How She Made $472 Selling Tattoo Designs on Fiverr

Are you artistic? Have a love for tattoos? If so, you might want to consider designing tattoos for money!

As an online tattoo designer, you can work from home, helping people create the perfect designs to bring to their tattoo artist. With tattoos blowing up in popularity recently, this opportunity is ripe for the picking.

Below, Brianna shares her story of how she got started selling tattoo designs on Fiverr, how she landed her first client, lessons she learned along the way, and more.

How did you get started selling tattoo designs on Fiverr?

After creating an account on Fiverr and verifying my identity, I created my tattoo design gig. I was able to fully customize the basic, standard, and premium packages for people to order what they needed.

In the bio of my gig, I added a few eye-catching details about the gig and why they should choose to work with me.

Another important detail I made sure was at the very top was *PLEASE contact me before ordering!* There are some Fiverr buyers who may order designs that I don’t make, such as the first contact I had. A guy wanted me to make a birthday poster for his wife which I had to decline. He had wanted to talk on skype to explain what he wanted but that is against Fiverr’s policy.

After I'm contacted with what the buyer wants, I accept their proposal and let them know that they can place the order. It typically takes me 1-3 days to complete a tattoo design.

When the design is finished, the paper is scanned and two PDF files are sent to my client: a picture of the tattoo and the scanned design (which mainly shows the lines without the shading so that the tattoo artist knows what they're looking at).

I have never gotten below five stars and I am proud to stand by it.

Did you already have experience designing tattoos before starting on Fiverr? What gave you the idea to offer it as a gig?

I did not have experience in designing tattoos when I started working on Fiverr but I have always been an artist which made it easy for me.

The idea to work as a tattoo designer came to me when I was job searching after losing my job to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was work from home and on my own hours and terms. I already knew how to draw so I figured I could earn some money from doing something that I love!

Living in a family of tattoo artists made it easy for me to design tattoos. My fiancé did the tattoo sleeve on my left arm which I designed myself and his father had a few tattoo shops up in Chicago before moving to Florida, so I knew what my clients expected from me.

Clean, bold lines and not overly complicated designs were the key to success and that showed in my profits!

After posting your gig, how long did it take to sell your first tattoo design?

I landed my first client about a month and a half after I posted my gig. She was so nice and chose me because of the examples of the type of art I did in my gig advertisements.

She wanted a half sleeve of a woman and flowers, and sent me a few pictures of what she liked and that’s exactly what I designed for her.

She gave me a $10 dollar tip on top of the $35 and five-star review. I was ecstatic! The first order just brought all of the rest in smoothly and the five stars really helped. 

Have all of your clients been easy to work with? 

No, not all of my clients were as nice and easy to work with as my first. I’ve had to cancel a few orders with difficult clients. I would draw exactly what they asked and then they would want to change something.

It wasn’t until I experienced having clients that abused my niceness and wanted me to change this and that five times and then draw a whole different idea than they had from the first that I decided to limit the revisions offered.

I edited my gig to give one revision to the basic package, two revisions to the standard package, and three revisions to the premium package.

Doing this, along with answering as many potential client questions as possible in my gig bio, has made working with clients much more orderly.

How'd you make yourself stand out on Fiverr?

I made myself stand out after my first order. I did so well on that order so I put it as the main picture for my gig. It was an eye-catcher and once people clicked on it, they saw all of the other amazing designs and five-star gigs that I had done.

When clients see consistent professional orders and gigs it becomes easy to draw in the customers. I’ve even had clients come back to order more designs. At its peak, my gig was getting 2,000 clicks a day from Fiverr.

Tip: Because the first gig you receive is so important, if you can get a family member or friend to order through your Fiverr gig and give you a 5-star review, that can help get things going.

How much have you earned so far from sales?

My total sales and revenue — as of December 2020 — adds up to exactly $472. 

Is this the most successful online side hustle you've had so far?

Fiverr is my most successful online side hustle. I’ve tried Upwork but never got any gigs there.

The downside of Upwork is that you need credits to submit proposals to people and I soon ran out when no one chose to hire me.

Fiverr is completely free and so easy to use.

What are your plans for the future?

The more orders I get the higher my prices will get. If I do get more orders I will end up setting up my own website to manage orders outside of Fiverr.

Other than the tattoo design orders, I would also advertise my fiancé’s tattoo artist gig. This will draw more clients to want to get a custom design by me and get the tattoo done by my fiancé.

Soon we will be able to open up our first tattoo shop which is my fiancé’s dream. That’s where our plans are headed and it starts with Fiverr.

Final tips for those wanting to get started on Fiverr?

For those starting on Fiverr for the first time, make sure that you make yourself stand out. There are already so many other competitive sellers on the platform so the more special your gig looks, the more clients you’ll snag.

Stay professional through everything. Professionalism is very important and shows the clients that you are serious and know what you’re doing.

Make use of the FAQ section of the gig so that clients have their questions answered before ordering. This makes it easier for us as the sellers and the buyers.

If you have a difficult client, it’s okay to cancel. It’s a matter of being professional about what you are selling.

Delivering orders quickly and with good quality is what Fiverr buyers love. Take advantage of this! Soon you’ll be on your way to getting a level one seller badge and beyond!