Fiverr Evolves From Amusement To Credible Proift Center

When my friend Paulie introduced me to a site called Fiverr several months ago, it seemed like an amusing destination to earn a buck or two here and there. The concept: Let folks know what you're willing to do for $5. At first I posted crap like, "I'll take a picture of your company logo anywhere in NYC for $5." I got a few grabs and made $4 on the take, after Fiverr took its commission.

But as I began digging into the site, I saw that folks were offering writing services, so I posted gigs for simple 150-word bios and quickie song reviews, posting my credentials as a professional journalist and Billboard writer for the past 25 years.

At the beginning, I was getting a couple assignments every week, which time-wise, did little more than bite into the hours I'd normally be surfing the webbie anyway. More recently, as the site has grown more sophisticated and popular—and my feedback has been consistently positive—I'm now getting gigs by the boatload.

Fiverr now also offers "extras," including longer versions of the same for more $$ and quick turnaround for $. And so... over the past month, I've earned $280, which is suddenly becoming real money... enough to pay the cable bill or the electric bill and purchase the occasional steak.

Mind you, my mainstay is still writing full-on professional bios for musicians, which include detailed interviews and quotes, garnering three-figure$ per pop. But for bite-size writing, what began as an amusement has evolved into a real profit center. And thank god for that, as a guy who still picks up pennies on the sidewalk. *