• Alexandra Fasulo quit her office job after four weeks and didn’t want to look for another 9-5.
• She resorted to freelancing online, earning just enough to pay her bills.
• Eventually, a few tweaks, Fiverr Pro, and outsourcing work allowed it to evolve.

In December 2015, Alexandra Fasulo quit her job at a tech PR firm in New York City after just four weeks.

She had worked in the New York State Assembly for a year before trying out the private sector. And before that, she graduated from the State University of New York College at Geneseo with a degree in political science.

But just a year after graduating, she decided another 9-to-5 job wasn’t an option and realized excelling in an office environment wasn’t for her.

“The straw that broke the camel’s back was a holiday party. And a bunch of women working there kind of laughed at what I was wearing,” Fasulo said. “And I was like, ‘You know, I don’t need this. This job is only going to pay me $36,000 for the year, which, living in New York, is pretty much unlivable.’

The day she left the PR job with no savings, Fasulo said she had a slight

panic attack

questioning what she had done.

“I had just signed a lease in Brooklyn, New York. I just quit a job. I’m 22. People are going to laugh at me and say I’m just a stupid millennial,” Fasulo said.

That night, she sat on the edge of her bed, opened her laptop and started creating accounts on different freelance platforms. She also logged into her old Fiverr account which she used in the past but hadn’t taken seriously. The next morning, she already had offers for small gigs on Fiverr, like writing press releases for small businesses and writing blogs and newspaper articles.

Last year, Fasulo earned around $271,000 from Fiverr, according to records seen by Insider. It wasn’t an overnight success – it came about after years of gradually scaling up its services and strategy. In addition, she now outsources her contracts to six other freelancers. Most projects include writing press releases, blogs, website content, and editing.

She has a website and persona called “The Freelance Fairy” which includes a podcast, blog, and e-books. Now she doesn’t do much work herself. Her best friend manages the contracts by logging into her freelance accounts on Fiverr, Legit and LinkedIn and outsourcing the contracts to six freelance writers.

How she evolved

Fasulo told Insider that when she started in January 2016, she only made around $1,000 in the first month. Even though it didn’t cover her bills, it was enough to really get her excited, she said. She started by listing three writing gigs, a blog post, a press release, and web content for as little as $5. Over the next few months, she started earning an average of around $2,000 a month.

By the end of the first year, in 2016, she was making $38,000, she told Insider. “But I was so much happier doing it than I didn’t care,” Fasulo said.

In the second year, she doubled her income and brought in $64,000, according to records viewed by Insider. But it wasn’t easy: some days she did 10 to 12 hours of freelance work, she said.

One of his most popular services was writing e-books. In February 2021, she got an ebook project, ghostwriting on natural wine. Fasulo said she charges $1,000 for 10,000 words and that 30,000 word project earned her $3,000.

Fasulo says that since she started, she adds about one or two new services a year.

“One of my really popular and lucrative gigs is writing ghost e-books, which I only added in 2019, I believe,” Fasulo said. “I currently have a crypto and NFT writing gig which is very popular. Otherwise, my blog gig, website content gig, and press release gig have remained my top sellers since the beginning, with the added ebook concert.”

The big increase in revenue came when Fiverr invited her to join its then-in-beta program called Fiverr Pro in 2017. Today, it’s now a filter for top talent on the platform. form, and joining it requires an application and verification process.

The Fiverr Pro program helped her quadruple her income very quickly because it added a seal of approval. She charged $100 for a press release or blog post that previously cost $25. In January 2018, she hit her first five-figure month on Fiverr, earning around $10,000, she said. In May of that year, she was earning $30,000 that month.

At the time, his only expenses were rent, which averaged about $1,800 in Brooklyn, and his WiFi, which was about $75 a month. In 2018, she bought a camera to take pictures both as a hobby and for her website photos. In 2019, she bought a ring light, iPhone stand and tripod so she could start posting about her success.

“A lot of people think my social media is the reason my Fiverr profile has done so well, but that’s not true because I only started taking social media seriously in 2019. And even so, it only picked up momentum in 2020,” Fasulo mentioned.

Other than joining Fiverr Pro, other things that increased his income were offering customers bundle deals, like four blog posts for the price of three, and additional fees for add-ons like 24-hour turnaround, additional edits, or promotion of a blog post.

She also made sure to always respond quickly to her customers. That meant carrying her phone around when she wasn’t at her computer. This kind of customer service meant she got great reviews, which she says is virtual gold. The more good reviews you have, the more you can justify the amount you charge, she added. She has a 4.9-star rating on Fiverr from over 1,000 reviews.

Fasulo warns that while freelancing is a great freedom, it can also feel lonely because you don’t have co-workers. Also, even if you don’t have a boss, working with clients can sometimes be difficult.

“I’ve worked on over 8,000 different orders on Fiverr, so the likelihood of running into an irrational buyer asking for a refund or not understanding the Fiverr system is sometimes unavoidable,” Fasulo said. “The most frustrating experiences are when I have to issue refunds simply because the buyer didn’t understand the Fiverr platform or how timeframes work. But it’s worth it in the end for the personal and financial freedom. “