Fiverr.com (Brand Reps)

Alex Lewis

Marketing

12/8/16

Fiverr.com Final Project (Brand Reps)

Before I entered Dr. Green’s marketing class at Oklahoma Baptist University, I had no knowledge of Fiverr.com. When I first entered the website, it seemed to be a little overwhelming with all of the services offered on Fiverr.com. Dr. Green quickly gave us an overview of the opportunities that Fiverr.com has for all generations. First and foremost, Fiverr.com is a great place for entrepreneurs to start a “gig” and make a little extra money on the side away from their regular job. After creating an account with McKenzie and Jessica for this marketing class, I realized how easy it was to start a gig and operate the Fiverr website. I was impressed at the amount of service providers on this website. There are millions of people using this website to sell their product, and for us to be able to sell a product of our own in such a short amount of time is second to impossible. This website is worldwide, so in order to target a market and be successful is difficult considering we do not know the cultures of other generations in other countries. Your product must stand out and must offer something a little different from other competitors. Also, Fiverr.com should not be the only place that you market your product. One must use word of mouth, social media, and many other uses of advertisement. Through our experiences through using and running a “gig” on Fiverr.com, we have learned that making an impression on viewers in crucial.

Our service on Fiverr.com is wearing and representing someone’s brand/logo (sent by their company) in exchange for a $5 fee. A company can send shirts, hats, or shoes and we will rep them and provide a great marketing technique for their company. We chose this market because it was a cheap and easy way to operate a business on Fiverr.com while being college students. Being a college student takes up a lot of your time. Another reason why we chose to do this creative service is that no one else on Fiverr.com is producing a product or selling a service that is the same as ours.

So we thought that we could beat the battle of having a low amount of competitors in our industry. However, with the amount of suppliers on Fiverr.com, and the short amount of time our “gig” has been up, we have yet to have a sale. But we have had 422 impressions, which means 422 people have scrolled past or seen our service. We have more impressions than most of our classmates. We also have 23 clicks and 37 views, without a sale. However, with the rapid increase in views on Fiverr.com we hope to have a sale soon. I feel that our service will stand alone in the future, and once we are well known, other people hungry for some extra cash, will build off our phenomenal ideas. While using Fiverr.com I personally have learned that the “gig” industry is “cut-throat” and you must be a great marketer to compete with other “gig” owners. People will do about anything to make a couple extra dollars. So before you enter a place like Fiverr.com, you have to do your research and build your brand like we have done in Dr. Green’s marketing class. Before entering this website, I feel that you have to build your own brand through places like: Linked.in, social media, and other blogging websites. Facebook is a huge social media outlet for young generations as well as the older generations in our society. I see advertisements on Facebook about all kinds of products and services offered. Many people make lots of money from Facebook. If our service would have been promoted on Facebook, it would have given us a better advantage for all of the service providers on Fiverr.com. Overall, I feel like Fiverr.com is a difficult place to make money. There are many other ways for people to make money other than Fiverr.com. Taking the risk on Fiverr.com is easy and free. So if I were going to give anyone advice on Fiverr.com, I would tell them to not get there hopes up on selling lots of products, because it takes time and may not happen. If you are going to get in the “gig” industry, do not spend a whole lot of money on capital because it is a tough business to get into.

Chick-Fil-A

Last week, the owner of Chick-Fil-A in Shawnee, OK came and spoke to our marketing class about his day in the life of a business owner, along with how Chick-Fil-A runs its business. The insight that Jeff Madison provided our class was amazing. The amount of generosity that Mr. Madison shows is out of this world. Most of the class had no idea how Chick-Fil-A truly ran their business. The Christ centered atmosphere that Chick-Fil-A demands in their business is a lead-in to the company not opening business on Sunday. Despite losing millions of dollars of revenue on Sundays, Mr. Madison showed us the massive growth in sales and new stores. Chick-Fil-A is just behind McDonalds on average revenue despite having almost half the stores that McDonalds has.

Madison also explained the attitude and togetherness that his employees express in the work place. If you haven’t been in a Chick-Fil-A store before, once you do experience Chick-Fil-A, you definitely want to come back for more. You are always welcomed with a smile. The man or woman taking your order will always ask how your day has been or what you have been up to. When you are seated and need a re-fill, I promise you that an employee would have already been by and asked if you needed more to drink. Unlike most fast-food places, Chick-Fil-A has an almost restaurant atmosphere where employees wait-on their customers. Mr. Madison explains that the elderly and the young children are always helped first, showing amazing gratitude.

Over-all the visit and marketing presentation that Jeff Madison presented was excellent, and I received so much insight on the way Chick-Fil-A is ran and how my future business will mirror his in many different ways. Jesus Christ should always be the number one factor in all businesses.

4G’s to Success

An Oklahoma Baptist University graduate twenty-five years ago, Adam Deem, became a successful businessman and financial advisor for Teak Tree, a business that he and his partner started together. He began his talk by showing a video from the first business he opened, a coffee shop (Deem’s Bean Scene). When we think of 4G, we probably first think of a cellular device or computer. However, Mr. Deem presented something that is more than just an iPhone. He spoke about Gratitude, Generosity, Growth, and God, the 4 G’s that he stresses are critical to a successful business.

Mr. Deem explained that gratitude, giving thanks back to the people who have helped you or the people who have served you, is important, especially when it comes to thanking the people, mainly our parents, who got us students here to OBU. He feels that this is a special place (OBU), as many students here today feel about OBU. When speaking about all of the people who have influenced him along the way, Mr. Deem became emotional when he spoke about Dr. Reeder, a Professor who influenced him in a tremendous way.

Because they can change a person’s life, Mr. Deem expressed the importance of personal connections. The relationships one builds with even random individuals can change his or her life. One will never know if the next person he or she talks to is a future boss or not. He told a story about a man named Benny, who was struggling and going through a really tough time in his life. Benny was injured and eventually got waived from having to work and received Medicare benefits. The generosity that he showed Benny is the kind of generosity that is shared by a good Christian man. Mr. Deem showed generosity to Benny by paying his rent and paying for his groceries in a time that Benny might go homeless. After persistence and love, Benny was able to get back on his feet, thanks to Adam.

Mr. Deem explained that there is always an opportunity for “Growth.” He cautioned that “wanting to win can make [a person] throw out [his or her] principles.” Numerous times in his talk, Mr. Deem encouraged students to “seek God’s guidance in all [their] decisions.” Through Growth, Mr. Deem articulated, one will seek God’s guidance more and more throughout his or her life. He stressed that growth in Christ is crucial in making decisions that seem to be confusing or tough. After time passes, a businessman can realize and see good character in people, which translates to hiring future employees. Mr. Deem makes future plans out to three years, and lets the rest take care of itself. Mr. Deem’s business grew to four times its size at one point.

The last G and the most important is God. Mr. Deem is a great Christian man. The values that he presented and shared that were instilled in him at a young age, are values similar to what I share. Mr. Deem has gone through many struggles in starting his coffee shop along with Teak Tree. God is the most important piece in Mr. Deem’s life, and God has jump forwarded a lot of his success in business. Mr. Deem was asked a number of questions at the end of his speech. Some of the questions included the following: “How do you begin to start a business?” and “How do you make connections with all of your customers?” All of his answers to these questions were faith through Jesus Christ.

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