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Happy Saturday! Have you had your favorite cup of coffee yet? ☕

I woke up with pretty high spirits today. And the first thing I wanted to do was go through my emails this week.

I’ve been keeping up with my Inbox Zero goal. Nothing left unread.

Fiverr recently introduced new features in its "Winter Release" campaign.

Their aim?

To enhance the freelance platform. As per usual, right?

Let's see what’s new…

There’s a new Consulting category:

• Businesses can now connect with industry experts.

• It’s giving Toptal vibes in my opinion. Offering similar high-level freelancers. (Toptal boasts having the top 3% freelancers around the world - all vetted).

Say hello to Fiverr Agencies:

• This one focuses on agency services, with detailed profiles and past work displayed too.

• Competes with Guru.com, which is specialized for agencies.

Actionable Ratings and Leveling System:

• They moved to a transparent feedback mechanism.

• I believe there will be decimal points on star ratings now? (ex. 4.9 instead of flat 5)

• Competes with Upwork's Talent Scout feature, although it's not accepting new users now.

The revamped homepage with AI-powered recommendations:

• Simplifies navigation and personalizes recommendations.

• Jumping deeper into the AI realm now more than ever. Thoughts on this?

• Kinda similar to Upwork's "Project Matching" tool which aims to optimize project allocation.

There are Fiverr Pro enhancements:

• It’s gonna attract larger businesses with new collaboration features.

• Competes with Toptal and Upwork's "Enterprise" service.

• Seems like Fiverr wants to bring in even bigger fish.

What’s the impact of this Winter release? ⛄

I personally think it enhances discoverability and streamlines the hiring process, making it even more attractive for bigger companies to dive into hiring via Fiverr.

Which could also mean tighter competition among Fiverr sellers.

What I think will happen?

Some sellers might lower their rates to get noticed by the big fish.

There will be an influx of buyers. Sellers will react.

What about the god-tier freelancers on Fiverr?

Well, they’re gonna keep climbing the ladder.

Some freelancers who aren’t on Fiverr might consider joining the marketplace for more exposure to big buyers.

You can read more about Fiverr’s Winter Release here.

What are your thoughts on Fiverr’s new features?

Best,

Francesca

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