maintain the Fiverr enterprise.

“I draw caricatures of people,” notes Vancouver-based political cartoonist J.J. McCullough, who uses Fiverr as an addendum to his own filibustercartoons.com site. McCullough’s work has quickly made him a popular contributor. “It’s fun to browse, trade and exchange with other Fiverrs as a self-promotional tool; great for offering simplistic, minimalist services.”

With its ease-of-use, low financial impact and increased online presence, Fiverr.com required little advertising to gain notoriety. Building a membership base principally via word-of-mouth, Kaufman notes that the site appeals to both dedicated dollar earners and those seeking diversion.

“Because Fiverr.com is available for both financial gain as well as personal fulfillment, fun and social connectivity, its value is broad; far beyond just making a few dollars. Some people have proven their abilities through Fiverr and moved on to great jobs. Others sell their abilities or wares just to do something amusing.”

Growth spurt

Launched a mere six months ago, Fiverr.com has taken off like something out of the late-’90s dot-com boom.

It is already the 450th most popular website in the U.S. and 800th
globally and has recently surpassed 100,000 services offered/rendered. Even Micha Kaufman is an enthusiastic customer.

“Apart from the ‘eat your own dog food’ that most companies should do,
I’ve tried all kinds of things; spent tons of money here in small five-dollar doses,” he laughs. “Mostly on special gifts for loved ones like
special postcards or having a song written and recorded for my wife.”